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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DammitVictor" data-source="post: 9800245" data-attributes="member: 6750908">Pursuant to <a href="http://Thread %275E species with further choices and differences%27 https://www.enworld.org/threads/5e-species-with-further-choices-and-differences.716141/" target="_blank">this thread</a>, I thought I'd like to have a (less contentious) thread to discuss both design goals and better solutions for making nonhuman peoples more satisfying in D&D like fantasy games.This is a [+] thread; this is for constructive ways to make nonhuman PCs more distinct from humans and each other in play.[HR][/HR]In the other thread, I noted a progressive trend of the D&D rules-- starting in the first AD&D PHB-- diminishing the importance of character 'race' in the game mechanics with each subsequent edition and players (and 3PPs) trying to make that choice more important in supplemental and house rules.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">OD&D: Elves, dwarves, and hobbits are playable as PCs; the rules are unwieldy, not at all like the "race and class" of AD&D and WotC D&D or the "race as class" of Classic D&D.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">AD&D: Race and class are separated into two distinct choices; races grant all of their abilities up-front and their primary function is limiting what classes nonhuman PCs can take and how far they can progress.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Classic D&D simplifies this by making Elf, Dwarf, and Halfling into separate classes with the level limits built in.</li> </ul></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">AD&D 2E: The number of classes in the PHB is reduced, and race/class limits are homogenized; 99% of races may progress in Cleric, Fighter, and/or Thief up to 9th level, and 90% of races may only progress in those classes.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">3.0/3.5: All level limits are removed and all class restrictions are removed from the vast majority of races. Races still have 'favored class' which encourages multiclassing in... well, favored classes.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Worth noting that 3.5 supplements did a bunch of work here, adding racial feats and PrCs and later racial paragon classes.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">4E bucked the trend, giving nonhuman PCs racial abilities that remained relevant from 1st level to 30th and lots of racial exclusive options.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">PF1 started out like 3.5 core, but then added more racial feats/traits, racial class archetypes, and alternate racial traits.</li> </ul></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">5.14 was more or less just like core 3.0, except for the default/mandatory inclusion of subraces; racial feats were brought back in supplements. Previously race-exclusive class archetypes like the Bladesinger are made universal.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">5.24 officially removed all race-based ability score adjustments, which was an overall improvement for the game-- halfling fighters and barbarians were iconic character types in older editions-- but one of the last vestigial differences between different playable 'fantasy races'.</li> </ul>Also worth noting that during the development cycle of 3.5 and fully realized within 4e and 5e was the notion that player characters should get some kind of new or improved feature every time they gain a character level. These features were mostly class features, and because of multiclassing (and class level not always lining up with character level) every class granted new features every level, leaving very little room for non-class-based feature progression.[HR][/HR]So... to outline the qualities that I want 'fantasy races' to have in a D&D-like fantasy RPG:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Choosing a 'race' should be a character-defining decision, on par with class or at least a really juicy (5e) Feat</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Racial abilities should both scale/improve with level and include more decision points after 1st level.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Every nonhuman race already can do something humans can't do, or can do something better than any human can do; each nonhuman race should be incapable or severely restricted in something that humans take for granted.</li> </ul>The last bit doesn't have to be 1:1 or affect every nonhuman PC; the goal isn't 'game balance', but rather establishing that nonhuman characters are different. Their options aren't necessarily better or worse than human options, but every race's options are different from humans and each other.I also want to make sure that each nonhuman 'fantasy race' is capable of more-or-less functioning in a magic-driven D&D fantasy world. Communities of every race should either be self-sufficient or interdependently sufficient with their canonical allies, theoretically capable of sustaining a single-race D&D campaign, etc. etc. etc.</blockquote>

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