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No More "Humans in Funny Hats": Racial Mechanics Should Determine Racial Cultures
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<blockquote data-quote="Scars Unseen" data-source="post: 8452083" data-attributes="member: 10196"><p>Those changes are fine for a table specific house rule and for use with monsters, but it's way too fiddly to work for a published work that is meant to be used by players (in general, I'd say fiddly and quirky exceptions like that work far better for monster design than character design). They also feel like they'd fit in far better in a game closer to 4E on the tactical focus scale than 5E. Which, if that's what you're going for anyway, is great.</p><p></p><p> A lot of your take on strength is too simulationist for D&D in my opinion. The entire point of the strength score is as a somewhat abstract approximation of "bodily power, athletic training, and the extent to which you can exert raw physical force." It's not meant to be disected quite the way you are because ability scores are mostly meant to fade into the background of calculations anyway so that focus can be placed more firmly on other, more immediately relevant features such as class abilities.</p><p></p><p>Addressing the race abilities you gave:</p><p></p><p>Dwarf: explicitly worse than having a strength bonus, as it's just a strength bonus with almost no common usage, and no <em>player </em>directed usage, which an automatic fail for ability design in my book (unless you make passive abilities one knob that every race design gets in addition to active abilities). Now, give the dwarf a strength bonus <em>and</em> the strength save bonus, and you have something that makes them stand out. Still need an active ability so the player has something they can actually <em>use</em>, but again, I'm just evaluating the ability you gave.</p><p></p><p>Goliath: similar issue. A strength bonus would accomplish both of these things and more, so you're just making a weaker strength bonus.</p><p></p><p>Minotaur: a bit better with the charge bonus (depending on what the bonus was and how you interpret "charge"), but it's still mostly just lesser strength. Give a strength bonus, a gore attack, and maybe the ability to use their horns with any ability or spell that requires a melee weapon attack, and you have a combination you'd be wary of closing in on even if they were a wizard.</p><p></p><p>Orc: probably the best of the bunch. Nothing that's trying to emulate one aspect of strength mechanically(despite the description). "When fresh" seems like a limiter that needs clarification. I can't say it really evokes "orc" to me in any real way, but then again, who's to say all orcs have to be the same in all campaigns?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Scars Unseen, post: 8452083, member: 10196"] Those changes are fine for a table specific house rule and for use with monsters, but it's way too fiddly to work for a published work that is meant to be used by players (in general, I'd say fiddly and quirky exceptions like that work far better for monster design than character design). They also feel like they'd fit in far better in a game closer to 4E on the tactical focus scale than 5E. Which, if that's what you're going for anyway, is great. A lot of your take on strength is too simulationist for D&D in my opinion. The entire point of the strength score is as a somewhat abstract approximation of "bodily power, athletic training, and the extent to which you can exert raw physical force." It's not meant to be disected quite the way you are because ability scores are mostly meant to fade into the background of calculations anyway so that focus can be placed more firmly on other, more immediately relevant features such as class abilities. Addressing the race abilities you gave: Dwarf: explicitly worse than having a strength bonus, as it's just a strength bonus with almost no common usage, and no [I]player [/I]directed usage, which an automatic fail for ability design in my book (unless you make passive abilities one knob that every race design gets in addition to active abilities). Now, give the dwarf a strength bonus [I]and[/I] the strength save bonus, and you have something that makes them stand out. Still need an active ability so the player has something they can actually [I]use[/I], but again, I'm just evaluating the ability you gave. Goliath: similar issue. A strength bonus would accomplish both of these things and more, so you're just making a weaker strength bonus. Minotaur: a bit better with the charge bonus (depending on what the bonus was and how you interpret "charge"), but it's still mostly just lesser strength. Give a strength bonus, a gore attack, and maybe the ability to use their horns with any ability or spell that requires a melee weapon attack, and you have a combination you'd be wary of closing in on even if they were a wizard. Orc: probably the best of the bunch. Nothing that's trying to emulate one aspect of strength mechanically(despite the description). "When fresh" seems like a limiter that needs clarification. I can't say it really evokes "orc" to me in any real way, but then again, who's to say all orcs have to be the same in all campaigns? [/QUOTE]
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