D&D 5E Race/Class combinations that were cool but you avoided due to mechanics?

[Haldrik]

My experience tells me you're wrong in your assumptions. When any character can be anuyhing without problems or weaknesses, the choices become meaningless and every players, and I mean every single one of them will fall in the optimization traps. I have seen it so often that anything said won't make me change my mind. Hell!!! I even fell in this trap my self in Vampire the Masquerade and Heroes.

Having to find ways to make an underdogs with fixed abilities is way more rewarding and memorable. The halfling barb was a thing to behold exactly because it was a halfling barb with the standard array. All its ASI went to strength and the little bugger was surprisingly efficient. But with floating ASI, no surprise, no cost, no sacrifice would have been required. The halfling would have simply been an other optimized barbarian.

I have nothing about optimization. It is a good thing most of the time. But when optimization makes it that what would be a strange character concept just becomes a simple skin for an optimized character type... I simply feel that the choice is just a make up, a simple mask that has been put on to give a funny look on your character. And believe me, funny look don't strike anyone as memorable. They are forgotten quickly.

But when your choices involve actual sacrifices in effectiveness, people remember the character for life.

You make it sound as if optimizing is a bad thing.

 

[jmartkdr2]

My experience tells me you're wrong in your assumptions. When any character can be anuyhing without problems or weaknesses, the choices become meaningless and every players, and I mean every single one of them will fall in the optimization traps. I have seen it so often that anything said won't make me change my mind. Hell!!! I even fell in this trap my self in Vampire the Masquerade and Heroes.

My experience is different from yours - lots of people simply won't choose the most optimal thing, they'll choose whatever sounds the most fun. I don't say this as a strong argument to convince you, but to point out that you repeating what you saw isn't going to convince me, either. I only assume that not everyone will play the same way.

Although I think we might not mean the same thing when we say "optimize" - I mean picking the best possible option. "Not optimizing" does not, to me, mean only picking weak choices, it means picking options based on criteria other than what's mechanically superior.

 

[nexalis]

I have always wanted to play a forest gnome druid because it seemed like a perfect match thematically. In terms of the racial ability mods, however, not so much!

 

[Sword of Spirit]

I find in 5e the racial features (including ability bonuses) are cool but not necessary. Obviously I want to have them, but it's not necessary that the particular bonus I get from a race adds to my class's primary stats. Likewise, it doesn't really matter if their special traits synergize with my character's combat approach. (I actually find it rather annoying when players make combinations that fit D&D lore poorly just for the 5e mechanical synergies--wood elf monk I'm glaring at you.) Those racial bonuses and traits can still help you out, and can be really cool to help you diversify. That half-elf Charisma isn't wasted on a fighter--it increases their flexibility.

In 3e this was not true. Because you got actual penalties, and because you needed to really specialize to make investment worth it (bounded accuracy in 5e changes that), if you didn't pick a mechanically appropriate racial choice it could really hurt your character.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I have always wanted to play a forest gnome druid because it seemed like a perfect match thematically. In terms of the racial ability mods, however, not so much!

We did have one. It was odd that the druid was the smartest person in the party, as well as the wisest.

 

[WayOfTheFourElements]

4e defined every race, primarily, by its racial encounter power. Elven Accuracy, the halfling's Second Chance, and Dragonborn's Dragon Breath powers made excellent mechanical foundations for those races. 5e could return to something similar using the short rest mechanic.

 

[Helldritch]

4e defined every race, primarily, by its racial encounter power. Elven Accuracy, the halfling's Second Chance, and Dragonborn's Dragon Breath powers made excellent mechanical foundations for those races. 5e could return to something similar using the short rest mechanic.

In the trend of removing ASI from race (and I am strongly opposed to floating ASI), this is the first time this idea comes up. And I can say that I am a bit jealous for not having this one myself. Kudo for you. This is the single best way to remove ASI altogether and put some thing instead of it.

 

[WayOfTheFourElements]

In the trend of removing ASI from race (and I am strongly opposed to floating ASI), this is the first time this idea comes up. And I can say that I am a bit jealous for not having this one myself. Kudo for you. This is the single best way to remove ASI altogether and put some thing instead of it.

Thanks, Dude. I'm just trying to look for solutions instead of problems.

 

[Undrave]

4e defined every race, primarily, by its racial encounter power. Elven Accuracy, the halfling's Second Chance, and Dragonborn's Dragon Breath powers made excellent mechanical foundations for those races. 5e could return to something similar using the short rest mechanic.

In the trend of removing ASI from race (and I am strongly opposed to floating ASI), this is the first time this idea comes up. And I can say that I am a bit jealous for not having this one myself. Kudo for you. This is the single best way to remove ASI altogether and put some thing instead of it.

I'm all for it too myself, and I too wonder why I didn't mention it. I guess I just didn't want to suggest rebuilding the races from scratch? I was thinking of mapping out my own Race+Culture design out and maybe I could just come up with racial powers.

4e Racial powers were fun and, when well designed, made even unlikely pairings worth it (Halfling Second Chance was just insanely good. I had a Halfling Paladin that still worked well). Eladrin getting Misty Steps for exemple were always good, no matter the class.

We'd have to come up with one for Dwarves since their 4e power was a Minor Action Second Wind (rather than Standard Action), which was also pretty strong in its own right.

 

[d24454_modern]

You could always go the JRPG route of making everyone human. That's how they solved it in recent years.