Race Houserules

[Eslington]

Since the PHB 3 introduced branching racial bonus stats for races (Example: Githzerai get +2 Wis and a choice of +2 Int or Dex) I've been wanting to write up a list of ideas for the other published races, along with a couple of other little mods.

NOTE: Some races get a bonus to defenses for certain statistic combinations where both contribute to the same defense. This does not apply if the race chooses stat bonuses which contribute to two defenses.
(Example: Eladrin get a fixed +2 Intelligence and choice of +2 Charisma or +2 Dexterity. If they choose Dexterity they also get a +1 to Will for "Eladrin Will".)

Other little mods in italics

PHB1
Dragonborn: Str, Cha or Con (+1 Will: “Dragonborn Pride”)
Dwarf:Con, Wis or Str (+1 Will: “Bloody Minded”)
Ability to use Second wind is now a specific racial power and takes a move action. (A feat can be taken to reduce this to a minor.)
Stability no longer grants the ability to avoid being knocked prone with a saving throw. (A feat can be taken which restores this ability.)
Eladrin: Int, Cha or Dex (+1 Will: “Eladrin Mind”)
Elf: Dex, Wis or Str
Half-Elf: Cha, Any other (If Wis, +1 to Fort or Ref: “Hybrid Vitality”)
Halfling: Dex, Cha or Con
Human: Any (+1 to Fort, Ref, Will: “Human Defences”)
Tiefling: Int, Cha or Con

PHB2
Deva: Wis, Int or Cha (+1 Fort: “Eternal Heart”)
Gnome: Int, Cha or Dex (+1 Fort: “Deceptively Tough”)
Base speed is 6 squares.
Goliath: Str, Wis or Con (+1 Will: “Mountain’s Tenacity”)
Half-Orc: Str, Dex or Cha
Shifter: Wis, Str (Longtooth) or Dex (Razorclaw)

PHB3
Githzerai: Wis, Dex or Int
Minotaur: Str, Wis or Con (+1 Will: “Defiance of Baphomet”)
Shardmind: Int, Wis or Cha
Wilden: Wis, Dex or Con

Forgotton Realms
Drow: Dex, Wis or Cha
Gensai: Str, Any other, (If Con, +1 to Ref: “Flowing Grace”)
Promise of Storm power can now grant extra Lightning or Thunder damage to any power, including those with no energy type, adding that energy type to the attack.

Eberron
Changeling: Cha, Dex or Int
Can speak Common and two bonus languages
Kalashtar: Cha, Int or Wis (+1 Ref: “Precognitive Reflex”)
Can speak Common and Quori, in addition to Telepathy 5
Warforged: Con, Int or Str (+1 Will: “Warforged Mind”)

Dark Sun
Mul: Con, Wis or Str (+1 Will: “Tireless Determinaton”)
Thri-kreen: Dex, Str or Wis

DDI
Revenant: Con, One other score your Past Life race can gain a bonus towards (Any if Human, Half-elf or Gensai) (if Str, +1 Reflex: “Revenant Celerity”)

 

[Eslington]

Some words on my reasoning for some of these:

Dragonborn: I've seen suggestions for Str/Intelligence (Since Dragons are smart and Dragonborn could make flavourful tactical warlords, but ultimately I decided having a good tie with their racial power would be better.
Dwarf: This was kind of tough. Strength was the only alternative stat which really fit but that'd make dwarves even more amazing fighters than they already are. So I decided to tone down the racial abilities a little to compensate.
Eladrin: I feel the Cha bonus is reasonably straightforward. With the fey glamour and all. Also makes them good Fey pact Warlocks and bards.
Elf: Picking a different racial stat bonus was tough but in the end I decided I liked the Strength bonus ties into elves being agile (athletics bonus) and great rangers. I'm not sure if I like the route WotC went with +Int instead but I could live with it.
Half-Elf: The Half-elf racial power could tie to lots of different stats, so the versatile stat bonus came as a result of that. Also because it would be hard to choose just one stat to give them a bonus to. (Even Constitution is kind of questionable, beyond making them good Valour Bards.)
Halfling: It was a toss-up between Con and Wis. I'd settled on Wisdom for a while but then the errata came out and gave them Con. So I decided to go that way.
Human: Nothing to say here.
Tiefling: Forum posters have often commented that it's weird Tieflings don't have +Con for Infernal Warlocks so this is a nod to that. The alternative would have been +Dex/+Cha to make them good rogues but we probably have enough Dex/Cha races by now.

PHB2
Deva: I'll admit something here: There's a small orderly thrill for me in having a set of three races with one fixed mental stat and a choice of the other two mental stats. Yeah.
Either way, a +Cha option makes Devas good for the Divine types and fits with the whole "Majesty of the Gods" thing.
Gnome: The Fort bonus is kind of a nod to gnomes getting +2 Con in 3.x but also, I think, ties in with the idea that their roots are in the struggle for their race to survive.
I went with +2 Dex because I like the idea of gnomes being sneaky. (Perhaps the Eberron fan in me.)
The 6 square speed thing I could live without, but I think I prefer the idea of a sneaky race being relatively swift.
Goliath: Str, Wis or Con (+1 Will: “Mountain’s Tenacity”)
I had initially thought about going for Charisma instead of Wisdom, since I vaguely recalled 3.5's Races of Stone Goliaths being fixated on competitiveness and boastfulness. When I checked later it turns out that translated as a benefit to Sense Motive. So in the end, I decided on the bonus that fit better for wilderness types.
Half-Orc: Again, a tricky one. +Con seemed like it'd be a good idea, but I like +Cha as a suggestion of an agressive attitude. (In contrast to half-elves, who are diplomatic.)
Shifter: I think Shifters are a bit light on features, but I didn't give this much thought since the existing rules nicely split the stat bonuses.

PHB3
Githzerai, Shardmind, Wilden: Already done.
Minotaur: Another Strong/Tough race with a bonus to Will. Ho hum.

Forgotton Realms
Drow: Honestly this was one of the hardest picks of all for me. I guess it'd help if I knew more about the FR drow.
I went for fixed Dexterity and the option of a Wisdom bonus because it lends itself to the more agile classes, which seems to be more fitting for the Drow. A good argument in support or for another alternative would probably sway me.
Gensai: Initially, I had taken an idea I saw on another forum about tying the stat bonuses to Elemental Manifestations. In my original version, Strength would have been fixed and the ties would have been:

Earth: +2 Con (Toughness. Pretty obvious.)
Wind: +2 Dex (Grace and lightness.)
Storm: +2 Int (Sparks of genius and association with electrical brain activity. Also good for arcanists.)
Water: +2 Wis (Flow, grace and yielding power. Think Bruce Lee.)
Fire: +2 Cha (Passion, power.)

In the end though, I decided that the diversity of manifestations lent itself well to a diversity of ability scores. I went with Strength as the fixed stat for the "power of the elemental forces." (I can't really think of what I'd use for Intelligence.)

Eberron
Changeling: It pretty much makes sense that a race with a focus on social interaction and disguising themselves as other races should be able to speak more than one language. (This was done in 3.5 and I can only assume the 4E thing was an oversight.)
Kalashtar: Kalashtar were the only race with overlapping ability scores which didn't get a bonus to another defense. Lame!
For ability scores, I had kind of wondered if Kalashtar should be statted to make good Monks, but in the end I went with the choice that made them good Psions and Ardents. (I'd hope for feat support for other Psionic classes for the Kalashtar.)
Also there's the weird mental stat bonus thing. (See Deva.)
Warforged: Constitution as a fixed stat seemed appropriate, since that was the stat they got a bonus to in 3.5 and ties to the notion that they have an unusual physiology.
Went with Intelligence as an option since it ties into making them good artificers. Also, the other stats didn't quite fit.

Dark Sun
Mul: Again, another tough race with possible Will bonus. I tried to resist this cliche where I could (Gensai, Revenants) but heroic Mul are probably going to be more wilful than agile.
Thri-kreen: No change.

DDI
Revenant: I like the idea that your past life can effect your stat bonuses. Again, it ties into the potential diversity for Revenant powers.