D&D 5E Racial Distinction - The Stats Solution

[Yunru]

All aboard the subject-of-the-week train, huh?

So my approach to this solution results in slightly more powerful characters, and mildly breaks bounded accuracy (although not really since bounded accuracy applies all the way to stats of 30).

It consists of two parts:
Racial ability modifiers increase your maximum ability score. - This means that the strong Goliath can always be the strongest (or at least, as strong as another high-strength race), etc. They don't have to fulfil that potential, and indeed play no worse for not doing so. But they can.
Additionally you get +2 to one ability or +1 to two abilities. An ability score raised this way has it's maximum increased by the same amount. - Now I'm in two minds about this. It's basically a free ASI (that you can't swap out for feats), but it's a hot-fix for humans (regular or variant), whilst also allowing off-type plays, or even just "Even for a Goliath, my line is strongest." I guess you could remove the stat boost and just leave the maximum increase, but it seems less elegant.

Thoughts?

 

[Fanaelialae]

All aboard the subject-of-the-week train, huh?

So my approach to this solution results in slightly more powerful characters, and mildly breaks bounded accuracy (although not really since bounded accuracy applies all the way to stats of 30).

It consists of two parts:
Racial ability modifiers increase your maximum ability score. - This means that the strong Goliath can always be the strongest (or at least, as strong as another high-strength race), etc. They don't have to fulfil that potential, and indeed play no worse for not doing so. But they can.
Additionally you get +2 to one ability or +1 to two abilities. An ability score raised this way has it's maximum increased by the same amount. - Now I'm in two minds about this. It's basically a free ASI (that you can't swap out for feats), but it's a hot-fix for humans (regular or variant), whilst also allowing off-type plays, or even just "Even for a Goliath, my line is strongest." I guess you could remove the stat boost and just leave the maximum increase, but it seems less elegant.

Thoughts?

First impression is that this would make human a bad choice (since the benefit of having a 21 is minimal to none).

Aside from that it's not bad, although it does mess with bounded accuracy.

For my next campaign, I'm considering using 4d6 drop the lowest, IN ORDER. If a player has less than a 16 in their prime requisites (as determined by the prerequisites for multiclassing) AFTER racial modifiers, they may boost that stat to a 16.

It makes dwarves an optimal race (because Constitution is good for everyone and never a prime requisite) but given that I can't remember the last time anyone played a dwarf, I'm okay with that for now.

 

[Yunru]

Humans make an alright choice. The extra +2 to one or +1 to two means that the human can start with two stats at a maximum of 22. Half-Elf beats it, but Half-Elf always did.

Regarding bounded accuracy, BA applies up to a maximum of 30 (it has to for monsters), and the only way a character can approach that is a Strength race playing a level 20 Barbarian with a boon of strength, who also put his heritage bonus into Strength.

And then it requires three ASI to max out.