D&D 5E (2014) Removal of class-based stat bonuses?

[Rune]

I'd like to point out that 5e classes do actually provide stat bonuses. Just not at first level.

 

[Psikerlord#]

Why not remove the race bonus alltogether and switch over to a class bonus completely? I think I would prefer this to adding just another set of bonuses which would increase the base attributes some more.

In our game race bonuses can be applied to any stat. The result is we have players choosing their race based on things other than stat bonuses. Works awesome. NPCs still use the standard bonuses. And yes some of us still like humans (not just for the feat!)

 

[billd91]

To address the OP:

I think that the real reason the designers got rid of the +1 from race, +1 from class stat bonuses is because they were intent on giving the human +1 to all stats, and the only way they could make that work alongside the other races was by giving them each a +2 to something.

I can see how that might be the rationale for dropping the stat bonus from class, but I really liked the stat bonus from class.

 

[Zaruthustran]

I thought the playtest's class-based stat bonuses were clever and interesting, for the reasons previously stated. A cool new idea worth trying. "Fighters are strong." "Wizards are smart." To me, that makes a good complement to "Strong people become Fighters" and "smart people become Wizards." Nature and nurture, working together.

Plenty of real-world examples. Ask a new soldier if he's stronger after Basic Training than he was before. Ask a doctor or lawyer if the demands of their advanced degrees required the development of rigorous new methods of cramming and retaining information. Ask a therapist or practicing clergy if their accreditation required development of new levels of empathy. Of course, yes, serious pursuit of a vocation--serious enough to become a qualified expert--requires training that builds and improves upon natural talent.

But.. should that be in a game? And, different question: should that be in D&D?

Ultimately the answer was "no." I'm okay with it. Easy enough to add in as a mod.