Restrictions on races and classes.

[Minigiant]

I'm against any restrictions, it should be X race is not that great at being Y class, but never anything like they can't. It's something I'm glad that died in fire with 3e, and I don't think it should ever come back.

If there are restrictions it should be only up to individual DMs, and never even something to take up space in any book.

What are your views on racial and class restrictions not based on combinations?

Should dwarves be allowed to be fast?
Should wizards get healing magic?
Should halflings, gnomes, goblins, and kobolds be able to weld two handed medium weapons?
Should clerics be able to be proficient with non-maces by default?
Should arcanists be allowed to cast in armor?
Should halflings be allowed to wear shoes?
Should dwarves hate trees and be unable to use wooden items?

 

[Ed_Laprade]

What are your views on racial and class restrictions not based on combinations?

Should dwarves be allowed to be fast?
Should wizards get healing magic?
Should halflings, gnomes, goblins, and kobolds be able to weld two handed medium weapons?
Should clerics be able to be proficient with non-maces by default?
Should arcanists be allowed to cast in armor?
Should halflings be allowed to wear shoes?
Should dwarves hate trees and be unable to use wooden items?

Answering for myself, not KA:

No.
Yes.
No.
Yes.
Maybe.
Halflings shouldn't be allowed, period.
Not unless the player wants his character to.

 

[dkyle]

All restrictions should be based on game mechanics and balance. Design ideas can be inspired by certain flavors or tropes, but the design should still be balanced. If Halflings get zero reach, then they need something else to balance that out. If a good counterbalance can't be found, better to leave the restriction to the wayside.

 

[Crazy Jerome]

Only have restrictions when they make a lot of sense and/or would be highly unlikely to conflict with some obvious characterization. This can even be turned into a good thing. For example, halflings should be somewhat weaker than most bigger races, but what about halfling fighters? OK, make it so that you can have a good fighter without uber strength--which is something you'd like to have for more than only the halflings. That is, chosen correctly, these kind of things are not only good for flavoring the world, but good test cases for the mechanics as a whole.

Fortunately, themes provide a very nice spot for some of the tradtional, iffy ones. Weapon restrictions on druids are lousy from a class-design point of view, especially for multi-classing. A theme that includes weapon restrictions? No problem, and I bet people could come up with four or five good ones in a few minutes.

 

[Skyscraper]

I'm not against restrictions, on the contrary, but as long as they're not too arbitrary or make some sense to me. To me, this means that restrictions should be few.

For example I want small races, like halflings and gnomes, to be weaker

Agreed.

Wizard's can't heal living humaniods. They could turn someone into a construct, heal the construct, then turn them back. But the extra steps are required.

The solution you propose is kind of weird, no? You need to turn someone into a... ? You know what, I vastly prefer wizards capable of healing to what you propose, although I'm against wizards capable of healing

Squishy classes, like wizards and sorcerers, have glass jaws.

I don't like this stereotype to become structurally forced into the game. This irks me. This is why I always liked rolling ability scores. Because you end up with enduring or strong wizards. I work with a programmer, he's strong, plays sports, and he tackles like a pro. Life is like that. Some people follow intellectual paths, but still have superior physical attributes. To me, the restriction you propose to wizards clearly falls into the arbitrary category. I think that many people with great physical strength might orient themselves towards a career where physical strength is rewarded, as opposed to one where intellectual prowess is rewarded, but you'll still have weak(er) fighters and (more) intelligent wizards.

Before a desginer hardwires a restriction into the game, I would hope that he would ask himself: why is it impossible for X to be Y? And could this be a preference that some gamers can houserule into their game, instead of it being a core rule?

 

[Minigiant]

All restrictions should be based on game mechanics and balance. Design ideas can be inspired by certain flavors or tropes, but the design should still be balanced. If Halflings get zero reach, then they need something else to balance that out. If a good counterbalance can't be found, better to leave the restriction to the wayside.

Yes, I'd prefer all restictions to be balance. The Halfling shoe penalty was just as a joke but if halflings got an extra ring slot on their toes, I'd be fine with it. If halfings got a size bonus to AC, hiding, and sizing due to being a small target to compensate for their physical weakness and poor natural reach; I'd be fine with it too.

The solution you propose is kind of weird, no? You need to turn someone into a... ? You know what, I vastly prefer wizards capable of healing to what you propose, although I'm against wizards capable of healing

The point is wizards don't heal except in extreme emergencies when time, money, and ethics are not a factor.

I don't like this stereotype to become structurally forced into the game. This irks me. This is why I always liked rolling ability scores. Because you end up with enduring or strong wizards. I work with a programmer, he's strong, plays sports, and he tackles like a pro. Life is like that. Some people follow intellectual paths, but still have superior physical attributes. To me, the restriction you propose to wizards clearly falls into the arbitrary category. I think that many people with great physical strength might orient themselves towards a career where physical strength is rewarded, as opposed to one where intellectual prowess is rewarded, but you'll still have weak(er) fighters and (more) intelligent wizards.

The point of that one is wizards have low base HP and a wizard can only escape this by have massive Constitution or multiple Toughness feats like the older editions.

But I agree, all restrictions should have a good rationale and a balancing factor. But I still want to see some of them as they are great role playing tools.

 

[kitsune9]

I see the argument going both ways. For me, I'm a bit of a traditionalist in which I like the restrictions; however, there are some campaigns where having restrictions wouldn't add to the feel or flavor of that campaign. Don't ask me for specifics. To each their own on that.

 

[Mattachine]

Race restrictions always went out the window in games I DMed, going back to 1e (before Unearthed Arcana). Why? It was more fun.

Also, plenty of fantasy settings have magical dwarves, elves with connection to the gods (clerics/healers), and so forth. Racial restrictions would be a good suggestion in the 5e DMG, but that's it, kinda like in 3e.

 

[mkill]

I think farmboys should not be allowed to take Jedi classes. No good will ever come of that. Not that it matters, this shiny new battle station is now the ultimate force in the universe.

And talking about Hobbits, they're short, pudgy and only care about their seven meals a day. They shouldn't just be banned from taking adventurer classes. A boring race like that could never make a proper hero, make them NPC only.

And blind people... It's fine if they want to pick the massage skill, but make sure the proper modifiers are in place so they can't pick things like swordplay. Who would want to hear a story about a blind samurai anyway?

 

[howandwhy99]

What are your views on racial and class restrictions not based on combinations?

Should dwarves be allowed to be fast?
Should wizards get healing magic?
Should halflings, gnomes, goblins, and kobolds be able to weld two handed medium weapons?
Should clerics be able to be proficient with non-maces by default?
Should arcanists be allowed to cast in armor?
Should halflings be allowed to wear shoes?
Should dwarves hate trees and be unable to use wooden items?

#3 doesn't work in my game, but only because there are no "medium weapons". Otherwise, Yes to all of them.

Part of all this comes down to how does one want their game world to function? It's not about the correct game world, but what the people at the table want.