Restrictions on races and classes.

[Kobold Avenger]

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?

1. Dwarves should be allowed to be moderately faster, if they're a monk or use a spell that increases speed.
2. No, unless draining magic or lifeforce to heal self counts as healing magic. Or they level dipped into another class, or have a ritual that allows healing.
3. In much the same way humans could be able to wield two-handed weapons for large creatures. Not likely to hit anything but they could try.
4. If a cleric's has sword or spear or something like that as the weapon of their deity of course they should.
5. Yes Arcanists of all varieties from Artificers and Hexblades to Warlocks and Wizards should be allowed to cast in armour, generally light armour, but if they spent all the resources in learning how to wear heavy armour they should still be able to cast.
6. Of course they should be allowed to wear shoes. In many campaigns they generally don't have hairy feet, and even if they do have hairy feet, nothing is stopping them from wearing shoes.
7. Dwarves wield wood all the time, maybe living underground it's not readily available, but they can easily get wood in exchange for iron they mined.

Racial Restrictions back in 2e never made sense to me. There was no justification for why Elves couldn't be Bards or Druids, when even their fluff said they were pretty good trees and music.

And it's better to have a Dwarf who is a wizard to the disapproval of his family and clan making an interesting character background, than to not have such a character at all.

 

[marleykat]

The things a character can't do are just as important as what he can't. Chance of failure and inability to attempt are two very important parts of a role playing experience.

Some of these "bad at X" and "can't Y" are often tied to race and class. So which weakness, inabilities, flaws, deficiencies, and areas of lacking would you like placed on certain races and classes with a heavy investment of resources or special combination.

For example I want small races, like halflings and gnomes, to be weaker or limited with basic weapons attacks in some manner. They can focus on other aspects of combat such as defense, mobility, and ambush or get the damage from another source like magic or sneak attacks.

Halflings can't wear magic shoes. It irritates their feet.

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.

Squishy classes, like wizards and sorcerers, have glass jaws. Unless they have a high Constitution or take some other costly method to boost HP, they can't take many hits. Even when shapeshifted.

I agree with your view if not your exact list. For example I'm against exclusion of races in particular classes like 1e and 2e. But have no problem with races having statistical variance both positive and negative.

Allow it be possible for dwarves/orcs to be wizards but with the understanding that most elves and humans will tend to be better at it.

 

[Skyscraper]

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.

Yep, agreed here. This is why I think that hardcoded restrictions into the core rules should be few.

From this thread however, I take that the DMG could advantageously offer advice on how to either develop your own game world, or how to tweak another to your (and your players') taste(s). Some restrictions are interesting if they help the setting take shape. Common restriction in homebrew games include classes, races, power sources; but other restrictions could be envisioned such as "halfling cannot wear footwear" if it rocks your boat and if everyone feels it helps define the game world and/or offers interesting role-play opportunities. I'm sure game designers could come up with suggestions that I haven't thought about before.

 

[Crazy Jerome]

Yep, agreed here. This is why I think that hardcoded restrictions into the core rules should be few.

From this thread however, I take that the DMG could advantageously offer advice on how to either develop your own game world, or how to tweak another to your (and your players') taste(s). Some restrictions are interesting if they help the setting take shape. Common restriction in homebrew games include classes, races, power sources; but other restrictions could be envisioned such as "halfling cannot wear footwear" if it rocks your boat and if everyone feels it helps define the game world and/or offers interesting role-play opportunities. I'm sure game designers could come up with suggestions that I haven't thought about before.

Yes, they could even "prime the pump." Have a few core restrictions that are in there for some kind of base consistency and possibly balance (e.g. dwarf running speed, key ability score adjustments, etc.). Then put the rest of them on a "flavor list"--and explicitly tell the group/DM to pick anywhere from zero to all of them--or replace any or all of them--to fit how you see the world working. Then if you really like halfings with no shoes, you keep that (and maybe drop something else more problematic). If you don't care one way or the other, you might keep it and try it. If you hate it--no big deal, as you have plenty of replacements right there.

Anything more restrictive than that is just the designers or the community trying to tell the rest of us how to run our games. However, we are going to do it our way. Might as well acknowledge that and make it easy for us.

 

[Skyscraper]

Anything more restrictive than that is just the designers or the community trying to tell the rest of us how to run our games. However, we are going to do it our way. Might as well acknowledge that and make it easy for us.

Me telling everyone else how to run their game is fine, but no one gets to tell me how to run mine!