The pendulum swings back: Humans suck once again

[Diirk]

This means that it will always be optimal to start with this main stat as high as possible at level 1, and increase it by +1 every chance you get, except the very last one at lvl 28 where it doesn't matter.

Stat gains aren't every 4 levels, they're at 4, 8, 11, 14, 18, 21, 24 and 28... so assuming you do +1 to primary stat every level, the one at lvl 28 will be important assuming you started with it at an even number.

(the stat gains at 11 and 21 are +1 all stats, the others are +1 to 2 different stats)

 

[Mal Malenkirk]

It's impressive how many people can have radically different views of the same stats.

I'd like to say that each opinion is worth the same, sadly a lot of of the human comes down to hard numbers and they don't give a **** about opinions.

People who think that the +1 to all defense (except AC) is weak and that it becomes irrelevant as levels increase are wrong. There is just no way to comromise or agree to disagree on something that is close to 2+2=4. I don't want to repeat the arguments, but it's high school math to realize that level 1 doing +3 against defense 14 or 15 is the same as level awesome doing +53 against 64 or 65. In both case the +1 decrease the damage you receive (along with those nasty side effect) by 10%. How cool is that?

The only thing that prevents this from being a rout is the extra +2 that other race gets. For example, Dragonborn and dwarf fighters with the same build as a human gets the same will defense thanks to their +2 to CHA and WIS respectively. So humans get a +1 to only fortitude and reflex compared to them. The human will have +2 to STR too so they can't claim higher fortitude than him. Do you get that ; the DWARF fighter doesn't have a better fortitude than the human fighter!

 

[MindWanderer]

The only thing that prevents this from being a rout is the extra +2 that other race gets. For example, Dragonborn and dwarf fighters with the same build as a human gets the same will defense thanks to their +2 to CHA and WIS respectively. So humans get a +1 to only fortitude and reflex compared to them.

And that's only conditionally true, as well. If you're running a polearm fighter, then the dragonborn gets a nerf: since your Wis will probably be higher than your Cha, +2 Cha doesn't help your defenses. And the human may even have a better Fort than the dwarf if the dwarf's Con is no higher than its Str.

 

[Rystil Arden]

To get back to the racial discussion...

Quite to the contrary of the OP, I'm a little concerned that humans are a little too good. Or perhaps more accurately, that for someone who understands the math of the system, the number of race-class combinations that make sense are rather limited.

Let me reiterate the point about statistics that several other posters have made: a persistent +1 to a certain value never stops being valuable, whether you're level 1 or 30. This is not a matter of debate, it is a self-evident truth. Having a 5 percentile greater chance to do something or stop someone from doing unto you is always pure gold.

If we assume that combat will account for a major part of the dice-rolling in most D&D campaigns, we quickly realize that each class has one ability score that controls both the success rate and damage done with most of their powers. All of them, in fact, if they are chosen wisely.

This means that it will always be optimal to start with this main stat as high as possible at level 1, and increase it by +1 every chance you get.

What this in turn means is that you must choose a race that will give +2 to your main stat. The only exception that immediately springs to mind is dwarf fighters: the other dwarven racial abilities are so awesome for tanking, that not having max Strength can be forgiven.

If you combine this perspective with taking into account the usefulness of other racial abilities, the conclusion is that Humans totally bring the pwnage. The only other race that comes close for breadth of class options is Dragonborn. The rest of the races can all be good choices, but in narrower fields.

... Except Tieflings, who suck no matter how you cut it.

Edit: removed a faulty comment about level 28.

Not necessarily--Wisdom is actually rather important for an Orb-path Wizard because they have a per encounter ability that inflicts a penalty equal to their Wis bonus on an enemy's saves. As such, I would imagine that a hypothetical +2 Int +2 Wis race would be superior to humans, since the PB cost of an 18 is so extreme that it's hard to keep both of those stats high otherwise and still have 13 Charisma for Spell Focus.

 

[Ashenboychild]

With all the concern about humans only getting +2 to one ability, is it really that much better for Eldarins who get +2 to int and dex, which pretty much do the exact same thing?

 

[Rystil Arden]

With all the concern about humans only getting +2 to one ability, is it really that much better for Eldarins who get +2 to int and dex, which pretty much do the exact same thing?

If you're a Wizard who uses Wands, you get a power where you can add +Int and +Dex both on an attack roll.

 

[Ashenboychild]

If you're a Wizard who uses Wands, you get a power where you can add +Int and +Dex both on an attack roll.

Nice, so i was begining to think Eldarin mages were a waste of time

 

[Rystil Arden]

Nice, so i was begining to think Eldarin mages were a waste of time

It's quite a useful ability, though I'm partial to the Orb ability that requires high Wis. Still, it's quite nice to be able to make your daily super-accurate, particularly when you don't have it reliable.

 

[Bolongo]

Not necessarily--Wisdom is actually rather important for an Orb-path Wizard because they have a per encounter ability that inflicts a penalty equal to their Wis bonus on an enemy's saves. As such, I would imagine that a hypothetical +2 Int +2 Wis race would be superior to humans, since the PB cost of an 18 is so extreme that it's hard to keep both of those stats high otherwise and still have 13 Charisma for Spell Focus.

Yes of course. Why do you think I'm disagreeing with you?

Oh, maybe you think my comment about "pwnage" means that I consider Humans to always be superior to every other race? No, that's not how I meant it. I just mean that whatever class you want to play, Human is always one of the best options, and in several cases it is clearly the top dog. But Dragonborn give them a run for their money as Paladins and Warlords, and Eldarin are pretty nifty Wizards (if they choose Wand), for instance. And that's just considering stats - factoring in other abilities I'd say both Elves and Eldarin rock as Rogues or Archery Rangers, to take the most obvious examples.

It's just that if you're Human you can pick whatever class you feel like and run with it; if you want to play some other race you have to consider class much more carefully, or resign to a sub-optimal build.

Dragonborn are almost as good, though - the only thing they really stink at is Wizardry. A Dragonborn Rogue might be amusing - can't max Dex, but has a bonus to both secondary stats and some other fun racials. For Cleric, Ranger and Warlock they have to take specific builds (Str, Str and Cha, respectively), but that's no great loss.

 

[silentounce]

Dragonborn are almost as good, though - the only thing they really stink at is Wizardry. A Dragonborn Rogue might be amusing - can't max Dex, but has a bonus to both secondary stats and some other fun racials. For Cleric, Ranger and Warlock they have to take specific builds (Str, Str and Cha, respectively), but that's no great loss.

I don't think anything really stinks by itself. In comparison to some other combo maybe. The one thing that I've noticed is that there seems to be a smaller gap between sub-optimal and awesome in this edition than in 3.X. You could still have fun playing a Dragonborn Wizard, especially if you multiclass with something else. I know the rule of min/maxing seems to be specialize, and not be well rounded. But I would imagine being a hardier wizard might work in some parties. Something could be said for having five 14s and an 11, or three 16s. Not optimal, of course, but interesting.