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Unearthed Arcana: Gothic Lineages & New Race/Culture Distinction
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<blockquote data-quote="Kannik" data-source="post: 8184349" data-attributes="member: 984"><p>For additional consideration, a quick(ish) look at strength in more detail, as it appears to be a prime lighting rod in this thread…</p><p></p><p>What, primarily, does the STR score provide in 5e?</p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">How well you melee things</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">How strong your melee hits are</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">How well you athletic (running, climbing, jumping, playing dragonball)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">How much you can lift</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">How much you can carry</li> </ul><p>As a martial artist, rock climber, tough mudderer, and etc, I will say that the first three are not entirely dependent on the amount of meat you have (ie, how big or dense you are). Here, how <em>well</em> you use your body is more important than how <em>much</em> of your body there is. A big person who hasn’t learned how to recruit their muscles well is carrying around more dead weight than anything else. (In certain cases, like in climbing, the more meat you have the worst off you often are, though height can be a counterbalancing factor.) Those who have learned how to best use their structure, recruit their muscles, incorporate proper leverage, and etc, can perform much better in those tasks than even a bodybuilder who has focused solely on getting as big as they can. Which means that in some cases a smaller person can hit harder (ie, generate force and effectively transfer it into the target) than a larger person.</p><p></p><p>And these three uses for the STR attribute are the ones that arise the most in the game; areas where development of body is of prime importance and thus areas where a racial bonus to the attribute isn’t strongly called for. Especially given that PCs are often a break the typical. (And if you want to play a campaign where the PCs are average and fit the typical cultural mold that is still entirely doable without needing racial attribute mods.)</p><p></p><p>But what about the areas lifting or carrying things? Or grappling or shoving, where being larger plays an outsized (heh) role? That’s where the existing size modifications come in: in these cases, a halfling will have less overall ability there for the same ability score than that of a giant.</p><p></p><p>(Also worth noting that these size mods, and through them weapon size restrictions, also mean that a halfling will already be a bit less effective in melee as well, even with the same STR score.)</p><p></p><p>As most PC race options are limited to small or medium characters (for the same reasons as the weapon size restrictions, only the reverse of the halfling), to model an 8’ tall goliath having extra lifting greatness and advantage in grappling and shoving is where traits such as “You are considered large for the purposes of…” or “You gain advantage on rolls to…” or “Multiply your lifting and carrying capacity by 1.5…” or similar come in highlight that difference. All while leaving hitting and athleticing within the purview of the raw STR score.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Kannik, post: 8184349, member: 984"] For additional consideration, a quick(ish) look at strength in more detail, as it appears to be a prime lighting rod in this thread… What, primarily, does the STR score provide in 5e? [LIST] [*]How well you melee things [*]How strong your melee hits are [*]How well you athletic (running, climbing, jumping, playing dragonball) [*]How much you can lift [*]How much you can carry [/LIST] As a martial artist, rock climber, tough mudderer, and etc, I will say that the first three are not entirely dependent on the amount of meat you have (ie, how big or dense you are). Here, how [I]well[/I] you use your body is more important than how [I]much[/I] of your body there is. A big person who hasn’t learned how to recruit their muscles well is carrying around more dead weight than anything else. (In certain cases, like in climbing, the more meat you have the worst off you often are, though height can be a counterbalancing factor.) Those who have learned how to best use their structure, recruit their muscles, incorporate proper leverage, and etc, can perform much better in those tasks than even a bodybuilder who has focused solely on getting as big as they can. Which means that in some cases a smaller person can hit harder (ie, generate force and effectively transfer it into the target) than a larger person. And these three uses for the STR attribute are the ones that arise the most in the game; areas where development of body is of prime importance and thus areas where a racial bonus to the attribute isn’t strongly called for. Especially given that PCs are often a break the typical. (And if you want to play a campaign where the PCs are average and fit the typical cultural mold that is still entirely doable without needing racial attribute mods.) But what about the areas lifting or carrying things? Or grappling or shoving, where being larger plays an outsized (heh) role? That’s where the existing size modifications come in: in these cases, a halfling will have less overall ability there for the same ability score than that of a giant. (Also worth noting that these size mods, and through them weapon size restrictions, also mean that a halfling will already be a bit less effective in melee as well, even with the same STR score.) As most PC race options are limited to small or medium characters (for the same reasons as the weapon size restrictions, only the reverse of the halfling), to model an 8’ tall goliath having extra lifting greatness and advantage in grappling and shoving is where traits such as “You are considered large for the purposes of…” or “You gain advantage on rolls to…” or “Multiply your lifting and carrying capacity by 1.5…” or similar come in highlight that difference. All while leaving hitting and athleticing within the purview of the raw STR score. [/QUOTE]
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