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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JEB" data-source="post: 8200361" data-attributes="member: 10148">Actually, I think it may have been very careful writing. As you see, they list ASI/language/alignment/cultural traits at first, but when they go into further detail about cultural characteristics, they mention all of those except ASIs. Thus saving them from making a declaration on the matter. Folks like you can interpret it as "ASI is also a cultural characteristic", others still have room to parse it as "ASI AND cultural traits like language and alignment". We'll have to wait and see if Wizards makes a less ambiguous statement later on. (Assuming they got pushback from the other direction on the change, though, I would expect future statements to be more ambiguous...)I don't think I suggested such players would be upset at having to make a decision; only that they'd been perfectly fine not making that decision before, and now they have to consider it. (Though I suppose it could upset some.)As for the rest of your point, they always had to choose a race and a class, with or without fixed ASIs. But with floating ASIs and no default suggestions, they're required to pick their race, their class and their ASI. It's three decision points instead of two.Adding to this: the "NPC Features" table (page 282) in the 5E DMG provides a list of ability score adjustments for both PC and monster races, meant to be applied to the NPC stat blocks for any character race other than human. These adjustments are explicitly being applied to NPCs, not the exceptional PCs, and the adjustments from PC races are consistent with the ones for PCs in the PHB. The idea that the PC ASIs represented archetypes distinct from the biology of those races, rather than the way these races simply were, only appeared in the lead-up to Tasha.Of course, they're allowed to change their mind. But it feels more like PR than fact that it was always meant to be this way.</blockquote>

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