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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Arial Black" data-source="post: 8207120" data-attributes="member: 6799649">???What does that mean?Does it mean that if I (as DM) use set racial bonuses, it follows that because I don't allow halflings to move their +2 from Dex to Str...that I'm denying them +2 completely? Not even to Dex?Try and re-frame it and I'll give you my honest opinion.You think it's stupid to have racial bonuses to match the concepts of that race, but I think it's sensible. My decision is not mindless, it is thoroughly thought through.No, it can't be placed anywhere (per the PHB), and they are deliberately placed to reflect that race's concept in game mechanics.An article in UA is not an errata. The rule is unchanged.Actually, I much prefer rolling to either point-buy or array. Always have.In fact, for years my main group just chose their six scores as if rolled on 3d6, and we trusted each other not to take the mickey.If this results in a halfling with Str 18 or an orc with Int 18, I am totally okay with it!But I would not be okay if they misused racial ability score bonuses to increase abilities not associated with that race!It's not the final score that bothers me, it's the perverting of racial bonuses for things that are not about that part of character creation.I would be just as horrified if a player created a 1st level fighter and swapped Fighting Style for Spellcasting. Just because they are both abilities available to 1st level PCs, it is not appropriate to claim that you get spellcasting because you are a fighter.  I cannot. I don't have access to that race. What book is it from?But racial bonuses are not there to customise your character, they are there to reflect the concepts of that race in game mechanics that apply because that's what that race gives you.Where customisation comes in is when you choose your race, knowing the traits that choice gives your PC.And since these traits are also designed with game balance in mind, there is no meta-advantage.That's my opinion too!Use the character creation process, and do what it says. You can customise the bits that let you choose (where to place which roll, which race-and its traits-to choose, which class-and its features-to choose, which background to choose.But there are things that are not customisable. There is a menu of classes, but there is no menu of individual features that you can mix and match, although some features do involve a choice (like Fighting Style). There is a menu of races to choose from, and you get the traits of that race, including ability score bonuses, but you cannot mix and match traits from different races except where they say you can.That the game. That's how it works.Right! It's moot because the +2 to Dex that halflings get is just as good as the +2 to Str that goliaths get! So, no, there is no meta-advantage to races that get +2 Str, just like you just said!My politics are slightly left of centre (at least in UK terms), and I believe that it's not only okay to debate ideas, I think it is essential for a healthy democracy. The idea that if you dare to even discuss certain subjects you should be punished is abhorrent. If an idea is awful, it should be exposed as awful by reasoned debate, not cancelled by either extreme of the political spectrum.There. I've checked myself, and I'm fine, thank you very much!</blockquote>

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