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Message: <blockquote data-quote="dnoonan" data-source="post: 6105997" data-attributes="member: 82545">A lot of the ideas in here--and the critiques--mirror WotC R&D discussions in both the 3e and 4e eras. I think a lot of players would agree that it's cool to get "elfier" or "dwarfier" over time--although there's less agreement about whether you should automatically get elfier as a consequence of leveling or whether you can choose to do so (or choose something else instead).Implementation is confounding, though. We tried all sorts of things for 4e--we basically created a "silo" of ever-expanding race benefits that would run through the heroic tier (at which point paragon paths would sorta "take over" that design space). (Early 3e designs tried a bunch of things with regard to race, too. I just don't remember them as well.)It's hard to make cool and balanced level-races that:• Don't rely on a lot of situational modifiers (how many obscure +1s and +2s get forgotten at the average table?).• Slightly nudge races toward their historically preferred class without making it a mandate.• Are balanced with each other and with parallel game elements (feats, class features, etc.).• Leave design space to make cool new classes.• Somehow handle what it means--thematically--to be "more human." (Some races are easier to design level-ups for than others, in other words.)And maybe the hardest one:• Actually _deliver_ on the promise of "you are now 'elfier'" in terms of feel. After a while, an extra +1 Spot is just an incrementally bigger number on your character sheet. It doesn't deliver a feel.What we wound up with was the heroic-tier racial feats. That's a low-key but straightforward implementation of the desire to get "elfier" over time. It absolutely makes racial level-ups a choice, not a given, though. Me? I'd kinda like racial level-ups to be a given. But I don't for one second underestimate the difficulty in pulling that off.David NoonanDM Rampant</blockquote>

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