NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Chaosmancer" data-source="post: 8046556" data-attributes="member: 6801228">Not liking it doesn't change that it is RAW.Do note that Dm's are constantly warned about giving out magical items too early or too often, because they can upset the game balance and ruin the game. No DM really gives a +2 or +3 sword to low level character's right? And this entire argument misses a fundamental fact. You are talking about Treasure. And treasure and rewards should be fairly even. Legitimate story that happened to me. We had completed an epic level story arc, and got rewarded items by some dwarven celestials from the heavens. The DM had us roll randomly for what we received. One person got a +3 Vorpal Sword (that they had reforged into a polearm)Another person got Blackrazor (that they returned for having their sun sword improved up to a +3 as well) Yet another person got an oathbowMy paladin got a shield of smiles. It is a shield that has a face that can change expressions. it is a common item.  I returned it and got something better, but the point stands that that was clearly unfair, and made no sense in context. Because, the idea generally is that barring extraordinary circumstances the DM will work to balance the handing out of magic items. This is a separate concern from ASI's from races.See, I think you've hit upon something interesting though, something that I've made the point about repeatedly. That person who took that linguist feat, chose to do so. Likely, they had a 16 or 18 in their stat, because otherwise they would likely feel the need to bump their scores. If they wanted to instead improve their character, they would pick something else. But, it would be the same character, right? The person who is choosing their race very well might choose a race that lowers their score instead of buffing it. But, if they want to improve their class score instead they build a different character.Where as the human fighter can choose to up strength or take linguist at level 4, if you go back to character creation your only choice is to build a different character if you want to have a solid score. That is the problem I have. It isn't about forbidding people from choosing to be less optimal, it is letting character concepts shine, even if they happen to be something that isn't optimal. And, of the person wants to run a Gnome Barbarian with +2 INT instead of strength? Then with floating scores they can still do that. But now it is a choice they are making, not one they are being forced into by picking to play a gnome.Because seeing in the dark is also useful for everyone. Menacing can be great on a bard or warlock. Savage attack can be useful for druids. Infernal Legacy is extra spells, I'd love to have my fighter use hellish rebuke or my rogue cast darkness. Mask of the Wild is useful for anyone who wants to hide, which is usually the whole party. Dwarven weapon training can be useful for a lot of classes, especially with the new class variant monk who can make them monk weapons, and dwarven armor is more useful for casters. Halfling ability to hide behind people and ranger ability to track? Not sure where you got that one from, but since I don't see it, that helps prove the point. A lot of these are useful universally. Sometimes more so for classes that never get to see them because of racial ASIsI'm going to take Menacing for a moment. Proficiency in Intimidation is +2 at level 1, double the bonus from a slightly higher Cha. So, the Half-Orc Barbarian has better hp, ac, attack, damage, an extra skill, and better crits. Your tielfing has spells (useful, but 1/day) and better charisma, which only translates into better Intimidation if you took the skill. And you are worse at everything a barbarian is supposed to be good at. So, you sacrificed 5% attack, damage, hp, and AC for maybe +5% on intimidation, which if the table runs with letting you use strength to intimidate, you actually don't even have. But, dang it, a Tielfing Barbarian fueled by the rage of Phlegethos is coool. I want to play that character, but there is literally no good reason too other than theme. And a theme that isn't backed up by the game system is just going to leave me frustrated and wishing I had just played the better option.</blockquote>

Verification