What was the reason for Demihuman level and class limits in AD&D?

[nevin]

Which was always a silly idea, of course. It just makes the game unbalanced in favor of the demihumans at the levels everyone plays, and unbalanced in favor of the humans at levels almost no one plays.

not as unbalanced as now. though now the imbalances are classes and spells.

 

[Mannahnin]

not as unbalanced as now. though now the imbalances are classes and spells.

Nah. Definitely more unbalanced than now.

But either way, the nice thing about D&D not being a competitive game is that each table can tweak as needed.

 

[Foodgeek]

I always thought level limits and multiclassing for demi humans were so that some people would play humans.

 

[Bohandas]

The class limits don't actually do anything to answer the question of why the longer lived races aren;t all high level; level caps are merely another way of saying "they just aren't"