Leif said:
And would one of you enlightened souls please tell me in definitive terms and in less than 250 words exactly what is the difference between "balanced" and "equal"??? And how does "equivalent" figure into this equation? Or, in other words, how many elves can dance on the head of a pin, and does the answer change for a waltz or a watusi??
Balanced - Any given race taken across an average using all the base classes will not have an inordinate given advantage overall.
Equal - Comparing the races directly without regard to class choices the races have equivalent abilities, adjustments, bonuses, etc.
That's IMHO of course and the reality of the situation is this...
It's all an illusion to let the designers/developers do what they like based on their preferences. 
Compare a half-orc to any other PHB race and you'll see the flagrant disregard for both "balanced" and "equal". There are insane zero la/ecl races in other book such as whisper gnomes (RoS) and the dragonborn (RoD) (not innately but there are combinations that are way over the top). Goblins, my favorite actually, are also quite underpowered as are kobolds... although the online web enhancement for kobolds
here pretty much shifts kobolds into a solid zero la/ecl race. Basically, for the most part, the base level classical non-good races (other than Drow which have the +2LA thrown on them
) are all underpowered when compared in both balance
and equality (note: kobolds really are fixed if you apply the web enhancement variant to them)
[sblock=Half-Orc]
* +2 Strength, -2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma.
* Medium
* Half-orc base land speed is 30 feet.
* Darkvision
* Orc Blood
* Automatic Languages: Common and Orc. Bonus Languages: Draconic, Giant, Gnoll, Goblin, and Abyssal.
* Favored Class: Barbarian[/sblock]
[sblock=Goblin]
* -2 Strength, +2 Dexterity, -2 Charisma.
* Small size
* A goblin’s base land speed is 30 feet.
* Darkvision out to 60 feet.
* +4 racial bonus on Move Silently and Ride checks.
* Automatic Languages: Common, Goblin. Bonus Languages: Draconic, Elven, Giant, Gnoll, Orc.
* Favored Class: Rogue.[/sblock]
[sblock=Kobold]
* -4 Strength, +2 Dexterity, -2 Constitution.
* Small size
* A kobold’s base land speed is 30 feet.
* Darkvision out to 60 feet.
* Racial Skills: A kobold character has a +2 racial bonus on Craft (trapmaking), Profession (miner), and Search checks.
* +1 natural armor bonus.
* Light sensitivity.
* Automatic Languages: Draconic. Bonus Languages: Common, Undercommon.
* Favored Class: Sorcerer.
* Level adjustment +0.[/sblock]
