Worst...Idea...Ever

[JiffyPopTart]

It seems to me that everyone should have something they have run across in their DnD library that just sticks in their craw like nothing else.

The thing that makes you want to hop up and down and shout "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING??"

For me, its the Wild Elf.

+2 STR.....on an elf.

No.

How about you? And don't just tell us what it is...tell us why.

 

[The Grumpy Celt]

The enviromental racial variants; desert elves, jungle dwarves, etc. It seems booth thematically goofy and mechanically parsing the race too far.

 

[Tuzenbach]

1E's level limitations on all non-humans for all classes except Thief. Huh?

And as for why.......well, I could write a 90-page dissertation as to why, so I won't.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

You mean, in addition to twinking dwarves even more in 3.5?

There's a gnome race that gets +2 wis and +2 cha for their -2 str. They don't have a level adjustment. Doesn't seem balanced.

Half-Orc as a core race. So they wanted a race that is mechanically simple? In our campaign, we have invented a race for that: It's called human. They don't have to care about multiclassing XP penalties, and they don't get anything new (more skills and an extra feat, but you get this stuff anyway). No immunities to certain spells, no resistances to this sort of magic or that substance, no special senses, no lessened rest period that isn't lessened for spellcasters.... They could have done the work, and we wouldn't have a core race with a sizable part of the members being the result of some disgusting crimes. It's one of the few things I don't like about D&D 3e.

For me, its the Wild Elf.

+2 STR.....on an elf.

That's the wood elf.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

1E's level limitations on all non-humans for all classes except Thief. Huh?

And as for why.......well, I could write a 90-page dissertation as to why, so I won't.

Oh, when we're talking about older editions, too: I dislike most of 2e's inconsistent or inane rules (I don't know the earlier editions).

 

[JiffyPopTart]

It very well may be the wood elf. I sort of block out all odd elves (except the drow, which I consider to be significantly different) as they have always struck me as just saying "If you want to be an elf just pick a stat you want +2 in and take 2 off your CON"

 

[Kae'Yoss]

It very well may be the wood elf. I sort of block out all odd elves (except the drow, which I consider to be significantly different) as they have always struck me as just saying "If you want to be an elf just pick a stat you want +2 in and take 2 off your CON"

Except wild elves and the aquatic, of course - they get the hit in int. The other races don't all follow the +2 something -2 con pattern, especially not in the core rules.

High: +2 dex -2 con
Grey: +2 dex +2 int -2 str -2 con
Dark: +2 int +2 cha +2 dex -2 con
Aquatic/Wild: +2 dex -2 int
Wood: +2 dex +2 str -2 con -2 int

The Forgotten realms do have several races that follow the pattern (silver +2 dex gold +2 int mithral +2 cha), but the rest are different as well.

 

[Andor]

The swashbuckler and samurai classes from complete warrior both seemed that way to me.

The Samurai was vastly inferior to both of the already printed Samurai classes, and the Swashbuckler base class desperately needed to take the the Swashbuckler prestige class to get canny defense. Huh?

 

[Falkus]

There's a gnome race that gets +2 wis and +2 cha for their -2 str. They don't have a level adjustment. Doesn't seem balanced.

I was under the impression that when it comes to racial stat bonuses, the mental abilities are generally considered to be somewhat less valuable than the physical ones.

They could have done the work, and we wouldn't have a core race with a sizable part of the members being the result of some disgusting crimes. It's one of the few things I don't like about D&D 3e.

Where do you think a good number of half-elves come from? Human-elf relations aren't that common.

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

Complete Arcane's complete overemphasis of the Wu-Jen.