D&D 5E (2014) Wow! No more subraces. The Players Handbook races reformat to the new race format going forward.

[Scribe]

I had a thought today that this is more of a shift of how players create characters.

Back in the day, human was seen as default. You sit down, and you create a fighter, or a wizard, or a cleric, and then if you wanted to specialize further you played a non-human race, accepting that you were penalized in some way (ability score penalty, class restrictions, etc).

3e really changed the dynamic by allowing any race to be any class. Suddenly you could have a half-orc wizard, though you still were penalized with an ability score penalty.

4e shifted even further my removing ability score penalties.

Over time, I feel like the idea of "human = default" has become, well, old-fashioned. It's no longer the way many groups play. But it's still embedded in the rules by pairing nonhuman races with ability score improvements.

These days, I believe a lot of players want to choose a race based on their character concept, not necessarily to specialize. When a player chooses to play a wizard, they don't necessarily default to "human wizard." Instead, they might imagine a half-orc wizard, or a halfling wizard, or what have you.

WotC's recent shifts seem to support this trend, and I think it's one of the things motivating these changes.

And Tasha's covers this.

Not good enough though, because Wizards was still on the hook for 'saying something'.

Nothing gained by doing that, so it's now 'do whatever'.

 

[Mind of tempest]

I had a thought today that this is more of a shift of how players create characters.

Back in the day, human was seen as default. You sit down, and you create a fighter, or a wizard, or a cleric, and then if you wanted to specialize further you played a non-human race, accepting that you were penalized in some way (ability score penalty, class restrictions, etc).

3e really changed the dynamic by allowing any race to be any class. Suddenly you could have a half-orc wizard, though you still were penalized with an ability score penalty.

4e shifted even further my removing ability score penalties.

Over time, I feel like the idea of "human = default" has become, well, old-fashioned. It's no longer the way many groups play. But it's still embedded in the rules by pairing nonhuman races with ability score improvements.

These days, I believe a lot of players want to choose a race based on their character concept, not necessarily to specialize. When a player chooses to play a wizard, they don't necessarily default to "human wizard." Instead, they might imagine a half-orc wizard, or a halfling wizard, or what have you.

WotC's recent shifts seem to support this trend, and I think it's one of the things motivating these changes.

that seems like a reasonable assessment of the present situation.

And Tasha's covers this.

Not good enough though, because Wizards was still on the hook for 'saying something'.

Nothing gained by doing that, so it's now 'do whatever'.

tasher was closer to a code patch this is a flat out update.

personally, I want abilities that make races more distinct as stats felt like a stop-gap measure, not something interesting.

 

[Scribe]

tasher was closer to a code patch this is a flat out update.

personally, I want abilities that make races more distinct as stats felt like a stop-gap measure, not something interesting.

An optional system that was understood and explained in a few lines. Simple.

You can have more detailed rules. That doesn't mean you have to throw out ASI.

You can, believe it or not, have both. You could even have Paragon abilities AND racial feats.

 

[Mind of tempest]

An optional system that was understood and explained in a few lines. Simple.

You can have more detailed rules. That doesn't mean you have to throw out ASI.

You can, believe it or not, have both. You could even have Paragon abilities AND racial feats.

but why keep asi it is such a bad system if two races both end up with twenty dex they feel no different or does it change any stat it is just a dull way to do it.

 

[Ixal]

but why keep asi it is such a bad system if two races both end up with twenty dex they feel no different or does it change any stat it is just a dull way to do it.

The only fix required is to make the ability maximum ASI dependent. Other than that its not a bad system at all. It has an effect on a lot of variables in the game and is immersive.

 

[Weiley31]

I actually wonder if the all the races in the new Monsters of the Multiverse book will "somewhat" rearrange the prior race choices into the new format or keep them as is.

 

[Azzy]

I actually wonder if the all the races in the new Monsters of the Multiverse book will "somewhat" rearrange the prior race choices into the new format or keep them as is.

You can safely bet that they are going to be updated with floating ASIs—that is the way of things now.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

You can safely bet that they are going to be updated with floating ASIs—that is the way of things now.

I'm actually looking forward to see them updated in the new format. Hopefully Genasi get a buff, too (I would love it if they became a Lineage so that you could have a Dwarf Earth Genasi or an Aarakocra Air Genasi, but that might be a bit too far for this book).

 

[Micah Sweet]

Tasha's-style ASIs went from optional to the law of the land incredibly quickly by publishing standards. There is every reason to believe it was done in response to public opinion quickly coming down on "you didn't go far enough". Doing what they did makes no sense otherwise, and all their other changes fall right 8n line with that philosophy as well. As I've said in another thread, WotC has removed themselves from responsibility on nearly every front in favor of a liability-averse, "do you what you want" stance. In my mind, this means they are no longer any more important to D&D than any other publisher, except in the strictest legal sense.

 

[Scribe]

but why keep asi it is such a bad system if two races both end up with twenty dex they feel no different or does it change any stat it is just a dull way to do it.

They do feel different.

Especially if some races cap out, or there are systems in place that allow for higher than 20.

This isn't an issue of ASI. It's an issue of 5e.