I've been hearing that, apparently, a new rule for racial ability score bonuses has come with Monsters of the Multiverse. From what I understand, it says that now you can customize the bonus to be either a +1 to three ability scores, or the more traditional +2 to one ability score, and +1 to another.

However, I've also seen that this only seems to apply to the newly "revamped" races that come in the book. Does this mean that races like the Hill Dwarf, Dark Elf, and Half-Orc are still going to be stuck with their default bonuses? If so, it feels kind of unfair to them. If not, how is it going to be implemented into D&D Beyond's character builder?

Thanks in advance for any answers that can be given.

This method first arrived in Tashas Cauldron of Everything, and was an optional method for character building. Now in MMoM, this has been made the default for the new races, so using the optional rule from Tashas is probably the simplest balancer for this.

A lot of people are unhappy about this because it removes the idea that a charachers physical or mental capabilities are predefined by their species. And a lot of people are very happy about this, for the same reasons.

If you feel concerned that the ability score increases are no longer racial, then pick the ones you want based on the race you're using, rather than any other factors (IE orcs are strong, gnomes are smart, and so on).

As part of the fundamental rules, then you are correct. PHB races and other non-recent ones have their fixed bonuses according to race (with a few exceptions) while more recent ones, including those from MotM, have no fixed bonuses at all - not even suggested.

Tasha's introduced the optional rule that you could move them around.

Personally, I think the "optional" aspect is rather artificial. The DM always had authority to allow it. The DM still has authority to disallow it, even with the new races, for that matter. It's just that a lot of people didn't, and seemingly still don't, understand this principle.

So, talk to your DM. Even if Tasha's never existed, it would be up to him to allow the movement of bonuses, and still is, on any race. Unless you're playing AL. Anyway, your DM is the only one who can speak on what you can do at the table. If you're the DM? Well, do what you want!

Quote from Linklite >>

As part of the fundamental rules, then you are correct. PHB races and other non-recent ones have their fixed bonuses according to race (with a few exceptions) while more recent ones, including those from MotM, have no fixed bonuses at all - not even suggested.

Tasha's introduced the optional rule that you could move them around.

Personally, I think the "optional" aspect is rather artificial. The DM always had authority to allow it. The DM still has authority to disallow it, even with the new races, for that matter. It's just that a lot of people didn't, and seemingly still don't, understand this principle.

So, talk to your DM. Even if Tasha's never existed, it would be up to him to allow the movement of bonuses, and still is, on any race. Unless you're playing AL. Anyway, your DM is the only one who can speak on what you can do at the table. If you're the DM? Well, do what you want!

 It's a bit of a double-edged sword on Wizards' collective part. 

On the one hand, they want D&D to be "the one to rule them all", and from a standpoint of drawing in a larger fanbase, they want characters to be as customizable as feasible.

But, given that D&D has always been the game known for giving unlimited authority to the DM to alter the rules as they see fit, the game is really saying "you know what, here are some suggestions, but y'all feel free to just make up your own game".  

And of course, that is a lot more difficult to make money off of.

But that is the sword nonetheless.

Personally, as a DM, I choose the different variations on rulesets and interpretations with the input of my players as part of the Session 0 process, and if something comes up later that we hadn't considered, we talk about it at that time in a quick "Session 0 addendum".  

My only real wish for the next version of the re-release in 2024 is that they consolidate the various rulesets back into the core documents and let future releases work from that new starting point.  The bookshelf of the current edition is getting too cluttered and scattered.  

If you own Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, you can check the Customize Your Origin box and it will allow you to make the same selections.

You can do this for homebrew creations as well by making the Ability Score Increase trait use options.

The Options

Three +1's

+2 / +1

So basically I can make "post-MotM" race variants?  That's a cool idea!  Also, I do want to point out that with Tasha's ability score bonus option, it still doesn't allow for a 1+ to three ability scores, so I think I'll go with your idea of just making it homebrew.

Quote from TytoTheTumultuous >>

I've been hearing that, apparently, a new rule for racial ability score bonuses has come with Monsters of the Multiverse. From what I understand, it says that now you can customize the bonus to be either a +1 to three ability scores, or the more traditional +2 to one ability score, and +1 to another.

However, I've also seen that this only seems to apply to the newly "revamped" races that come in the book. Does this mean that races like the Hill Dwarf, Dark Elf, and Half-Orc are still going to be stuck with their default bonuses? If so, it feels kind of unfair to them. If not, how is it going to be implemented into D&D Beyond's character builder?

Thanks in advance for any answers that can be given.

 The new stat system is likely going to be the baseline version for the 5.5/6e edition coming in 2024 where new revised corebooks will be issued for sale that update everyone not covered in MMM.  I think you can manually adjust scores on all your old sheets now though.