It seems to me that the variant human race gets shortchanged - basically you're trading 4 ability points for a feat (and one skill). Since feats typically "cost" 2 ability points, it seems like the variant gets shortchanged and should get two feats (but not the extra skill).
I've been allowing human players to pick between the "standard" human, +1 to two abilities and two feats, or +1 to four abilities and one feat. Am I missing something that makes this overpowered?
In a vacuum, standard human is better than variant human. Realistically, unless you have 5-6 odd scores before racial bonuses, most of what standard human gives you will be largely useless.
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"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
If I had a certain archetype I couldn't play without a feat, then the stat 'sacrifice' (Matthias brings up a good point on how many of those stats are directly impactful) would be worth it to play the character. If you can wait till level 4 then take the extra stats.
While making an NPC I did get an opportunity to turn a really boring stat set (11,11,13,13,12,11) into something of some use, but opportunities like that are few and far between.
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"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
Since feats typically "cost" 2 ability points, it seems like the variant gets shortchanged and should get two feats (but not the extra skill).
The difference is that the "worth" of a +1 to an ability score is not always the same. A +1 to a score your character's general effectiveness relies upon, and that is already an odd number, is of significantly more worth than a +1 to a currently even ability score that the player doesn't consider a high priority (example: a player of a battle master fighter character is likely to place a higher value on the +1 that turns their strength from 15 to 16 than they would place on the +1 that turns their charisma from a 12 to a 13, or even from a 16 to a 17).
So the standard human isn't actually worth 3 feats; 2 of the +1s are definitely worth a feat because they are going to the scores the player most wants them to go to, and the variant human keeps those 2 and the ability to choose where to put them, thus keeping the worth of them the same. The next 2 of the +1s are potentially worth a feat because there are a couple of ability scores that aren't necessarily the top two priorities for every character but make good secondary priorities (such as Dex for a little more AC, and Con for additional hit points, and those two also being important saving throws to be able to make reliably), and the variant human gets to choose a feat, thus keeping the worth of them very close to the same. The last 2 of the +1s are not worth as much as a feat because they are applying to scores that the player doesn't much care about (their character's lowest 2 scores) and isn't going to get much use out of (because they are the lowest scores), and yet the variant human gets to pick one skill of their choice to be proficient in which is actually worth a little bit more than the effect of these +1s because the player can pick a skill that will come up often and be important for them to succeed at, instead of maybe having a slightly better chance to succeed at a some variety of skills that they will still not have great chances of success at because they rely on the character's lowest ability scores.
Or, to sum that up differently; More people have arrived at the conclusions of "variant human is the best race option in the book" and "variant human is powerful enough to be worth banning players from choosing it" than have arrived at the conclusion that the variant human option needs more stuff to be worth choosing it.
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
Since feats typically "cost" 2 ability points, it seems like the variant gets shortchanged and should get two feats (but not the extra skill).
The difference is that the "worth" of a +1 to an ability score is not always the same. A +1 to a score your character's general effectiveness relies upon, and that is already an odd number, is of significantly more worth than a +1 to a currently even ability score that the player doesn't consider a high priority (example: a player of a battle master fighter character is likely to place a higher value on the +1 that turns their strength from 15 to 16 than they would place on the +1 that turns their charisma from a 12 to a 13, or even from a 16 to a 17).
So the standard human isn't actually worth 3 feats; 2 of the +1s are definitely worth a feat because they are going to the scores the player most wants them to go to, and the variant human keeps those 2 and the ability to choose where to put them, thus keeping the worth of them the same. The next 2 of the +1s are potentially worth a feat because there are a couple of ability scores that aren't necessarily the top two priorities for every character but make good secondary priorities (such as Dex for a little more AC, and Con for additional hit points, and those two also being important saving throws to be able to make reliably), and the variant human gets to choose a feat, thus keeping the worth of them very close to the same. The last 2 of the +1s are not worth as much as a feat because they are applying to scores that the player doesn't much care about (their character's lowest 2 scores) and isn't going to get much use out of (because they are the lowest scores), and yet the variant human gets to pick one skill of their choice to be proficient in which is actually worth a little bit more than the effect of these +1s because the player can pick a skill that will come up often and be important for them to succeed at, instead of maybe having a slightly better chance to succeed at a some variety of skills that they will still not have great chances of success at because they rely on the character's lowest ability scores.
Or, to sum that up differently; More people have arrived at the conclusions of "variant human is the best race option in the book" and "variant human is powerful enough to be worth banning players from choosing it" than have arrived at the conclusion that the variant human option needs more stuff to be worth choosing it.
Thanks. That's a good explanation of the mechanics and balance of the thing.
I've actually taken to using the variant human as the basis for creating new races by re-skinning it.
Simply dictate where those +1s go, the bonus language, and the skill proficiency, make a Homebrew Feat to reflect any cool Racial Feature you want, and VOILA! New race.
This was born of necessity for a live-streamed Eberron game I'm running using D&D Beyond, but I actually kind of love it as a design principle.
I'm even using that method for some of my creations at DMs Guild.
I've actually taken to using the variant human as the basis for creating new races by re-skinning it.
Simply dictate where those +1s go, the bonus language, and the skill proficiency, make a Homebrew Feat to reflect any cool Racial Feature you want, and VOILA! New race.
This was born of necessity for a live-streamed Eberron game I'm running using D&D Beyond, but I actually kind of love it as a design principle.
I'm even using that method for some of my creations at DMs Guild.
That's basically the approach I took for my Amazon race, though I used the half-elf as the starting template.
It seems to me that the variant human race gets shortchanged - basically you're trading 4 ability points for a feat (and one skill). Since feats typically "cost" 2 ability points, it seems like the variant gets shortchanged and should get two feats (but not the extra skill).
I've been allowing human players to pick between the "standard" human, +1 to two abilities and two feats, or +1 to four abilities and one feat. Am I missing something that makes this overpowered?
In a vacuum, standard human is better than variant human. Realistically, unless you have 5-6 odd scores before racial bonuses, most of what standard human gives you will be largely useless.
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Tooltips (Help/aid)
If I had a certain archetype I couldn't play without a feat, then the stat 'sacrifice' (Matthias brings up a good point on how many of those stats are directly impactful) would be worth it to play the character. If you can wait till level 4 then take the extra stats.
While making an NPC I did get an opportunity to turn a really boring stat set (11,11,13,13,12,11) into something of some use, but opportunities like that are few and far between.
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
If you're using the point buy system, you can certainly optimize the usefulness of all those +1s.
Eh, I had nothing good to say.
But that is a strong point to mention for the HumanV2.
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
I've actually taken to using the variant human as the basis for creating new races by re-skinning it.
Simply dictate where those +1s go, the bonus language, and the skill proficiency, make a Homebrew Feat to reflect any cool Racial Feature you want, and VOILA! New race.
This was born of necessity for a live-streamed Eberron game I'm running using D&D Beyond, but I actually kind of love it as a design principle.
I'm even using that method for some of my creations at DMs Guild.
I make stuff on DMs Guild, DriveThruRPG, & Storytellers Vault. I stream things on Twitch.
It works REALLY well, saves time, and is almost guaranteed to balance well unless you throw in something CRAZY in new features.
I make stuff on DMs Guild, DriveThruRPG, & Storytellers Vault. I stream things on Twitch.