Last month, I made a Twitter thread about racial ability score bonuses. I don’t like the way that races in D&D get numerical bonuses to their ability scores. I think it’s unnecessarily limiting. There are over 1,000 unique race/class combinations in fifth edition D&D, but only a small handful of them are worth playing from a character optimization standpoint. Not everyone feels the need to play optimal characters, and would instead rather play characters for their roleplay potential than their mechanical viability, but I don’t see why we can’t have both.
Halfling rogues are a classic class combination, for example, because they’re an optimal combo for all three pillars of D&D. Ever since The Hobbit, the idea of halflings being small and sneaky has been a staple of fantasy, giving us prime examples of how one might explore, fight, or interact with people as a halfling rogue. And D&D lets you do all that because of supremely synergistic racial ability score increases, racial traits, and the somewhat more ephemeral idea of being fun to roleplay. On the other hand, class combinations like a half-orc wizard have always been a harder sell. In previous additions, a half-orc’s penalty to Intelligence made being a wizard incredibly hard—and even in fifth edition D&D, the fact that the half-orc race doesn’t get a bonus to Intelligence makes it hard to excel as a wizard because you’ll always have a subpar spell attack bonus and saving throw DC.
This is to say nothing of the fact that linking ability score penalties (which are thankfully absent from the fifth edition Player’s Handbook, at least) to your choice of race has distasteful similarities to real-life racist ideology.
But the thing is, it doesn’t have to be this way. Ability score increases don’t have to be tied to which race you chose. They could be tied directly to your class, or more indirectly to your background, to some combination of the two options. Let’s take a look at some character creation house rules that you can use to decouple ability scores from race.
Step One: Remove Racial Ability Score Increases
The first step of this house rule is tremendously easy. Simply remove the Ability Score Increase trait from your character’s race and subrace, if applicable. In the case of the so-called “monstrous races” of orcs and kobolds from Volo’s Guide to Monsters, this removes their ability score reductions, as well.
If you’re worried about this making your character’s race irrelevant, or making the various fantasy races of D&D too homogeneous, don’t worry. Each race still has plenty of traits that help make them unique. For example, tieflings still have the Darkvision, Hellish Resistance, and Infernal Legacy traits, all of which make them unique and fantastical—and more importantly, these traits are interesting in a way that numerical stat bonuses just aren’t. Even without racial ability score increases, half-orcs are still strong and tough by virtue of their Relentless Endurance and Savage Attacks traits, and dwarves are still sturdy and martially adept, thanks to their Dwarven Resilience and Dwarven Combat Training traits.
There are few exceptions to this houserule for races and subraces that are highly impacted by their ability score increases. These are:
Human. The variant human presented in the Player’s Handbook is the default example of the human race while using this house rule.
Mountain Dwarf. Since the mountain dwarf subrace gains a +2 bonus to Strength in place of another trait, they gain a new trait in its place: Martial Aptitude. When you hit with a martial melee weapon, you roll an additional 1d4 and add it to the damage.
This trait originally appeared in a different form, which many commenters rightfully pointed out was much stronger than a +2 bonus to Strength. The older version is presented here for consistency.
Martial Aptitude. When using a martial weapon, you roll one additional damage die. For instance, when you hit with a greatsword, you roll 3d6 to determine the attack’s damage, instead of 2d6.
Half Elf. Since half elves gain more ability score increases than most other races, they gain a new trait in its place: Knowledge of the Elves. You possess one of the following traits: Cantrip (as the high elf trait), Elf Weapon Training (as the high elf or wood elf trait), Mask of the Wild (as the wood elf trait), Superior Darkvision (as the drow trait), or Drow Weapon Training (as the drow trait). Other traits, such as those from elves not in the Player's Handbook, can be used at the DM's discretion.
Half-elves originally had a different trait in an earlier version of this article, which several commenters pointed out had unpleasant social implications. The older version is presented here for consistency. Supernatural Charm. You know the friends cantrip. Starting at 3rd level, you can cast charm person once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
Step Two: Reassign Ability Score Increases
Now that you’ve severed ability score increases from races, it’s time to relink them somewhere else in the system. Since almost every race in D&D gains a +2 bonus to one ability score and a +1 bonus to another, a total bonus of +3 should be assigned to all characters. My preferred option is for characters to gain access to improving their ability scores based on the training they undergo to become a member of a certain class. However, while discussing this option with other D&D fans, I found a not-insignificant number of people who felt that this would make all characters of a certain class feel too homogenous, regardless of racial traits.
While I disagree with this take, I’ve nevertheless presented three different ways to reassign ability score increases. Take your pick!
Option One: Class
You gain the Ability Score Increase feature when you choose your class at 1st level. If you gain levels in another class using the optional Multiclassing rules, you don’t gain this feature again.
Ability Score Increase (Barbarian). You can increase one of your ability scores by 2 and another ability score by 1. Alternatively, you can increase three of your ability scores by 1. The ability scores you can increase using this feature are Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution.
Ability Score Increase (Bard). You can increase one of your ability scores by 2 and another ability score by 1. Alternatively, you can increase three of your ability scores by 1. You can increase any ability score using this feature.
Ability Score Increase (Cleric). You can increase one of your ability scores by 2 and another ability score by 1. Alternatively, you can increase three of your ability scores by 1. The ability scores you can increase using this feature are Strength, Dexterity, or Wisdom.
Ability Score Increase (Druid). You can increase one of your ability scores by 2 and another ability score by 1. Alternatively, you can increase three of your ability scores by 1. The ability scores you can increase using this feature are Strength, Wisdom, or Charisma.
Ability Score Increase (Fighter). You can increase one of your ability scores by 2 and another ability score by 1. Alternatively, you can increase three of your ability scores by 1. The ability scores you can increase using this feature are Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, or Intelligence.
Ability Score Increase (Monk). You can increase one of your ability scores by 2 and another ability score by 1. Alternatively, you can increase three of your ability scores by 1. The ability scores you can increase using this feature are Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, or Wisdom.
Ability Score Increase (Paladin). You can increase one of your ability scores by 2 and another ability score by 1. Alternatively, you can increase three of your ability scores by 1. The ability scores you can increase using this feature are Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, or Charisma.
Ability Score Increase (Ranger). You can increase one of your ability scores by 2 and another ability score by 1. Alternatively, you can increase three of your ability scores by 1. The ability scores you can increase using this feature are Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, or Wisdom.
Ability Score Increase (Rogue). You can increase one of your ability scores by 2 and another ability score by 1. Alternatively, you can increase three of your ability scores by 1. You can increase any ability score using this feature.
Ability Score Increase (Sorcerer). You can increase one of your ability scores by 2 and another ability score by 1. Alternatively, you can increase three of your ability scores by 1. The ability scores you can increase using this feature are Dexterity, Constitution, or Charisma.
Ability Score Increase (Warlock). You can increase one of your ability scores by 2 and another ability score by 1. Alternatively, you can increase three of your ability scores by 1. The ability scores you can increase using this feature are Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, or Charisma.
Ability Score Increase (Wizard). You can increase one of your ability scores by 2 and another ability score by 1. Alternatively, you can increase three of your ability scores by 1. The ability scores you can increase using this feature are Dexterity, Constitution, or Intelligence.
Option Two: Background
You gain the Ability Score Increase feature based on your background. This list includes the backgrounds from the Player’s Handbook. If you choose a background from a different book, consult with your Dungeon Master to determine one ability score to gain a +2 bonus in, and another ability score to gain a +1 bonus in.
Ability Score Increase (Acolyte). Your Wisdom score increases by 2, and one other ability score of your choice increases by 1.
Ability Score Increase (Charlatan). Your Charisma score increases by 2, and one other ability score of your choice increases by 1.
Ability Score Increase (Criminal). Your Constitution score increases by 2, and one other ability score of your choice increases by 1.
Ability Score Increase (Entertainer). Your Charisma score increases by 2, and one other ability score of your choice increases by 1.
Ability Score Increase (Folk Hero). Your Strength or Dexterity score increases by 2, and one other ability score of your choice increases by 1.
Ability Score Increase (Guild Artisan). Your Intelligence score increases by 2, and one other ability score of your choice increases by 1.
Ability Score Increase (Hermit). Your Wisdom score increases by 2, and one other ability score of your choice increases by 1.
Ability Score Increase (Noble). Your Intelligence or Charisma score increases by 2, and one other ability score of your choice increases by 1.
Ability Score Increase (Outlander). Your Dexterity score increases by 2, and one other ability score of your choice increases by 1.
Ability Score Increase (Sage). Your Intelligence score increases by 2, and one other ability score of your choice increases by 1.
Ability Score Increase (Sailor). Your Strength or Dexterity score increases by 2, and one other ability score of your choice increases by 1.
Ability Score Increase (Soldier). Your Constitution score increases by 2, and one other ability score of your choice increases by 1.
Ability Score Increase (Urchin). Your Dexterity or Constitution score increases by 2, and one other ability score of your choice increases by 1.
Option Three: Class and Background
The third and final option is a combination of the two above. When you choose your class, assign a +2 to one ability score available to your class in Option One (or two +1s to two ability scores available to your class). Then when you choose your background, assign a +1 to the ability score specified by your background in Option Two. Since some backgrounds in Option Two let you choose between two ability scores to increase, you can choose either of them.
Would you use this house rule in your home D&D game? Which option is your favorite, or do you have a fourth option that you would use instead?
James Haeck is the lead writer for D&D Beyond, the co-author of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist and the Critical Role Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, a member of the Guild Adepts, and a freelance writer for Wizards of the Coast, the D&D Adventurers League, and other RPG companies. He lives in Seattle, Washington with his partner Hannah and their animal companions Mei and Marzipan. You can find him wasting time on Twitter at @jamesjhaeck.
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Posted Aug 17, 2019It's interesting to consider alternatives to racial ability scores and definitely different systems could work. I think the racial bonuses as they stand are fine in that they reflect average differences across species that, significantly, all have the same maximum potential: 20 (+5). In cases where you're trying to build a certain character I don't see the harm in swapping scores around, either. Individual differences are more significant and the most important thing is to have fun ☺️
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Posted Aug 17, 2019I think it's more compelling if you have an orc wizard that didnt start with the bonus. Like he fought against the odds and got smart even though biologically he's "a big dumb orc."
Optimization is dumb. Play the characters you want to play regardless of min maxing.
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Posted Aug 17, 2019I'm very opposed to this idea. In my opinion, this completely undermines a key aspect of D&D. Of course a half-orc wizard is hard to play. As a race, the orcs have evolved to solve problems with strength. As a species, their brains are not developed enough to be naturally adept at magic. It's possible that a half-orc could be a wizard, but he would be at a disadvantage to other species like elves, whose bodies are less strong and more smart. And of course a halfling is stealthy, due to its natural size. It shouldn't be extra strong just because it decided to become a barbarian in its life—it was still born to be 3 feet tall and weigh 40 pounds. It is thus naturally dextrous.
The fun of roleplaying a mismatched class combination is in the lack of minmaxing that happens—it feels like you have to work harder to do things others have natural talent in.
If anything, the races need more limiting to their stats. I think I would change race attributes to make caps on certain skills, so that halflings could have a maximum of 16 of 19 Strength, for example. It just wouldn't make sense for a halfling to outmatch something twice its size.
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Posted Aug 17, 2019I do like the idea of the advantage on the damage rolls, but a benefit to an extra damage die is with a critical, getting that extra damage die, unless you extend the advantage to the critical dice as well. I tend to have my players auto max base damage for crits, then roll the crit damage dice. Both ways would work, and I do like the extension of the advantage mechanics.
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Posted Aug 17, 2019A big point you are missing is *why* are orcs this way?
Why are they big, brutish, and less intelligent? Why are elves magical and pure - well, except for the black-skinned elves that are evil and vile. And why are humans “the varied race”? Humans come in all sorts of varieties but orcs are monolithically brutish and dumb and only have one culture possible. Elves (light skinned ones, at least) are all magic and nature oriented and, again, all the same. Dwarves are all big-nosed, hunched over, greedy people - again, all one similar culture (and with a definite real life stereotype they were written to in fantasy fiction).
Even setting aside the pretty bad real world parallels, it is actually very limiting and unrealistic that humans have all this variety but every other humanoid race has their one single stereotypical culture. Of course, this isn’t just D&D. Star Trek has the militant Klingons, logical Vulcans, and... diverse humans.
Orcs should have all sorts of different cultures, same with elves, dwarves, and goblins.
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Posted Aug 17, 2019Pass. I like the stat tendencies and sub optimal characters. I rolled a Halfling Fighter for one campaign. One of the more fun characters I played. Ironically the martial aptitude substitution just reinforces the stereotypes in a different manner.
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Posted Aug 17, 2019not going to lie, I dont see the point. Some races would just be naturally stronger or more dexterous, or some races might just naturally be smarter or dumber than other races. Theres nothing wrong with that, as the race's Ability Score increases just show what the average person of the race would be like, and then the character's unique ability scores set them apart.
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Posted Aug 17, 2019You lost me as soon as you compared ability scores in a fantasy settings to real-life racist beliefs.
It's not only not necessary, it's insulting and inflammatory. An objective understanding of genetic pre-disposition towards certain attributes is no more hateful than understanding that a 8-foot-tall Goliath is *likely* to be physically stronger than Halfling based on observable characteristics. It doesn't mean that a Halfling can't perform feats of great strength, or that a white guy can't jump, for example.
I don't have a problem with your suggestions, except that they make the choice of race little more than a cosmetic difference. And that cuts to the heart of what a fantasy game is. If race choices are irrelevant, we may as well all be playing as ourselves. Or indeterminate grey blobs, for that matter. Once you divorce the crunch from the choice, the choice becomes less important. So now I would have made many of my potential character options *less* unique. A gnome barbarian? Meh, so what.
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Posted Aug 17, 2019Preach it.
The mentality behind this article is disingenuous. We're all grown adults, we can seperate RL from a ROLEPLAYING fantasy game.
What's worse is im assuming this writer got paid to make this article.
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Posted Aug 17, 2019After about three years of DMing, I've adopted this rule I call 'Not all Elves are dexy'.
It's a lot more simple; any racial ability bonuses can be swapped around as long as they stay on the same side of the physical/mental aisles.
So, for elves as the titular characters, lets take a drow elf for example, you can make their ABIs instead of +2 dex and +1 cha into +2 con and +1 int or +2 str amd +1 wis.
You cant stack them into the same ability score so the bonus can never go higher than +2, and you can only swap physical stats (strength, dexterity, and constitution) among themselves and mental stats (intelligence, wisdom, and charisma) among themselves.
I have found that this opens up options a lot and my players really like it.
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Posted Aug 17, 2019An article like this, and the comments it has birthed, has the effect of painting a DM who use the races as written as being a real-world racist.
Wow. Lots of comments to read. I don't like the controversy this article has created. It threatens to change dynamics that are intrinsic to this fantasy game. I think the spirit of this article was an effort to reduce the potential of min-maxing based on racial tropes. Some players just want to role-play and enjoy the game. Then there are players who want to "win" the game by min-maxing. I constantly deal with at least one player at the table who wants to break the standard tropes in favor of their character being better than everyone else at the table. I can handle those personality types without much difficulty, and I make the game enjoyable for everyone. If you only play in a homebrew game, it's easy to set the standard and include, or exclude, any race or racial trait. But if you run games with new players (strangers) at comic/hobby shops, there needs to be accepted paradigm that everyone can build from. The rules for character races create a large part of that paradigm. As a DM, I don't want to get in a quasi-political argument with a new player who wants to change the rules because they essentially just want to min-max. The reason why MOST players want to be the orc wizard is that they want to be the strongest arm in the group and cast the most damaging attacks. The existing paradigm of racial strengths and weaknesses try to minimize this type of character creation.
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Posted Aug 17, 2019This is basically what I do in my home games. Basically, the racial stat boosts are the standard for most individuals in race, but the increase represents what you were born with a natural talent for. Whether that aligns with the typical natural talents of your race or not is up to the player.
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Posted Aug 17, 2019like the idea of the more custom character design
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Posted Aug 17, 2019Mine are and there is still plenty of intrinsic conflict.
Besides the classic "intrinsic conflicts (Elves v. Orcs, Dwarves v. Elves, Goblins v. Everyone) gets old after awhile. When the game mechanisms codifies these conflicts it is difficult to create worlds where they don't exist. It treats all these races as monolithic. Its not just the ability scores but the traits as well. Why does my dwarf money lender living in a major city have to have stone cunning and dwarven combat experience. As a DM who creates homebrew settings it seems really restrictive.
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Posted Aug 17, 2019This is a clever way of spreading it out.
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Posted Aug 17, 2019I really like the idea of getting your ability score increases based on the class you take. This just feels right and much better than getting them based on races.
This way, any race can play any class and be good at and it, and as you said, each race gets something that defines them and makes them different from the others anyway, without needing that numerical stat increase.
Wizards should totally make this part of 5.5. Ethert that, or release a splat book to make this an official option.
My only question is, how would this work with Humans. Humans get 6 points but don't really get anything else like the other races do.
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Posted Aug 17, 2019I wouldnt mind seeing ability scores in backgrounds. But I think, especially within the confines of a game involving fantastical humanoid creatures; understanding, accepting and over-coming diversity is just as, if not more important, valuable and personally rewarding than the amorphisation of races. Valuing and accepting differences in this world to me is more important than trying to make these creatures equal in their apptitudes.
Whats next? 6ft halflings? It is the reality of dnd that an orc would be stronher than a halfling, and a halfling more dexterious. One is not better than the other, and both can assume the same professions and be quite viable.
I believe the problem with this article is overvalueing one ability score or attribute over another and the expectation that in order to be the best at what you do you have to be a certain race. This I believe is flat false, any race can progress any ability score to 20. All races except o e or two will have the exact same amount of opportunities to progress their character and all cap at 20. All characters use or should be using all of their ability scores, so as an orc wizard, even if your enemies may sometimes escape that fireball you drop, you may be strong enough to break their grapple or jump that chasim that the gnome wizard had to cast fly to cross.
All people and their pcs are special, even if that means they have varying strengths and weaknesses.
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Posted Aug 17, 2019I think you are missing the point.
The point of this article isn't to create a system to get a max stat half-orc wizard. Its clear you can do that from the rules as written. Especially with a cap at 20. It is about the intellectual underpinning about decisions that are made within the game design.
This isn't about eliminating flaws or making everyone the same. Its the exact opposite. It is the game mechanics that treats who cultures as monoliths. Treats everyone the same. The idea behind the approach recognizes that there can be diversity within a culture.
I seems that your idea of fantasy is fairly well codified in the rule set, but not everyone's fantasy is the same and it would be nice if the rule set could accommodate that reality.
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Posted Aug 17, 2019Awesome idea! I’d either go with the classes variant or grant each player’s +3 to assign freely, because the background variant mighy very well lead to the same problem as the existing rules, in that optimizer player types would still choose those backgrounds that give the best boni for their class.
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Posted Aug 17, 2019As much as I agree with the sentiment, the thing is, I'm not sure a Halfling will be born as strong as a Goliath. And I don't think imagining that concept is a base for distasteful thoughts.
I mean, it is constantly reminded that the ability scores of a character make up who they are. If you have a Strength score of 18, you're bound to look like you have more than a few pounds of muscles on you. If you have a Charisma score of 15, you're going to look either very intimidating or very charming – at least more than a regular person. My point is: if it's in the core rules that ability scores comprise who your character is physiognomically and biologically, I see no harm in an Elf or a Halfling having +2 Dexterity as a base ability score increase, or a Tiefling having their Charisma score bumped by 2, since, you know, they have horns and very distinct features that are awe-inspiring.
I think instead of replacing some rules with other rules (I mean, there are very uncharismatic nobles out there, I assure you. And very incompetent sailors, as well, who wouldn't necessarily benefit from the ability score increases provided above), there should be a small variant added within the PHB, stating that the player can discuss with their DMs about assigning their race different ability scores depending on their upbringing or backstory. For example: if my Wood Elf was raised in captivity by some mad mage, she wouldn't have gained a great deal of Dexterity growing up, but maybe her Constitution would have strengthened due to the amount of toxic experiments she had to endure. This way, you still have a very logically suggested set of ability score increase per race, but you also offer an open route to allow more flexibility to the players.