1E D&D What basic race has the more powerful racial bonus to abilities?

RPGPundit · December 28, 2012, 11:17:46 AM

Wild elves are from Unearthed Arcana, right? They had power-bloat even back in those days, you know. I'd probably not allow "wild elves" as a PC race.

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Bill · December 28, 2012, 11:36:59 AM

Quote from: RPGPundit;612362Wild elves are from Unearthed Arcana, right? They had power-bloat even back in those days, you know. I'd probably not allow "wild elves" as a PC race.

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In a situation where a race has an abusable bonus, and the player abuses it, and otjher players are annoyed, I zing the player in some way to compensate.

Perhaps the Wild elf has the emnity of a tribe that sends warriors after him demanding a duel at awkward times.

Looter Guy · December 28, 2012, 02:24:16 PM

Quote from: RPGPundit;612362Wild elves are from Unearthed Arcana, right? They had power-bloat even back in those days, you know. I'd probably not allow "wild elves" as a PC race.

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Its not like an elf can have over 19 75/100 str anyways

Piestrio · December 28, 2012, 02:37:00 PM

Quote from: Bill;612367In a situation where a race has an abusable bonus, and the player abuses it, and otjher players are annoyed, I zing the player in some way to compensate.

Perhaps the Wild elf has the emnity of a tribe that sends warriors after him demanding a duel at awkward times.

In my opinion when you start thinking in terms of "power" you're already "doing it wrong".

Bill · December 28, 2012, 02:47:47 PM

Quote from: Piestrio;612401In my opinion when you start thinking in terms of "power" you're already "doing it wrong".

I agree.

I think in terms of what is fun for the players, and makes for a better game.

Piestrio · December 28, 2012, 02:49:25 PM

Quote from: Bill;612404I agree.

I think in terms of what is fun for the players, and makes for a better game.

Indeed.

Libertad · December 28, 2012, 03:07:55 PM

Quote from: Bill;611879Disclaimer:

An Elven uber archer that uses four Greatbows of Dancing at once with his 25 Dexterity might still need to use Charisma to convince a King to spare the life of a friend.

That's what your henchmen... I mean other PCs, are for!

Get the Magic-User to turn the friend invisible and cause chaos. Have the Cleric resurrect the friend once he dies, then flee the kingdom. Or simply have the Assassin snipe the King with a poison arrow.

soviet · December 28, 2012, 06:04:35 PM

If you're not just talking about actual stat bonuses, I think dwarves are the most powerful race. When I ran some 2e last year (I know the thread is 1e but AFAIK the race stuff is the same) the level 1 dwarf fighter just totally outshone everyone else (a human bard, an elven cleric, and an elven mage/thief). The con bonus for extra HP, the bonus to saves, and most importantly the ability to find pit traps was just so much more valuable than what everyone else had it was unreal. Although amusingly the 20% magic item failure chance did mess him up at the end when he tried to use a sword that granted Fly 1/day to get at a levitating enemy wizard.

Looter Guy · December 28, 2012, 09:05:47 PM

Quote from: Sacrosanct;611948Irda

Had long ago forgotten the Irda.. thanks for the memory

Monkey Boy · December 28, 2012, 09:28:24 PM

Wild Elves with their +2 strength. Oh dear. The magic items and spells seem salvageable from Unearthed Arcana but not much else. The new races are disappointing.

RPGPundit · December 29, 2012, 01:33:40 PM

Yeah, I pretty much go with the original races when running 1e.

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