We'll just keep going in circles. What you see as fitting, I do not. Our philosophy of roleplay is different. Some mechanics are abstractions but some are not. That halfling barbarian with STR 20 can carry and lift stuff just as much as the goliath.
No, they can't. Goliaths have a racial ability that basically doubles their carry capacity, so at 20 strength the Goliath is twice as capable of lifting, pulling, and carrying things as the halfling is without being far superior in raw damage dealing.
Also the fact we have differing ideas on what is and is not realistic is exactly why I am right in this conversation. Tasha's rule, being an optional rule, does nothing to you or your games while giving me and my games what I want. It is literally a win/win situation and yet people are arguing against me having the option at all. Imposing their "roleplay tax" on me.
You got me there. But good job ignoring the purpose of my example. Replace goliath with human.
Believe what you will. Hey whatever let's you sleep at night.
The fix should be to give a corresponding 'Small Build' to haflings/gnomes/etc, not to limit their strength score. This way, you can play a Halfling with Str 20 and be equally as effective in combat (you have developed technique to compensate for your lower raw power) while still having the more realistic natural "weakness" of these smaller races.
