By the way, "lithe race with unusual strength" is by no means a recent trope as far as D&D is concerned: on average (and more so in other settings), elves are both shorter and slimmer than humans and yet they do not suffer an inherent penalty to Strength.
They did in the older rules, though it was -2 Constitution, +2 Dexterity.
I was referring to their ability to exert force (Strength), rather than their health (Constitution). As a matter of fact, in 2e, the player of a Warrior class that chose Elf as their race was just as capable of rolling an 18 for Strength and
then rolling for Exceptional Strength as a player that chose Human.
In first edition rules, there were min and max values of each ability score for each race.
And they vere even genderdependent.
So a male elf could indeed get up to 18 STR max, but a female elf only up to 16 STR.
(Imagine that, today)
I can't imagine this rule was applied much by DM's. It kind of breaks the fantasy aspect.
