You are playing an individual member of a race. In general Half-Orcs may be strong and dumb but an individual Half-Orc can be anything. They could be smart or stealthy or wise. That is just variation in a species.
You are playing a rare individual. In 5e a 10 is considered an average score, which means Joe/Jane Average of any species is a 12 point buy. Our character is a staggering 27 point buy so the tendencies of their respective races are irrelevant to our heroic individuals.
Yes, we are exceptional individuals with 27 points to add to our stats. These 27 points are what represents our training, inherent superiority rarity, variation from our species, and/or gods-given blessings. I completely agree.
Given the above, why are a mere 3 points from our race so problematic? Having these points shouldn't negate, but instead should augment, the inherent traits of our characters. If you want your half-orc to be incredibly wise, then put up to 9 points into Wisdom. If you want your half-orc to be intelligent, put up to 9 points into Int. Both of those would be absolutely incredibly rare members of their species.
As I've said, I'd be fine with allowing all characters to get up to 16 in a stat via Point Buy (at the appropriate additional cost). But being an Orc with 16 Int should be more difficult than being a Gnome with 16 Int, and vice versa for Str. It's okay, even good, for fantastical races--even races of PCs--to be different. It adds to the world.
Then you are playing the wrong version of D&D. 2nd AD&D is where you should focus. Thankfully 5e didn't bring any of that idiocy forward.
Tendencies of a race in no way shape or form dictate the capabilities of an individual. Our characters are exceptional individuals who can choose to spend their 27 point buy in what ever they want. The +2/+1 we get at character creation allows our characters to train further in whatever class we choose.
Welcome to 5e. (Post Tasha's Cauldron of Everything)
Can you please explain where is this 'we are exceptional individuals and are not bound by our race' argument coming from? Because it is so undeniably weak. No matter how much of an exceptional individual you are - you are still a representative member of your race and if there are:
1. Abilities which represent physical and mental capacities of a character in the game world. 2. Different species with distinct builds, heft, height, metabolism, cover, organs, bone structure etc.
If 1 correlates with X and 2 correlates with X then 1 correlates with 2. It is such an easy parallel to make, I wonder if people are acting oblivious to pursue their agenda of 'exceptional bs'.
Last edited by neprostoman; 10/07/2306:16 AM. Reason: typo, wording
