And on those new changes, do we have a source for the ability to change starting class details for companions? I was surprised by this given that in the build I played it wasn't possible to change starting class when selecting them as an origin but I guess (1) that may not have been final and (2) Larian might have decided to handle things differently for companions.
But I also wonder if there might be some confusion with hirelings, for whom at the presentation I attended on the morning of the PFH, Swen said there was one for each class, but then said we could use them to create a party of, say, four barbarians, implying that their starting class at least can be changed.
I feel there's plenty of things to be concerned about without getting concerned about possible misinformation as well, so if anyone can point me at what Larian have actually said about companion starting classes that would be appreciated! It doesn't seem to be in that Italian article shared.
RQ, Wolf said he heard Withers does it, so that's why you didn't encounter it
To the issue with stat points, it absolutely should be class based. Adventurers should be extra-ordinary even for their race and their years of training should reflect a honing of whatever stat they have used for this. There is no reason why a devoted cleric of some race should by rule be less in touch with their god. Dwarves have paladins of Moradin, they should be as good paladins as humans or half elfs or tieflings. It is still possible to play unusual class/stat characters, but the default should be that this person is as good at his/her job as he/she can be through the training and graft that is generally regarded as preceding a level 1 character.
But there is one strong argument for the new rules. Previously it was not possible for any human to have 8 INT and we all know that that is stretching the believability of DnD to the limit! Ha ha
That adventurers are exceptional is represented by their point buy array. But they are still members of a specific race and thus need to have the general characteristic of that race which includes being faster, stronger, more dexterous or smarter than others.
Sadly WotC in their quest for "more accessability" caved in to the combined whines of powergamer who refuse to play anything without minmaxed stats and people who want to virtue signal by screaming racism when a halfling is weaker than an orc.
