I'd been thinking about modifying the playable races by removing the stat penalties. I'd like to think that this would have the effect of making certain races more playable in general (not having to worry about an Elf's or Tengu's Con penalty) and opening up class options for races (melee builds for Halflings and Gnomes).
Has anyone tried something like this? How well did it work for you? Did the demihumans seem more powerful in comparison to The Best Race (Human) or did it even out? Were Half-Elves and Half-Orcs shafted? Did your players have more fun?
Examples:
+2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma: Halflings are nimble and strong-willed.
Small: Halflings are Small creatures and gain a +1 size bonus to their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –1 penalty to their CMB and CMD, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks.
Slow Speed: Halflings have a base speed of 20 feet.
Fearless: Halflings receive a +2 racial bonus on all saving throws against fear. This bonus stacks with the bonus granted by halfling luck.
Halfling Luck: Halflings receive a +1 racial bonus on all saving throws.
Keen Senses: Halflings receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception checks.
Sure-Footed: Halflings receive a +2 racial bonus on Acrobatics and Climb checks.
Weapon Familiarity: Halflings are proficient with slings and treat any weapon with the word "halfling" in its name as a martial weapon.
Languages: Halflings begin play speaking Common and Halfling. Halflings with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, and Goblin.
+2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence: Elves are nimble, both in body and mind.
Medium: Elves are Medium creatures and receive no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Elves have a base speed of 30 feet.
Low-Light Vision: Elves can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.
Elven Immunities: Elves are immune to magic sleep effects and gain a +2 racial saving throw bonus against enchantment spells and effects.
Elven Magic: Elves receive a +2 racial bonus on caster level checks made to overcome spell resistance. In addition, elves receive a +2 racial bonus on Spellcraft skill checks made to identify the properties of magic items.
Keen Senses: Elves receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception checks.
Weapon Familiarity: Elves are proficient with longbows (including composite longbows), longswords, rapiers, and shortbows (including composite shortbows), and treat any weapon with the word "elven" in its name as a martial weapon.
Languages: Elves begin play speaking Common and Elven. Elves with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Celestial, Draconic, Gnoll, Gnome, Goblin, Orc, and Sylvan.
+2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom: Dwarves are both tough and wise.
Medium: Dwarves are Medium creatures and receive no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Slow and Steady: Dwarves have a base speed of 20 feet, but their speed is never modified by armor or encumbrance.
Darkvision: Dwarves can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
Defensive Training: Dwarves gain a +4 dodge bonus to AC against monsters of the giant subtype.
Greed: Dwarves gain a +2 racial bonus on Appraise checks made to determine the price of nonmagical goods that contain precious metals or gemstones.
Hatred: Dwarves gain a +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against humanoid creatures of the orc and goblinoid subtypes because of their special training against these hated foes.
Hardy: Dwarves gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against poison, spells, and spell-like abilities.
Stability: Dwarves gain a +4 racial bonus to their Combat Maneuver Defense when resisting a bull rush or trip attempt while standing on the ground.
Stonecunning: Dwarves gain a +2 bonus on Perception checks to notice unusual stonework, such as traps and hidden doors located in stone walls or floors. They receive a check to notice such features whenever they pass within 10 feet of them, whether or not they are actively looking.
Weapon Familiarity: Dwarves are proficient with battleaxes, heavy picks, and warhammers, and treat any weapon with the word "dwarven" in its name as a martial weapon.
Languages: Dwarves begin play speaking Common and Dwarven. Dwarves with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Giant, Gnome, Goblin, Orc, Terran, and Undercommon.
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And what do you give Humans, Half-Elvs, and Half-Orcs to keep them competitive? Those penalties were put there for a reason. Look at what Humans have to give up to get that second +2.
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And what do you give Humans, Half-Elvs, and Half-Orcs to keep them competitive? Those penalties were put there for a reason. Look at what Humans have to give up to get that second +2.
Yes, but are the penalties there for a good reason? The extra feat that Humans get (along with the flexible stat bonus) makes them the best choice for almost every class. A lack of a bonus to the major ability of a class makes an other race a poor choice (like a Dwarven Wizard). A penalty to the major stat basically prevents a player from choosing the race for that class (a Dwarven sorcerer). That's destroying a lot of options, and I'm not sure that it's a good or necessary thing.
So tell me... Do you believe that the Humans are balanced with the other races, or do you think it's more challenging to make a build with a different race? Do you believe that the "Second +2" tradeoff is worth it? What do you think would make the Humans balanced with the other races if we removed the -2 from them? Are we talking "+2 to Sense Motive" or "+1 to all Saves" for balance?
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Instead of offering a staight buff to those races, you could just give them the option of removing one of their +2s (their choice which) to remove their -2. So a dwarf could have +2 con, +0 wis, +0 cha instead of +2/+2/-2, likewise an elf who wanted to be more martial could be +0 con, +2 dex, +0 int, etc.
I've been running games with no racial penalties for years - granted, I redesigned all the races from the ground up using humans as the baseline and made them competitive.
If you just use the core/stock races, it takes very little time to do the same.
WHy should every race be specially viable at every class?
Why should only Humans be viable (or not prohibitively poor) at every class?
Instead of offering a staight buff to those races, you could just give them the option of removing one of their +2s (their choice which) to remove their -2. So a dwarf could have +2 con, +0 wis, +0 cha instead of +2/+2/-2, likewise an elf who wanted to be more martial could be +0 con, +2 dex, +0 int, etc.
Interesting thought. I think I'm still having trouble seeing past the Human's extra feat and floating stat bonus, though. Which class/race combinations would put the demihumans ahead of the Humans with the stat bonuses with no penalties?
For example, Elves can trade some racial abilities for the Humans' Skilled ability (+1 skill rank per level). If you're making an archer build, is a feat at first level equal to Low-Light Vision, immunity to magic sleep effects, and a +2 to Perception? How about if you were making a melee build? How much does a +2 Int throw this off balance?
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I think it was a conceit since previous editions that humans were supposed to be generally good at everything, with other races being shaped by more specific cultures from specific places.
While you could house-rule the -2 into a different stat, it's still possible to get workable stat arrays even with point-buy systems.
With a 20-point buy (for the first example off the top of my head), you can get Str: 14, Dex:14, Con: 12, Int:12, Wis: 10, Cha 14 for a dwarf bard. Granted, that bard might be better off as a pinch-healer or combat buffer than for flinging around high-DC save-or-stop-contributing spells.
Also, it'd be a bit easier on the dwarf wizard. You may not get a bump to Int, but you do get +2 to two stats that help out saves, and a choice of racial traits that make enemy spells harder to affect you.
As for Small people in close combat, they do get a size bonus to hit and AC, and the extra Dex they usually get makes Weapon Finesse and extra things to hang off their attacks go-to choices. Try a halfling paladin or a gnome bloodrager, if you're interested.
Though I do like Cuenta's idea. +2 to one stat evens it out in a way.
I have been toying around with the idea of lessening the penalties for Core Races other than Human and giving Human a slight boost as well, not for the purpose in the OP, but to bring them up a bit more in line with some of the non-Core Races.
Dwarf: +2 Con, +2 Wis; -1 penalty on Charisma skills other than Intimidate when dealing with non-Dwarves (Dwarves tend to be gruff and insular; actual Charisma is not penalized directly, so Charisma-dependent class features are not penalized unless dependent upon Charisma skills). All other racial traits and alternate racial traits work as normal.
Elf: +2 Dex, +2 Int, -1 penalty on hit points (Elven long life doesn't make sense if Fortitude saves are penalized, so this removes that and just leaves them with needing to be a bit extra-careful about how much mechanical damage they take). All other racial traits and alternate racial traits work as normal.
Gnome: +2 Con, +2 Cha (Gnomes seem a bit weaker than the other Core Races even though they don't have the lowest RP total, so slightly more boost by removing the penalty altogether). Alternate racial trait Tinkerer replaces this with +2 Dex, +2 Int. All other racial traits and alternate racial traits work as normal.
Halfling: +2 Dex, +2 Cha, -1 penalty on Strength skills (but not on combat -- similar idea as for Dwarves and Elves above). All other racial traits and alternate racial traits work as normal.
Half-Humans and Humans: +2 to any physical ability score, +2 to any mental ability score, -2 to any ability score (possibly the same as one of the scores that got a bonus, thus leaving effectively just +2 to any score as they currently get). In the case of the Dual Talent alternate racial trait, the extra +2 cannot be on an ability score that already gets a bonus. A new alternate racial trait, Olympian, replaces the Human ability score matrix (and the Bonus Feat and Skilled) with an upgraded Physical Paragon(*) ability score matrix, thus receiving +4 to any physical ability score and -2 to each of any 2 mental ability scores. All other racial traits and alternate racial traits work as normal.
(*)Paragon as currently written is on the weak side when the +4 is on the physical side, giving -2 to 3 mental ability scores -- Physical Paragon should only get -2 to each of 2 mental ability scores. This change would also apply to Orc. (And yes, Scarred Witch Doctor needs to be re-errata'd, but it needs to be re-errata'd anyway due to the way it currently makes otherwise conventional Half-Orc Scarred Witch Doctors super-powered.)
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Back when I played AD&D there were limitations. Some races could never be certain classes. Dwarves had resistance to magic, but that came at a cost, where magic items might not work for them unless they were forged with Dwarven runes and they couldn't be wizards. It made individual races very distinctive in tone and in feel, but came with some limitation to choice. Back at that time, everything came with some limitations and some lines you couldn't cross. Base clerics used blunt weapons, paladins had specific, brutal codes, Monks were basically hobos with sticks until they had some levels and that monk mysticism kicked in. Druids had to be neutral. A lot of these things had variants (kits) that did away with elements of them, but many of those strong, distinctive tones are carried to this day. - How much cleric art involves a mace or blunt weapon even now? Basically, choice mattered. It came with good and with bad. It opened doors and closed them.
In AD&D, Dwarves were distinctive by mechanic as well as fluff. Fluff and mechanics went hand in hand. They were often religious societies - as divine magic was their only real magical avenue - and clerics were respected members of society as a result. Dwarven rune crafted magic items were rare and valuable - they were the only magic items a dwarf could reliably use. And these items were rare elsewhere as the dwarves were notoriously hard to deal with. Distrustful and gruff - as represented by their poor charisma. They often lived in far away places, mountains and I hospitable lands where they thrived despite odds - thus their improved constitution. As a result, a dwarf PC always felt like a dwarf. He knew the value of keeping ties to his people for pragmatic and personal reasons. His low charisma made it hard to build relationships outside of his society. No matter what part of the world he went to, he felt like a dwarf.
Today, I see threads like this where the idea is that all negatives or restrictions are bad. Restrictions limit character. Of course the core assumption is that the player, when given infinite choice, will be happier and thus have more fun. I'm not sure this is reasonable honestly, but that's not something I'm planning on arguing. The question I have, is how this affects your world and the strength of time in your game? In a world where orcs have no penalties to mental stats, why are they tribal or primitive? They are just as intelligent, self-controlled, sociable and reasonable as humans, so why should they be primitives and barbarians? Why are dwarves gruff, distrustful and hard to deal with? They're just as charming as anyone else after all. Stats reflect your world. The bonuses, penalties and limitations are made to represent the world the player plays in, and those mechanics impart a feel to the game.
In a world where the dwarf has no restrictions or penalties, the dwarf character is very different. Your fluff may say that dwarves are a hardy people, gruff and short of patience who trust slowly. They shy away from arcane magic, insisting that it is unreliable and finicky, instead trusting in divine blessings by Gods as old as the mountain. They favor Dwarven crafted weapons and keep close ties with their kin regardless of distance. But my PC? He doesn't feel that. He's hardy, sure. But why shy away from arcane magic? It's awesome. In fact, I'm playing a sorcerer. Why have a god? I'm a sorcerer. I don't need to have some God telling me what to do. Why go for Dwarven crafted items? Any old thing will do, and the elf gives better prices. So I'm going to do business with elves. Now, most players will try to keep some measure of RP going, they will pay homage, but none of that fluff matters when the dice comes out. In the end, my choice to play a dwarf had no impact on the character beyond mechanical bonuses. He could have been an elf or an orc or human or a frog person and how he plays doesn't change. How he interacts with the world? No difference.
Ultimately, my argument is not that the new philosophy is wrong - that penalties feel bad and restrict options and thus should be minimized and removed - though obviously I don't share it. But instead, I want to impress the importance of how mechanics change the feel of a game world during play and while dice are being thrown, both the pluses and the minuses. The choices that open up new paths, and those that close some off. All are important. If you are going to do away with penalties and minimize restrictions, how do you make sure that your world feels like your world not just in fluff, but also in play. I can assure you, the choice to play a half orc wizard was far more memorable and distinctive in 3.5 than it ever will be in Pathfinder simply because there was a hard mechanical choice.
Humans are not the best race across the board. They are just more likely to be good at any given task. They don't have lowlight vision, darkvision, bonuses to saves, bonuses to skills, and so on. Even with the penalty to charisma and speed I think dwarves give them a good run for their money as the top race especially with steel soul being availible as a feat.
And what do you give Humans, Half-Elvs, and Half-Orcs to keep them competitive? Those penalties were put there for a reason. Look at what Humans have to give up to get that second +2.
The fact that humans deserved a +2 wherever thay wanted on top of an extra feat and an extra skill point per level is arguable.
This was one aspect of PF where they went overboard with the buff making humans the best race by far due to their flexibility outmatching that of the other races (unless we are talking about very powerful ones).Edit: as for the original question I persnally believe they could give races variant traits to solve the problem.
Say something like this:
Steel Blooded (dwarf): +2Str, +2 Con, -2 Int
Otherworldly beauty (elves): -2Str, +2Int, +2 Cha
And so on. It would keep the notion that non human races are somehow "fixed" in what they can do while broadening these options without destroying their characterization.
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More than removing the penalties, I would make one of the two bonuses one floating and the other half-floating.
Elves as an example: you have two +2; one must go to either Dex or Int; the other can go to any ability that didn't already receive the previous +2 (Dex or Int) or the -2 (Con).
This way, you can maintain the feel while having far more opportunities to be good at more classes.
You'd think Elves are good as Druids, Fighters or dual wielding Rangers. With a +2 to Wis or Str, they could be more on par with other races.
At the same time, the demi-human races could elect to have an additional half-floating +2 and an half-floating -2 (Half-Orc example: +2 to either Str or Con, -2 to any one mental stat).
Or the limitation to the full-floating +2 could be removed entirely, so you can put it on Con for a total of +0 and have a more resilent Elven Fighter, or even to Dex/Int, for a total of +4, which would make them much more appealing for certain classes (and would stand up to the "great elven magic" trope, in case of Wizards).
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Yes, but are the penalties there for a good reason? The extra feat that Humans get (along with the flexible stat bonus) makes them the best choice for almost every class. A lack of a bonus to the major ability of a class makes an other race a poor choice (like a Dwarven Wizard). A penalty to the major stat basically prevents a player from choosing the race for that class (a Dwarven sorcerer). That's destroying a lot of options, and I'm not sure that it's a good or necessary thing.
Yes, they're there for a good reason - to give these races distinctive character compared to humans. And no option Is destroyed, just made a little more challenging to build in the same way. There's absolutely nothing preventing someone from playing a viable dwarven sorcerer other than their own personal approach to the trade-offs inherent in the game.
So tell me... Do you believe that the Humans are balanced with the other races, or do you think it's more challenging to make a build with a different race? Do you believe that the "Second +2" tradeoff is worth it? What do you think would make the Humans balanced with the other races if we removed the -2 from them? Are we talking "+2 to Sense Motive" or "+1 to all Saves" for balance?
Yes, I think humans are well-balanced with the other races. You have to be aware than in pre-3.0 days, demi-humans were balanced against humans by having level limits, a rule house-ruled away by lots of groups, leaving very few reasons to play humans. Humans had nothing else going for them. Since 3.0, humans have gotten positive benefits and if that means that players are having a harder time justifying to themselves playing something other than human, then it means the balance and trade-offs are working as designed.
Any replacement of those trade offs needs to be carefully considered otherwise you end up with too many mechanically advantageous options. Getting rid of the second +2 would be an absolute must to wipe away the -2 penalty.| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I think a race's weaknesses are what gives them character. Not every race needs to be optimal at every class.
Yes, but are the penalties there for a good reason? The extra feat that Humans get (along with the flexible stat bonus) makes them the best choice for almost every class.
They're not generally the best choice for ANY class, they're simply equally adept at trying for any. An Elven wizard will give any Human wizard a run for his money starting with the same bonus to Intelligence and adding to that, proficiency with a couple of good martial weapons, low-light vision, and even more importantly, a built in +2 to overcome spell resistance. And all things considered, a plus 1 to hit with ranged attack spells. It's far cry from the days of first Edition when elves were limited in level as wizards compared to Humans, and many races couldn't take up the class at all.
Bonuses to Intelligence and Dexterity also make them competititive as Alchemists and Rogues. If fewer people choose them as characters, it means that they are making choices that reflect standard fantasy settings which are Human dominant for the most part.
If you want to remove penalties to encourage Dwarf Sorcerers, consider giving all races the Human Ability Score modifier instead.
And keep in mind that not all Sorcerers operate off of Charisma.
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I think a race's weaknesses are what gives them character. Not every race needs to be optimal at every class.Every race should be competent at enough classes to defend its civilization and have a civilization to defend. Someone needs to stand in front with a spear and shield.
That argument doesn't hold any water. Races learn to fight with respect to their strengths and weaknesses. Their armies will differ accordingly and use different strategies.
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I think a race's weaknesses are what gives them character. Not every race needs to be optimal at every class.Every race should be competent at enough classes to defend its civilization and have a civilization to defend. Someone needs to stand in front with a spear and shield.
Not all races defend themselves the same way. Some rely totally on isolation. Elves rely on isolation and their ability to lay waste to foes at a distance, supplemented by magic. And being located in an out of the way area that hasn't had anything worth bringing that much fight for.
Halflings defend themselves by living with other races more capable. And those minus 2s don't make a race automatically incompetent at defending itself, it simply changes the manner in how they do so.
More importantly, bonuses don't guarantee success either. there are lots of ways for countries, and races to fall, and a bonus isn't going to make the difference in all of them.
And simply put, not all races are equally adept at defending themselves or at oppressing others. That's why some are more domminant than others.
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That argument doesn't hold any water. Races learn to fight with respect to their strengths and weaknesses. Their armies will differ accordingly and use different strategies.I think a race's weaknesses are what gives them character. Not every race needs to be optimal at every class.Every race should be competent at enough classes to defend its civilization and have a civilization to defend. Someone needs to stand in front with a spear and shield.
Moreover, a -1 on checks and rolls relative to other races isn't enough to critically condemn their ability to defend themselves whether with archers or shield walls even if they chose to use them.
^On the other hand, being unable to cast the higher level spells and being at -1 on the remainder when your opponent is at +1 and has no impairment on the highest level spells, this is a really serious problem.
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^On the other hand, being unable to cast the higher level spells and being at -1 on the remainder when your opponent is at +1 and has no impairment on the highest level spells, this is a really serious problem.
The same principle I described above about fighters also applies to spellcasting. You're making the faulty assumption that every race and culture should cast spells in the exact same way.
I have a Dwarven Oracle, he's doing just fine, stupendous even!
Orcs.
Absolutely! Just wanted to point out they're the only race I know with a -2 to all three mental stats.
That is all. :-)
Orc casters might make bad casters in the traditional sense, but they should work out when you use their strengths. +4 Str means being better than usual at melee touch attacks, proficiency in two big bad weapons also encourages melee and finally ferocity might save your life once you did go into melee...
I mean, you could go for a spontaneous caster with a stat of 13-2, increase by 1 at level 4 (just in time) and afterwards hoping for early items to enhance your caster stat. Or you could go a more conservative route, with a higher starting stat...
Has anyone tried something like this? How well did it work for you? Did the demihumans seem more powerful in comparison to The Best Race (Human) or did it even out? Were Half-Elves and Half-Orcs shafted? Did your players have more fun?
I allow players to sacrifice their racial -2 penalty in exchange for one of their +2 bonuses... It works fine and opens a bunch of character possibilities.
I also allow a few races to trade one of their bonuses to a different attributes (elves can trade +2 Int for +2 Wis, gnomes can trade +2 Cha for +2 Int). Additionally, I let Androids get the Empathy feat for free if they want, since it comes with considerable downsides.
BTW... Humans really aren't "the best race"... Unless the class is particularly starved for feats and skills, half-elves and half-orcs are more effective most of the time, IMO. Specially after the ruling that says they can take human racial FCB. Dwarves, Aasimar and Tielfing are really good too.
my current system is pick your stats between 3-20 and ignore race stats entirely.
it works wonderfully.
Orc casters might make bad casters in the traditional sense, but they should work out when you use their strengths.
Pff, orcs can use the Scarred Witch Doctor archetype, and because orc don't read, they don't know about the errata and thus don't apply it.
Orc casters might make bad casters in the traditional sense, but they should work out when you use their strengths.Pff, orcs can use the Scarred Witch Doctor archetype, and because orc don't read, they don't know about the errata and thus don't apply it.
Well, they wouldn't be that bad off with it, given the +2 effective Int from the archetype. Yes, it was stronger before, but who wants to play with an orc caster who also easily covers the tank role, in addition to what they already can do?
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I have been toying around with the idea of lessening the penalties for Core Races other than Human and giving Human a slight boost as well, not for the purpose in the OP, but to bring them up a bit more in line with some of the non-Core Races.
Dwarf: +2 Con, +2 Wis; -1 penalty on Charisma skills other than Intimidate when dealing with non-Dwarves (Dwarves tend to be gruff and insular; actual Charisma is not penalized directly, so Charisma-dependent class features are not penalized unless dependent upon Charisma skills). All other racial traits and alternate racial traits work as normal.
Elf: +2 Dex, +2 Int, -1 penalty on hit points (Elven long life doesn't make sense if Fortitude saves are penalized, so this removes that and just leaves them with needing to be a bit extra-careful about how much mechanical damage they take). All other racial traits and alternate racial traits work as normal.
Gnome: +2 Con, +2 Cha (Gnomes seem a bit weaker than the other Core Races even though they don't have the lowest RP total, so slightly more boost by removing the penalty altogether). Alternate racial trait Tinkerer replaces this with +2 Dex, +2 Int. All other racial traits and alternate racial traits work as normal.
Halfling: +2 Dex, +2 Cha, -1 penalty on Strength skills (but not on combat -- similar idea as for Dwarves and Elves above). All other racial traits and alternate racial traits work as normal.
Half-Humans and Humans: +2 to any physical ability score, +2 to any mental ability score, -2 to any ability score (possibly the same as one of the scores that got a bonus, thus leaving effectively just +2 to any score as they currently get). In the case of the Dual Talent alternate racial trait, the extra +2 cannot be on an ability score that already gets a bonus. A new alternate racial trait, Olympian, replaces the Human ability score matrix (and the Bonus Feat and Skilled) with an upgraded Physical Paragon(*) ability score matrix, thus receiving +4 to any physical ability score and -2 to each of...
I really like this. It allows races like dwarves to be bloodragers and Paladins. Two classes that should fit the race but don't because of cha penalties.
I wish that I could make your suggestion reality.
I wish that I could make your suggestion reality..
That IS the point of being a GM.
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I wish that I could make your suggestion reality..That IS the point of being a GM.
ever so fun GMing and not doing society play.
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Orcs.And a: orcs tend not to have dominant civilizations and b: those roles are often filled by resident half - orcs.
Actually, I'll have you know that orc witches can cast spells using Consti-
... oh. Never mind then.
I'd been thinking about modifying the playable races by removing the stat penalties. I'd like to think that this would have the effect of making certain races more playable in general (not having to worry about an Elf's or Tengu's Con penalty) and opening up class options for races (melee builds for Halflings and Gnomes).
Has anyone tried something like this? How well did it work for you? Did the demihumans seem more powerful in comparison to The Best Race (Human) or did it even out? Were Half-Elves and Half-Orcs shafted? Did your players have more fun?
Examples:
** spoiler omitted **** spoiler omitted **...
On the level of ability scores alone, this feels a lot like 4th edition D&D. The only difference being the designers eventually rewrote bonuses to be +2 to a particular stat and a floating +2 between 2 other stats. (Except for humans who had 2 floaters)
Otherwise, the special abilities are nothing like 4th ed. which were less in number and overall power. So in the simplest sense, you're blending two versions of the d20 mechanic without thinking about the overall power level of that decision. That being said, if you offer the exact "same thing" to every single race and monster that makes the benefit "equal" across the board, that should level the playing field. I personally wouldn't want to undertake that sort of project.