I really would like to know why the different Ancestries get varying amount of Ancestral attributes. For Example why do Orcs only get +Str, +Free, while Dwarves get, +Con, +Wis, +Free, -Cha. Yes you can 100% cancel your Flaw with your free boost but for a non-Charisma character this is why there is the option for 2 free boosts instead but isn't it a little min-maxy for use a Dwarf for anything non-charisma related because they get +3 attribute boosts and 2 in argubly the best stats?
While elves get +dex, +int, +free, -str. Arguably not the best Barbarian or any strength build but one hell of any spell caster, Rogue, Dex based martial. Which can be put in Cha, Wis or even Con, depending on your build which is +1 more then the Orc will ever have for a +0 in a stat they might never use, in exchange you take a -1 in a stat you might never use to boost another stat you will use by +1
I been thinking of just switching my campaigns to where it is mandatory to take +free, +free intead of the normal attribute boost. Just to avoid that weird +1 potential stat that some races get. However one player fought against it so I decided not to but for cases like this how would you go about balancing this extra +1 for a -1, which is in most cases not equal to one another
This is a game where every +1 can make or break how well you succeed in any given check. While trying to minimize how much you need to roll those "bad" checks you got (Those that are untrained or just too low to matter).
I guess it was the ickyness of mental attribute penalties (or all attribute penalties in general) that it is deemed to be heavily connected to this thing known as "bio-essentialism", which is often called out as morally wrong...
I never liked preset attribute boosts so my rules are pretty lax:
-for ancestries players can choose either 2 free or 3 free + 1 flaw
-for backgrounds players can choose 2 free
That way players are free to pick ancestries/backgrounds that inspire them, which leads to more fun moments at the table overall.
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I never had a problem with ancestry boosts. If anything, I'd wish we had more variety. There's too many ancestries with dex boosts and very few with strength.
The extra boost is easily balanced by the flaw and the fact that you're limited to a specific ancestry. Like if you want to play a sturdy cloistered cleric you're playing a Dwarf (or maybe a conrasu). If you don't want/need many of the Dwarf feats foryour character, you're still stuck with them.
Yes, I know dwarves have good feats for most characters. It's just an example. There's other ancesties that might have good stats for certain character builds but very few ancestral feats to support them - or vice versa.