The role-playing game replaced “race” with “species” and divorced several character traits from biological identity. Some longtime players are upset (as is Elon Musk).
“Races” are now “species.” Some character traits have been divorced from biological identity; a mountain dwarf is no longer inherently brawny and durable, a high elf no longer intelligent and dexterous by definition.
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“People really wanted to be able to mix and match their species choice with their character-class choice,” Crawford said, adding, “They didn’t want choosing a dwarf to make them a lesser wizard.”
It sounds like the goal was to decrease the differences between the species. Looking at the pages you posted, it sure doesn’t seem like elves are actually any better at magic. They get a few spells from their heritage, more proficiencies, but a human spell caster and an elven spell caster would basically be the same. It looks like the changes are intended to make playstyles interchangeable between the different species - no species is a greater or lesser wizard than any other species.
I guess I don’t dislike it? It just seems odd to make species less different.
Elves do get extra bonuses in Magic beyond stats.
The article is unclear, because:
It sounds like the goal was to decrease the differences between the species. Looking at the pages you posted, it sure doesn’t seem like elves are actually any better at magic. They get a few spells from their heritage, more proficiencies, but a human spell caster and an elven spell caster would basically be the same. It looks like the changes are intended to make playstyles interchangeable between the different species - no species is a greater or lesser wizard than any other species.
I guess I don’t dislike it? It just seems odd to make species less different.