I know this is going to be in the DMG, and we don't have that yet, but I was curious about racial builds and how they were done.
It seems to me that races are built on three feats (or feat equivalents–ability bonuses/proficiencies) worth of benefits. Yet the variant human only has 2.5 feats worth. Normally we talk about them being OP, but with a new house rule we're using (you can give up a racial feature for a feat, provided they were worth about the same thing as a feat in the list), the difference is beginning to matter for our table.
Half-Elf: +2 Cha; +1 to two abilities; two skill proficiences. (3 feats worth)
Human: +1 to every ability. (3 feats worth)
Variant Human: +1 to two abilties; one skill proficiency; one feat. (2.5 feats worth)
This leads me to question what I know of races, but does anyone know more about their construction? However, for our table, going half-elf is OP compared to variant human (I know, this is working off of a house rule, but I'm sure we'll change part of the tune when the DMG arrives).
It really is annoying having to wait for the DMG when we've had the PHB for so long. Core classes and races don't always interest me (a few do, but I'm into concept, and despite there being quite a bit available in the PHB, there isn't enough for many of my off-the-wall concepts).
Prescient wrote:
That is very true.
I didn't consider that. 
I'd say the half-elf is more than three feats. Four ability points = 2 feats. 2 skills = 2/3 of a feat. One language = 1/6 of a feat. Darkvision + Fey Ancestry =?????. I'd rate that at more than 1/6 of a feat mostly because of darkvision. So the total is something over 3 feats.
The variant human is powerful because of it's flexability. If you're giving away feats to every race startng at 1 then it's not great. But that's the same as saying "I'm letting everyone drop one racial trait to choose a dragon breath attack of their choice" and then wondering if dragonborn lose their appeal: Of course they do.
Did the Human variant begin with a feat at level one or only when they reach the level 4?
Eretas wrote:
If you can freely convert ability points to feats at the ratio of 2 ability points to one feat then a regular human has 6 ability points or 3 feats.
The variant human has 2 ability points, 1 feat, and 1 skill. 2 ability points = 1 feat. 1 feat = 1 feat (duh...). 1 skill = 1/3 feat as there is a "Skilled" feat that grants 3 skills. Therefore a variant human has 2 1/3 feats versus 3 feats for a human. Whether that's an issue depends on whether you'd have done anything you cared about with the extra ability points.
Personally, I find the half-elf incredibly powerful - 4 ability points (2 feats), 2 skills (2/3 feat), 1 extra language (1/6 feat), infravision and some magic resistance.
guachi wrote: