3.5 and +1 racial modifiers to ability scores.

[AstralFire]

Now, I understand at least some of the rationale behind ability score modifiers only being even - you want to make sure someone taking a race is definitively affected in their stats. If you roll a 16 Str and a 12 Int and take a race that gives +1 Str and -1 Int, at least at first level you have gained nothing and lost a skill point.

However, Point Buy has become the increasingly popular method of stat generation, in my estimation. Someone taking the above race could position their stats such that they had a 17 Str and a 13 Int - so they would gain a bonus to strength, and they wouldn't take a huge hit to intelligence.

This obviously means that in a Point-Buy situation, a +1 racial modifier to an ability score can have a positive outcome - but it also means that a -1 racial modifier could have a null outcome, feats excepted. (As feats always rely on odd numbers in WotC-published material.) Though on the other hand, that point still came from somewhere else... So it's not free until every other stat important to you requires at least 2 points to improve.

My question to you, Homebrew?

In a Point-Buy situation, all things considered, are odd racial ability modifiers suitable?

[afroakuma]

I'm on the fence on this one, AstralFire. On the one hand, yes, they would top up a modifier nicely. On the other, the four-level ability score increases have more value in a point-buy system initially, because they fulfill that exact function (which is unchanged in a +2 modifier system), and from that point become more costly for the next step (i.e. two ability points to focus on the same ability.) With a +1 racial modifier, those points lose some of their value.

On the other hand, that could swing in exactly the other direction, offering players the ability to point-buy an even score, take the racial bonus to increase to an odd point and spend the first ability bonus on it.

That said, I never use point buy, so ignore me. :smallbiggrin:

[DaTedinator]

Personally, I've always been okay with +1/-1 racial ability modifiers, even when rolling stats, as long as people realize that a -1 doesn't quite balance a +1 (much easier to neutralize the penalty and make use of the benefit). Point buy it's even better, because they do indeed balance each other.

[Knaight]

Point buy costs more points as the scores get higher, so it doesn't work that well. In your above example with 16 str, 12 int, 15 str 13 int is cheaper than 16/12, so there can be some small minmaxing benifit in point buy. If your not worried about that, its not an issue.