Non-Feat Variant Human

[themaque]

I might have missed this thread earlier.

Do you feel Human's hold their own as a suitable choice? I'm not talking the Variant human, I'm talking if Feat selection wasn't an option. How would you fix it?

I was thinking keeping it +1 to all stats, but adding Skill Versatility from the Half elves, but I'm curious what the playground thinks.

[TrollCapAmerica]

"Variant" Human should have been the default human but too many jitters from 4Es failure made them afraid of putting in ....complex ideas and scaring away casuals same with Magic items being the most stupidly obvious faux optional rules ever printed

The garbage human base we got is almost as bad ad AD&D humans

[Person_Man]

If you're using a point buy (and thus can benefit from most/all of the odd ability score bonuses from the time you start playing), and if you're relying on non-heavy armor, then yes. It's basically just giving up any passive racial abilities (Darkvision, Advantage to whatever, Resistance to whatever) in exchange for slightly higher bonuses. This can be particularly important for MAD classes like the Paladin, Monk, Barbarian, and any spellcaster that wants to use weapons (as opposed to cantrips).

[cobaltstarfire]

The non-variant human can be pretty useful in a point buy game, especially if you want to make a more well rounded character.

edit: I get distracted by an email and got beaten to the punch. :smalltongue:

[SharkForce]

just give the human +1 to two stats, a floating skill proficiency, and totallynotresilience. now, you may be asking yourself, "what is totallynotresilience?"

why, it's +1 to a single attribute and proficiency in saves tied to that attribute (including one they have a bonus to already, if desired), of course. and it definitely is not the resilience feat without the name. nope, definitely not that.

(this still leaves monks a bit out in the cold, and basically amounts to giving them a feat, minus having to go through the entire feat list to figure out a good one to take).

[calebrus]

As I explained in the other thread, I have banned variant human. Everyone uses standard array, and I offered one ASI to every character at creation. That character cannot choose to add +2 to one score with this initial ASI.
To counter that and make humans relevant again, they now get +2 to one score of their choice, +1 to three scores of their choice, and one extra tool or skill proficiency of their choice.
It's kind of a mix of base and variant humans.

[Easy_Lee]

Allowing humans to distribute the +1's as they choose, max two per attribute is an option that can make them better. As is, the only time I would personally consider the race is on a point buy or for certain stat rolls. If I rolled 17 15 13 13 11 9, then you can bet I'd play human.

That said, I think the non-variant human is poorly designed because the only time it's a worthy choice is in very particular, meta-gamey situations.

[Chronos]

There is no character so MAD that that +1 across the board is actually useful. +2 to main and +1 to secondary will usually be better, and that's even before you add any of the other racial abilities. The others are basically just giving you bonuses to things you're not doing anyway.

[Easy_Lee]

There is no character so MAD that that +1 across the board is actually useful. +2 to main and +1 to secondary will usually be better, and that's even before you add any of the other racial abilities. The others are basically just giving you bonuses to things you're not doing anyway.

It's true that it really would only benefit saves. That's of no great concern for most characters, but a dedicated mage-slayer may consider his non-core saves to be somewhat important.

[cobaltstarfire]

There is no character so MAD that that +1 across the board is actually useful. +2 to main and +1 to secondary will usually be better, and that's even before you add any of the other racial abilities. The others are basically just giving you bonuses to things you're not doing anyway.

I dunno in point buy eldritch knight seems to really enjoy getting the +1's everywhere, and also having more points to spend in more places. Or at least that's my impression while trying to make one recently.

[Galen]

The non-variant human is very weak. The way 5e stats are set, you only need 3 good stats:
- Combat attack stat (one of Dex/Str)
- Casting stat (one of Int/Wis/Cha)
- Constitution
[if you're a non-caster, just two of course]

The other three are nice to have at best. Therefore, "+1 to all abilities", while sounding impressive, doesn't do much.

[Vogonjeltz]

I might have missed this thread earlier.

Do you feel Human's hold their own as a suitable choice? I'm not talking the Variant human, I'm talking if Feat selection wasn't an option. How would you fix it?

I was thinking keeping it +1 to all stats, but adding Skill Versatility from the Half elves, but I'm curious what the playground thinks.

They are mathematically inferior to other races. Technically the Variant Human (which is a variant only because feats themselves are variants) is even worse off.

Every ASI is worth 2 ability scores, every feat is 1 ASI, and the features granted by a feat can be valued at some fraction of an ASI.

If Human is the baseline (easiest to metric) we're looking at 3 value for the ASI, .08333 value for the language, .1666 for every 5 feet of movement speed
Every skill proficiency is worth 1/3 of a feat (Skilled) or .333 value.

So standard human is worth ~4.08293 ASI
Standard Human + Versatility would be worth 4.74893 ASI
Half-Elf is worth 4.33262 + whatever we value Fey Ancestry and Darkvision at. Darkvision is half replicated by Skulker, so it's worth at least more than .333 ASI, which puts the Half-Elf at at least 4.66562 ASI. Although, given the nature of the benefits I'd assess the real total of Half-Elf to be in excess of 5 ASI.

Basically Half-Elf puts Human to Shame in terms of value. The only reason to be a Human over a Half-Elf is if you don't need/want Charisma, otherwise Half-Elf is totally superior.

[Chronos]

Good ability score improvements are worth a feat. Bad ones are worth less (with the understanding that "good" and "bad" depends on class and build). Usually, it doesn't matter that bad ASIs are worth less, since people don't bother with them anyway, but non-feat humans are forced to take them.

See also the two dwarf varieties: On top of the base dwarf abilities, hill dwarves get +1 Wis (worth half a feat) and half the benefit of Toughness (another half a feat), for a total of 1 feat worth of abilities. Mountain dwarves get +2 Str (worth one feat) and proficiency with light and medium armors (each worth half a feat), for a total of 2 feats worth of abilities. And yet, hill dwarves are still usually better than mountain dwarves, because the mountain dwarf abilities don't complement each other well: Most classes that benefit from the Str already have light and medium armor proficiency, and strength letting you wear heavier armors without speed reduction doesn't matter, because all dwarves get that anyway.

[Mandragola]

The surprising thing (to me at least) was that adding +1 to all stats makes almost no difference. You'd think it would make humans have the best stats but it kind of doesn't, at least in any meaningful way.

When I've drawn up actual characters using the non-variant human and compared them to a similar character made using a more "suitable" race, the effect has been that the non-variant human has marginally better dump stats.

So for instance, a mountain dwarf fighter (which to be fair has totally perfect stat bonuses) might have stats like this:

S16, D14, C16, I8, W12, C8

or something. So he's got good physical stats and even an ok wisdom. He doesn't care a bit about his int and cha, because he has no skills that use them and only rarely takes saves on them, so he leaves them at 8.

As a non-variant human you end up with this:

S16, D14, D16, I9, W12, C10

So the human gets +1 to his int stat and an irrelevant improvement to his charisma (unless he wants to take Actor, I guess...).

To be fair, it's not so bad if the human wants to play a character with a few 14s instead of two 16s. Compare a gnome and human wizard:

Gnome

S8, D14, C14, I16, W12, C12

Human

S9, D14, C14, I16, W14, C12

Oh wait, actually again the human just has +1 to one stat modifier in a not-very-important stat. So the human gets +1 to wisdom saves, which is nice, but the gnome gets advantage on int, wis and cha saves vs spells. No deal human! Oh and the gnome also gets darkvision and stuff.

If you're making a variant human with one of the feats that improves a stat, the variant starts to look a lot better than the non-variant. Consider a paladin with heavy armour mastery, vs a non-variant without:

Variant with heavy armour mastery

S16, D10, C14, I8, W10, C16

Non-variant

S16, D10, C14, I10, W10, C16

So yet again, the non-variant one has a marginally better dump stat and that's all. That's really not a fair trade for 3 damage reduction and a skill proficiency.

Ultimately the good thing about non-variant humans is that you can make one into any class. You can always have your primary stat be a 16, and if you want the two stats of your choice can be 16s. But then that's also why variant humans kind of aren't worse, because they get to put their two stat boosts where they actually do something, and once your two primary stats are good the amount you care really starts to drop off.

There are two main reasons this doesn't work. One is that adding +1 to a stat is a lot worse than adding +2, so adding +2 to one stat works out very as more efficient than adding +1 to two stats, due to stats costing more at higher numbers (from 14-16). The other is that you feel compelled to put points into dump stats, because 9s look bad. So your wizard doesn't have 8 strength, he has 10 - not that anyone notices.

My other issue with non-variant humans is how boring they are. Other races have all kinds of features - some of which are powerful and others of which are just... different. Humans get nothing. Variant humans are good because they represent people who bring a special ability of some kind to the party, which is very welcome and can be fun in play.

[Tenmujiin]

Non-variant humans are better with rolled stats I would say and while most people on these boards use point buy, rolled stats are the default in 5e.

[SharkForce]

Variant humans are better with rolled stats I would say and while most people on these boards use point buy, rolled stats are the default in 5e.

eh, still not really that great. even if you were to roll odd stats, you could just split your later ASIs or pick up useful feats that give +1 in the appropriate attribute if it's something you care about. if it's something you don't care about, well, you probably don't care all that much that it's an extra point higher.

[mephnick]

I'm glad they suck. For the first time ever I have a group with no humans in it.

[calebrus]

Variant humans are better with rolled stats I would say and while most people on these boards use point buy, rolled stats are the default in 5e.eh, still not really that great. even if you were to roll odd stats, you could just split your later ASIs or pick up useful feats that give +1 in the appropriate attribute if it's something you care about. if it's something you don't care about, well, you probably don't care all that much that it's an extra point higher.

And this is precisely why I use standard array.
Everyone gets exactly the same starting stats, and even builds that require three decent stats can make it happen.
15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8
If you need two stats plus Con, then add the +1 to the 15, and the +2 to the 13.
Now, with the way I work the initial ASI, you can have 16, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8 and a minor feat with literally any race. Have two main stats and don't want the feat? 18 (15+2+1), 16 (14+1+1), 13, 12, 10, 8.
Plan on some crazy multiclass and need four stats? Play a human. 16 (15+1), 16 (14+2), 14 (13+1), 14 (12+1+1), 10, 8 and a minor feat.

[Person_Man]

It's true that it really would only benefit saves.

It can also effect Skills (Athletics, Stealth, Perception, etc), AC, and Initiative on the margins.

Also, some players just hate having a weak/dump stat, and/or just don't know what they want to do with their character. For them, having a bunch of 11's or 13's that all get pushed up to 12's and 14's is a pretty good way to start, then you push your main ability score up to 16 at 4th level.

[Mr.Moron]

I used non-variant human and let players trade in two +1s for a single skill proficiency.

[Human Paragon 3]

I think the rule of thumb that people have been tapdancing around in this thread is that standard human is useful if you want a well-rounded character with no glaring weaknesses. If you want a more even stat array for a strange character concept such as a fighter who uses his wits to overcome enemies, standard human is a pretty good way to go.

For any focused build, i.e. one that is optimized to do something, standard human is worse than variant human or whatever race gets the +2 stat boost to your main stat(s).

[Chronos]

Eh, not really. If you want a fighter who uses his wits to overcome enemies, human isn't a good way to go, because there really isn't a good way to go for that.

[Human Paragon 3]

Eh, not really. If you want a fighter who uses his wits to overcome enemies, human isn't a good way to go, because there really isn't a good way to go for that.

Sure there is. Get a good Int/Wis and train knowledge, perception, invenstigation, arcana, history, and so on. Then constantly use them to try and gain advantages on the battlefield or social situations. With a cooperative DM it'd be great. Like Roy.

Also use your ability boosts to get a good attack stat, obviously.

[TrollCapAmerica]

Sure there is. Get a good Int/Wis and train knowledge, perception, invenstigation, arcana, history, and so on. Then constantly use them to try and gain advantages on the battlefield or social situations. With a cooperative DM it'd be great. Like Roy.

Also use your ability boosts to get a good attack stat, obviously.

It's a justification for the base human that doesn't hold up under scrutiny.. No character realistically benefits from a +1 to all stats even MAD classes like Monk and EK and trying to run a Roy type character isn't going to be represented well by pumping you 8 Int to a 9

[Myzz]

Here is a general breakdown of the races abilities, not by specific ability but by general wording of what each ability does:

Hill Dwarf: +2 +1, 60 ft Darkvision, 5ft spd reduction, Specific Save Advantage (with resistance for damage), Specific Weapons, Tool Prof, Specific Knowledge skill expertise, language, 1 bonus hp per level (feat?)

Mountain Dwarf: +2 +2, 60 ft Darkvision, 5ft spd reduction, Specific Save Advantage (with resistance for damage), Specific Weapons, Tool Prof, Specific Knowledge skill expertise, language, Light and Medium Armor (Feat?)

High Elf: +2 +1, 60 ft Darkvision, Skill Prof, Specific Save Advantage (specific non dmg immunity), ½ sleep time, Specific Weapons, Language, Cantrip

Wood Elf: +2 +1, 60 ft Darkvision, Skill Prof, Specific Save Advantage (specific non dmg immunity), ½ sleep time, Specific Weapons, Language, +5 ft spd, Specific Skill bonus

Drow Elf: +2 +1, 120 ft Darkvision, Skill Prof, Specific Save Advantage (specific non dmg immunity), ½ sleep time, Specific Weapons, Language, Magic Initiate Feat (sort of), Sunlight Sensitivity

Lightfoot Halfling: +2 +1, 60 ft Darkvision, Skill Prof, Specific Save Advantage, Language, 5 ft spd reduction, reroll 1’s, Move through, Specific Skill bonus

Stout Halfling: +2 +1, 60 ft Darkvision, Skill Prof, Specific Save Advantage, Language, 5 ft spd reduction, reroll 1’s, Move through, Specific Save Advantage (with resistance for damage)

Dragonborn: +2 +1, 60 ft Darkvision, Language, Damage Resistance (specific element), Scaling Breath Weapon (same element)

Forest Gnome: +2 +1, 60 ft Darkvision, Language, 5 ft spd reduction, Specific Save Advantages (3), Cantrip, at will L1 spell

Rock Gnome: : +2 +1, 60 ft Darkvision, Language, 5 ft spd reduction, Specific Save Advantages (3), Specific Knowledge Skill, Tinker

Half Elf: : +2 +1, 60 ft Darkvision, Language, Specific Save Advantage (specific non dmg immunity), 2 Skill Profs, 2 languages

Half Orc: : +2 +1, 60 ft Darkvision, Language, Skill Prof, Not Die (1/LR), Extra Dmg on crits

Tiefling: : +2 +1, 60 ft Darkvision, Language, Damage Resistance (specific element), Magic Initiate Feat (sort of)

Human: +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1, Language

Vhuman: +1 +1, Skill Prof, Feat


Humans definately get the short end of the stick.

***Notes***
1. I did not include age as an ability
2. Some abilities that had no generic name quality were kinda just named (see Tinker)
3. How beneficial specifc abilities like skills or cantrips and such intentiallly left vague, since those are build/campaign specific on how "good" or "functional" they will be

[Vogonjeltz]

Good ability score improvements are worth a feat. Bad ones are worth less (with the understanding that "good" and "bad" depends on class and build). Usually, it doesn't matter that bad ASIs are worth less, since people don't bother with them anyway, but non-feat humans are forced to take them.

See also the two dwarf varieties: On top of the base dwarf abilities, hill dwarves get +1 Wis (worth half a feat) and half the benefit of Toughness (another half a feat), for a total of 1 feat worth of abilities. Mountain dwarves get +2 Str (worth one feat) and proficiency with light and medium armors (each worth half a feat), for a total of 2 feats worth of abilities. And yet, hill dwarves are still usually better than mountain dwarves, because the mountain dwarf abilities don't complement each other well: Most classes that benefit from the Str already have light and medium armor proficiency, and strength letting you wear heavier armors without speed reduction doesn't matter, because all dwarves get that anyway.

Maybe in a utility sense, but in an absolute value sense they are the same. The value of an ASI is 1 feat specifically because it costs 1 ASI to take a feat. The problem with variant human is that you are spending 2 ASI of stats to get 1 and 1/3 feats.

I'd also point out that maximizing total ability score points provides more net value (because there are enough ASI to assure that any given character has a 20 in their primary stat as long as it starts at at least a 10).

The point buy system allows for the following loadouts:
15, 15, 15, 8, 8, 8 = 16, 16, 16, 9, 9, 9 (total points: 75)
15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8 = 16, 15, 14, 13, 11, 9 (total points: 78)
13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 10 = 14, 14, 14, 14, 14, 11 (total points: 81)

So although the starting scores are slightly lower (only +1 modifier difference for the primary attribute) the average point value is higher and it only takes 3 ASI to reach 20. The return is +6 ability score points.


It's a justification for the base human that doesn't hold up under scrutiny.. No character realistically benefits from a +1 to all stats even MAD classes like Monk and EK and trying to run a Roy type character isn't going to be represented well by pumping you 8 Int to a 9

That's where the Fighter's 7 ASIs come into play, allowing them to take feats that add +1 to a stat and rounding up for bonus mods.

So a Human Fighter could start with:
Str 16, Dex 13, Con 15, Int 9, Wis 11, Cha 14

And pick up:
Observant (+1 Int to 10) (alternately: Keen Mind, Linguist)
Resilient (+1 Wis to 12) (alternatley: Observant)
Resilient (+1 Dex to 14)
Heavy Armor Master (+1 Str to 17)
Athlete (+1 Str to 18)
ASI (+2 Str to 20)
Tavern Brawler (+1 Con to 16)

This nets them out at:
Str 20, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 14
Saving Throws in Str, Dex, Con, Wis and all the feat bonuses.

[TrollCapAmerica]

Great you traded in your entire feat list to make even numbers for +1 bonuses and you can only get Resilient once

Most of those are nice secondary options tacked on feats after you have already gotten the ones primary to your character (be it Great Weapon master Sharpshooter Lucky Sentinel etc.) . A collection of bandaids just doesn't make a particularly intimidating character

[jazzymantis]

Variant humans are better with rolled stats I would say and while most people on these boards use point buy, rolled stats are the default in 5e.

Rolled stats are the default, but variant humans (feats/variant) are not. What is more popular? In my area it is the use of feats and point buy stats, two variant rules...


Pretty much standard human is what you are going to pick if you want a unique character. What if you want a wizardX/fighter 1 with a glaive? You can get your boost to int (spells), con (spells/hp), str (glaive, grapple shenanigans), and dex (AC, Initiative, saving throws)

Str 16 Dex 12 Con 14 Int 16, Wis 10, Cha 9

This is just one example, but anyone with a random build that they want to make can because the generic standard human is there. Pick up extra skills with your background and you can get pretty much any character you want that is not supported by current races.

The builds may not be "optimal" but it lets them be feasible. There is only one race that give you a +2 to intelligence, and what if I don't want to be a gnome or want dex? The only other races i can get are high elf, half elf, (ok I guess fire genasi now... have to look at them more closely...) and standard human. I might not want charisma or dex... so at that point human is good enough.

[Tenmujiin]

Rolled stats are the default, but variant humans (feats/variant) are not. What is more popular? In my area it is the use of feats and point buy stats, two variant rules...


Pretty much standard human is what you are going to pick if you want a unique character. What if you want a wizardX/fighter 1 with a glaive? You can get your boost to int (spells), con (spells/hp), str (glaive, grapple shenanigans), and dex (AC, Initiative, saving throws)

Str 16 Dex 12 Con 14 Int 16, Wis 10, Cha 9

This is just one example, but anyone with a random build that they want to make can because the generic standard human is there. Pick up extra skills with your background and you can get pretty much any character you want that is not supported by current races.

The builds may not be "optimal" but it lets them be feasible. There is only one race that give you a +2 to intelligence, and what if I don't want to be a gnome or want dex? The only other races i can get are high elf, half elf, (ok I guess fire genasi now... have to look at them more closely...) and standard human. I might not want charisma or dex... so at that point human is good enough.

My bad, meant to say standard humans. :smalleek:
I'll go back and fix my post

[TheOOB]

Non-variant humans are fine. They're the "skill" race, that is (assuming point buy) they will have a bonus on most if not all the ability checks(and by extension saves). They don't have to sacrifice any of their stats, and it's less painful for them to have multiple non-essential stats with good ratings. Want a fighter with good INT? A rogue with good WIS? A human might be your best bet.

[Battlebooze]

Lots of good points all around. I have another problem with both versions of humans.

They are boring.

Surely humans deserve something interesting and unique. Just give both versions something like this.

Human adaptability: Humans may take advantage on one attack, save, or skill roll. This ability resets with a short rest.

[themaque]

Lots of good points all around. I have another problem with both versions of humans.

They are boring.

Surely humans deserve something interesting and unique. Just give both versions something like this.

Human adaptability: Humans may take advantage on one attack, save, or skill roll. This ability resets with a short rest.

I have zero problems with humans being boring. In fact they kind of SHOULD be boring in their basic stats. Being the ultimate generalist IS boring because you never have that ONE place to shine.

I just don't like seeing them objectively WORSE than any other choice. Previous editions had alternate races have cooler stuff, but they had limitations on them as well.

[Gritmonger]

That's the thing about the generalist - he's not the butterfly, the specialist at getting to one food type (nectar) while having a lot of other specialist features to help obtain that goal and be really good at it.

Humans are more like the cockroach. Adaptable, survivors - if you suddenly had a lot of flowers die out (a cold snap), your butterflies are having a hard time, while your cockroaches don't really care that much. It's one less food source in a huge panoply of food sources.

In 1st ed. D&D this meant they had no class or alignment restrictions. By the time we get to 5th, and everybody wants to be anything with any race package, it's not as readily apparent that humans are generalists.

You could reflect this by lifting the multiclass-primary attribute restrictions for humans only, if that was the idea. A human more readily adaptable and with fewer barriers to dipping into multiple classes.

[Myzz]

In 1st ed. D&D this meant they had no class or alignment restrictions. By the time we get to 5th, and everybody wants to be anything with any race package, it's not as readily apparent that humans are generalists.

You could reflect this by lifting the multiclass-primary attribute restrictions for humans only, if that was the idea. A human more readily adaptable and with fewer barriers to dipping into multiple classes.


Every other race gets what amounts to some sort of proficiency in skills, tools and/or saves and in some cases all 3. (humans dont get any)

I would think the simple solution would be to give humans 1 Language (already RAW), 1 Tool, AND 1 Skill of choice in order to compensate for their lack in that regards to other race selections AND to compensate for NOT having Darkvision.

what is kind of baffling is that many comments on these boards have been for giving lesser races like Kobolds and Goblins essentially equivalent stats to all the other listed races, which makes them superior to non-variant humans in every way possible.

[Chronos]

If you want a rogue with good Wis, just make a rogue with good Wis. Your stat priorities are probably going to be Dex > Con > Wis. Picking a human versus, say, a stout halfling basically means increasing Wis by 1 at the cost of decreasing Dex by one, which is a poor choice if you value Dex more (as you probably do). In order for the standard human to even be worth considering at all, you have to have at least four stats you care about, and even that would depend on your third and fourth stats combined being worth as much as your first, an uncommon situation. More likely, you'd need to care about five or all six, and that's quite rare.

[Mandragola]

Humans are more like the cockroach. Adaptable, survivors - if you suddenly had a lot of flowers die out (a cold snap), your butterflies are having a hard time, while your cockroaches don't really care that much. It's one less food source in a huge panoply of food sources.

That's the theory but it's not the reality.

It would be one thing if humans really had some kind of ability that marked them out as generalists... or specialists for that matter. A variant human is arguably someone who has learned a specialist skill, after all.

But the thing is that non-variant are not generalists. They are worse. The only difference they get with their stats is that one dump stat, which they don't care much about, is better by +1. The fighter doesn't have such an awful intelligence - but it's still bad. The wizard doesn't have such a bad strength - but it's still bad.

Work out some actual stat allocations. Try out real builds with non-variant humans and with something suitable. Say a ranger using a non-variant human and a wood elf. The truth is that the non-variant human has stats that are barely noticeably better. It's hard to even tell the difference. The human ranger probably has a marginally better strength, int or cha than the wood elf. The wood elf gets darkvision, perception proficiency, trance and sleep immunity, faster movement and a bunch of other stuff.

A generalist should be able to do everything reasonably well. Being able to do anything to a kind of passable level is not good.

[themaque]

What about +2 to 1 stat, and +1 to 5 others?

[Galen]

What about +2 to 1 stat, and +1 to 5 others?Infinitely better than +1 to all.

[Gritmonger]

That's the theory but it's not the reality.

It would be one thing if humans really had some kind of ability that marked them out as generalists... or specialists for that matter. A variant human is arguably someone who has learned a specialist skill, after all.

But the thing is that non-variant are not generalists. They are worse. The only difference they get with their stats is that one dump stat, which they don't care much about, is better by +1. The fighter doesn't have such an awful intelligence - but it's still bad. The wizard doesn't have such a bad strength - but it's still bad.

Work out some actual stat allocations. Try out real builds with non-variant humans and with something suitable. Say a ranger using a non-variant human and a wood elf. The truth is that the non-variant human has stats that are barely noticeably better. It's hard to even tell the difference. The human ranger probably has a marginally better strength, int or cha than the wood elf. The wood elf gets darkvision, perception proficiency, trance and sleep immunity, faster movement and a bunch of other stuff.

A generalist should be able to do everything reasonably well. Being able to do anything to a kind of passable level is not good.

Actually, doing anything to a kind of passable level is sort of the definition of a generalist... and it's good because you always have options. It just doesn't seem as good when you're looking up at the specialists.

I agree that non-variant humans as they are don't reflect this - they should have more options on starting skills, for instance - if they dropped it to +1 to four stats plus skills plus tools plus languages, it might feel more like a generalist with more options. I might even say give them a free floating expertise, and allow it to be applied to a skill or a toolset. They wouldn't have darkvision, or luck, or stonecunning, or bonuses against magic in some situations, or improved saves versus poison... but I bet people would look hard at that flexible free expertise and think twice.

[themaque]

Infinitely better than +1 to all.

Is it too good or good enough?

[Galen]

Is it too good or good enough?
Seems like it will be pretty good for any character class, although there's always another race to closely compete with it.

Let's look at, let's say, a Wizard.
Human: +2 Int (great!), +1 Dex (very good), +1 Con (very good), +1 Str/Wis/Cha (nice, but meh)
Gnome: +2 Int (great!), +1 Dex (very good), advantage on some saves (very good), other minor bonuses (nice, but meh)
Is the best Wizard a Human or a Gnome? Too close to call.

Or a Ranger
Human: +2 Dex (great!), +1 Wis (very good), +1 Con (very good), +1 Str/Int/Cha (nice, but meh)
Wood Elf: +2 Dex (great!), +1 Wis (very good), darkvision (very good), other minor bonuses (nice, but meh)
Is the best Ranger a Human or a Wood Elf? Too close to call.

Or a Sorcerer:
Human: +2 Cha (great!), +1 Dex (very good), +1 Con (very good), +1 Int/Str/Wis (nice, but meh)
Half-Elf: +2 Cha (great!), +1 Dex (very good), +1 Con (very good), 2 skills (very good), darkvision (very good)
Is the best Sorcerer a Human or a half-Elf? Still half-Elf, actually.

[Chronos]

On the other hand, +2 to a stat of your choice would be quite welcome to the clerics and druids, who currently don't have any +2 Wis race to go for.

[SharkForce]

variant humans can get it. observant isn't exactly an awful feat to have, doesn't it give +1 wis as an option?

[Gritmonger]

Seems like it will be pretty good for any character class, although there's always another race to closely compete with it.

Let's look at, let's say, a Wizard.
Human: +2 Int (great!), +1 Dex (very good), +1 Con (very good), +1 Str/Wis/Cha (nice, but meh)
Gnome: +2 Int (great!), +1 Dex (very good), advantage on some saves (very good), other minor bonuses (nice, but meh)
Is the best Wizard a Human or a Gnome? Too close to call.

Or a Ranger
Human: +2 Dex (great!), +1 Wis (very good), +1 Con (very good), +1 Str/Int/Cha (nice, but meh)
Wood Elf: +2 Dex (great!), +1 Wis (very good), darkvision (very good), other minor bonuses (nice, but meh)
Is the best Ranger a Human or a Wood Elf? Too close to call.

Or a Sorcerer:
Human: +2 Cha (great!), +1 Dex (very good), +1 Con (very good), +1 Int/Str/Wis (nice, but meh)
Half-Elf: +2 Cha (great!), +1 Dex (very good), +1 Con (very good), 2 skills (very good), darkvision (very good)
Is the best Sorcerer a Human or a half-Elf? Still half-Elf, actually.

...I think this would be the point - the human won't ever be as good as a specialty race at some classes, but would be competitive at whatever class they chose...

So really, it seems anything beyond a +2, +1, +1 would be wasted, and better spent on a proficiency or two or a toolkit...