Quote Originally Posted by JackPhoenix View Post
Because it's easier to link appearance with physical attributes, while mental capabilities are set entirely arbitrarily. Warcraft goblins are geniuses, Golarion goblins... not so much. But it's pretty unintuitive if 3'6" tall, 35 lb halfling can be just as strong as 7', 350 lb musclebound hulk of an orc (or whatever).
It is pretty much the reason we aren't elephant-sized gorillas - there is a tradeoff for adding more biomass such as energy consumption and gestations period. If you can have the biomass of a gerbil yet be as strong and durable as an hippo, why bother with the extra biomass negatives? Thats the part that comes off as unintuitive. Its not just pure biomass either - complexity requires the same tradeoffs too, like intelligence factor.

Essentially, what it comes down to is, does the extra capability provided outweigh the extra cost when it comes to survivability as a species? Usually, specialising offers greater returns than trying to do everything, hence why we are not elephant-sized gorillas with high intelligence, shark like jaws, and venomous claws. Hence, the previous stat bonuses for different races/species/ancestry showing what their evolution specialised in for survivibility.

The only way I can think to justify this is that until recently (in evolutionary timescales) there was no magic, so things progressed as normal. Then magic comes along and basically says nope. It feels like a cop-out.