Racial Disadvantages

[Tywyll]

If building a racial package with several Disadvantages, do those Disads count against the character's normal Disad total? It feels like they did not in 4th Ed, but I could be remembering it completely wrong.

[CourtFool]

The do count against your total. (ref. FrED pg. 16)

You are, of course, free to say they do not count against your total. However, that always creates a hot debate as to whether that gives Package Deals an unfair benefit.

[Yesman]

I would think very carefully about letting racial disads not count against the limit. That kind of thing got very out of control with GURPS.

[Shadowpup]

Of course the count against the disad total. Otherwise there would be no point in being human! Players being players will grab any advantage they can - you know I'm right. How many folks HONESTLY do NOT make characters with as many points in Disads as they can get their hands on?

[arcady]

I left them counting against the total, but not against the total for specific categories.

[Tywyll]

Of course the count against the disad total. Otherwise there would be no point in being human! Players being players will grab any advantage they can - you know I'm right. How many folks HONESTLY do NOT make characters with as many points in Disads as they can get their hands on?

Actually, the setting I'm working on is one where humans are a 3rd rate option at best. This is a "First Age" style game, when Elves were more like the Fey, Dwarves were practically elementals, Gods walked the earth and ruled and squabbled like petty children. Humans are the least of the slave races (all the races are enslaved to the various gods, the PCs part of a resistance movement fighting to liberate them). So, humans actually won't make up much of the party.

That being said, I have several really cool, "Human Only" things to tempt players to play them. Only humans can have psionics (for example), etc et al.

As for pure point mongering, luckily most of my perspective players have zero experience with Hero, so they won't really be savy enough to point smith (and only one other one owns a copy of the books). But, to give potential bean counters an advantage if they choose humans, I will give them the points for Normal Characteristic Maxima (because even though it will be a mostly Heroic game, the majority of the other races are not limited by the set limitations).