HI

I just made yesterday 5 character for our group. I notived that a Elf/Dwarf is way better than a human.

Those 5 creationpoints more humans have, don't balance out the 2 +1 in the attributes

Am I right? - That would be a step back to first ed. Then I don't want to see hte halfling. ;-)

Greetings WK

The Humans strength is in their adaptability. The Humans 5 points don't balance out the stats of the other races directly, but the Human has more choice in how those extra points are spent; you have more control over what type of character you generate with a Human. With a dwarf then tend towards melee fights, wood elves tend towards ranged fighters and high elves tend towards intelligent scholars. Humans can generate adequate examples of all three.

Likewise the human racial ability gives much more choice to the player about when and how it is applied. It might not be as strong as some of the other races abilities, but they only apply under certain conditions. Take the wood elf out of the forest and place him in a well lit environment and his racial abilities are null and void, not so with the Human.

Not to mention that by the RAW you can't cast any spells or miracles as a Dwarf, Wood Elf or High Elf, and the selection of careers is much more restricted. Those are points that in my opinion favor the human race.

Seriously, this game is pretty far ideologically from GW's war games, and focuses more on the fluff (where dwarves and elves are superior to the humans in their characteristics). It's not meant to be a "balanced" system, in my opinion.

In the previous editions the races wasn't balanced... Now humans are even tempting

Think about this before your write out humans.

It takes one less adventure to change your career! One whole nights playing less to change your occupation. If you play the game long enough, say four or five careers worth, you get that many more Advances than the other players. Which could make a huge difference down the road.

One more thing some people have not taken under consideration. Its a role-playing game. You are starting in the human dominated empire. Racial bigotry and social stigmas will follow the other races around where ever they go. This should be played to the hilt. If you want to be a High Elf you would be a very rare site. In some small villages and such you coming could be seen as a forbearer to doom. On the flip side the right person may very nearly worship your Dwarf.

So its all in how you use it. As a player and a GM.

Warhammer - all versions (thankfully that hasn't stopped) has never been a game purely based on mechanical balance. It's been a game that balance mechanics versus setting as well. Yes it may require a little more effort for a GM, especially a new one, but the reward is far greater. Humans can assimilate into the setting far more easily then other races. Your Dwarf Troll Slayer will often stand out like a soar thumb and Elves are often mistrusted or people keep leary and hushed around. If you look at the game as strict mechanical balance it's not always going to work out. Not only are the races not 100% balanced but the action and skills aren't either. It's up the GM to play to the strengths and weaknesses of the group, which will contribute to the fun of everyone.

If you are really woried about balance then you are best to have everyone play the exact same character, otherwise - who knows when someone may have the edge. To take this a step further and (pick on D&D cuz it's fun) D&D especially 4e is a game that has tried for far to long to keep everything balanced. The problem is that it's generally only trying to balance characters with respect to combat as a mechanical system. That's only one aspect of play and if every combination is only balanced towards combat that leaves every character just being a slightly different flavor of the same thing, which is what 4e has pretty much devolved into. Hell even now that people are understanding it more their careful balance is breaking down.