I always prefer thematic consistency, because the more you like the game, the longer you spend playing it, the more inconsistencies you notice. The Skyrim mod Requiem went this route and it was much harder and also amazing. When something is harder you value it more, which is why we are all here on p99 in the first place. If you are working on a multiplayer situation, just try to add lore-friendly balance where you can (if fire mages can't hurt fire mobs, maybe they can defend against them better than anyone, sense them out of eyesight, magically walk or swim in lava, etc)
If you want to drown small beings, gnomes might have diving helmets, but halflings have only empty jumjum bottles on their head so they should drown faster.
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