Are Half-elves underpowered?

[Laurel]

I've played half-elves, and yes they are slightly less adventagous then a full blood. But I don't think they lack completly.

I like the skill additions, and it adds that little bit that I think brings them to a more even playing field. It also adds that human element, instead of just having an underpowered elf.

Personally, I will agree with humans not being underpowered.

 

[Evilhalfling]

yes half elves are poor.
but the concept is bad - halfbreeds should be rare unless there is a large region devoted to them, and mostly they breed with each other. IMC I turned halforcs into a seperate race, with no req of a human parent. 1/2 elves I am content to ignore, and their weakness discourages people from playing them.

my pardon to those who have heard me make this argument before, but it does keep coming up.

 

[italianranma]

Thanks for all the feedback so far. I tried searching for all posts since the begining about races, and I didn't find any about half-elves. I knew this couldn't be right, and I think I limited my finds to two pages, so that was an error. Sorry for bringing up these old tired arguements again.

Anyway from the SRD:

HALF-ELVES
• Medium: As Medium creatures, half-elves have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
• Half-elf base land speed is 30 feet.
• Immunity to sleep spells and similar magical effects, and a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against enchantment spells or effects.
• Low-Light Vision: A half-elf can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. She retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions.
• +1 racial bonus on Listen, Search, and Spot checks.
• +2 racial bonus on Diplomacy and Gather Information checks.
• Elven Blood: For all effects related to race, a half-elf is considered an elf.
• Automatic Languages: Common and Elven. Bonus Languages: Any (other than secret languages, such as Druidic).
• Favored Class: Any. When determining whether a multiclass half-elf takes an experience point penalty, her highest-level class does not count.

It seems pretty powerful already to me...if we add:
4 bonus skill points at 1st level
1 additional skill point at each level thereafter

that doesn't make them overpowered does it?

 

[Kelleris]

Not in my experience. Look at it thise way: those stats are basically watered-down elf stats, plus a marginally useful multiclasssing benefit that doesn't matter much once the character is actually made and a meh-worthy bonus to Gather Information and Diplomacy. Giving them something extra just makes them distinct enough from elves to be worthwhile.

On the human side, the main draw IME experience is the free choice of bonus feat. As a plater, I always find myself wishing I had that one extra feat when I'm not playing a human, so I tend to think of it as their defining characteristic. I wouldn't grant it to any other races, but the extra skill points are worth sharing with the intelligent version of the half-human.

 

[was]

A little, but that's why I like them.

 

[moritheil]

People play half-elf because the story suits it, or for the character concept. I've never seen any of my stat-concerned players play half-elf, but I personally would play a half-elf druid for flavor. At least the diplomacy bonus is somewhat functional then. Half-elf bard is an obvious choice, but probably lacking when compared to gnome bard.

 

[kenobi65]

If you've got Unearthed Arcana, take a look at the Half-Elf Paragon PrC. Obviously, it's not something that every half-elf would take, and it's 1 to 3 levels you don't get to apply to your other classes, but it's got some pretty nice "class abilities."

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

but the concept is bad - halfbreeds should be rare unless there is a large region devoted to them, and mostly they breed with each other.

I'm actually really thinking about tossing out the Half-Elf and Half-Orc entirely, and leaving the "half breeds" to those horrible magical things with the templates. Plenty of other RPGs make do just fine with non-hybridized races.

 

[Bront]

I think they are weak, but as weak as Humans.

IMC I always bump humans, giving them more points to spend on Abilities (6 more)

I've always felt humans were one of the most powerful races, but I tend to always feel I never have enough skill points or classes.

Half-elves are underpowered compaired to Elves (Better bonuses, extra weapon proficiencies for any non-martial proficiancy class, and a stat adjustment) or humans (More flexable skill point adjustment that advances with level, bonus feat is realy nice in most builds). The only one I've played was in Eberron for concept reasons (wanted to be in the Mark of Storm house), though i've been generaly happy with how he turned out (Happier than I thought I would have).

I like the idea of extra skill points for the Half-elf (Maybe only 1 per level without the x4 for first), which are mechanicaly weaker, much like a half-orc. I've always ruled that the half-orc is proficient in the Double-Axe, but that still doesn't seem like enough. Maybe an intimidate bonus and maybe another skill or two.

 

[frankthedm]

the 3 of us that dm of our group talked it over and decided that a half elf can have

One martial sword[ short, long or rapeir] & one bow[short or long] profeciency [elf raised ]

or

4 bonus skill points at first level. [human raised]

We discussed the pros and cons of more and decided anything more than that and humans become obsolete.