as long as we are on half-orcs and half-elves..

[alsih2o]

does anyone have an explanation for why we see half-elves and half-orcs, but no half-dwarves, half-halflings, or half-goblins, half-gnolls, half-kobolds, or half-trogs?

hal-elves, orcs, and ogres seem to be it, i realize i can circumvent this if i want in myt campaign, i was just wondering if anyone has any idea why these seem to be the only "official" halfbreeds?

 

[Aeolius]

In the 1e MM, it mentioned that not all half-orcs were derived from pairings with humans. Some were orc-goblin crossbreeds.

My personal favorite is the night hag, which in "Ecology of the Greenhag" was said to breed with humans to produce greenhags. Greenhags in turn bred with hill giants or ogres, to produce the annis.

Granted, after 16 revisions, my take on the "Night Hag Family Tree" is a bit more extensive.

 

[Carnifex]

2 possible reasons:

1) Humans and that race are sterile. They simply have too different coding in their DNA for them to be able to breed together.

2) Mechanical problems with the actual process of breeding - the reason what you cant mate certain varieites of dogs with others, for instance.

 

[alsih2o]

Granted, after 16 revisions, my take on the "Night Hag Family Tree" is a bit more extensive.

now that sounds like a very interesting post, care to share?

 

[Utrecht]

Col_Pladoh may elect to disagree, but the obvious answer to that is that Tolkien has half-elves and half-orcs (althought represenented differently) and D & D uses Tolkien as a source.

 

[Sigma]

In a similar vein, where are the half-gnome-half-dwarves or the half-elf-half-halflings?

 

[CRG]

Think about it

Friend of mine has a dog, half golden retriever half dauschund. Father was the wiener dog (er no pun intended).

Talk about logistical problems while mating. That's probably why we don't see alot of half-gnome, half-orcs.

 

[JCLabelle]

There are Half-Human/Half-Dwarf hybrids in Dark Sun, they are called Muls, and a Half-Human/Half-Kender is hinted at in one of the Dragonlance Antologies.

You can get the Mul stats from the Athas.org website in the Races section.

 

[N Hammer]

No self-respecting Dwarf would mate with the lesser races..

 

[kingpaul]

In a similar vein, where are the half-gnome-half-dwarves or the half-elf-half-halflings?

I actually did this from my campaign, and submitted the race to our NBoRaces. I called them the D'Nulm

At the dawn of time, the gods created their people, and there was relative harmony. As the years progressed, the dwarves and gnomes developed a working relationship, and began to settle together. Out of this contact, their grew many loving relationships; but alas, dwarves and gnomes could not reproduce. They called out to their gods to help them. Thus did Nyntok, gnome goddess of fertility, and Tyrna, dwarf goddess of love, stretch forth their hands to allow their people to have children. Thus were the D’Nulm (The Gift of Love) born.

Begin OGC

The D’Nulm are a greatly loved race, and tend to be slightly spoiled by their sires. However, they, as a race, have a sense that they don’t belong in this world. They have been told the legend of why they were created, but they feel lost in the communities of dwarves and gnomes. While they share traits of both parents, they feel that they don’t truly belong to either.

The D’Nulm began to wander from their communities, trying to seek a place where they could belong. In their wanderings, they found that most races enjoy art, and accept the artists. Seeing this, the D’Nulm began in earnest to master the arts, in all of their form and splendor.

Personality: D’Nulm are almost never found alone. Because of their sense of not belonging, they are deathly afraid of being left alone. Most D’Nulm player characters have at least one level of Expert, which represents their training in creating. Most races welcome the D’Nulm, as they have gained a reputation of being master craftsmen.

Physical Description: Male D’Nulm typically stand from 3’9” to 4’6” and weigh between 100 and 165 pounds. Females tend to be slightly smaller in both height and weight to the males. D’Nulm hair color tends to be of the darker hues; gray, black and brown being the most common. Eye color ranges from light brown to almost black. Most male D’Nulm have beards. Those few who do shave, must do so at least twice a day, because their facial hair grows rapidly. Females also grow facial hair, although at a very slow rate. Because of this, almost all female D’Nulm are clean-shaven, and it is the rare few who sport beards.

Relations: The D’Nulm are on best terms with dwarves and gnomes. Humans treat D’Nulm craftsmen with great respect, and most noble houses employ at least one D’Nulm Expert. The other races treat the D’Nulm as they would treat dwarves or gnomes.

Alignment: D’Nulm lean to the good alignments, as they typically are involved in creating art and beauty. Communities primarily made up of D’Nulm tend to be neutral good.

D’Nulm Lands: D’Nulm tend to settle with dwarves and/or gnomes, but they are known to create settlements of their own. Another predominant place to find D’Nulm is in noble human houses, as they are, typically, the master craftsmen and artisans the human lords and ladies employ.

Religion: The chief deity of the D’Nulm is the Master of Crafts. Otherwise, they worship freely among the dwarven and gnomish pantheons.

Names: Currently, D’Nulm take names of either their dwarven or gnomish ancestors. Typical names can be found in the PHB for both dwarves and gnomes.

Adventurers: When D’Nulm do adventure, their primary goal is to practice their art to different people then they typically have access to in their villages. These adventurers, when they finally do settle down, tend to do so in larger communities that see many different people over the course of time.

D’Nulm
D’Nulm are a combination of both Dwarves and Gnomes.

• +2 CON, -2 WIS. Like their ancestors, D’Nulm are a doughty people, but they are not sure of how they fit in the world.
• Medium size
• D’Nulm base speed is 20’
• Darkvision: D’Nulm can see in the dark up to 30’. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and D’Nulm can function just fine in no light at all.
• Low-light vision: D’Nulm can see one and one-half times as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. They retain the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions.
• +1 racial attack bonus against goblinoids
• +4 racial dodge bonus against giants
• +2 racial bonus on Craft and Perform checks. D’Nulm, in trying to find their place, have become artisans and musicians, gaining a sense of belonging through their artistic expression.
• Automatic Languages: Common, Dwarven and Gnome
• Bonus Languages: Draconic, Elven, Giant, Goblin, Orc, Terran and Undercommon
• Favored class: Bard. D’Nulm tend to combine the militant nature of their dwarven ancestors with the arcane of the gnomes. This combination expresses itself best in the Bard.

Height and Weight:
Male

• Base height: 3'7"
• Height modifier: +2d4
• Base weight: 95
• Weight modifier: 2d4

Female

• Base height: 3'5"
• Height modifier: +2d4
• Base weight: 70
• Weight modifier: 2d4

Section 15 addition
D'Nulm Copyright 2001 Paul W. King