Half-Elf Ideas

[Amphimir Míriel]

By that reasoning, 4e Half-Orcs better get +6 Charisma and Diplomacy boni like there's no tomorrow

Thog no need fancy words to score human chicks... He only need show strong pecs...

 

[KidSnide]

I have to admit that I find WotC design for half-elves really bizarre. The diplomacy angle always struct me as arbitrary (even in 3.5), and the Con/Cha bonuses are really strange.

IMC, half-elves are always a little gish-y, mixing magic with some combination of fighting or skills. To be completely fair, dilettante seems right on to me. It's everything else that comes out of left field. Still, the 4E half-elf rules are very bad at creating what I think of as the prototypical half-elf.

Since "choose an ability" is supposed to be a human power, I probably would have given half-elves a choice between Int and Cha, and would have given a human "extra skill", instead of the diplomacy (and ???) bonus.

 

[Brazenwood]

World of Thandoria

In my world elves spread across the main continent in ancient times and then humans arrived at their shores later, and the elves actually took them under their wings as their primitive little seafaring children. IN time, the humans merged with the elves so completely, that the dominant race on my main continent is half-elves, and I even have several breeds based on region and racial strand. So I think Half-Elves are great with the diplomacy charisma bonuses, and the fact that you can choose any at will power of another class, and then couple that with a multiclassing feat at 1st level, you've got amazing versatility and the ability to be a jack of all trades. I just made my first Warlord half-elf and gave him the Eyebite power of the Warlock, and then gave him the Pact Initiate multiclassing feat, and gave him the starpact, so he can bring down the dire radiance and do a mental attack and vanish...pretty good when you combine those abilities with the Warlord's powers, of which I chose: Commander's Stirke, Wolf Pack Tactics, Warlord's Favor (with INT) and Lead the Attack...

Can't wait to run him in the first game!

 

[pukunui]

I am actually using the dislike as the reason why Half-Elves know Diplomacy well and have +2 Charisma. Since they basically need to be for daily life.

Your general Half-Elf has to deal with having to worm past town guards, bigots, have to barter to get a cheaper price on rooms and meals, etc.

So as such they have simply in general learnt to be better at diplomacy and their social skills, so they can live at all normally.

Good points. But what you're saying is half-elves are "learned diplomats" whereas WotC wants them to be "natural diplomats" -- eg. it comes naturally because elves and humans don't like each other but both races like half-elves so they always act as go-betweens. I haven't properly read the 4e half-elf fluff, but that's certainly what the 3e fluff was.

Tanis wasn't liked by the Qualinesti, and he felt he had to grow a beard and hide his elven features in order to be accepted by humans. However, he's also charismatic and seems to be wise and always gets pushed into being the party leader. That's what I'm getting at (and it sounds like what you're getting at too).

2) as to access to eladrin or drow feats, maybe depending on heritage determined at creation, but not access to all 3 all the time.

That's what I meant. There are already quite a few "choose one from x, y, or z at character creation" rules in the 4e books. Having half-elves be "you can choose to have your elven heritage be either elf, drow, or eladrin. Whichever one you choose determines which racial feats you gain access to in addition to the human racial feats."

The way I houseruled half-elves in 3.5 was to replace the +2 Diplomacy/Gather Info bonus and instead let the player choose any one of the +2/+2 skill bonus feats from the PHB. That seemed to work. I don't know how I'd go about doing that in 4e though. Maybe let the player choose from a couple of things instead of getting that flat +1 group diplomacy thing? Not only is it kind of lame but I can see it being a pain in the butt to keep track of (just like the elf's +1 group bonus to perception. Everyone's always going to be trying to figure out if they're within range or else everyone will just forget about it all together).

 

[pukunui]

I'm also definitely going to dump the group diplomacy. I think it's stupid.

Anyway, what I'm thinking of adding is a free multiclass feat or something. Or maybe give them a "jack of all trades" feature that lets them make untrained skill checks as if they were trained.

Thoughts?

 

[Surgoshan]

Or maybe give them a "jack of all trades" feature that lets them make untrained skill checks as if they were trained.

WAY overpowered. Notice that the Eladrin only get a single additional skill. You're talking about giving a half-elf ALL skills.

 

[mach1.9pants]

I'm also definitely going to dump the group diplomacy. I think it's stupid.

Anyway, what I'm thinking of adding is a free multiclass feat or something. Or maybe give them a "jack of all trades" feature that lets them make untrained skill checks as if they were trained.

Thoughts?

I like the J-o-a-t idea, as in the feat for free. I am musing on giving them the at will power either at will or at will (special), the special being an number of times per encounter equal to the relevant modifier for the chosen power (e.g. no more than INT modifier per encounter for magic missile).

 

[AFGNCAAP]

Just out of curiosity (since Amazon.com has decided July 17th as the acceptable ship date for my core books)...

Is the half-elf just half-Human/half-Elf, and not, per se, half-Human/half-Eladrin, or half-Human/half-Drow?

Now, from the bits & pieces I've scrounged from online, I'd say half-elves should have gotten the +2 to a single stat (with suggestions on where to use it based on the type of elven parent), as well as either a bonus skill at 1st, or a bonus feat (which could be burned on getting a bonus skill).

 

[pukunui]

WAY overpowered. Notice that the Eladrin only get a single additional skill. You're talking about giving a half-elf ALL skills.

In case you're wondering, I didn't mean give them a +5 to all skills. What I meant was allowing them to use the two or three "trained only" skill uses even if they're not trained in those skills and also allowing them to make knowledge checks to identify creatures and the like even if they haven't got training in the right knowledge skill. Is that any better?

Is the half-elf just half-Human/half-Elf, and not, per se, half-Human/half-Eladrin, or half-Human/half-Drow?

Correct. Half-elves are allowed to choose from Human, Elf, and Half-Elf racial feats but not the Eladrin ones or the (non-existent as of yet) Drow ones.

 

[Surgoshan]

I see. Yeah. Very different. Much better.