Half-orc dad, half-elf mom --> 'human' child?

[Desdichado]

As far as dragons breeding with other stuff, I was always under the impression that they did so while polymorphed into the species that they were mating with.

I would hope so! Yikes! Even the Book of Vile Darkness didn't touch on the other alternatives..

 

[Mordane76]

I would hope so! Yikes! Even the Book of Vile Darkness didn't touch on the other alternatives..

The Book of Erotic Fantasy might have...

 

[Torm]

Torm, you're out. My new best friend Josh is in.

That's fine. You weren't tithing properly, anyway.

Umbran - unless I'm mistaken, which I could very well be, it isn't completely impossible to get a Black Lab back out. The odds are just approximately 4^(however many chromosomes dogs have) to 1 against.

But I don't even want to see the die you'd have to roll to determine that in-game.

P.S. to Joshua: If you don't know you've been Punk'd, it wasn't done right. We'll try again, later.

 

[Desdichado]

P.S. to Joshua: If you don't know you've been Punk'd, it wasn't done right. We'll try again, later.

:gulp: You make a good point.

 

[Mercule]

Biologically speaking, it'd be a mix, plain and simple. Some features of each of the mixed ancestry groups. Maybe a thick brow, slightly upturned nose, large canines, slightly tilted eyes, long fingers, fine hair, hair in potentially unusual places, slightly pointed ears, etc. Pick a few traits and have fun.

Mechanically, it's going to be one of three things IMO: Human, Near-Human, or Mongrelfolk.

It would be human if you decided that those aspects of its heritage showed through most. I'm only 1/4 Scottish, but those seem to be many of the features that show through. These things happen.

Near human, if there were some noteworthy differences, like low-light vision or some such. Open up some odd-ball abilities as feats at first level. If the PC takes any, he's near human. Otherwise, he's human. He'll breed with others as a human would.

If you decide the child is an freakish mix that actually displays the 25% influence of elf and orc, then make it a mongrelfolk. That's pretty much exactly the explanation given for their existence.

IMC, I had a 1/4 elf PC (son of 1/2 elf PC) marry a half-orc NPC. I ruled the kids were just human. Over the generations since, they have largely married humans, with a couple of elves in the mix, so rarely does anyone manifest any orcish traits. When a scion does show orcish blood, it's usually just in the form of being strong or tempermental.

 

[ChaosEvoker]

The player proposes that his half-orc PC and half-elf NPC love interest could actually have a fully human offspring, using the logic that each half human part of the parents' genetic makeup might actually get matched correctly with the other -- a 25 percent chance, he says.

Your perspective, please.

If you want to get really technical, then actually he's right. The country-ancestry analogy doesn't work because those aren't different species. I'd say it works this way:

25% Full Human
25% Half Orc
25% Half Elf
25% Half Orc/Half Elf

 

[John Morrow]

I'd say it works this way:

25% Full Human
25% Half Orc
25% Half Elf
25% Half Orc/Half Elf

And 3 out of 4 of those are clearly viable, the last one being questionable. From this perspective, a human isn't the only viable option, even if an Orc/Elf mix isn't viable.

On the other hand, real genetics often involve more than a single gene and there is also the issue of recombination. That raises the question of whether all Half-Elves and Half-Orcs would be mules (can't have children at all) or whether the genes get so intermingled that the odds of a a viable offspring (a child that has either no Elf and/or no Orc genes) if the Elf/Orc genes are incompatible could be very slim. Making Half-Elves and Half-Orcs like mules (they are viable but can't reproduce) creates some interesting dynamics, though it certainly contains a strong potential element of tragedy.

 

[Driddle]

It would prove interesting to perform a census of the D&D population and track the changes in racial diversity over the last 10 years of gaming. I think we'd find many more PCs checking the "multi-racial" box on the survey.

It's my hope that some day we won't need to discriminate based on the pointy-ness of ears, the shortness of stature or the tusky-ness of teeth. All PCs will be of the same race -- simply, "People."

(In the meantime, though, it's really bugging me that **** elf immigrants don't bother to learn Common. What country do they think they live in, anyway?!)

 

[Truth Seeker]

It would prove interesting to perform a census of the D&D population and track the changes in racial diversity over the last 10 years of gaming. I think we'd find many more PCs checking the "multi-racial" box on the survey.

It's my hope that some day we won't need to discriminate based on the pointy-ness of ears, the shortness of stature or the tusky-ness of teeth. All PCs will be of the same race -- simply, "People."

(In the meantime, though, it's really bugging me that **** elf immigrants don't bother to learn Common. What country do they think they live in, anyway?!)

That all depends on where they migrated from, some know the lesser tongue already(human), and secondly, and this debatable, the common tongue is very static in speaking...unlike elven, there is a certain somatic rhytm when it is spoken.

 

[vox]

racial tension

A human child from half-orc/half-elf mating could cause quite a stir in the game world. Perhaps there would be a group out to get him if they realized what he/she was. Maybe his parents hid the facts about the child to protect him but things come to light when he becomes an adult. Some folks want to study him, some want to kill him as an abomination, some want to hold him as the symbol of the dawning of a new era, etc.

I think it would end up having some academics proposing the theory that elves, orcs and humans are all the same species; just different "breeds". That could cause a lot of fuss! Lots of story potential there.