D&D (2024) Half Race Appreciation Society: Half Elf most popular race choice in BG3

[TwoSix]

Honestly, I feel that a multispecies character that has traits that disresemble either species is bad gaming design.

Ouch, I have to strongly disagree with that take.

 

[Yaarel]

Ouch, I have to strongly disagree with that take.

Help me understand.

Why would a multispecies gain totally unrelated traits?

In the case of the former Half-Elf, its traits in fact did resemble both Human and Elf traits, anyway.

For example, being socially charming and artistically persuasive, are Elf tropes. Having a predisposition for skills is Human tropes.

 

[Yaarel]

Re the "mental abilities" − Int, Wis, and Cha.

I have always understood them as different ways of being intelligent according to personality.

But in hindsight, it is impossible to escape their racist implications when generalizing into broad stereotypes for an entire cultural group, or worse, an entire "race".

 

[TwoSix]

Help me understand.

Why would a multispecies gain totally unrelated traits?

In the case of the former Half-Elf, its traits in fact did resemble both Human and Elf traits, anyway.

For example, being socially charming and artistically persuasive, are Elf tropes. Having a predisposition for skills is Human tropes.

Half-elf is a good example, precisely because it got mechanical benefits that the parent races didn't. For several editions, it had a Charisma bonus that its parent races lacked, narratively explained by the combination of elven grace and otherworldliness, tempered by human ambition and pragmatism.

Or Dark Sun Muls (Half-Dwarves), which have been one of my favorite races since 2e despite the unseemly name (which I don't use in game). They inherit human height and dwarven stockiness, gaining a "best of both worlds" benefit that makes them taller and stronger than either parent.

Or imagine a child of an air genasi and an aasimar, whose innate magic blends together to become magic of lightning and storms. They gain spell-like abilities that aren't found on either parents' list of racial abilities.

I'm not saying that the character should gain abilities that are narratively uncoupled from their parents, but the "choose traits from the list of either parent" would force their abilities to be mechanically coupled to their parent, which is what I object to.

 

[Epic Meepo]

Why would a multispecies gain totally unrelated traits?

Multispecies hybrids in the real world can have traits not seen in either parent species. Crops and livestock are routinely crossbred on farms in order to develop desirable traits not found in non-hybrids.

Edit: I can't seem to add a link, but you can read more if you search for "heterosis" on Wikipedia.

 

[Yaarel]

Half-elf is a good example, precisely because it got mechanical benefits that the parent races didn't. For several editions, it had a Charisma bonus that its parent races lacked, narratively explained by the combination of elven grace and otherworldliness, tempered by human ambition and pragmatism.

Or Dark Sun Muls (Half-Dwarves), which have been one of my favorite races since 2e despite the unseemly name (which I don't use in game). They inherit human height and dwarven stockiness, gaining a "best of both worlds" benefit that makes them taller and stronger than either parent.

Or imagine a child of an air genasi and an aasimar, whose innate magic blends together to become magic of lightning and storms. They gain spell-like abilities that aren't found on either parents' list of racial abilities.

I'm not saying that the character should gain abilities that are narratively uncoupled from their parents, but the "choose traits from the list of either parent" would force their abilities to be mechanically coupled to their parent, which is what I object to.

But Charisma is now irrelevant.

If a player wants ones own character to have a background that is "between two worlds" and relies on a high Charisma to flourish, the player can still do that. It is a cultural phenomenon, not a DNA phenomena. It was a profound error in judgment for D&D to confuse culture and genetics in the first place. The playtest distinguishes between the two. Ability score improvements belong in the cultural category − not the genetic one.

And what is left of the Half Elf? Skills and darkvision? The Skills are a Human thing. Even this darkvision like the Darkness spell is more like an elven magical culture thing.

Meanwhile, the Playtest design can build the 2014 Half Elf EXACTLY, except for a tertiary +1, which can be gained by a later feat if it matters at all.

The former Half Elf is just that, an expression of both Human and Elf traits.

 

[Yaarel]

Or Dark Sun Muls (Half-Dwarves), which have been one of my favorite races since 2e despite the unseemly name (which I don't use in game). They inherit human height and dwarven stockiness, gaining a "best of both worlds" benefit that makes them taller and stronger than either parent.

All Dwarves are Medium size. The playtest species explicitly allow any humanlike bodytype and complexion.

A player can officially have a playtest Human/Dwarf that is very tall and very strong, if that is a concept that a player is going for.

Or imagine a child of an air genasi and an aasimar, whose innate magic blends together to become magic of lightning and storms. They gain spell-like abilities that aren't found on either parents' list of racial abilities.

Some species designs need work. There might be a need for an Air Genasi to including lightning-thunder and wind, since these are aspects of Elemental Air.

Aasimar are a mess, conceptually able to be ANY Celestial creature. The design needs to sort out this ambiguity, possibly in light of how the playtest Tiefling does it.

I'm not saying that the character should gain abilities that are narratively uncoupled from their parents, but the "choose traits from the list of either parent" would force their abilities to be mechanically coupled to their parent, which is what I object to.

If the player wants a "unique mutation" for their character concept, then there is a feat for that. There are also workarounds to mechanically express any narrative concept to some degree.

But if EVERY species combo has its own unique mutation − it would be insane gaming design with hundreds maybe thousands of bloating mechanical snowflakes. It would be the D&D Elves all over again but many times worse.

 

[Mirrorrorrim]

Half-elf is a good example, precisely because it got mechanical benefits that the parent races didn't. For several editions, it had a Charisma bonus that its parent races lacked, narratively explained by the combination of elven grace and otherworldliness, tempered by human ambition and pragmatism.

Or Dark Sun Muls (Half-Dwarves), which have been one of my favorite races since 2e despite the unseemly name (which I don't use in game). They inherit human height and dwarven stockiness, gaining a "best of both worlds" benefit that makes them taller and stronger than either parent.

Or imagine a child of an air genasi and an aasimar, whose innate magic blends together to become magic of lightning and storms. They gain spell-like abilities that aren't found on either parents' list of racial abilities.

I'm not saying that the character should gain abilities that are narratively uncoupled from their parents, but the "choose traits from the list of either parent" would force their abilities to be mechanically coupled to their parent, which is what I object to.

I see only 2 ways to depict this kind of design in a book:

1. Build a Bear: Design every possible species ability to be rated against other abilities (perhaps a point/rating value) and let the player pick and choose from those abilities to build something new.
2. Hybridize Everything: Design hybrid species for every single species hybrid combo. That is hundreds of species.

Neither are viable for D&D design, whether due to design space, balance, or storytelling flavor. Every species deserves at least a blurb to give it a core identity to work off of.

Someone can wow me and prove me wrong. However I find it highly unlikely.

 

[TwoSix]

If the player wants a "unique mutation" for their character concept, then there is a feat for that. There are also workarounds to mechanically express any narrative concept to some degree.

But if EVERY species combo has its own unique mutation − it would be insane gaming design with hundreds maybe thousands of bloating mechanical snowflakes. It would be the D&D Elves all over again but many times worse.

Sure, but that's precisely why I don't want a codified, build your own race system. I want the core rules system to be tight and streamlined, using only a few core building blocks. That lack encourages informal at-table ad-hoc play, which is what I want to see more of.

 

[Yaarel]

Sure, but that's precisely why I don't want a codified, build your own race system. I want the core rules system to be tight and streamlined, using only a few core building blocks. That lack encourages informal at-table ad-hoc play, which is what I want to see more of.

In each species description, organize the traits into feat-size thematic clusters. Every playtest species has three feats worth of design space (not including the intro of Creature Type, Size, Speed, Lifespan, and one prominent Language).

So if a player wants a multispecies, pick three species feats from any of the species already described. There is no need for extra page count except for a brief section that allows a player to do this for a multispecies character.

Multispecies rules are easy and brief.