Human + Half-Elf = ?

[Volsung]

I only have my 3e PHB handy, but it seems to imply that half-elves are only produced in pairings where one of the indiviuals is an elf or both parents are some part elf.

AD&D is very specific on the issue:
"1)Anyone with both elven and human ancestors is eith a human or an elf (elves have only elven ancestors)
2)If there are more human ancestors than elven, the person is human; if ther are an equal number or more elves the person is half-even"

Ultimately this is a DM call, unless the language regarding this issue was changed in the 3.5 PHB (and I don't think it was in any significant way).

 

[ARandomGod]

According to genetics it could range from anywhere between full human to half elf. Depending on which genes from the half elven parent gets passed down. Quarter elf would be the most likely circumstance. Of course, there's no rule for quarter elf... so you'd have to decide which genotype took precedence in this case. I'd rule whichever way makes the GM the happiest, as all events could technically happen. If you like to roll the dice, I'd say roll a D4.
1=human.
2= 1/4 elf with human dominant, treat as full human.
3= 1/4 elf with elf dominant, treat as 1/2 elf
4= 1/2 elf.

Depending on the overall dominance of the genes in question, of course. This is a fairly reasonable spread with the assumtion that all the genes are roughly equal in dominance.

 

[dcollins]

Agreeing with Volsun et. al., it seems like ths should be rules-wise a human, perhaps with some elvish visual flavoring.

Genetically the 50/50 chance should only be applied to one single specific genetic trait. The overall mix of thousands of traits is statistically certain to come out in the middle, i.e., a character that is 75%, effectively human.

 

[AuraSeer]

I use the old 2E rule. Anyone with more human ancestors than elvish ones is a human. If he has more elvish ancestors, or equal numbers, then he's a half-elf. Elves have only elvish ancestors.

If the human is pure blooded, and the half-elf is exactly one-half elvish, then their child is human. If their ancestry is more complicated, the child is probably a half-elf.

 

[Felix]

[Mendelian Genetics]

A half-elf inherits one elf gamete (E) and one human gamete (H). These genes exhibit incomplete domininance, so when both are present in a heterozygote (EH), the result is a half-elf, with traits from both parents.

When you combine a Half-elf (EH) with a Human (HH), the results follow the table below:

.... H .... H
: : :
E.. EH ... EH
: : :
H.. HH ... HH

So there is a 50% chance that the offspring will be a heterozygous half-elf, and a 50% chance the child will be a homozygous human.

What's really funky is that there's a 25% chance that the child of a half-elf and a half-orc will be fully human.

[/Mendelian Genetics]

 

[MissCalculation]

It's right, but the mendelian genetic theory would apply to all attributes of the offspring, hair color, ear-size, int, char, darkvision or not, etc., so that i would have to roll the 50-50-chance for everything.

And you're right, the chance to get a human if you cross a half-orc and an half elf is 25%. But if you are exact, this propability applies to every characteristic of the child, so the overall propability to get a full human is (1/4) * [number of attributes].

However, I hoped there'd be a simple rule out there for this, but it seems, that we will have to freestyle a bit

 

[AuraSeer]

It's right, but the mendelian genetic theory would apply to all attributes of the offspring, hair color, ear-size, int, char, darkvision or not, etc., so that i would have to roll the 50-50-chance for everything.

And that's only if each individual trait is controlled by exactly one gene, and each gene is on a separate chromosome! In RL humans, a simple trait like hair coloring is influenced by multiple genes and they interact in complex ways. Even if the science of genetics works in your D&D world, these calculations are probably not worth your time.

However, I hoped there'd be a simple rule out there for this, but it seems, that we will have to freestyle a bit

The closest thing I've ever seen to a rule is the one I posted about above. It has the advantage of being very simple in standard cases: a human plus a half-elf produces a human, and all other combinations produce half-elves. The only time you need to spend any brainpower on it is when a half-elf breeds with a human of mixed ancestry, and it doesn't sound like that's happening in your case.

 

[kenobi65]

I'm gonna agree with AuraSeer on this one. If I had to rule on it...

- If your ancestry is at least 50% (but less than 100%) elven, from a rules standpoint, you're a half-elf.
- If your ancestry is less than 50% elven, from a rules standpoint, you're human. From a flavor standpoint, you could certainly show some of your elven ancestry (slightly pointed ears, slender build, eye color, etc.), but I wouldn't let this have any "crunch impact."

So, in MissCalculation's example, the bard would have a baby that's "statistically" human, even if she does have her dad's ears.

 

[Felix]

And that's only if each individual trait is controlled by exactly one gene, and each gene is on a separate chromosome!

Ah, but you discount the ubergene or over-gene! It controls the rest of the genes, which, if homozygous, you have fully normal traits for that species. If heterozygous, you have the half-breeds. And the averages of hair color, height, eyes, etc. have been worked out in the PHB in the Half-breed entries.

...I hoped there'd be a simple rule out there for this...

50-50 sounds pretty simple to me.

 

[dcollins]

A half-elf inherits one elf gamete (E) and one human gamete (H). These genes exhibit incomplete domininance...

Is "human-ness" a single gene? Note, it's the sum total of all our genes.