If two different elven sub-races have a child, what sub-race is the elven child?

[Agback]

Why not just declare that racial characteristics are stored on the X or Y chromosome, and allow the appropriate parent's lineage decide? IE if the X holds the stat mods, the mother determines the child's stat bonuses, or vice-versa.

You seem to have forgotten that [mammal] females have two X chromosomes, one from their mother and one from their father. So if the X held the stat mods baby boys would take after their mother (or someone on their mother's side, if the mother's ancestry were mixed) and baby girls after some compromise between their father and one of their mother's ancestors.

Whereas is the Y chromosome held the racial stat adjustments, females having no Y chromosome would have no stat modifiers.

On the whole I think it is best not to inform quasi-mediaeval fantasy with ideas that were unknown before AD 1800, especially if you don't understand them yourself.

 

[Agback]

I don't think the rules address the question.

Personally I'd be inclined to simplify the problem by Rule-Zeroing all but one kind of elf out of my campaign, and making different 'races' of elf no more distinct than different than different races of human.

Or else I'd go with Aristotlean ideas of inheritance, and rule that cross-breed elves take entirely after their fathers, because they aren't actually related to their mothers at all. I guess that would mme no half-elves or half-orcs without either divine interventions (as in the case of Tolkien's half-elves) or magical meddling (as with Tolkien's half-orcs).

Or I might stack the ability modifications and add 1 to the sum of the ECLs. Depends what sort of campaign I was aiming for.

 

[andargor]

Or I might stack the ability modifications and add 1 to the sum of the ECLs. Depends what sort of campaign I was aiming for.

Great plot hook. Some insane wizard trying to create the Kwizatz Haderach through cross-breeding programs!



Andargor

 

[Rystil Arden]

Or I might stack the ability modifications and add 1 to the sum of the ECLs. Depends what sort of campaign I was aiming for.

You wouldn't really need to add 1 to the ECL, since the increasingly growing Con penalties would balance out any possible benefit (and sometimes, like with Gray Elf and Wood Elf, the extra bonus and penalty cancel each other out, leaving you with +4 Dex -4 Con). I suppose that huge Con penalties could even make sense for such an unstable hybrid.

 

[Agback]

You wouldn't really need to add 1 to the ECL, since the increasingly growing Con penalties would balance out any possible benefit

You're probably right from a balance point of view (though I wouldn't like to bet my camapign against the off-chance of some player finding an abusive combination). I was just trying to discourage players from introducing yet more weird world features based entirely on game mechanics.

 

[Rystil Arden]

You're probably right from a balance point of view (though I wouldn't like to bet my camapign against the off-chance of some player finding an abusive combination). I was just trying to discourage players from introducing yet more weird world features based entirely on game mechanics.

Well, the most abusive thing I'm seeing here is the "Braindead Elf", a mix between Aquatic and Wood Elf. They get +2 Str +2 Dex -4 Int. You pick that race when you rolled that 5 and then giggle as your Intelligence is 'only' reduced to 3 despite the -4 penalty. Then you realise you have to play a 3 Int character and your short-lived glee is gone.

Interestingly, this stat-combination method produces the result that Gray Elf + Wild Elf -> High Elf