D&D 5E 5e Hybrid Races: Let's Make Them Actual Hybrids

[Incenjucar]

A race, as a whole, is balanced, ideally. Individual racial options are not all equal. There would be a risk of something like combining the tiefling and dragonborn +1 to hit bonuses (thankfully they at least won't stack), or combining them with a human, elf, or deva, for extra-absurd to-hit bonuses once per encounter. It's basically scattering eggshells for designers to walk on. And, again, it prevents them from creating UNIQUE hybrids like half-elves and muls.

 

[Minigiant]

A race, as a whole, is balanced, ideally. Individual racial options are not all equal. There would be a risk of something like combining the tiefling and dragonborn +1 to hit bonuses (thankfully they at least won't stack), or combining them with a human, elf, or deva, for extra-absurd to-hit bonuses once per encounter. It's basically scattering eggshells for designers to walk on. And, again, it prevents them from creating UNIQUE hybrids like half-elves and muls.

My suggestion of hybrid races would suggest hybrids not getting most of the minor bonuses in favor of the parent races major attributes. None of the +1's and tiny bonuses in favor of size, vision, ability mods, feats, resistances, and racial powers.

Also some races could be unavailable or restricted for hybrids. For example tiefling only produce full tieflings and cannot be hybrids. Or dragonborns can only hybrid with reptiles like races like kobolds and lizardfolk.

It wouldn't be that hard depending on the way they do races.

 

[Incenjucar]

Even if you removed all possible mechanical issues, you're still left with a psychological barrier to interesting new hybrid races.

 

[Minigiant]

Even if you removed all possible mechanical issues, you're still left with a psychological barrier to interesting new hybrid races.

I understand that too. I like the tough charismatic half elf. My favorite half-elf already was a charming survivor who served as a diplomat before 4E made his ability scores easier to get.

But the main reason why I'd like a hybrid system is that you wouldn't need to wait forever for the official version to be printed. If they ever are.

 

[Incenjucar]

Thing is that, if they actually implemented that in the game, you'd likely never see unique hybrids again; the amount of psychology involved in RPG design cannot be overstated.

That said, it's a perfectly good homebrew system to use and to advertise.

 

[jbear]

I'm not really sold on the idea of a half dwarf half elf hybrid to be honest. I wouldn't go so far as to say I hate it, so I chose I have a better idea.

It's not my idea, so it's not very accurate.

What I would like to see with race is the kind of thing Monte Cook was doing with Race in Arcana Evolved (sorry if I got the name wrong, but that is what was left in my head).

I'd like to see a way to "level up" as an elf or pixie or dwarf or whatever, gaining new racial abilities specific to those races, becoming more of a paragon of your race. I thin this would be a really cool feature to include as an option.

 

[Incenjucar]

4E has put a lot of racial powers and paragon paths into the game, so it's quite likely that 5E will approach the issue using something like a theme, paragon path, and maybe even an epic destiny. You can elf while you elf in your elf that you elf in, elf.

 

[Wormwood]

Solid system, but I'd be happiest with no "half-X" races at all.

There are so many more interesting races that deserve to be core more than "kind of an Elf" and "unfortunate implications Orc"

 

[FireLance]

I would rather take the race as theme approach. Under this approach, when you select a race, you don't get any additional abilities. However, you get more choices of abilities. For example, say a fighter normally gets power strike as an encounter power. However, an elf fighter might get to choose between that and elven accuracy instead.

Under this approach, racial hybrids are represented by taking two or more racial themes (up to the limit allowed by the DM). So a half-elf would have both the human and elf racial themes.

As a side point, such an approach would also facilitate race as class. If PCs are restricted to a single theme, you get fighters, wizards, dwarves and elves. If PCs are allowed access to two themes, you can have dwarf fighters, elf wizards and multiclass fighter/wizards.

 

[Li Shenron]

I can't vote because I think your mechanics are sound, but I hate the purpose of having hybrids of everything (I don't even like half-elves and half-orcs...), so I wouldn't want to see this in the corebooks. Maybe in some Savage Species book or another very late and very optional supplement.