D&D 5E 5e's new gender policy - is it attracting new players?

[Hussar]

Think of them not always as "Half-" races but as "Part-" races and you'll be closer to it; as it only makes sense that when Half- races start breeding with other full or half races quarter-races will result, leading later to eighth-races and so forth. In the game I don't bother breaking it down any further than eighths, but even doing that is way more realistic within the fantasy than just all-half-none. (and yes, we have stat adjusts for each 1/8 level of both Elf and Orc when crossed with Human)

As for their acceptance within the game world, that varies by region and culture - kinda like the real world. That said, the game world tends to be a bit more cosmopolitan (particularly in larger cities or major trade centres) than does ours, mostly because there's simply more races to potentially interact with.

Lanefan

Doesn't D&D, at least later editions, avoid this by having half-races breed true? So a half elf and a human have a baby, it's still a half-elf? I think they nipped that in the bud in the text of the races.

*goes and checks*

I thought I read that somewhere, but, I cannot find it now, so, maybe I'm imagining it.

 

[Shasarak]

Think of them not always as "Half-" races but as "Part-" races and you'll be closer to it; as it only makes sense that when Half- races start breeding with other full or half races quarter-races will result, leading later to eighth-races and so forth. In the game I don't bother breaking it down any further than eighths, but even doing that is way more realistic within the fantasy than just all-half-none. (and yes, we have stat adjusts for each 1/8 level of both Elf and Orc when crossed with Human)

As for their acceptance within the game world, that varies by region and culture - kinda like the real world. That said, the game world tends to be a bit more cosmopolitan (particularly in larger cities or major trade centres) than does ours, mostly because there's simply more races to potentially interact with.

Lanefan

That reminds me of the joke: Bismark was Half Human, Half Elven and Half Dwarven.

He was a very large man.

 

[Lanefan]

Doesn't D&D, at least later editions, avoid this by having half-races breed true? So a half elf and a human have a baby, it's still a half-elf? I think they nipped that in the bud in the text of the races.

*goes and checks*

I thought I read that somewhere, but, I cannot find it now, so, maybe I'm imagining it.

You're probably right, as I vaguely recall some such thing too (from 3e?).

That said, I hereby exercise my DM-ly right to ignore any such clause if and when found; if only because our ideas on Part-Elves and Part-Orcs almost certainly long pre-date the clause you're thinking of.

Lan-"it's a short (and long-ago-taken) step from here to characters possibly having all sorts of odd things in their racial makeup based on what can breed with what"-efan

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

You're probably right, as I vaguely recall some such thing too (from 3e?).

I think it was a 2E rule: anyone with both human and elvish ancestors was either half-elf or human; if there are at least as many elves as humans in your family tree you're a half-elf, otherwise you're human.

 

[Tia Nadiezja]

I think it was a 2E rule: anyone with both human and elvish ancestors was either half-elf or human; if there are at least as many elves as humans in your family tree you're a half-elf, otherwise you're human.

That's the case.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Doesn't D&D, at least later editions, avoid this by having half-races breed true? So a half elf and a human have a baby, it's still a half-elf? I think they nipped that in the bud in the text of the races.

*goes and checks*

I thought I read that somewhere, but, I cannot find it now, so, maybe I'm imagining it.

I am pretty sure 4E has that. Half-Elf and Half-Orc was basically its own race.

 

[Chaosmancer]

To respond to something upthread. I don't think many of us are advocating for inclusion in people's private games. It would be nice, but unrealistic as you said (running late for work and not finding who said it). What we are asking is inclusion in the official products.

This sparked discussions about how much detail you put into NPC's and "historical accuracy".

I still don't think it is too much to ask to have a smattering of LGBT in Forgotten Realms, Eberron, ect.

 

[Azzy]

But it would be a bit strange in the court of King Arthur, or among the superstitious and cruel Set-worshipers of Stygia. Diverse settings, diverse assumptions.

Considering that WotC doesn't publish adventures set in King Arthur's mythic England, or in Stygia, that's utterly irrelevant. The kind of games that people run in the privacy of their own homes really has no bearing on the discussion (which is about what WotC does in the products that they publish).

 

[TheCosmicKid]

Considering that WotC doesn't publish adventures set in King Arthur's mythic England, or in Stygia, that's utterly irrelevant. The kind of games that people run in the privacy of their own homes really has no bearing on the discussion (which is about what WotC does in the products that they publish).

I think you'll find the discussion in this thread is far broader than that and absolutely includes the treatment of minorities in homebrew games. If you don't want to join this broader discussion, that's up to you, but don't pretend that gives you license to play Topic Police for the rest of us.

And if you want to talk about official WotC products: Dark Sun. The world of Athas is a hellhole. Very deliberately so. It in fact owes a lot to dark pulp fantasy settings -- like Howard's Stygia. In a land of endemic despotism, slavery, and even cannibalism, any institutions that are grounded in love and joy and freedom are going to stick out like a sore thumb. If same-sex marriage occurs, it's going to be because one of the sorcerer-kings needs the blood of newlyweds for some hideous ritual and has decided to be expedient about it, not because these savage cultures share any of the same values you and I do.

 

[TheCosmicKid]

Funnily enough, 5e is the first edition not to give half elves some sort of diplomacy bonus. Although they do get two free skills and the flavour of the race certainly indicates no major issues.

Neither 2E nor 3.0 gave half-elves any diplomacy bonus. 3.5 did because 3.0 half-elves got basically nothing. In the fluff, both the 2E and 5E entries suggest that half-elves are sometimes mistrusted, especially by humans and elves (this is probably unintentional, but from the description I get the same sort of "pick a side!" vibe that RL bisexuals sometimes run into from gays and straights).

And I read a racial bonus to Diplomacy the same way I read a Charisma bonus: a reflection of the character's own ability, not a function of their social standing. We certainly don't expect the bonus to go away if the character travels to a different society where they like half-elves less. Only 1E can definitively be said to assume the favored status of half-elves in its rules. And the game has broadened its scope a lot since 1E.

While they don't come right out and say it, where do you think half orcs come from? Loving relationships with humans? Really? And, again, the fact that they can gain acceptance just proves my point.

Actually, in the 5E entry, they do come right out and say it. Seriously. You can go look.

...It may not be what you were thinking it was.