D&D (2024) How did I miss this about the Half races/ancestries

[CleverNickName]

I don't mind the change (although I'm going to keep using the legacy Half-Orc and Half-Elf, just because of my players' expectations.)

I prefer to have guidelines like this instead of dozens of pre-written, codified options that are mostly identical.

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

Yes, but from a practical standpoint, no DM (who doesn't want a headache) is going to mix and match the different versions depending on player preference.

I’m not sure precisely what you mean, but my DM is doing exactly that right now. We have play test and 2014 characters in the same game.

 

[DEFCON 1]

I'm glad they are getting rid of Half-Elf and Half-Orc. It is ridiculous that human/elf parents and human/orc parents are the only two mixed heritage pairings that deserve their own special game mechanics and call-out in the books. Especially when those game mechanics don't actually match up to most of the mechanics the human, the elf, and the orc have. Those two pairings are not special above everyone else with a mixed heritage, and I don't want WotC to treat them like they are.

That being said... while I personally think that only having the mechanical traits of one of a pairing is such an overblown concern (because quite frankly ALL species traits are pretty crap when put next to all the mechanics you get from your class, so who really gives a darn?)... I would be perfectly fine with WotC instituting a set of "Multispecies" rules like they have for multiclassing, letting people know which of a species' abilities could be used with a mixed heritage PC. It's not that hard and if it makes the people who are so game mechanic driven happy... then fine.

 

[cranberry]

I’m not sure precisely what you mean, but my DM is doing exactly that right now. We have play test and 2014 characters in the same game.

I guess to me it would seem like a headache. But if others want to mix and match, more power to them.

 

[TwoSix]

Yes, but from a practical standpoint, no DM (who doesn't want a headache) is going to mix and match the different versions depending on player preference.

I guarantee you that a lot of us will do exactly that. The player's build is the problem of the player, it doesn't impact me as a DM.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I guarantee you that a lot of us will do exactly that. The player's build is the problem of the player, it doesn't impact me as a DM.

Heck, many of us already have players bringing in multiple sources to build their characters already. The 2024 PHB is just another sourcebook at the end of the day, especially once Project Black Flag and c7d20 get added to the mix later this year.

 

[TwoSix]

My general problem with the "build a multi-ancestry character by selecting some features from each of the two parent races" is that it promotes a narrative that the multi-heritage is somehow a diminished, averaged out version of the two parents, rather than that mixing might promote its own unique, desirable attributes different in kind and quality from the parent races.

Metaphorically, a half-elf shouldn't have to be a Fighter 10/Wizard 10 compared to a Fighter 20 or Wizard 20, they should be more like a bladesinger or an eldritch knight; bearing their own qualities beyond that of the parent classes.

And yes, there are way too many combinations to support that way in the PHB, so I guess I'm softcore arguing for basically freeform ancestry design.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

And yes, there are way too many combinations to support that way in the PHB, so I guess I'm softcore arguing for basically freeform ancestry design.

As an old 1E player/DM, I wanted to make a half-ogre/half-human to use in a game (that never happened, alas), and found that the Tasha's ancestry rules let me create a character I was quite satisfied with, since I didn't feel that a goliath quite captured what I pictured.

 

[Sacrosanct]

It seems a lot of folks are letting their outrage blind them to what WotC put out earlier. Only the term "half-x" is being removed. You can absolutely play mixed species, as described a month or so ago. You just choose which of the two species you favor more than others. He didn't say the concept of having mixed races is racist (which seems to be evident by the fact you can still have parents of different races), but the TERM "half" is inherently racist. As a parent of a mixed raced child, I can tell you that's very much true. My son is not "half" anything.

Videos like this from The Dungeon Delver (who I otherwise get along with) I think are not only factually incorrect, they are irresponsible. He's saying Jeremy is saying anyone who is of mixed race is bad. No, that's not what Jeremy is saying at all.

 

[DarkCrisis]

It seems a lot of folks are letting their outrage blind them to what WotC put out earlier. Only the term "half-x" is being removed. You can absolutely play mixed species, as described a month or so ago. You just choose which of the two species you favor more than others. He didn't say the concept of having mixed races is racist (which seems to be evident by the fact you can still have parents of different races), but the TERM "half" is inherently racist. As a parent of a mixed raced child, I can tell you that's very much true. My son is not "half" anything.

Videos like this from The Dungeon Delver (who I otherwise get along with) I think are not only factually incorrect, they are irresponsible. He's saying Jeremy is saying anyone who is of mixed race is bad. No, that's not what Jeremy is saying at all.

My issue is, you aren't playing a "half orc half dwarf" you are playing an Orc who looks kind of dwarfish or visa versa.

That's like saying they should have one stat block for humanoids and just choose what you look like. "I'll put my +2 in Dex and I look like an Elf!" "I put my +2 in Str and look like a Dwarf!" Everyone just gets Darkvision because why not.