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

[Remathilis]

Zalreth, clan leader of Clawfoot tribe, master of the boomerang, and wanderer of the Talenta Plains of Khorvaire would like to have a word with you. If you can hear her war cry, you're already too close and it's too late.

 

[Remathilis]

Note tieflings are also a mixed heritage race. So basically it’s the mixed races and drow that are subject to racism.

Possibly not the best of looks.

Planetouched have more wiggle room than half-species though. A tiefling can come of a union of a fiend and a human, but they can also be born from latent heritage from generations back, family curses, being born near a portal to the lower planes or other place of evil planar energy, or even being the seventh son of a seventh son. Further, a tiefling isn't ostracized because she doesn't fit in either fiendish or mortal society, she's feared because she has been supernaturally marked as evil, even if she's not internally. The same is true of aasimar and genasi. The important part of their story is they are marked by Planar energy, not who their parents were.

Half elves and half orcs are born of the mating of two mortal species. You don't get half-orcs born of two humans living in orc lands or a half elf born to two elves as a generational curse. Which makes the half-breed metaphor more acute.

 

[Vaalingrade]

When were orcs in the 5e phb?

I thought they were going to be in 5.5 though.

 

[Frozen_Heart]

Planetouched have more wiggle room than half-species though. A tiefling can come of a union of a fiend and a human, but they can also be born from latent heritage from generations back, family curses, being born near a portal to the lower planes or other place of evil planar energy, or even being the seventh son of a seventh son. Further, a tiefling isn't ostracized because she doesn't fit in either fiendish or mortal society, she's feared because she has been supernaturally marked as evil, even if she's not internally. The same is true of aasimar and genasi. The important part of their story is they are marked by Planar energy, not who their parents were.

Half elves and half orcs are born of the mating of two mortal species. You don't get half-orcs born of two humans living in orc lands or a half elf born to two elves as a generational curse. Which makes the half-breed metaphor more acute.

(Which is why I want planetouched and certain others like half-dragons to be handled via feats).

 

[Vaalingrade]

(Which is why I want planetouched and certain others like half-dragons to be handled via feats).

I got you. I may not be D&D, but I got you. 2-3 more months to open playtest.

 

[SteveC]

Talking about mechanics, I think it's a great idea to expand race options to work with the feat system. I think expanding the feat system in general is something I'd love to see. I just wonder how much interest there is in actually doing this in the 5E design space. Right now, feats are optional, and from what WotC says, many games just play with increasing attributes at the levels where they are a choice.

There seems to be a real resistance to doing a lot with feats, and I suspect it's out of the fear of return of feat centered design from earlier editions. I'm playing in a game right now where we just hit third level, so most of the characters are knocking on the door of the option of choosing a feat. It's really interesting to see that the more experienced players have picked out a feat, while those who are less are just increasing their stats. I get that it's a design goal that seems to really have worked. Of course the players who are more experienced are also having the most impact on the game, too.

So while I like having more feat options, I'm not sure that it's in line with the edition's design goals.

 

[Remathilis]

(Which is why I want planetouched and certain others like half-dragons to be handled via feats).

Then 5e better start handling out feats like candy on Halloween. Maybe at Pathfinder 2e rates.

 

[Frozen_Heart]

Then 5e better start handling out feats like candy on Halloween. Maybe at Pathfinder 2e rates.

Or just be 1DnD and have feats beyond SS/GWM which are actually worth taking.

 

[Remathilis]

Or just be 1DnD and have feats beyond SS/GWM which are actually worth taking.

Apparently, you never heard of Lucky, Alert, Dual Wielder, Fey Touched, Elven Accuracy, Fighting Initiate, Eldritch Adept, Metamagic Adept, Gunner, Inspiring Leader, Polearm Master, Resilient, Shield Master, Shadow Touched, Skill Expert, Telekinetic, Telepathic, or War Caster.

You might want to look into those.

 

[SteveC]

Or just be 1DnD and have feats beyond SS/GWM which are actually worth taking.

I get what you're saying, and I think that's a good idea ... but, now we're talking about developing a lot more feats and that's pushing the game even more in the feat centric direction.

Also, I think there are more feats that a character might choose than just those two. I am thinking about Warcaster for instance, and Elven Accuracy is also pretty solid. I'm sure there must be more.