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

[Mecheon]

For the same reason that everything isn't a clone of everything else. When it's all the same it gets boring. Let LotR, Warhammer, Warcraft, etc. have the people orcs, and let D&D have half-orcs.

I'd argue the problem we run into is D&D hasn't ever done anything to indicate why to keep just half orcs over going full orcs as they don't really do anything with the idea of it. Which falls into that "D&D hasn't really put their own mark on orcs so people just mentally put other orc ideas atop them" general statement

D&D's at least approached the idea of doing some stuff with half elves in Dragonlance and Eberron. Not necessarily always landing well, but they've tried to make them stand out from the competition and justify them being an option. Not so much with half orcs. Just "they're big and ugly" as the options and, well, enough occaisonally questionable stuff that the vast majority of this thread has been focused purely on the half elf side because there wasn't that much of a fanbase for half orcs. Like, I can't say for sure, but I vaguely recall there was more furror over losing gnomes back in 4E than half orcs

and, well, people orcs been a D&D thing long enough they can't backtrack away from it. Folks still complaining about gnolls not being playable and that was the cleanest attempt they did it on, orcs don't have anything that seperates that 'these can't be playable' gap

 

[Maxperson]

I'd argue the problem we run into is D&D hasn't ever done anything to indicate why to keep just half orcs over going full orcs as they don't really do anything with the idea of it. Which falls into that "D&D hasn't really put their own mark on orcs so people just mentally put other orc ideas atop them" general statement

That's true, but I'd rather see them invest in putting their mark on orcs and half-orcs than move orcs to being a standard PC race.

 

[Incenjucar]

I'd be quite happy to see both orcs and half-orcs in the book, with a similar blend of traits to half-elves.

 

[Mecheon]

That's true, but I'd rather see them invest in putting their mark on orcs and half-orcs than move orcs to being a standard PC race.

Fair enough. I'm pretty stuck to orcs being playable, but, I do come at this from the Warcraft side of things

I am down for both being playable mind, but giving the half-orcs their own niche to be seperate would be hard, especially when most mention of half-orcs in 5E has generally been 'use their stats rather than orc stats for orc players'

i'd almost be saucy enough to say 'y'know what? half-orc half-elf as a semi standard thing' if only because two of the three half-orc characters I've seen around in 5E were specifically elf/orcs. Yeah, flies in the face of previous lore stuff, but absolutely would give them a new niche

 

[Maxperson]

I'd be quite happy to see both orcs and half-orcs in the book, with a similar blend of traits to half-elves.

Orcs just aren't a core PHB race and never have been. Even half-orcs didn't always make that cut. I have no problem with orcs being a PC race in a supplement, though.

 

[Maxperson]

Fair enough. I'm pretty stuck to orcs being playable, but, I do come at this from the Warcraft side of things

I've been alliance since vanilla.

I am down for both being playable mind, but giving the half-orcs their own niche to be seperate would be hard, especially when most mention of half-orcs in 5E has generally been 'use their stats rather than orc stats for orc players'

i'd almost be saucy enough to say 'y'know what? half-orc half-elf as a semi standard thing' if only because two of the three half-orc characters I've seen around in 5E were specifically elf/orcs. Yeah, flies in the face of previous lore stuff, but absolutely would give them a new niche

Yeah. I don't mind orcs being playable at all. It's their inclusion in the PHB that I object to. In the 40 years that I've been playing, I can count on one hand with some fingers left over the number of orcs I saw people ask to play.

 

[Incenjucar]

Orcs just aren't a core PHB race and never have been. Even half-orcs didn't always make that cut. I have no problem with orcs being a PC race in a supplement, though.

Tieflings, dragonborn, goliaths... tradition doesn't really concern me much. If they give is a nice chunky Complete Guide to Humanoids featuring orcs, that's fine, but I'm not in a rush to wait the five years it would take for them to even consider that.

 

[Frozen_Heart]

Does that mean anything? All life here on Earth has the same origins. You wouldn't be expected to have encountered non-carbon based life.

Do be fair, most DnD sapients look like they've come from the same branch of life too. Dwarves and orcs aren't really non-carbon based life.

 

[Minigiant]

For the same reason that everything isn't a clone of everything else. When it's all the same it gets boring. Let LotR, Warhammer, Warcraft, etc. have the people orcs, and let D&D have half-orcs.

Well sure.

But again D&D hasn't developed orcs either.

It's like how D&D is heavily dungeon for old school dungeon design with randomly created nonsense dungeons. But the majority of tables don't play D&D Player Skill dungeon grinds 100%

D&D 5e was still doing lore like 1974 in 2014.

 

[Horwath]

Tieflings, dragonborn, goliaths... tradition doesn't really concern me much. If they give is a nice chunky Complete Guide to Humanoids featuring orcs, that's fine, but I'm not in a rush to wait the five years it would take for them to even consider that.

IMHO, they can drop all races from PHB except Humans, Elves and Dwarves.
Maybe halflings, but with real penalties and bonuses for being small. Not just you cant use 2Handed Heavy weapons.

the "heavy" trait also needs to get lost. Just make "small" weapons do a damage die step or two lower damage.


Then PHB2 or whatever can come with half-elves, orcs, half-orcs, gnomes, aasimars, tieflings, dragonborn, shifters, warforged, genasies, etc...