D&D (2024) Half Race Appreciation Society: Half Elf most popular race choice in BG3

[Ruin Explorer]

I am wondering if they will continue with the path of removing half-elves and half-orcs, while simply removing the entire mixed ancestor sidebar too. And then not replace it with anything.

'Solving' what they consider to be a problem in classic WotC fashion: Removing it entirely.

I think that's quite likely. It's certainly more likely than the "only one parent counts" approach.

And they'll get criticised for it, and rightly so, but they won't get criticised as much as "one parent counts" would get them.

I do think that unless they somehow manage to sneak Half-Elves into the PHB they're going to see serious push-back though. Very few people who play Half-Orcs particularly want to be Half-Orcs - I think the vast majority would prefer to be Orcs, so that's not an issue. But Half-Elves? It's the opposite - it's people who don't want to be an Elf or a human. They're the third most popular race, according to WotC's own metrics. That's not something you can delete without consequences.

There are a lot of slightly sneaky ways for WotC to handle this, of course. The one that seems obvious to me is to combine can-kicking with putting in Half-Elves and say:

"We're working on a system for characters of mixed ancestry which will appear in a future book, and here's a preview of what you might be able to create: Half-Elves"

Or they might just rename Half-Elves to like Elfsimar or something equally awful, present them as a stable admixture and suggest that in future they will present more.

 

[Frozen_Heart]

Just not having them in the PHB and adding them in the next Eberron book might be an alternate path to take for half-elves and half-orcs. Just renamed Khoravar and Jhor'guntaal.

 

[RareBreed]

We all have read the trope of the half-elf or half-anything that has a hard time straddling the two worlds. Of belonging to both but wanted by none. It not only plays out in fantasy, but it also plays out in real life too. So many MMA fighters and football players and soccer players have had profiles on them that highlight this specific thing. It is an easy and poignant point of conflict that makes us want to root for them.

When I was a young boy, my older brother and I went to a Filipino picnic. After awhile, I realized none of the other Filipino kids wanted to play with us. Eventually, I heard one boy say "What are those white kids doing here?". I am barely old enough to remember the aftermath of the Vietnam War (my very first TV memory is of the boat refugees), so I distinctly remember getting a lot of stares as a boy whenever I went out with my parents. When Disney's Tarzan came out, and the little Tarzan smashed his fists into the water wondering why he didn't look like his family, even though I was in my late 20s, I had to stifle the urge to cry, because I knew exactly how that little boy felt.

The deep irony, is that many Filipinos dream of being like me (admittedly, mostly the girls...a fair number of Filipino men have a different take). They think it's all roses, sunshine and ponies. But they can't understand that other Filipinos can be racist to me. Or reverse racist. On the white side of the equation, on more than one occasion, I have had police cars follow me while I was walking downtown at night (they were literally in a car, going about 2mph to match my walking pace for 2+ minutes). Is it because I can pass for a Latino?

So yes, it's real. You don't really fit into either world. Even if some of those people dream of being like you, they don't really know what it is like.

And yes, Tanis was my favorite character in Dragonlance.

 

[deganawida]

When I was a young boy, my older brother and I went to a Filipino picnic. After awhile, I realized none of the other Filipino kids wanted to play with us. Eventually, I heard one boy say "What are those white kids doing here?". I am barely old enough to remember the aftermath of the Vietnam War (my very first TV memory is of the boat refugees), so I distinctly remember getting a lot of stares as a boy whenever I went out with my parents. When Disney's Tarzan came out, and the little Tarzan smashed his fists into the water wondering why he didn't look like his family, even though I was in my late 20s, I had to stifle the urge to cry, because I knew exactly how that little boy felt.

The deep irony, is that many Filipinos dream of being like me (admittedly, mostly the girls...a fair number of Filipino men have a different take). They think it's all roses, sunshine and ponies. But they can't understand that other Filipinos can be racist to me. Or reverse racist. On the white side of the equation, on more than one occasion, I have had police cars follow me while I was walking downtown at night (they were literally in a car, going about 2mph to match my walking pace for 2+ minutes). Is it because I can pass for a Latino?

So yes, it's real. You don't really fit into either world. Even if some of those people dream of being like you, they don't really know what it is like.

And yes, Tanis was my favorite character in Dragonlance.

I’m of mixed ethnicity, myself, and have an adopted sister who is “biracial” (European mother, Aftrican-American father). She got more hatred from her Black school peers than her White, to the point where she’s a bit racist (she has other issues, as well, but is making progress on them).

 

[RareBreed]

Thing is, 'words' can also be used to incite physical responses and not just emotional. So while it's true that if you can control your emotional state, words can't hurt you, that says nothing for others being incited to physically harm you by those same words.

So in a roundabout way, words can hurt you no matter how good you are at not getting offended by them.

Yes, incitement can be real. That's usually where I draw the line where it becomes hate speech.

If someone is in my face racist...he's just trying to get at me. If he's on a (proverbial) bullhorn, that's usually where I make the distinction of it being hate speech, and that does need to be addressed by the weight of law.

 

[Umbran]

At the risk of getting political, this is why I've become more and more disenchanted with America's two party system and feel that neither really represents me.

Mod Note:
Sorry, but by board rules, real-world politics are not up for discussion. Not that your critique of the system is invalid - this just isn't the forum for that discussion.

Folks, keep away from the politics. Thanks.

 

[DEFCON 1]

I believe...

Having Mixed Species in the game is a good thing (from a narrative or background perspective if nothing else.)

Having ONLY Half-Elves and Half-Orcs is a bad thing.

Having the ability for most species to interbreed with each other and the stories that come out of them, is a good thing.

Using the name 'Half' for any of them is a bad thing-- call them Mixed Species or Mixed Ancestries across the board.

The game mechanics for Species features all suck and do almost nothing to really exemplify the totality of what a species is and what is truly important and unique about them-- especially when cramming them into just four basic game mechanics that barely get used once the character starts leveling up.

From a mechanics point of view, having all of one parent's or taking a couple mechanics from each is merely putting lipstick on a pig-- it's a plate of suck regardless of which way you do it. So getting upset about which plate of suck WotC hands you to me seems like a massive waste of time and energy.

Due to the fact that some players do actually care that much about these species mechanical features... WotC should use a couple pages in the Species section for a Mixed Ancestry entry that does indeed work just like their Multi-Classing rules-- identifying two Species mechanics for each Species that are the ones that come with and combine to form any Mixed Ancestry. So that whatever your parents are, you get two set features from one parent and two from the other. It's such a simple ask that why should WotC even waste time debating it? You can find two mechanics from each species that aren't going to create overpowered characters if they get mixed and matched... so just put the entry in the book for those players that feel it is important.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Thanks for your rather condescending comment to someone who was speaking of their own experiences as a mixed person. You certainly schooled them.

Ayo, guess who else is mixed and was speaking from their experience of getting discriminated against and living under threat?

 

[Clint_L]

Due to the fact that some players do actually care that much about these species mechanical features... WotC should use a couple pages in the Species section for a Mixed Ancestry entry that does indeed work just like their Multi-Classing rules-- identifying two Species mechanics for each Species that are the ones that come with and combine to form any Mixed Ancestry. So that whatever your parents are, you get two set features from one parent and two from the other. It's such a simple ask that why should WotC even waste time debating it? You can find two mechanics from each species that aren't going to create overpowered characters if they get mixed and matched... so just put the entry in the book for those players that feel it is important.

Hard disagree. It will get min/maxed immediately. It is not remotely a simple task.

 

[Horwath]

Hard disagree. It will get min/maxed immediately. It is not remotely a simple task.

So, what is wrong with mix-maxing?

And maybe the features will be closely the same.