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

[Yaarel]

Moon elves are also known to have silver hair on occasion, so the claim that silver-hair is explicitly the reason for making the character a drow is dubious - particularly since the same trait could also reasonably describe pretty much any generally elderly person just as easily.

Yes, of course.

To make the "silver haired" Human-Elf a Drow, is a decision.

At the same time, they want to humanize the Drow thus supply canonical examples of "Good Drow" who are a "normal" part of the D&D landscapes.

There was a choice between Drow Human-Elf, Moon Human-Elf, and gray-haired "elder Human" -Elf. They chose for the character to be Drow, rather than Moon, or elder.

 

[QuentinGeorge]

WotC now endorsing the "one-drop" rule.

 

[Yaarel]

WotC now endorsing the "one-drop" rule.

The Human-Elf from a Drow lineage is fully Drow, fully Elf, and fully Human.


A Drow Human-Elf might self-identify with the culture of the Human or the culture of the Elf. In this case, the person self-identifies as Drow.

Note, I consider "lineages" to be strictly cultural, albeit a magical culture.

 

[QuentinGeorge]

The Human-Elf from a Drow lineage is fully Drow, fully Elf, and fully Human.


A Drow Human-Elf might self-identify with the culture of the Human or the culture of the Elf. In this case, the person self-identifies as Drow.

Note, I consider "lineages" to be strictly cultural, albeit a magical culture.

If it's "fully human", why is it represented by the drow statblock?

Let's think about this. Seems like a whole but of "yes...but" and "but its just..." just to remove the half-elf... for some reason.

 

[Remathilis]

I've been in them. This isn't snide. It's being changed as there have examples of problematic to out right racist lore, which Wizards seeks to be distanced from.

Half Orc has lefit historical issues, so Half Elf is dropped by association.

That causing OTHERS (it's it's big tent after all) to feel slighted and so the cycle continues.

Fix the lore.

To what?

What half-elf or half-orc lore could you give that doesn't radically redo the species?

If you keep them as a separate species representing human and elf/orc blood, you are effectively endorsing they are the only two combos who matter. That half-dwarves or gnome/halflings or dragonborn/tieflings do not exist, cannot exist, or are such freaks of nature they don't warrant mechanical expression. Even if you say that a half-elf is a blessing to the community and a half-orc a reward from Gruumsh (stripping away all negative connotations) you're still saying only they are special enough to exist.

Now you could scrap the lore and make half-elves the result of fey influence on a mortal, or half+orcs literally created by Gruumsh blesses a child with the heart of a warrior (regardless of what his actual parents species are) but we've lost the "born of two worlds" story that made them compelling to mixed ancestry players.

You can't just change the lore without keeping them as a model minority, or losing their status as hybrid.

 

[Yaarel]

If it's "fully human", why is it represented by the drow statblock?

It says "Drow" because the person is also fully Drow, a member of the Drow magical lineage.

The nomenclature should be "Drow Human-Elf", or similar, but for the moment, until the format of the nomenclature for a multispecies becomes official, only the lineage appears − and not even the species.

Let's think about this. Seems like a whole but of "yes...but" and "but its just..." just to remove the half-elf... for some reason.

In fact, to simply say "Drow" lineage without mentioning the species is defective.

When the format becomes official, it will become necessary to specify the species or multispecies, as this NPC is a "Drow Human-Elf".

In other contexts, a "Drow" is typically a "Drow Elf", but can be a "Drow Halfling-Elf" for example.

 

[Yaarel]

A "Fighter-Rogue" is a multiclass, not a separate class.

Likewise, a "Human-Elf" is a multispecies, not a separate species.

 

[DavyGreenwind]

I'd only make that assumption since I presume you are American. Amongst my Malay in-laws when they use the term it of course means, Malay-Arab. It's a contextual term.


That's speculation. Regardless, what this clumsy attempt at avoiding "problematic" terms ends up looking like is that it is easier for them to delete and/or ignore the existence of characters of mixed human/elf ancestry. (Note they didn't change the character to human or elf, but to drow...for some reason)



You are giving an organisation the benefit of the doubt which in the past has shown itself to handle these matters in an incredibly panicked, knee-jerk manner which ends up pleasing nobody. Remember when alignment disappeared for two books and then returned with little change?

1. Yes, I am American. And we have had some f***ed up history of calling people "half" something in a denigrating way. That's the "context" WotC is working in. But even outside that context, I have always disliked calling a character or NPC a "half-elf" with the assumption that the other half was human. Even as a kid that smelled wrong to me.

2. It is indeed speculation (hence "probably") but I think it is well-founded. WotC has said it is moving away from "half" nomenclature. Presumably, they intend to replace that nomenclature with other nomenclature.

3. No "benefit of the doubt." It's in the UA.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Yes, of course.

To make the "silver haired" Human-Elf a Drow, is a decision.

At the same time, they want to humanize the Drow thus supply canonical examples of "Good Drow" who are a "normal" part of the D&D landscapes.

There was a choice between Drow Human-Elf, Moon Human-Elf, and gray-haired "elder Human" -Elf. They chose for the character to be Drow, rather than Moon, or elder.

That's my issue with all of this. These aren't creative decisions. They're political decisions.

 

[Yaarel]

That's my issue with all of this. These aren't creative decisions. They're political decisions.

I view inclusivity and removal hatespeech as ethical and apolitical.