D&D (2024) D&D species article

[Hriston]

and i described them as being spoken to, can a character ever suppress their own understanding of a language they are entirely fluent in? if someone speaks in dwarvish they will understand them, because dwarvish is a language they Know, if they say they don't understand they are just lying.

Are you saying it's impossible under the 2014 rules to play a dwarf that doesn't understand Dwarvish? I don't think that's a correct statement for the same reasons I've already expressed about the alleged impossibility of playing a dwarf without having your dwarf speak Dwarvish. According to the rules, the player decides what their PC thinks, so if the player says their dwarf doesn't comprehend the Dwarvish speech they hear, that is a valid way for them to roleplay their PC, and the dwarf is not lying when they say they don't understand Dwarvish because the dwarf's player has the authority to make that determination with respect to the PC's thoughts because they are part of the fiction over which the player has authority.

 

[Neonchameleon]

How many D&D derived RPGs in 2024 have dedicated half-races anymore? Pathfinder doesn't, they are all just ancestry feats. TotV didn't to my knowledge per their SRD. I don't know Level Up well, but a cursory glance doesn't list them either. Half-races are kinda like the Illusionist or assassin standalone classes; they are not strong enough concepts anymore to stand alone so they are becoming part of larger systems. I think the only systems that have dedicated half races are older ones or those designed to emulate older ones. Half-elf and half-orc apparently are passe. Much like the removal of the word race, I find WotC is late to the party.

Pathfinder 2e doesn't because it has a larger system. Races are just ancestry feats, and you get to mix and match Daggerheart also has explicit guidance for taking some features of one race and some of another.

The systems that need dedicated half-races are ones which, like D&D, don't have races as part of larger systems that allow you to blend aspects of races.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Are you saying it's impossible under the 2014 rules to play a dwarf that doesn't understand Dwarvish? I don't think that's a correct statement for the same reasons I've already expressed about the alleged impossibility of playing a dwarf without having your dwarf speak Dwarvish. According to the rules, the player decides what their PC thinks, so if the player says their dwarf doesn't comprehend the Dwarvish speech they hear, that is a valid way for them to roleplay their PC, and the dwarf is not lying when they say they don't understand Dwarvish because the dwarf's player has the authority to make that determination with respect to the PC's thoughts because they are part of the fiction over which the player has authority.

Ok. So now I play a rogue level 1 that constantly casts wish. Because why should rules limit my imagination?

 

[Hriston]

Ok. So now I play a rogue level 1 that constantly casts wish. Because why should rules limit my imagination?

So, really? You think a player of a 2014 dwarf PC who says their character doesn't understand Dwarvish is breaking a rule?!

 

[UngeheuerLich]

So, really? You think a player of a 2014 dwarf PC who says their character doesn't understand Dwarvish is breaking a rule?!

Yes, in a way. A dwarf gets dwarven language by default. To tell others that this can just be roleplayed over is wrong.

You could have said: just ask your DM to trade the language away. But having written dwarven language on you sheet and then pretending it is not there IS breaking a rule.
What happens if anyone speaks a command or suggestion to you in dwarven?

 

[SkidAce]

I really wish there was a Confused emoji.

 

[Corinnguard]

@SkidAce. That's the 'Mind Blown' emoji.

 

[mellored]

I really wish there was a Confused emoji.

 

[Corinnguard]

@Micah Sweet wanted to see a Confused emoji alongside Like, Love, HaHa, Wow and Sad. As there has been times when a poster on the forums has posted a very confusing OP or reply.

 

[DarkCrisis]

There is a small sidebar in Level Up's Adventurer's Guide on how to design a mixed heritage character. To create one, all you really need to do is pick a heritage and a heritage gift from another heritage.

If you wanted to create a Half-Elf that bears a resemblance to the Half-Elf in 5e's PHB, you pick the Elven heritage and a human heritage gift. So, you would get all of the traits commonly shared among elves-age, size, speed, Darkvision, Fey Ancestry and Trance. But instead of getting an Elven heritage gift (Mystic Rapport, Prescient Vision, and Preternatural Awareness), you would choose a Human heritage gift such as Diehard Survivor, Ingenious Focus, or Spirited Traveler.

Otoh, if you wanted a Half-Elf like Aragorn from LoTR, you pick the Human heritage and then pick one of the Elven heritage gifts I mentioned above.

Level Up's heritage gifts work much like a 1st-level feat. And then at 10th level, you gain a paragon gift that either gives your character something or goes on to improve your heritage gift. Unlike the heritage gift, paragon gifts cannot be mixed-and-match between heritages. A Half-Elf in the first example, for instance will level up and eventually get an Elven paragon gift.

After heritage, your Half-Elf character can either be raised in one of four Elven cultures (Eladrin, high elf, shadow elf or wood elf) and gain that particular culture's mechanical traits, or they could grow up in a non-Elven culture.

I assume you meant Elrond and not Aragorn.