D&D (2024) Should 2014 Half Elves and Half Orcs be added to the 2025 SRD?

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

Using the example of someone with black and Chinese heritage, they will often be told "oh you're not Chinese, you're just black" or "you don't act black enough, clearly you're Chinese." So when the rules say "pick one of your characters' two parents and have them 'count as' one of them", that really brings up some uncomfortable memories for people like me.

I don’t know if you have seen the recent interviews with Jeremy Crawford, but they have not included the mixed parentage option from the play test in the 2024 PHB. They said if you want to play a half-elf or half-orc just use the 2014 version.

 

[mellored]

They will still be in the older SRD.
So you can still use them.

 

[Micah Sweet]

They will still be in the older SRD.
So you can still use them.

They're also in books that you probably have on your shelf right now. So you can use them. The SRD only matters at all if you're trying to sell something. Is that the context here?

 

[Maxperson]

I guess I'm not comfortable with the idea of equating mixed ethnicity with mixed species and those species having their own special powers. Too much reliance in the past on stories of children disowned by their parents because of fantasy racism, or fantasy orphans that were the product of violence. Better in my opinion to have that be part of a player's PC background if they choose rather than baked into the rules.

Putting it in the background isn't going to stop that. Background is where those things popped up. All that is accomplished by removing the mechanics is the removal of a mechanical options and reducing choice doesn't seem like a good thing to me.

 

[TiQuinn]

Putting it in the background isn't going to stop that. Background is where those things popped up. All that is accomplished by removing the mechanics is the removal of a mechanical options and reducing choice doesn't seem like a good thing to me.

I don't think it needs to be covered by the rules at all. When I say part of a player's PC background, I mean the player creates a character where they specifically say that's their character's backstory rather than it be an option they selected. The game does not need to make the choice special or enable it easily. I'm perfectly fine with removing the mechanics. Mechanics exist for human, elves, and orcs. Sometimes reducing choice is a good thing, as I believe it is here.

 

[Maxperson]

Having only Elf and Orc be "half" isnt worth it.

There needs to be a more inclusive approach.

Picking one parent for the mechanics works well enough.

Not only does it not work well enough, it fails completely. Traits are a mix of the parents, sometimes resulting in something that neither parent has. You don't mix traits and end up with a mirror image of one or the other parent.

The current 2024 sidebar just paints lipstick on a pig.

Having a "Half-Elf" with stats that disresembled both parentages was annoying anyway.

Not to me. As I said above, when you mix traits or other things, you often end up with something completely new.

 

[Horwath]

add 1st level feats:

Elf blooded
Orc blooded
Dwarf blooded
Human blooded

 

[Micah Sweet]

I don't think it needs to be covered by the rules at all. When I say part of a player's PC background, I mean the player creates a character where they specifically say that's their character's backstory rather than it be an option they selected. The game does not need to make the choice special or enable it easily. I'm perfectly fine with removing the mechanics. Mechanics exist for human, elves, and orcs. Sometimes reducing choice is a good thing, as I believe it is here.

I don't agree. No good reason to reduce choice. If you don't like it, don't use it.

 

[TiQuinn]

I don't agree. No good reason to reduce choice. If you don't like it, don't use it.

Plenty of good reasons. Stop the fantasy racism angles. If you want to be an orc, be an orc. If you want to be an elf, be an elf.

 

[Maxperson]

Plenty of good reasons. Stop the fantasy racism angles. If you want to be an orc, be an orc. If you want to be an elf, be an elf.

As I said in my response to you above, the fantasy racism angle doesn't stop. At all. People will write fantasy racism into their dwarven background, halfling backgrounds, human backgrounds, half-elf backgrounds, and more. The same with violence leading to the birth of their characters.

The issues you are speaking against are purely people issues and really don't have anything to do with half races.