D&D (2024) D&D species article

[Mistwell]

Well, I am surprised to find the half-race topic was settled in an entirely unpredictable way.

They don't exist in the PHB. Not "choose a parent" I mean the concept is entirely absent in all respects.

That side bar we all thought would be in there from the UA? Nope. No sidebar. No reference to the DMG. No reference to talking to your DM about it. There appears to be literally nothing mentioning you can even be a half-elf even in theory, for example.

Now that doesn't end the topic. There could well be something in the DMG. Or even the MM. But this has the feeling of "Let's punt on this controversial topic for now" perhaps as a last-minute decision.

 

[Minigiant]

Now that doesn't end the topic. There could well be something in the DMG. Or even the MM. But this has the feeling of "Let's punt on this controversial topic for now" perhaps as a last-minute decision.

More that their planned solution was panned and they didn't have the time to test another one which would require them to rewrite the already satisfactory species.

The going speculation is that half elves and half orcs will be in setting books.

 

[Micah Sweet]

More that their planned solution was panned and they didn't have the time to test another one which would require them to rewrite the already satisfactory species.

The going speculation is that half elves and half orcs will be in setting books.

But not the Realms, since the new Phandelver book shows they've written them out there.

 

[Veltharis ap Rylix]

Well, I am surprised to find the half-race topic was settled in an entirely unpredictable way.

They don't exist in the PHB. Not "choose a parent" I mean the concept is entirely absent in all respects.

That side bar we all thought would be in there from the UA? Nope. No sidebar. No reference to the DMG. No reference to talking to your DM about it. There appears to be literally nothing mentioning you can even be a half-elf even in theory, for example.

Now that doesn't end the topic. There could well be something in the DMG. Or even the MM. But this has the feeling of "Let's punt on this controversial topic for now" perhaps as a last-minute decision.

I imagine it'll be covered in some way in the DMG, probably as part of a "custom species" section like we got in 2014 (where the initial versions of aasimar and eladrin debuted) to parallel the custom background section we already know is coming.

Now, precisely HOW they choose to implement any mixed ancestry heritages in the DMG is an open question.

 

[Minigiant]

But not the Realms, since the new Phandelver book shows they've written them out there.

The Phandelver book was written when WOTC thought "sandwich" bigotry was okay.

New realms might be different.

 

[Mistwell]

I imagine it'll be covered in some way in the DMG, probably as part of a "custom species" section like we got in 2014 (where the initial versions of aasimar and eladrin debuted) to parallel the custom background section we already know is coming.

Now, precisely HOW they choose to implement any mixed ancestry heritages in the DMG is an open question.

I imagined they'd go with the sidebar they had already written for the UA and claimed was a UA which got satisfactory reactions. So I am not going to assume anything is in the DMG at this point.

 

[Frozen_Heart]

Well, I am surprised to find the half-race topic was settled in an entirely unpredictable way.

They don't exist in the PHB. Not "choose a parent" I mean the concept is entirely absent in all respects.

That side bar we all thought would be in there from the UA? Nope. No sidebar. No reference to the DMG. No reference to talking to your DM about it. There appears to be literally nothing mentioning you can even be a half-elf even in theory, for example.

Now that doesn't end the topic. There could well be something in the DMG. Or even the MM. But this has the feeling of "Let's punt on this controversial topic for now" perhaps as a last-minute decision.

WotC managed to make both player camps unhappy!

I'm legitimately impressed.

 

[Scribe]

Well, I am surprised to find the half-race topic was settled in an entirely unpredictable way.

They don't exist in the PHB. Not "choose a parent" I mean the concept is entirely absent in all respects.

That side bar we all thought would be in there from the UA? Nope. No sidebar. No reference to the DMG. No reference to talking to your DM about it. There appears to be literally nothing mentioning you can even be a half-elf even in theory, for example.

Now that doesn't end the topic. There could well be something in the DMG. Or even the MM. But this has the feeling of "Let's punt on this controversial topic for now" perhaps as a last-minute decision.

So, erasure it is.

 

[Veltharis ap Rylix]

I imagined they'd go with the sidebar they had already written for the UA and claimed was a UA which got satisfactory reactions. So I am not going to assume anything is in the DMG at this point.

It's easy to claim satisfactory reactions when they very specifically never asked a survey question about the "Pick-a-Parent" sidebar or the exclusion of dedicated "half-elf" and "half-orc" species entries - it's akin to saying they had very satisfactory reactions to their choice to not include the artificer class in the PHB. It was never on the table and they made the decision without ever actually seeking feedback on it. Any feedback that may have changed their views in the time following the early species UAs happened in spite of the playtest process, not because of it.

Worst case scenario, I think we'll get the "Pick-a-Parent" sidebar in the DMG and nothing else.

Better case, they'll use "half-elf" and "half-orc" as examples of how to construct custom species in the way they did with aasimar and eladrin back in 2014.

 

[Mistwell]

It's easy to claim satisfactory reactions when they very specifically never asked a survey question about the "Pick-a-Parent" sidebar or the exclusion of dedicated "half-elf" and "half-orc" species entries. It's akin to saying they had very satisfactory reactions to their choice to not include the artificer class in the PHB. It was never on the table and they made the decision without ever actually seeking feedback on it - any feedback that may have changed their views happened in spite of the UA playtest process, not because of it.

Worst case scenario, I think we'll get the "Pick-a-Parent" sidebar in the DMG and nothing else.

Better case, they'll use "half-elf" and "half-orc" as examples of how to construct custom species in the way they did with aasimar and eladrin back in 2014.

Best case: We will get full rules on how to mix any two races.