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I think I may look for a way to balance that, will make an attempt later I do have that need. I see something that boils down to "I got this abilities due to my ancestors or contact with something special and think "Why exactly is this limited to on group of people, when such things can happen...

I'm more thinking of turning Tiefling, Goliath and Aasimar into something that gives you visible ancestry as a feat, as far as we know Bigby Feats aren't even on the table anymore anyway.

I could see an origin feat you could take in place of background one - you get features of either lower places bloodline or giant bloodline or upper planes bloodline. Maybe there should be feats that affect what culture you were raised on too?

But I have defined what qualifies as a playable species - a species must have a mechanical and narrative role that does not boil down "my parents or ancestors were X". Half-Orc and Half-Elf do not qualify, neither do Tieflings and Aasimar, nor Dragonborn, nor 2024 Goliaths. Elves, orcs, humans...

Something that doesn't come with a "I'm special because I have blood of these big important entities of the world (Celestials, Fiends, Giants) in my veins", a line that Goliaths crossed once they got special abilities based on whichever giant blood flows in their veins.

There is a very clear difference between being created by an evil entity, through evil means or for evil purpose, and being created through experimenting and selective breeding of an existing group of people for the sole purpose of creating super-soldiers. One is general enough to not upset...

IGoliaths were another "now shut up" race for people who wanted to play Orcs or ogres, imo. 2024 Goliaths in particular made me put them in the same category as Aasimar nd Tieflings - this should be something any species should take to reflect celestial/fiendish/giant herritage in their veins...

Deliberatelly experimenting on or selectively breeding existing group of people to create a species of super soldiers is eugenics.

This is just eugenics, I edited the post to add that.

"Nobody knows their origins but it was probably based on racist stereotypes of "savages" or eugenics" is a lore I will not miss. And "they hid rules for Orc pcs in the back so they have an excuse to push Half-orc as main choice" isn't good look either.

Unsurprisingly when Orcs in 4e are not playable so they have NO mechanics whatsoever And now they don't, so there is no longer reason to have Half-Orcs.

Truly signifiers of a separate race - knows an extra skill! /sarcasm

Pot calling kettle black then, because I literally just said you do that too. The fact 4e had no playable Orcs ensures that Half-Orcs were by default the "now shut up" to everyone who wanted to play an Orc. They could not have disting mechanics when orcs did not have mechanics at all. Yeah...

So when others use 2014 PHB and Volo, they're using outdated mechanics and lore, but when they're using MOTM and 2024 PHB that'sd bad because "Orcs have been changed"?

Where are you seeing that? Because I have always seen half-orcs mechanically, in all editions, as just half measure to play an orc, with nothing to stand on their own. You have also ignored how whatever niche Half-orc was supposed to fill...Goliath did better. MOTM Orc was the Orc that pretty...

"Main" implies it's not the only reason. If you were going to stay behind for any reason, they clearly never had the need to appeal to you. That's how capitalism works. Vaalingarde beat me to saying what I wanted, and more eloquently than I planned to, but: Half-Orcs were that only because...

Because the design philosophy about half-races changed and they were not able to be justified in any way except "nostalgia" or "tradition" or "someone on the internet will complain but it won't change whenever they buy the book or not".

Also worth noting: One unique thing Elves have is different subspecies - High, Wood, Sea, Astral Elves, Shadar-Kai, Drow, Eladrin. One interesting thing I feel Half-Elf could do is to reflect these lineages...which is one thing half-Elf was never doing. I'd rather if the game had mixed...

Sounds like getting boggled in unnecessary stuff you will never use and having to force yourself into additional work of selecting what you use for which game, all while the people are intimdiated by the 400+ page rulebook and you rarely ever run the game.

I could somewhat see Gnomes and Haflings working if they're being diffirent enough. On Mystara Five Shires is hafling's land that is like Tolkien's Shire, but more militaristic and weirdly libertarian. Meanwhile, Gnomes are flying around in an advanced mechanical city of Serraine, with WWI-level...