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<blockquote data-quote="I'm A Banana" data-source="post: 6310509" data-attributes="member: 2067"><p>To a certain degree, this is all academic. If what dictates your racial mechanics is your subrace, then what race it falls under doesn't really matter. We could have</p><p></p><p>Elf, Farm (human)</p><p>Elf, Drow</p><p>Elf, Eladrin</p><p>Elf, Moon</p><p>Elf, Sun</p><p>Elf, Mining (dwarf)</p><p>Elf, Gnome (gnome)</p><p>Elf, Half-Farm</p><p>Elf, Axe (orc)</p><p>Elf, Half-Axe</p><p>Elf, Dragon (dragonborn)</p><p>Elf, Infernal (tiefling)</p><p></p><p>...or whatever. If all that ultimately matters is the subrace, mechanically, then mechanically, it doesn't matter at all what broader race it falls under. </p><p></p><p>Narratively, it matters a little more, because the story of the people of FR is the story of distinct groups. These groups aren't biological as much as cultural in most instances -- the difference between gold dwarves and shield dwarves is like the difference between, I dunno, the Swede and the Bolivian. Very different people, but all still very much people. But the difference between a gold dwarf and a sun elf is greater -- more fundamental. This fundamental difference is also between the elf and the orc, or the elf and the human, or the human and the orc. </p><p></p><p>The purpose in making the half-humans subsets of the human is then a narrative purpose. Namely, the idea is that humans are adaptable, exceptional, and special. So some of them might mate with elves or orcs (or ogres or even dwarves, in Dark Sun!). They blur that more fundamental distinction, and humans are all <em>about</em> breaking boundaries and fitting into everything. They are capable of the highest levels of skill in any area, and few stereotypes about them remain true for every member of their group. What the half-races have in common is their humanity, their exceptional nature. </p><p></p><p>I mean, I dunno what they're gonna actually do, but I could see that making some sense. If humans have sub-races, it makes a lot of sense to make those sub-races the half-humans. </p><p></p><p>They could also try "cultural" human subraces, but that gets...potentially sticky.</p><p></p><p>They could also just not do human subraces, or make half-elves and half-orcs distinct independent races, or...whatever. </p><p></p><p>Mechanically, it probably ultimately doesn't matter where these things fall, so the purpose is entirely narrative, and narrative is very fluid between tables.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="I'm A Banana, post: 6310509, member: 2067"] To a certain degree, this is all academic. If what dictates your racial mechanics is your subrace, then what race it falls under doesn't really matter. We could have Elf, Farm (human) Elf, Drow Elf, Eladrin Elf, Moon Elf, Sun Elf, Mining (dwarf) Elf, Gnome (gnome) Elf, Half-Farm Elf, Axe (orc) Elf, Half-Axe Elf, Dragon (dragonborn) Elf, Infernal (tiefling) ...or whatever. If all that ultimately matters is the subrace, mechanically, then mechanically, it doesn't matter at all what broader race it falls under. Narratively, it matters a little more, because the story of the people of FR is the story of distinct groups. These groups aren't biological as much as cultural in most instances -- the difference between gold dwarves and shield dwarves is like the difference between, I dunno, the Swede and the Bolivian. Very different people, but all still very much people. But the difference between a gold dwarf and a sun elf is greater -- more fundamental. This fundamental difference is also between the elf and the orc, or the elf and the human, or the human and the orc. The purpose in making the half-humans subsets of the human is then a narrative purpose. Namely, the idea is that humans are adaptable, exceptional, and special. So some of them might mate with elves or orcs (or ogres or even dwarves, in Dark Sun!). They blur that more fundamental distinction, and humans are all [I]about[/I] breaking boundaries and fitting into everything. They are capable of the highest levels of skill in any area, and few stereotypes about them remain true for every member of their group. What the half-races have in common is their humanity, their exceptional nature. I mean, I dunno what they're gonna actually do, but I could see that making some sense. If humans have sub-races, it makes a lot of sense to make those sub-races the half-humans. They could also try "cultural" human subraces, but that gets...potentially sticky. They could also just not do human subraces, or make half-elves and half-orcs distinct independent races, or...whatever. Mechanically, it probably ultimately doesn't matter where these things fall, so the purpose is entirely narrative, and narrative is very fluid between tables. [/QUOTE]
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