D&D 5E A half-elven question for the lore masters

[Eltab]

I've created a 5e half-elf character with a "melting pot" genetic background and picked hair / eye / skin color each from a different sub-elf description.
So, yah, he's got treebark-brown skin (wood elf), lilac eyes (drow), and Galadriel's golden hair (high elf).

Unless somebody actually reads the 5-page version of my Character Background, it isn't going to matter. (If the DM says something like "the upcoming town is prejudiced as all get-out" then HE gets the full-length treatment to digest for a week, and decide what the locals have problems with.)

 

[Hriston]

Do you happen to remember the details? Or can the article be found online?

There's an online archive of Dragon magazine PDFs, but I don't remember which issue it was and it would take some digging to find it. The details were pretty much as I described upthread. Because the offspring receives a gene from each parent that says either Elf or Human, a couple that is both Half-elves could produce a full Elf or a full Human, although it is twice as likely the child will be a Half-elf. Of course, this was in no way official.

 

[Demetrios1453]

In Middle Earth, choosing human is pretty sucky. Not recommended.

You've apparently missed the point Tolkien was making about how his elves' type of immortality would be pretty sucky (you either "fade" over time, or go to the West, where the fading is neutralized at the cost of a totally static existence). Elves believed human death was a gift, and meant that without cynicism or euphemism...

 

[TheLoneRanger1979]

There's an online archive of Dragon magazine PDFs, but I don't remember which issue it was and it would take some digging to find it. The details were pretty much as I described upthread. Because the offspring receives a gene from each parent that says either Elf or Human, a couple that is both Half-elves could produce a full Elf or a full Human, although it is twice as likely the child will be a Half-elf. Of course, this was in no way official.

Roger that.

I've created a 5e half-elf character with a "melting pot" genetic background and picked hair / eye / skin color each from a different sub-elf description.
So, yah, he's got treebark-brown skin (wood elf), lilac eyes (drow), and Galadriel's golden hair (high elf).

Unless somebody actually reads the 5-page version of my Character Background, it isn't going to matter. (If the DM says something like "the upcoming town is prejudiced as all get-out" then HE gets the full-length treatment to digest for a week, and decide what the locals have problems with.)

I like the idea. I may actually do my own spreadsheet for something similar. So far i have decided on one aspect that would include role playing. I agree with the previous recommendations and have decided that my PC has the Drow eyes of his grand mother - silvery grey with violet and obsidian strands interwoven. As he is in hiding, but also cautious about people's reaction to his drow heritage, whenever in large urban environments and in daylight he avoids looking people in the eyes or wears his hood further down his face.

You've apparently missed the point Tolkien was making about how his elves' type of immortality would be pretty sucky (you either "fade" over time, or go to the West, where the fading is neutralized at the cost of a totally static existence). Elves believed human death was a gift, and meant that without cynicism or euphemism...

There is a very good read on that subject in the "Morgoth's Ring" , in the part where Finrod Felagund and Andreth have a discussion about mortality and the nature of their races.

 

[rollingForInit]

There really are no rules for it. Anything works. Do what makes the character most fun to play.

 

[Mephista]

You've apparently missed the point Tolkien was making about how his elves' type of immortality would be pretty sucky (you either "fade" over time, or go to the West, where the fading is neutralized at the cost of a totally static existence). Elves believed human death was a gift, and meant that without cynicism or euphemism...

Ummm... no. I didn't "miss the point." I just disagree with it - people are allowed to do that. When Elrond's daughter chose "human," married Aragorn, and out lived him, and most of her kids as well? She had a long, lonely life. That's pretty terrible in my opinion. Meanwhile, "going West" means getting on a ship directly into Heaven. Or, at least an equivalent of it that was still paradise. Frankly, that sounds pretty awesome to me.

There's a lot of literature that tries to paint immortality as being more curse than blessing. Sounds like sour grapes to me.

 

[Kobold Stew]

As Freddy Mercury sang, "Who wants to live forever, when love must die?"

 

[Nagol]

There's an online archive of Dragon magazine PDFs, but I don't remember which issue it was and it would take some digging to find it. The details were pretty much as I described upthread. Because the offspring receives a gene from each parent that says either Elf or Human, a couple that is both Half-elves could produce a full Elf or a full Human, although it is twice as likely the child will be a Half-elf. Of course, this was in no way official.

Dragon #44, page 20 title: Half + Half isn't always full.

 

[Hriston]

Dragon #44, page 20 title: Half + Half isn't always full.

Funny that I remembered it being about Half-elves when it's really about Half-orcs. The concept should be applicable to both, however.

 

[BoldItalic]

...

There's a lot of literature that tries to paint immortality as being more curse than blessing. Sounds like sour grapes to me.

Immortality is over-rated. I tried it once, for a few years.