Alternate races to replace 1/2 Elf, 1/2 Orc?

[AFGNCAAP]

Keep half-elves & half-orcs, mechanics-wise. You may want to drop the Orc Blood & Elf Blood abilities/hindrance as well. However, rename them & reshape them---mechanics-wise, they work the same, yet campaign/story-wise, they're a whole other animal.

For example, have the old half-elves be a sort of evolved human & the half-orcs be a sort of devolved human; perhaps akin to the 2 futuristic races from H.G. Wells' The Time Machine (the Morlocks & the other guys whose names I can't recall right now). Or, the former half-elves could be like the Melniboneans, while the former half-orcs are like the Neanderthals. Or, they could exist in certain societies, the end product of human selective breeding---1 town/nation of "half-orcs" that focuses on military power, & another town/nation of "half-elves" which focuses on the spiritual, arcane, supernatural, or even artistic.

Then again, have them be races in their own right---the half-orc-like race being a brutish, harsh, physical sort (hence favored class barbarian), & the half-elf-like race a more spiritual or philosophical race devoted to pursuits of the mind rather than the body--change their Favored Class from Any to a spell or power-using class, like Clerics, Druids, Shamans, Wizards, Sorcerers, Wu Jen, Shugenjas, or even Psions, focusing on supernatural powers rather than skills, feats, or combat ability.

So, in essence, you can keep them around, mechanics-wise, but totally change the flavor text those mechanics are set in & create something new & unique IYC.

Hope that helps.

 

[Nightfall]

Just one man's lone opinion...try Ratmen/Slithren. Might do to replace Half-orc. Another option is mantorica, as they pretty feral and thus do well as another race type.

 

[Drakmar]

Of Lizard Blood

in a campaign I am playing in the Half-Orc has been replaced (because there are no Orcs)...Instead we have a new race that are the Lizard Blood. They are sort of...Humans with Lizardman Blood..

the World is actually a Plane.. and it is mostly water. So a powerful and meglomanical wizard (I think, I am playing a Lizardblood who is trying to find out the history of his people) created the Lizard Blood to make the perfect Soldiers for his army. Unfortunately for him, he failed and the Lizard Blood joined the world proper.

Str +2, Int -2, Cha -2
special abilities - Swim speed Double Human, Hold Breath - Double Human, +2 Swim, +2 Balance, +2 Jump, Underwater Vision (eqiv. Low-light underwater). Description - Skin tone is various shades of Green. No hair.. some scales (the uglier they are.. the more scales)...

other quirks..
they gain maturity at about 9 years old.. after they..um.. Molt. basically they become blood red and during the first transformation the males can smell females and they try to mate and eat any female they can get their hands on until the First Molt is finished...

I think that they have a 50yr life span.. dunno yet. Feel Free to mutate to suit.

As for a H/Elf sub...hmm...Rather than have a race have something like a template that is "Touched by a God" like.. maybe if they have been touched by a war god or demon they have claws and increased strenght at the expense of wisdom and beauty. That would all you to create some pretty cool mutants.

 

[evileeyore]

I too suggest the Spirit Folk and the Ratmen from OA... In fact you should take all the races from OA and them to your world... They need but only minor tweaking...

 

[hong]

I too suggest the Spirit Folk and the Ratmen from OA... In fact you should take all the races from OA and them to your world... They need but only minor tweaking...

This is a good idea. There's very little about races like spirit folk, nezumi or even hengeyokai that's inherently "oriental". Just change the name and they could fit in any D&D campaign.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

I think the OA races idea is a good one also. Another cool source of inspiration is Larry Niven's Ringworld books, which is chock full of races all evolved from what was essentially australopithecus. Basically, since there were no other animals to speak of, they've all evolved to fill every ecological niche, and all are sentient, to some degree. Well, maybe not the vampires. Anyway, it would be relatively easy to convert many of them to 3e - in many cases, you could simply use the stats for critters already in 3e, and change the name and background material.

 

[Ferret]

He he I knew shark would come upi and post!But he failed to mention Dregnar and dregonian...A would difinatly like gnoll...

 

[rounser]

Qullan would be a fun replacement. Difficult to roleplay, but fun...

I'm considering ditching half-orcs next campaign - there's been one in every party I've been in or DM'd so far in 3E, and I don't like what they bring to the game very much. Yes, I've played one myself (half-orc wizard in fact).

 

[Voadam]

I like games where the races are actually species and so cannot crossbreed, halves just muddy the water so to speak. Shadowrun and Earthdawn work well with orcs and trolls as PC races. Trolls and ogres in D&D are a bit over the top as PC races, the strength, HD, and reach (plus regen) are big combat factors. You can still use the half templates just make them a tougher aspect template, for example fiendish and half fiendish templates can still both exist but they are eith fiendish blessings or planar critters, depending on how you want to use them.

In Mythic Races I like the boorish, obnoxious crude raging small boar men as replacements for half orcs if you don't go the Ravenloft caliban route.

The fairies in there are interesting as well.