Are half-races an essential option in D&D?

[Ghostwind]

One of the projects I am working on involves the question of half races and D&D. Are they really an essential part of the game and a mandatory option for player characters to choose from? In my opinion, the game could do without half races and it would no effect at all on the game and how it is played.

Your thoughts?

 

[diaglo]

it has more of an effect for fluff and backstory really.

how would an orc rape a human or any other race if the parts didn't fit?

similarly to any of the goodly races. how do elves and humans show their love and procreate?

the question of what happens when mommy and daddy get together is gonna come up in some games. esp when you want to introduce emotional baggage like being a mul or half giant or half orc in a community. visible signs of difference make easy use for backstory

 

[DaveMage]

Needed? Nah.

Just make species genetically incompatible to procreate.

 

[variant]

it has more of an effect for fluff and backstory really.

how would an orc rape a human or any other race if the parts didn't fit?

What in the world does "fitting" have anything to do with it?

similarly to any of the goodly races. how do elves and humans show their love and procreate?

They couldn't?

the question of what happens when mommy and daddy get together is gonna come up in some games. esp when you want to introduce emotional baggage like being a mul or half giant or half orc in a community. visible signs of difference make easy use for backstory

You mean the exact same cliche backstory that all the half-breeds have.

 

[diaglo]

What in the world does "fitting" have anything to do with it?

if my partner is without a brain and i'm say an illithid. i'm not gonna create a half-illithid now am i. i need to fit with my partner.

 

[Ilium]

EDIT: People post fast. By "both" in this post I mean Diaglo and the original post.

I agree with you both! You could eliminate the half-races and everythingn would work fine, but half-races have a long history in the game. And of course half-elves and "goblin men" figured prominently in Tolkien's work, which informs a lot of people's D&D experience.

The only mechanical caveat I would mention is that if you eliminate half-orcs you may want to include another "big strong dumb" race to fill their niche. Either something with the same stats but different fluff, or just make full-blooded orcs a playable race.

 

[Umbran]

Your thoughts?

Very few things are "mandatory" (except for Happiness, and that only in Paranoia).

Or, more to the point - the half-races are each as mandatory as any other particular race you care to name, which is to say, not at all. You can have a perfectly acceptable and fun game with only one race.

 

[Drowbane]

One of the projects I am working on involves the question of half races and D&D. Are they really an essential part of the game and a mandatory option for player characters to choose from? In my opinion, the game could do without half races and it would no effect at all on the game and how it is played.

Your thoughts?

Halfbreeds are not a standard available race in my campaigns... templated half-breeds show up occasionally however (1/2 dragon, 1/2 ogre, etc).

 

[Drowbane]

The only mechanical caveat I would mention is that if you eliminate half-orcs you may want to include another "big strong dumb" race to fill their niche. Either something with the same stats but different fluff, or just make full-blooded orcs a playable race.

BS, dwarves are the PC warrior race

Hmm, maybe I'll start allowing wookies in my D&D again?

 

[Dagger of Lath]

...if the parts didn't fit?

The physical... logistics... of procreation are one thing and determine the posibility of physical intimacy or, should it come down to it, forceful intercourse. However two being may be fully capable of either act, yet unable to bring a child to term for a variety of reasons.

And, what kind of "fluff" do you have in your game anyway that requires these details?

Similarly to any of the goodly races. How do elves and humans show their love and procreate?

May I suggest flowers and dinner? No, seriously, we're talking about different species here. The fact that they can mate at all is unusual, suggesting either magical involvement or a close ancestry. Who knows if they're even psychologically matched to eachother, let alone physically and genetically.

The question of what happens when mommy and daddy get together is gonna come up in some games.

Just because someone might "get together" with their horse doesn't require creating rules for centaur children.

esp when you want to introduce emotional baggage like being a mul or half giant or half orc in a community. Visible signs of difference make easy use for backstory

Why not be the child of another nationality/race (as opposed to species)? Or hell, just be a human with some kind of deformity or mutation. I'm sure these things happen even in a fantasy world and are far more plausible than yet another victim of sexual assault's tragic mopey child.