D&D (2024) D&D species article

[Remathilis]

The goal isn't a fey humaniod but a being that is half fey humaniod and half "regular" humaniod.

Whether an human and elf or a dwarf and a fey hobgoblins.

D&D is allowed to say all those combos result in creating the same species.

That option in lost. That route was ignored.

The hexblood (VRGR) is a fey/humanoid hybrid that is the result of hag magic. The fey touched feat gives anyone a touch of fey magic. Both can emulate a character who had fey origins, and that's not even considering the feylost (WBW) background or various fey subclasses.

I just don't think any of those options would satisfy someone wanting the 2014 half-elf.

 

[Corinnguard]

I suppose I just don't see Level Up's method as removing anything; quite the opposite in fact, as many, many more possible combinations of different heritages, different gifts, and different traits can now be modeled. I certainly don't see it as a general gaming trend away from half-elves.

Instead, this is WotC's choice to present a boring, "safe" option that they hope will head off controversy that might lead to decreased sales. Nothing more.

There is a lot of customization in Level Up.

 

[Remathilis]

I suppose I just don't see Level Up's method as removing anything; quite the opposite in fact, as many, many more possible combinations of different heritages, different gifts, and different traits can now be modeled. I certainly don't see it as a general gaming trend away from half-elves.

Instead, this is WotC's choice to present a boring, "safe" option that they hope will head off controversy that might lead to decreased sales. Nothing more.

Half-elf (-orc) is no longer a dedicated option. The fact that LU has replaced it with a system that is inherently better which can emulate it doesn't stop the fact they did replace the dedicated race with a different system. I don't think you're arguing that LU (or PF2E or TotV) should have a dedicated half-elf again in addition to their current system.

 

[Chaosmancer]

The problem, according to some, is that being forced to pick a set of traits from one parent and leaving the influence from the other parent purely aesthetic, echoes a very common way in which mixed-race people are often marginalized, being treated like they can’t be both, they have to take after one or the other.

Personally (and for what it’s worth, I am a mixed race person myself, but look white as the driven snow), I can see this criticism, and I agree that the “pick one or the other for your stats” approach isn’t ideal for representing mixed heritage, I see it as less of an issue than treating some mixes as more valid than others by giving them complete species entries but not others.

The ideal solution would of course be some kind of build-your-own-mixed-species system, wherein you could pick a trait or two from each side. But since 5e’s species design isn’t uniform enough for that to work easily, I can see why WotC hasn’t decided to go with it, as far as we know.

My recommendation to anyone who wants to play a mixed-species character and doesn’t want to just pick the stats from one parent, would be to use the custom lineage tools from Tasha’s. It’s not a perfect solution either, but there really is no perfect solution within the limitations of 5e D&D’s rules structure. It does seem from my perspective to be the “least worst” option available.

Yeah, I am very understanding of the issues raised, but I do truly see this as a "there is no good solution". You either give human/elf and human/orc pairings special treatment that no other groups get, have nothing, have it be cosmetic, have a massively unbalanced "build-your-own" system that will catch fire immediately, or have hundreds of new species options that fill entire books on their own.

Every choice has problems, and at the end of the day, problems that present heavy mechanical concerns are far less likely to get a pass than ones that just stink and feel bad.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Half-elf (-orc) is no longer a dedicated option. The fact that LU has replaced it with a system that is inherently better which can emulate it doesn't stop the fact they did replace the dedicated race with a different system. I don't think you're arguing that LU (or PF2E or TotV) should have a dedicated half-elf again in addition to their current system.

The concept is covered (better than WotC ever did IMO) mechanically in LU. It is a superset of the "dedicated option" to which you are referencing. There is no half-elf character concept I can think of that can't be well-represented using LU's origin system.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Yeah, I am very understanding of the issues raised, but I do truly see this as a "there is no good solution". You either give human/elf and human/orc pairings special treatment that no other groups get, have nothing, have it be cosmetic, have a massively unbalanced "build-your-own" system that will catch fire immediately, or have hundreds of new species options that fill entire books on their own.

Every choice has problems, and at the end of the day, problems that present heavy mechanical concerns are far less likely to get a pass than ones that just stink and feel bad.

LU doesn't do any of those things you see as the "only" options.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Nope. I thought Aragon was a Half-Elf given that he lived to be 210 years old. I didn't know that Elrond was a Half-Elf.

Elrond chose the life of elves. His brother chose the life of men, and was Aragorn’s many generations ancestor. Yes, he married his cousin.

 

[Minigiant]

The hexblood (VRGR) is a fey/humanoid hybrid that is the result of hag magic. The fey touched feat gives anyone a touch of fey magic. Both can emulate a character who had fey origins, and that's not even considering the feylost (WBW) background or various fey subclasses.

I just don't think any of those options would satisfy someone wanting the 2014 half-elf.

The half elf of D&D was not based on having a fey origin but of being a product of a mix of a fey humaniod and a nonfey humaniod. Mixing their biology and, in the past, culture and society

The half elf could be and was sometimes a stand in for human + other fey Humaniods like human/satyrs, human/nymphs, or human/feygoblin.

And at some tables and half elf could come from a humanoid and a pure fey.

I don't think the specific human/elf combination is required as its own species. However I think a specific species that tax into to combination of a fay humanoid and a regular humanoid is desired. And that combination is not supported.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

If they were changing Race to Species, I don't get why they didn't change Half Elf to Feyling or Elfbrood or Faeman.

Because without their stat increases they were just inferior elves.
In 2e half elves were just inferior elves without stat manipulation but they were valid for more classes.

I still hope for a sidebar with background feats for humans to make half-eves and half-orcs.

We have Goliath and Genasi.

yes

 

[Arilyn]

LU doesn't do any of those things you see as the "only" options.

All the systems I've seen (snd there are a lot now) do mixed species really well, without unbalancing choices. The heritage/culture system in LU is fun. (I just recently made a wood elf raised by fire elementals. His forest was destroyed and he's now a champion dedicated to retribution.) And what I'm seeing from Ghostfire looks like it'll be awesome too.

Games should be encouraging creativity. 5e 2024 is handing out the goodies but are curating background choices, which I'm finding grating.