D&D (2024) D&D species article

[Scribe]

So I can understand that but I guess I just don't see why saying that your have the racial bonuses of an elf but are a half breed isn't enough.

Because you are not an Elf, you are something else, so why would you have the rules of an Elf?

 

[WanderingMystic]

N

Because you are not an Elf, you are something else, so why would you have the rules of an Elf?

To me it's because the elf genes are dominant and the human recessive so you are mechanically an elf.

 

[Belen]

Because you are not an Elf, you are something else, so why would you have the rules of an Elf?

Agreed.

Species in D&D have mechanics. Mixed species have no mechanics. Therefore, they do not exist. They are cosmetic only. They are a backstory with zero game support. They do not even have backgrounds support.

People will just play humans and tell folks they have elf-ears.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Agreed.

Species in D&D have mechanics. Mixed species have no mechanics. Therefore, they do not exist. They are cosmetic only. They are a backstory with zero game support. They do not even have backgrounds support.

People will just play humans and tell folks they have elf-ears.

It is how many players play elves anyway...

 

[Minigiant]

I've started skimming these posts about WOTC 2024 IS MAKING EVERYTHING SPELLS FOR ALL SPECIES!!!

But I want to take a moment and just take a look at what has actually, factually happened.

Humans: No spells. In fact, they gained a unique ability that ties into their core theme. It is actually an even more impressive jump in design, if you consider that this is the new base human, and the old base human was +1 to six stats.
Dwarves: No spells. Gained a unique ability that ties into their core theme.
Halflings: No spells. Didn't gain any new abilities, but became a more consistent package.
Dragonborn: No spells. Compared to the 2014 PHB version (which is the version they were redesigning) it gained a lot of unique abilities that tie into their core themes.
Orcs: No spells. Technically didn't gain anything new compared to their most recent version, just the ability to use their new iconic ability more often.
Goliaths: Complete redesign.... and no spells. None of the options in the playtest had spells at all.
Aasimar: Very interesting ability to swap revelations, giving Aasimar a thematic counter to tieflings by being more mercurial and changing in their abilities instead of static. Not redesigned to have spells in 2024, except for the light cantrip that they had previously.
Tieflings: Have spells! Just like they did in 2014. But compared to the 2014 PHB, they now have a lot more options, going from one version to three.
Elves: This one is a little complicated. Drow already had spells, so this isn't a redesign. High elves ALSO had spells already, and just gained more to match Drow. So, technically you could argue that the Wood Elf gained spells into of MAsk of the Wild, but they also gained spells in the EXACT same way that the Drow and the High Elf got. Was this because they wanted to shove every possible ability into spells... or because they wanted to make sure the three elven ancestry options matched in design? Well, for me, I think it was the second. Because once they removed the Drow's sunlight sensitivity (a good move) they suddenly had an option much, much stronger than the other two. And, again, the team was redesigning the PHB options.
Gnomes: The only place where I can say for certain that abilities that were not spells were turned into spells. And... in the case of the Forest Gnome getting speak with animals, I've already argued why that is BETTER for players and DMs, by answering a lot of vague questions from the original ability. Like whether or not you could understand the animal. And then Rock gnomes got their crafting tied to prestidigitation, which I agree is annoying... but is also undeniably more powerful than what they used to get. Because it now has more abilities, and all the abilities it had before.


So, looking through every single species option presented, there is a case for a SINGLE option getting spells instead of abilities when it could have otherwise gotten abilities. And it was GNOMES, who are a magical race who HAD innate magic as part of their story.

It's less that every species has spells and more than every nonhuman species is now more overtly magical and have less leaned to their natural biology.

Since 2017, the amount of overt magic and blatant spellcasting has increased amongst classes and species. WOTC mostly abandoned the mundane or even the subvert supernatural (on the player side).

So only Humans and maybe Orcs don't seem like they aren't dripping with magic in their blood before they get to the class stage. And Orcs is a maybe.

Can't a species just be BIG and TOUGH? Or have claws and a tail? Or have calculator brains?

Maybe it's that they suck at it even if they like it. Crawford REALLY hyped up that Brawler Fighter but it was a mess.

 

[Hriston]

Yes they did but from what we have seen they also removed the language so you only get 1 tool proficiency and no language.

Maybe that's because, as I was told in this thread, languages are bad things to have because they let casters target you with command and suggestion.

 

[Minigiant]

So being compleatly honest I have to ask, why do people miss or want the half orc and half elf? The only reason I ever played a half elf is because it was mechanically advantageous but never really mattered for rp reasons. The bonus to charisma with the skills was great for some builds but to be honest for me never felt like it was special. Likewise for half orcs, half orcs were created because orcs were a monterous race and they wanted something more civil. Now in Dark Sun I loved Mules because they fit a specific nitch for that world and had a great mechanical feel to them.

3 of my favorite half elf and orc PCs displayed the uniqueness of the half elf and half orcs.

1) One half elf displayed being a part of 2 cultures but not fully. He was a ranger who was officially, along with some other half elves, charged with maintaining the peace in the forests and plains between the human and elf kingdoms. To the humans, he was the old man of the wood. To the elves, he was the weird child who ran the grass.

2) Another half elf took elven traditionally styles and updated them with human adaptability. Something an pure elf would NEVER do. An elf with a gun?!

3) The half orc was stereotypical. Standard discriminated urchin who worked hard to show people that he was better than what both his parents cultures labeled him as by combining human and orc traits.

 

[Minigiant]

It is how many players play elves anyway...

In my experience, the ironic part is that the half elf players role play their elfiness more than the elf players outside of ordering wine at the taverns.

 

[WanderingMystic]

3 of my favorite half elf and orc PCs displayed the uniqueness of the half elf and half orcs.

1) One half elf displayed being a part of 2 cultures but not fully. He was a ranger who was officially, along with some other half elves, charged with maintaining the peace in the forests and plains between the human and elf kingdoms. To the humans, he was the old man of the wood. To the elves, he was the weird child who ran the grass.

2) Another half elf took elven traditionally styles and updated them with human adaptability. Something an pure elf would NEVER do. An elf with a gun?!

3) The half orc was stereotypical. Standard discriminated urchin who worked hard to show people that he was better than what both his parents cultures labeled him as by combining human and orc traits.

Those are great examples and I really love 2 but saying that you are a half elf but using the elf racial abilities would allow you to do the same thing.

 

[Minigiant]

Those are great examples and I really love 2 but saying that you are a half elf but using the elf racial abilities would allow you to do the same thing.

Nah

An elf isn't given freedom until they are 100. By then they are stuck in their ways and would claim bows were best.

A half elf has a human brain and an elf's scope eyes. With a elven magic loving culture and a human explosion loving culture.

Took a lot of gold but the DM eventually let me get a sniper rifle that shot magic missile. No scope needed.

And a magic shotgun for melee.