DId WotC make a mistake? (Half-Elves)

[Brother Shatterstone]

I wish I could take credit for this thought but it was from the ENworld chat yesterday... I don't remember your name, but if you want credit please let me know.

Anyhow, shouldn't half-elf be a template that could be applied to a base class like all of the other "half-insert name" templates?

If so, why do you think it wasn’t done?

If not, why not?

Please Note: this is a public pool as I've never seen one before and click it... (I blame the kid in me.) I have no plans to bash you or Spam you. Thank you.

 

[Mercule]

Nope. Half-elves are a product of Tolkien and refer to a human/elf cross-breed. I've no desire whatsoever to see wanton elves sleeping with random races.

 

[hunter1828]

Nope. Half-elves are a product of Tolkien and refer to a human/elf cross-breed. I've no desire whatsoever to see wanton elves sleeping with random races.

I agree 100%. In my games, humans are the only race elves can cross-breed with on a regular basis, though there are some elf/fey mixes (I use the fey-blood template from the Book of Erotic Fantasy) and rumors of elf/halfling crossbreeds (using the elfling race I found somewhere on the internet).

hunter1828

 

[Umbran]

I say no.

The only half-elves you see in the core are human/elf crosses. That';s all it's ever been - no elf-dwarf, elf-orc, elf-gnome, or elf-anythings. If the template can only be applied to humans, it isn't much of a template.

 

[Nightfall]

No mostly for the same reasons Umbran listed. Templating half elves allow you to make half elf/half dwarves. Not something I relish. Let's keep it simple folks.

 

[Breakstone]

Flavorwise, I figure half-elves and half-orcs can be half-any-other-race. Have a half-orc who's lanky, has high dexterity and low constitution? Have him be half-orc half-elf. Have a half-elf who's stout, likes gold, and has a slight tendency to grow a really big beard? Have him be a half-elf half-dwarf.

Technically, the half-races could be anything.

 

[Ferret]

Whilst I may not mind seeing a template in a 3rd party book, I'm happy with the Half-elf.

 

[fnork de sporg]

I think half-elf would actually work better as a feat.

You could make it a human-only feat, if you wished, though I don't really know why you would. What's wrong with a half-elf-half-dwarf? Or half-elf-half-orc? That last one sounds pretty cool to me.

 

[AshremBayle@Home]

(using the elfling race I found somewhere on the internet).

hunter1828

For what it's worth, Elflings are (also) in Midnight.

 

[Corinth]

I agree that half-elves are better handled by way of a feat that confers the qualities of the race. For all of those Tolkien types out there, this is how I'd handle it:

• The player decides if his character favors either his elf or human side, and then chooses the appropriate race.
• The player spend his character's 1st level feat on a background feat called "Half-Elf". This feat alters his character's racial traits, with the specific effects being different depending upon his race.