D&D 5E Everyone Should Play Custom Lineage by Default

[Flamestrike]

To be fair, your custom lineage is an elf because you say it is, not because of any mechanical reason.

The mechanics let me say it is an Elf though.

Mechanically I am allowed to say my lineage is descended from Elven parents, and I resemble an Elf (the rest of my kin).

Unless we're saying 'Glorifindel, the 5'8" fair haired and pointy eared person born to elves, raised by Dwarves and who resembles an Elf' is not, in fact, an Elf.

Which to me, seems like a rather inane, pointless and artificial line to draw.

 

[Micah Sweet]

The mechanics let me say it is an Elf though.

Mechanically I am allowed to say my lineage is descended from Elven parents, and I resemble an Elf (the rest of my kin).

Unless we're saying 'Glorifindel, the 5'8" fair haired and pointy eared person born to elves, raised by Dwarves and who resembles an Elf' is not, in fact, an Elf.

Which to me, seems like a rather inane, pointless and artificial line to draw.

Of course you're allowed to say you're an elf. And your DM may very well treat you like an elf in game, and no one has to say any different. By my interpretation, however, letting you be considered an elf mechanically (as in, for rules in the game that interact with elves specifically) would be a house rule, and not just something the player should assume. If I was the DM in that situation, I would ask why that character wants to have the legendary accuracy of the elves without any of the other traits associated with them. If I liked the answer, I'd allow it, and it would be a house rule.

 

[Remathilis]

The mechanics let me say it is an Elf though.

Mechanically I am allowed to say my lineage is descended from Elven parents, and I resemble an Elf (the rest of my kin).

Unless we're saying 'Glorifindel, the 5'8" fair haired and pointy eared person born to elves, raised by Dwarves and who resembles an Elf' is not, in fact, an Elf.

Which to me, seems like a rather inane, pointless and artificial line to draw.

Let me give two characters. Let me know what you think.

An elf was blessed by an angel over a thousand years ago. His son was an elf, but his granddaughter is mechanically an aasimar who looks like an elf, born of elven parents, raised in an elven community, etc. She faces down a ghoul and is struck. Is she paralyzed because she's an aasimar or not because she's an "elf"?

A human has dwarfism (like Tyrion Lannister). He's human, but statically uses the halfling racial traits. Can he take the Second Chance, Bountiful Luck, and Prodigy feats?

Neither of these are "custom lineages" but both are a race which are mechanically one thing and narratively another. Does doing so entitle you to the benefits one, both, or neither?

 

[loverdrive]

Neither of these are "custom lineages" but both are a race which are mechanically one thing and narratively another. Does doing so entitle you to the benefits one, both, or neither?

The correct answer is pretty simple: just figure it out yourself. This discussion makes no sense without a context of an actual game and actual group.

 

[Micah Sweet]

The correct answer is pretty simple: just figure it out yourself. This discussion makes no sense without a context of an actual game and actual group.

I agree. It's up to the DM and the group. This is just a discussion of what the actual rule is, not what people would do in the game.

 

[TwoSix]

Let me give two characters. Let me know what you think.

An elf was blessed by an angel over a thousand years ago. His son was an elf, but his granddaughter is mechanically an aasimar who looks like an elf, born of elven parents, raised in an elven community, etc. She faces down a ghoul and is struck. Is she paralyzed because she's an aasimar or not because she's an "elf"?

A human has dwarfism (like Tyrion Lannister). He's human, but statically uses the halfling racial traits. Can he take the Second Chance, Bountiful Luck, and Prodigy feats?

Neither of these are "custom lineages" but both are a race which are mechanically one thing and narratively another. Does doing so entitle you to the benefits one, both, or neither?

My personal ruling (I don't know that the RAW would be, and don't find it interesting to speculate) would be yes to both.

Basically, I don't see the racial feats and their availability as being a balance point between the various races; I simply see them as another way to mechanically reinforce narrative. So letting a mechanical aasimar but narrative elf take the elven feats only reinforces the narrative. Likewise, a human who seems to have a lot of the capabilities that are normally intrinsic to halflings only furthers that narrative by giving them more capabilities in the same vein.

 

[Remathilis]

My personal ruling (I don't know that the RAW would be, and don't find it interesting to speculate) would be yes to both.

Basically, I don't see the racial feats and their availability as being a balance point between the various races; I simply see them as another way to mechanically reinforce narrative. So letting a mechanical aasimar but narrative elf take the elven feats only reinforces the narrative. Likewise, a human who seems to have a lot of the capabilities that are normally intrinsic to halflings only furthers that narrative by giving them more capabilities in the same vein.

Careful, I asked two different things.

Can an elfsimar get an unlisted racial ability (in this case, immunity to ghoul paralysis) by virtue of his backstory?

Can a humanling get choose from both races?

Basically, I'm asking if you can get benefits of a second race just by saying you are a mechanically one race and narratively another?

 

[TwoSix]

Careful, I asked two different things.

Can an elfsimar get an unlisted racial ability (in this case, immunity to ghoul paralysis) by virtue of his backstory?

Can a humanling get choose from both races?

Basically, I'm asking if you can get benefits of a second race just by saying you are a mechanically one race and narratively another?

Yes, and my answer was yes to both cases, for the reasons I stated.

 

[MoonSong]

1. Don't deliberatly make a bad PC.

I take issue with this one. Badness is in the eye of the beholder. Someone's bad is another's normal or even overpowered.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

I bought some Dragon magazines, in English and Spanish languange. In #341 pag 92-93 there is a class act article with the title "Martial Cultures", offering optional racial traits to can play rangers or barbarians, and even I liked those traits for gnomes, very much more practical, even for other classes.

Elves with any planetouched/outsider ancestors? The celadrins. This was a +1 level PC race in Dragon Magazine (elves with eladrin blood) I like this idea as "cousins" of the aasimars.

I defend the option to change the racial traits to can better with other classes and like this we avoid the typecasting of some PC races.

What if I want to play a shen in Kara-Tur, but I don't like those racial traits?