Half-orc dad, half-elf mom --> 'human' child?

[RandomPrecision]

I'm sorry, but I don't see how the spawn of a half-orc and half-elf has a 25% chance of being human, 25% chance of death, 25% half-elf, and 25% half-orc. You're saying that orc, elf, and human are all alleles that segregate and behave like a Punnet Square. If that was true, the offspring of two half-elves would be a half-elf only 50% of the time.

 

[WayneLigon]

Reminds me of a shortstory I've read awhile back. Comet passed by Earth, turning water to nitro and gas to something edible. Nice read...

"Something Passed By", one of my favorite stories.

 

[Aeolius]

How about Mongrel Men?

darnnit...somebody beat me to it

You want to see some mixed-up lineage? Try one of my campaigns, for awhile. Everyone seems to have some hags blood in them, somewhere

 

[Zappo]

As far as dragons breeding with other stuff, I was always under the impression that they did so while polymorphed into the species that they were mating with.

I hope so.

 

[Umbran]

Why pretend DnD genetics have a damm thing to do with real life genetics?

Why pretend that the parents have any impact at all upon what the baby is? Why not have human mothers give birth to elves, or fish, or overstuffed chairs?

Because the notions of inheretance are based upon observed real life. Sure, fantasy has embellished and changed the notions of inheretance in these non-existant worlds, but there is something to be said for the verisimilitude you get from basing stuff on things the players understand intuitively.

Or, to look at it like poetry - it is usually a good idea to understand the rules before you break and bend and twist them to fit your needs.

 

[Andor]

Why pretend that the parents have any impact at all upon what the baby is? Why not have human mothers give birth to elves, or fish, or overstuffed chairs?

Because the notions of inheretance are based upon observed real life. Sure, fantasy has embellished and changed the notions of inheretance in these non-existant worlds, but there is something to be said for the verisimilitude you get from basing stuff on things the players understand intuitively.

Or, to look at it like poetry - it is usually a good idea to understand the rules before you break and bend and twist them to fit your needs.

Umm... Yeah. That was kind of my entire point. You can just base it off of the intuitively understood fantasy tropes of bloodlines and familial inheritance, rather than actual science which your players may or may not be familiar with.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Sure, he would be 1/4 elf, 1/4 orc, 1/2 human, but in game terms we'd be dealing with a full-blooded human in most campaigns I've seen. (including mine, when running my few campaigns that allow half-elves)

I have never seen it handled that way - typically I have seen it either run as a 'pure' half orc or a 1/2 human, 1/2 orc, 1/4 elf hybrid.

For my own homebrew campaign they would be treated as 1/2 elfs, since orcs are merely an offshoot of humans... the differences being environmental and cultural as well as genetic - they are the only true 'race' game wise, the others are 'species'. And elfs have, ummm, interesting genetics... 1/2 elfs are sterile hybrids.

The Auld Grump

 

[ender_wiggin]

Well, to beat a dead horse, applying real-world genetics to your scenario would mean that there's no way a half-orc and a half-elf are producing an offspring. Technically speaking they can't even mate with each other, as half-breeds can't produce offspring. Unless you rule that Orcs and humans and elves are all the same species, merely different ethnicities.

Also, IMW I wouldn't allow it, as half-orcs and half-elves wouldn't be able to mate. Two humans, one with faint orcish blood, and one with faint elven blood, however, might be able to produce a human offspring. I'd allow the player that.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Well, to beat a dead horse, applying real-world genetics to your scenario would mean that there's no way a half-orc and a half-elf are producing an offspring. Technically speaking they can't even mate with each other, as half-breeds can't produce offspring. Unless you rule that Orcs and humans and elves are all the same species, merely different ethnicities.

Also, IMW I wouldn't allow it, as half-orcs and half-elves wouldn't be able to mate. Two humans, one with faint orcish blood, and one with faint elven blood, however, might be able to produce a human offspring. I'd allow the player that.

Orcs and humans, yes, they are the same species, merely different breeds/races.

Elfs are 'special', but produce sterile hybrids with either.

Dwarfs are not interfertile with humans, orcs, or elfs. (But can produce sterile hybrids with ogres, a situation that has ne'er come up - dwarfs in my campaign are giants, just very short giants... and ogres are a lot nicer than their stock D&D counterparts, rape isn't on their menu.)

Halflings are also a human race, but the result of a double recessive, so a human and a halfling pairing produces human offspring, while two half-halflings have a chance of producing a halfling. Elf-halfling pairings always keep the small size of the halfling parent, and are sterile hybrids.

The Auld Grump

 

[RandomPrecision]

...half-halflings...

Quarterlings?