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

[Desdichado]

I guess that's the expert opinion I'll run with, as strange as it seems. So a fully human child is possible from the mix.

That's not an expert opinion, nor is it correct, but if that's what you want to do, more power to you.

Personally, I'm with the arscott position above; there are too many characteristics to have it be reduced to a simple Orc/Human/Elf result. I'd have any offspring be mulish, infertile mongrels myself.

 

[Driddle]

That's not an expert opinion, nor is it correct, but if that's what you want to do, more power to you.

Why the dis? Why you be hatin' on me?

 

[Voadam]

In D&D orcs, elves, and humans are not defined as different species. They are simply different "races" and so further mixing could be allowable or not with normal genetics depending on what DMs want to load into the term for their campaign concept.

A couple options are all human, chance for half-orc or half elf, apply either the half orc or half elf or half human templates from book of templates, or make it just like they are race touched instead of plane touched and give them a few features of the half races. You could even have different mechanics for different siblings of the same parents. I'd say it would depend on if a PC wanted to play this character then I would probably let them choose what mechanics they felt were appropriate to their concept or they thought would be fun to play.

 

[Desdichado]

Why the dis? Why you be hatin' on me?

Huh? All I'm saying is, if you're going to ask for "expert" opinions, you could actually pay attention to them. Even Torm says that he's generalizing and simplifying, and that his simplification isn't correct, it's just "close enough."

And like I said, that's fine -- if that's what you want to do in your game. I don't know why you say I'm dissin' or hatin' on.

 

[Driddle]

All I'm saying is, if you're going to ask for "expert" opinions, you could actually pay attention to them.

There's no need to be insulting, Mister Dyal. I don't point out every time you fail to 'pay attention' on this board (as tempting as that might be).

But I'm a big guy. So I accept your apology in advance, thank you. All is forgiven.

 

[Desdichado]

I really don't know what your problem is. You got some expert opinions, then you decided to ignore them. I already said that's fine if that's what you want to do.

 

[Mordane76]

Not really. The basic punnett square conept only applies for characteristics that are determined by one gene from the father and one gene from the mother. And given the vast differences between orcs, elves, and humans, that's not going to be likely. The human genome has 23 chromosome pairs, one set inherited from the mother, and one set inherited from the father. And since our fictional elves and orcs are capable of interbreeding with humans, the same must be true of them.

That's why I called it an EXTENSION. It's not EXACTLY how it works; it's a gross oversimplification of the Punnett concept, rendering everything down to one simple trait, but, on its face, if that's how he wants to do it, then he's correct in his thought processes - his Punnett math is fine.

Personally, from a realistic POV, there shouldn't be any breeding between the species because of interspecies controls aganist cross fertilization, and IMO all the different races and creatures of D&D should be separate species. By saying they can interbreed, it does render everything, and I mean EVERYTHING since pretty much all creatures in D&D can mate with one another and create viable offspring, into one species with some god-awful level of allelic diversity. But they allow for magic to mix the genetic kool-aid... and, IMO, in such a setting, rendering everything down into one simple trait works pretty well.

Is it realistic? Five years of course work in biology, genomics, and BMB tells me HELL NO. Is it simple and useable for a gaming system? Sure, and it's a pretty elegant, no frills way of doing something that really doesn't need to be overly complicated in a game. I know that after charting gene loci in class for months so I can properly replicate recombination effects against standard Mendelian genetics, I really don't want to have to worry about it in my leisure time.

 

[Driddle]

I really don't know what your problem is.

Dude, calm down. I've already accepted your apology.

Is it because I didn't give a nod specifically to you? OK. Here ya go: "Thank you, Josh, for your expert opinion."

 

[Torm]

I think it is because you referred to my opinion as "expert", and it isn't (although it is educated), and it seemed a little like a slight to Joshua's, because his is. I can see how Joshua's initial comment could be taken as rude, but I don't think he meant it that way, but rather just matter-of-fact. And it is rude to accept apologies before they are given, unless you full-out know one is coming and the person is having difficulty admitting they were wrong, and you're doing it to be nice.

Seems to me you were both a little rude. Say you're sorry, kiss and make up. (Or, if you prefer, in KISS make-up. Actually, definitely the second. That would be way cooler. ) Oh, and I apologize for being rude and pointing out you're both being rude. Sorry.

The merit that my opinion has isn't that it is expert, but that it places the outcome neatly on a d4, which is much more important for a roleplaying game. I agree with the posters that said whatever the outcome, the child should be considered Elf and Orc Blooded for purposes of magic items.

 

[Desdichado]

Dude, calm down. I've already accepted your apology.

Is it because I didn't give a nod specifically to you? OK. Here ya go: "Thank you, Josh, for your expert opinion."

I never said that my opinion was expert. You had already obviously decided what to do before I even posted on the thread. I'm just a bit surprised that when the actual expert opinions came in -- obviously expert by the proficiency with which they used technical knowledge that I am only passingly familiar with -- you completely bypassed that and went with something else entirely.

Just to set the record straight -- I'm not slighted, offended or insulted because you decided to do so. I've said (for at least three posts in a row in this thread) that your solution is fine if it works for you. I'm just a bit surprised that you didn't use the expert's opinions. I'm not insulting you by saying that I'm surprised you're ignoring them; I'm just expressing matter-of-fact surprise. Frankly, I thought they'd make for a more interesting game than having a human born of a half-elf/half-orc parentage anyway. The discussion in the thread gave me some good ideas.

And also to set the record straight, I have not apologized for anything I've written in this thread, nor do I intend to.