"Half-" races

Status
Not open for further replies.
All I ask for is 1/2 Orcs that don't suck, and 1/2 Ogres in the core rules.

I'm not holding my breath though...
 

log in or register to remove this ad

RPG_Tweaker said:
I've never been a big fan of the "half" races. The Tolkienian antecedents, half-elves and half-orcs, were tolerable, but the ever-growing half-X races have become positively ludicrous.

"Gee, Mike got to play a half-vampire, so what's wrong with my half-gelatinous cube?"

I know it's just fantasy, but really... shouldn't there be a distinction between race and species? Or, in the case of the half-vampire, the fact that... they're DEAD!

And to the left we have the dhampir. According to mythology, a child born to a human woman and a vampire father has part of his father's unholy potency, and will rise as a vampire upon death.

Farther out we have the trollborn, born of the union between humans and trolls in mythological Scandinavia. Mind you, these trolls are of thew ogrish disposition, to the regenerating one.
 

The use of "half-breed" to describe any person, even if they're player characters in a fantasy roleplaying game, is offensive. These are people, not genetics experiments. The term needs to be eliminated from casual vocabulary.
 
Last edited:

...oh I beg of you, please don't bring "real world" political correctness into this argument.

Next will be the religious right asking for demons and devils to be renamed (again)...
 

Driddle said:
The use of "half-breed" to describe any person, even if they're player characters in a fantasy roleplaying game, is offensive. These are people, not genetics experiments. The term needs to be eliminated from casual vocabulary.
Mind you. . . calling Elves, Dwarves, Halflings and Gnomes "monsters" is pretty harsh, too. :p
 

Driddle said:
The use of "half-breed" to describe any person, even if they're player characters in a fantasy roleplaying game, is offensive. These are people, not genetics experiments. The term needs to be eliminated from casual vocabulary.
Not to be inflammatory but I think, IMHO, that this statement shows a rather narrow minded approach and is a likely a product of our "Politically Correct" cultural trends.

A "breed" is a scientifically acceptable term for a subspecies or infraspecies of an animal (that must be able to breed true). Last I checked, humans are of the animal kingdom as would any other fantasy humanoid.

However, "half-breed" cannot exist in the "Real World" when relating to humans. We are the only genus Homo left (the others being extinct), and the only species of Sapien on our planet and thus have no Subspecies and in turn cannot have "breeds".

However, in a fantasy world, different humanoids are of different species of the genus, thus technically classifying as Breeds. Mixing these species would create mixed breeds. If someone is of one two pure breed parents, then they would in fact be a half-breed or mixed-breed.

This doesn't even get into the argument that one can have in a fantasy or sci-fi world of species dominance where one species sees themselves as superior to all others (e.g. homo superior vs. homo sapien or elf vs. dwarf and vice versa) in which they view all others as lesser breeds.

JMHO. YMMV.
 

Mouseferatu said:
What I would like to see is for the "half-X" concept (where X = any humanoid race that can breed with other humanoid races, the traditional ones being elf and orc) become a template. But I can see why the game might be better off avoiding that level of complexity in what amounts to a core race. And one could argue that something about humans makes them able to interbreed with species that cannot breed with each other. It would fit with the whole notion of humans as the "jack of all trades" race.

I'm not going to get into the merits and flaws of having "half-" races at all, despite coming at the game from a "Basic" D&D mindset where "half-" races were allowed by picking one race or the other for mechanics and then calling yourself a "half-elf" or whatever.

Mechanically speaking, however, there's probably an easier way to deal with "half" races than even the templating above. If what we're hearing about "racial progressions" is true, then a "half" character could be allowed (within limits) to choose traits from either "racial progression" as he advances. So a half human/ half elf could pick from the elf and human progressions, while a half human/half orc could pick among the human and orc progressions.

(This would also allow for some "crazy" combinations from a traditional D&D perspective - like the gnomeling who gets to pick from the halfling and gnome progressions, or the Dark Sun "mul" who would get to pick from the human and dwarf progressions. But, actually, that's part of the appeal in some ways.).

I'm not saying it's a great idea, but it would at least have a shot at being "complexity neutral" in implementation, if they're going to be implementing racial progressions anways. Just a thought.
 

Driddle said:
The use of "half-breed" to describe any person, even if they're player characters in a fantasy roleplaying game, is offensive. These are people, not genetics experiments. The term needs to be eliminated from casual vocabulary.

Oh please. We're talking about fantasy characters in a fantasy world. It's not like you can hurt the feelings of real live half-elves by calling in-game half elves half breeds. Would I support calling in-game black skinned races ni--ers? Hell no. But that's because there exists a parallel in the real world.

Now, on the more interesting and less completely ridiculous discussion about the inclusion of half races...

I say get rid of all half races. Either two species shouldn't be able to breed, or in the rare case where it's possible, just take the stats of one of the parents, give them some cosmetic differences, and you're fine.

Making a whole bunch of statistically interesting half-breeds is a pain and uninteresting.

-Nate
 

Khaalis said:
Not to be inflammatory but I think, IMHO, that this statement shows a rather narrow minded approach and is a likely a product of our "Politically Correct" cultural trends. ...

The Souljourner said:
Oh please. We're talking about fantasy characters in a fantasy world. It's not like you can hurt the feelings ...

Here's a way to test the validity of that position in the real "politically correct" world: Find someone you love or respect who has parents of two different ethnic origins ("race") and ask that person how he or she feels about playing a "half-breed" character in D&D. It would be best if the person is an actual gamer already, but you could ask a similar question of a non-gamer as well. Just corner your Japanese-American friend or your African-American coworker what sort of benefits or drawbacks might be associated with a "half-breed" race, for example. Be sure to use "half-breed" a couple of times in the conversation, if you feel there's no legitimate reason you shouldn't. Carefully note the individual's emotional feedback and share details of the experience here.

Many people use the term "politically correct" as a backhanded way of discounting basic respect and consideration for other people. There's nothing "politically correct" about being a decent person and avoiding offensive terms. Even in games.
 
Last edited:

It's. A. Game.

In other words, not real life.

There will always be serious problems to do with logic, not to mention ideology, should someone confuse those two things.


In other news, "crusade" is not a word that is acceptable if found in the title of a game product. Apparently. :lol:
 

Status
Not open for further replies.

Pets & Sidekicks

Remove ads

Top