D&D (2024) If there are no half-elves or half-orcs will there be Tieflings (half fiends)?

[CleverNickName]

Tieflings are typically not half-fiends. The fiendish blood is further back in the family tree. We've heard no hints that anything is happening to tieflings.

This.

I don't care for the whole "mixed bloodline" thing in D&D; it smacks of---well. Let's just say I don't care for it.

I love tieflings, though. The last one I played was indistinguishable from any other human except he had six fingers on each hand. His parents made a foolish bargain with Graz'zt, you see, and they paid their debt with their firstborn son. It was strictly business; it had nothing to do with breeding.

 

[DEFCON 1]

I still haven't heard how I'm supposed to represent a society of Khoravar in Eberron that feel distinct from their human (and/or elven) neighbors when the only solution being offered is "just play a human and say their ears are slightly pointy".

Simple. Understand that a "society" is more than just 4 game mechanics.

I mean you are able to create many distinct Human societies even though they all use the same game mechanics, right? So take that knowledge and apply it to the Khoravar, even if one of your players uses the game mechanics of a Human or an Elf.

Or if that is all too much to ask... just use the Half-Elf rules from the 2014 Player's Handbook. No one is going to get mad at you for whatever you choose to do.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I love tieflings, though. The last one I played was indistinguishable from any other human except he had six fingers on each hand. His parents made a foolish bargain with Graz'zt, you see, and they paid their debt with their firstborn son. It was strictly business; it had nothing to do with breeding.

The tiefling NPCs I've run in my games have all had fiendish blood in them so far, but I like the idea that being a tiefling could be the byproduct of other sorts of involvement with fiends. You've got my wheels turning now.

 

[CleverNickName]

I still haven't heard how I'm supposed to represent a society of Khoravar in Eberron that feel distinct from their human (and/or elven) neighbors when the only solution being offered is "just play a human and say their ears are slightly pointy".

I don't know if it'll help or not, but I'll try:

The term "race" in D&D is more than your character's DNA. From Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, pg. 7: "Character race in the game represents your character's fantasy species, combined with certain cultural assumptions." So I'd start there, and lean into the cultural assumptions part of your character's origin. What customs and superstitions and traditions make them different? How are their religious practices different? Do they share a common mythology with their neighboring kingdom? When it comes to making distinct societies, that stuff is going to be much more important than some ability score adjustments and a bonus proficiency, IMO.

 

[Corinnguard]

In PF1's Blood of Angels, a woman already carrying a child who visits an area full of strong positive energy, such as consecrated ground or the realm of a god or who is the focus of powerful divine magic, may have her unborn child infused with celestial energy that transforms it into an aasimar.

There are so many ways you can tweak this to produce a Genasi or a Tiefling as well.

 

[Remathilis]

half-orc, half-elf, goliath, etc. should be a 1st level feat choice for humans
aasimar, tiefling, shifter, warforged, should be a 1st level feat choice for all humanoids.

a 4th level feat with +1 ASI could give more/better "racial" traits for those ancestries/races.

No. You MIGHT be able to make a decent argument for half-orc and half-elf and the planetouched races, but shifter isn't a half-lycanthrope, goliath isn't a half-giant, and warforged isn't a half-anything. You might as well make dwarf, elf and halfling 1st level feats!

 

[Mirrorrorrim]

Simple. Understand that a "society" is more than just 4 game mechanics.

I mean you are able to create many distinct Human societies even though they all use the same game mechanics, right? So take that knowledge and apply it to the Khoravar, even if one of your players uses the game mechanics of a Human or an Elf.

Or if that is all too much to ask... just use the Half-Elf rules from the 2014 Player's Handbook. No one is going to get mad at you for whatever you choose to do.

Very good point about society. Historically, D&D and other fantasy games have used "Race" as the common dividing factor for fantasy societies. Dwarves guard their montains and don't trust outsiders. Elves protect forests and don't trust outsiders. Gnomes hide all kinds of places and don't trust outsiders. In my home campaign's earlier history, I took inspiration from Eberron's Khoravar to make half-elves into a species that breeds true, to justify a half-elf-specific society based on their being a common race, like so many other races were portrayed.

But these days I'm thinking that distinct racial societies may not be the best way to portray the different species. I'm kinda tired of the hateful, isolating racial tropes that fantasy has embraced in the past. It's so boringly Tolkeinesque. I've been getting over that.

Going forward in my home campaign, the only "societies" that will care about racial purity will be the ones that are not "good", rather side on the neutral to evil spectrum. And they won't be monolithic. While there is a realm of chromatic dragonborn that as a society worship Tiamat (and are therefore pawns of that evil force), there are other chromatic dragonborn that were never part of that society, and not all dragonborn are treated as being from that society. Every humanoid "race" has good and evil based on their background society and personal values, as opposed being purely racial. I love the modern D&D stories that showcase incredible biodiversity (like D&D:Honor Among Thieves, and Journeys through the Radiant Citadel). It opens up way more character options if kobolds and aarakocra ("Jarnathon!") live alongside the more common races.

Sure, a forest realm society might have a lot of wood elves, but it will also have people who just like that lifestyle, no matter their species.

In response to your comment about humans having the "same game mechanics," I'll go one step further. There have been more than one type of "human" in the game for a while now (2014 baseline human, 2014 variant human, a number of dragonmarked humans, and new OA humans for 2024). They are all still humans, despite the rules package chosen to represent them. The same could be used for half-humans if you want more variety. That said, even after 2024, everyone who has a PH14, or a DDB account will still be able to use the "half-human" rules even if they are not printed in the PH24. They aren't going anywhere.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

In PF1's Blood of Angels, a woman already carrying a child who visits an area full of strong positive energy, such as consecrated ground or the realm of a god or who is the focus of powerful divine magic, may have her unborn child infused with celestial energy that transforms it into an aasimar.

There are so many ways you can tweak this to produce a Genasi or a Tiefling as well.

I've long wanted to include a mechanism like this in my campaign worlds for all sorts of hybrids. No, the local dragon is not having sex with anything that moves -- its mere presence is so magically powerful that a certain percentage of creatures are becoming half-dragons or dragonborn or the equivalent.

An incursion from faerie could create half-elves, etc.

 

[Corinnguard]

Fizban's Treasury of Dragons has six Half-Dragon origins that could also be used to explain the origins of dragonborn and kobolds.

1. Regional Effects- The magical influence of a dragon's lair causes half-dragons to spontaneously arise among the area' s other creatures.

2. Forbidden Fruit- A dragon can cause a particular tree to produce magical fruit. When eaten by a creature able to bear children, the fruit causes the creature to bear a half-dragon. Pitaya - Wikipedia

3. True Love's Gift- Love occasionally blossoms between dragons and creatures of other kinds, and this life bond can result in half-dragon children. Most half-dragons born of love are created as a magical gift.

4. Blood Transformation- A creature that bathes in or drinks the blood of a dragon can sometimes be transformed into a half-dragon. A dragon might voluntarily offer some blood to bring this about, or it could happen accidentally when a would-be dragonslayer is splashed with dragon blood.

5. Cradle Favor- A dragon might bestow the gift of draconic power on a newborn baby or an unborn child- as either a blessing or a curse.

6. Hoard Thieves- The hoard of an older dragon is imbued with that dragon's power. Those who steal from such a hoard might transform into half-dragons as that power leaches into them.

4 and 6 strike me as being very karmic.

 

[Hussar]

I still haven't heard how I'm supposed to represent a society of Khoravar in Eberron that feel distinct from their human (and/or elven) neighbors when the only solution being offered is "just play a human and say their ears are slightly pointy".

I still struggle to see how two skill proficiencies make a group "feel distinct". But, hey, apparently it does.