Mixing Races....and why DM's shouldn't allow it
- Thread starter William drake
- Start date
Wormwood
Adventurer
If it is a cool concept and it works in play, then no sane DM should be against an idea.
If one of my players wanted to play a halfling with scales and a mouth full of needle sharp teeth? That's freakin' sweet! Roll 'er up and let's play!
edited to add: This is assuming that such a concept fits within the parameters the group has established for the game, of course. If we were playing A Game of Thrones, it would never even occur to my players to suggest playing a "Hobbold".
If one of my players wanted to play a halfling with scales and a mouth full of needle sharp teeth? That's freakin' sweet! Roll 'er up and let's play!
edited to add: This is assuming that such a concept fits within the parameters the group has established for the game, of course. If we were playing A Game of Thrones, it would never even occur to my players to suggest playing a "Hobbold".
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Depends on the Campaign, I did one where Orcs had no females, they were so aggressive because they needed females of other races to breed and continue their race.
I had a setting where the world was utterly ancient, everything that could be done had been tried, some crazy mage has already created any half-breed you could possibly think of (though usually more in a magi-scientific manner "hmm, we can extract the agility and nightvision aspects of the common housecat, and mix it with core aspect and stability of dwarf... hmm, now if only we could isolate the hybrid's tendancy to try and climb the curtains and shred the pillows").
Usually I tend towards no mixing, unless specific circumstances call for it (i.e. each hybrid is created sterile in some difficult ritual - anything that can breed naturally must be a variant on the same race).
I had a setting where the world was utterly ancient, everything that could be done had been tried, some crazy mage has already created any half-breed you could possibly think of (though usually more in a magi-scientific manner "hmm, we can extract the agility and nightvision aspects of the common housecat, and mix it with core aspect and stability of dwarf... hmm, now if only we could isolate the hybrid's tendancy to try and climb the curtains and shred the pillows").
Usually I tend towards no mixing, unless specific circumstances call for it (i.e. each hybrid is created sterile in some difficult ritual - anything that can breed naturally must be a variant on the same race).
Thad Enouf
First Post
I'm ok with the halfbreeds in the core but I can't fathom how or why anyone would want to breed with some of the more "monsterous" humanoids, or even allow it. I would think the stench alone on some of those orcs would make a human have second thoughts.
I know we're discussing fantasy worlds here but I'm a believer that just because it _can_ be done doesn't mean it _should_.
When does it start getting silly? I know that's subjective but personally, I'm drawing the line at cyborg Quarter-orc, halfling, gnome, quarter-dragons with M-16s for arms and a breath weapon of chainsaws.
I know we're discussing fantasy worlds here but I'm a believer that just because it _can_ be done doesn't mean it _should_.
When does it start getting silly? I know that's subjective but personally, I'm drawing the line at cyborg Quarter-orc, halfling, gnome, quarter-dragons with M-16s for arms and a breath weapon of chainsaws.
Thad Enouf
First Post
Cyberhawk
Community Supporter
Basic race hybrids doesn't bother me too much. Especially with half-elves: in most campaigns elves are descrbed as being incredibly beautiful creatures and humans are, well, horndogs. There's going to be a lot of wooing going on.
For the wierder stuff I tend to be very forgiving if there's mythological examples. There are plenty of real-world stories of gods/demigods/angellic types/fiendish types having children with mortals. So half-celestials and half-fiends are fine in my campaigns.
Half-dragons, while silly and munchkiny, are also okay becuase I like the idea of a polymorphed dragon being able to fall in love with a human and have kids. (I'm a softie)
What's wierd is I don't even mind half-vampires too much becuase of the real-world legends of the Vampyr (sp?). I'd use the Blade story tho...pregnant woman fed on by a vampire.
Beyond that things start getting too silly and I really doubt I'd allow it.
For the wierder stuff I tend to be very forgiving if there's mythological examples. There are plenty of real-world stories of gods/demigods/angellic types/fiendish types having children with mortals. So half-celestials and half-fiends are fine in my campaigns.
Half-dragons, while silly and munchkiny, are also okay becuase I like the idea of a polymorphed dragon being able to fall in love with a human and have kids. (I'm a softie)
What's wierd is I don't even mind half-vampires too much becuase of the real-world legends of the Vampyr (sp?). I'd use the Blade story tho...pregnant woman fed on by a vampire.
Beyond that things start getting too silly and I really doubt I'd allow it.
When I was putting together my Carthage True20 game, the idea was that all the weird monsters of D&D and mythology were real, but they had been all created by alien experiments and people had come up with all the stories of the gods and godesses to explain it. (Derivative? Yes. Stargate? A little.) So in that context, having a ton of anthropormorphic races made sense. Aliens would combine bull and humans, humans and horses, while trying to create the perfect servitor race. (At least, my aliens would. Your aliens can do whatever they want. I'm not the alien police.)
From a more purely fantasy game standpoint, hybrids still work for me. When you have creatures that can take human form (like dragons and ogre magi), and humans who can take the forms of animals and monsters (wild shaped, shapechanged or polymorphed), who's to say what the effects might be? My rule on these hypotheticals is this: I side with whatever is most dramatically appropriate/the most interesting. That's the benefit imagination has over reason.
From a more purely fantasy game standpoint, hybrids still work for me. When you have creatures that can take human form (like dragons and ogre magi), and humans who can take the forms of animals and monsters (wild shaped, shapechanged or polymorphed), who's to say what the effects might be? My rule on these hypotheticals is this: I side with whatever is most dramatically appropriate/the most interesting. That's the benefit imagination has over reason.
