D&D (2024) Should 2014 Half Elves and Half Orcs be added to the 2025 SRD?

[Maxperson]

What's to discuss?

Preferences. What we hope will happen in the future. Whether the planets are aligned and the geese guts are favorable. More stuff. There are lots of things that can be discussed on virtually any topic.

The SRD most likely isn't going to have the half-elf and half-orc. That was determined on like page 1, wasn't it? What's everyone been doing for the next 116 pages? Seems to me it's basically been to just complain. Which again, is completely fine if that's what you want to do... but it's also completely fine that I tell you that I think you've been wasting your time complaining about your problem rather than solving it.

A lot of us have been discussing what it means to be a half-elf and whether mechanics should be a part of that.

 

[Remathilis]

I've never seen any great value in the Drow, but I also have no problem with great variety. Who cares if the game has more elves than you need? Don't use 'em in your game, where it matters.

Honestly, I use all varieties of elves and want even more (and more with abilities that don't boil down to 3 spells and a ribbon) but if I had to limit to just two, I find the light/dark elf split more compelling than the city/wild elf one.

 

[Mind of tempest]

I'd prefer elves that live above ground and elves that live below.

define the key traits of the underground elves beyond living in a hole in the dirt?

 

[Maxperson]

Honestly, I use all varieties of elves and want even more (and more with abilities that don't boil down to 3 spells and a ribbon) but if I had to limit to just two, I find the light/dark elf split more compelling than the city/wild elf one.

I'd want three. High, wood, and dark. You can leave wild, mithril, keebler, etc. varieties and I would be okay with it, though as you do, I use all varieties if they are there.

 

[CreamCloud0]

i think you could probably do both the city/wild and light/dark elf theme divide at the same time if you tried to, with the city elf being a mix of the high and astral variants for the 'light' and wild elves being wood and drow for the 'dark', with Light elves maybe having extra arcane and divine cantrips and the innate misty step while the Dark elves getting increased movespeed, a magical camoflage and the ability to suppress bright lights.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Honestly, I use all varieties of elves and want even more (and more with abilities that don't boil down to 3 spells and a ribbon) but if I had to limit to just two, I find the light/dark elf split more compelling than the city/wild elf one.

Why would you be limited to two?

 

[Remathilis]

I still think Level Up's mixed heritage rules are the way to go.

I don't know if L-U would be the exact implementation I would want, but I'm coming around to some form of hybridization system, provided it can be done in such a way as to not be inherently better than non-hybrids.

 

[Remathilis]

Why would you be limited to two?

Just answering the comment I was responding to who suggested only two types of elves.

 

[Vaalingrade]

It'd be real nice if D&D could be trusted to handle 'culture'* as a pillar of character identity and then we wouldn't need elves perfectly evolved for every type of terrain. Swamp elf, bog elf, bayou elf, fen elf -- totally different things, we swear.

*not that it can be trusted with 'species' as made obvious by this thread, but...

 

[Crimson Longinus]

It'd be real nice if D&D could be trusted to handle 'culture'* as a pillar of character identity and then we wouldn't need elves perfectly evolved for every type of terrain. Swamp elf, bog elf, bayou elf, fen elf -- totally different things, we swear.

*not that it can be trusted with 'species' as made obvious by this thread, but...

I don’t think giving mechanics to culture is a good idea. It will get easily super problematic with human cultures, especially as in many existing settings those cultures have clear real world inspirations.

But I agree that we don’t need thousand elf subspecies etc. The base species rules and backgrounds should be built to be flexible enough that they can be represented via those.