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

[Minigiant]

Once you make orcs the equal of other species, the half-orc becomes superfluous

Unless there is an aspect of orcishness that is enhanced by a mix of humanity.

Another main draw of half elf is that you could get a bit of selfishness without the large restrictions elf used to have or had. Or the other way aroud habing access to human stuff with with a new elf setup.

The biggest hurdle due to race restrictions no longer existing is that the community would have agree on a non-ability-score physical and/or mental differences between a elf and half elf and orc and half orc.

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

Unless there is an aspect of orcishness that is enhanced by a mix of humanity.

Another main draw of half elf is that you could get a bit of selfishness without the large restrictions elf used to have or had. Or the other way aroud habing access to human stuff with with a new elf setup.

The biggest hurdle due to race restrictions no longer existing is that the community would have agree on a non-ability-score physical and/or mental differences between a elf and half elf and orc and half orc.

Half-Orcs and Half-Elves are synthetic beings in a dialectic sense, though it is up to the player to determine which part of their ancestry is the thesis and which is the antithesis. Something new and unique can come from the combination of two disparate parts.

 

[Not a Decepticon]

I doubt it. Given the number of modules that came out before Dragonlance, there had to have been half-elf NPCs in D&D prior to Tanis.

Considering all BECMI modules are set on Mystara, where Half-Elves were not mentioned before 2nd edition, it may not be as many as you think.

 

[Blue]

I said this 30+ pages ago, and I see people are still discussing this.

An SRD is a System Reference Document. It is not a play document. It is not an "interest" or "history" document. It is a Document that References things in the System. By definition, there shouldn't be any References that aren't in the system.

There can be only a single correct answer, there's no debate and there's definitely not 34 pages of debate. Anyone who thinks it should be in there is simply mistaken about the purpose of a System Reference Document, thinking that someone things that are not References to the System should be in there for other reasons. But, as in the title, the only reason to put things in the SRD are References, and those References are to the specific System it is referring to. System Reference.

If I have a 2022 Toyota Camry, and someone was creating an SRD of it's manual, it shouldn't have anything in it from my other vehicle, even if that's convenient to me. That 2022 Toyota Camry SRD wouldn't refer to manual transmission, because even thought that was offered in earlier editions (snirk) of the Camry, 2017 was the last year of it. And it definitely shouldn't have anything from the Model T, even though that's an important ancestor. That's because a, say it with me, System Reference Document, only References the System it is referring to. By definition, it doesn't reference anything else.

 

[W'rkncacnter]

I said this 30+ pages ago, and I see people are still discussing this.

An SRD is a System Reference Document. It is not a play document. It is not an "interest" or "history" document. It is a Document that References things in the System. By definition, there shouldn't be any References that aren't in the system.

There can be only a single correct answer, there's no debate and there's definitely not 34 pages of debate. Anyone who thinks it should be in there is simply mistaken about the purpose of a System Reference Document, thinking that someone things that are not References to the System should be in there for other reasons. But, as in the title, the only reason to put things in the SRD are References, and those References are to the specific System it is referring to. System Reference.

If I have a 2022 Toyota Camry, and someone was creating an SRD of it's manual, it shouldn't have anything in it from my other vehicle, even if that's convenient to me. That 2022 Toyota Camry SRD wouldn't refer to manual transmission, because even thought that was offered in earlier editions (snirk) of the Camry, 2017 was the last year of it. And it definitely shouldn't have anything from the Model T, even though that's an important ancestor. That's because a, say it with me, System Reference Document, only References the System it is referring to. By definition, it doesn't reference anything else.

yeah, the better question would really be should half elves/orcs be readded to dnd 2024 with all the implications that has (which seems to be how people have taken it anyway).

 

[Minigiant]

And it's SRD should refer to how the system handles mixed species due to the importance of them in the games history.

 

[Maxperson]

Considering all BECMI modules are set on Mystara, where Half-Elves were not mentioned before 2nd edition, it may not be as many as you think.

1e Dragonlance came out in 1987. Lot's of 1e modules predate that.

 

[overgeeked]

Just a thought, but given they are still legal & from a PHB, but not in the 2024 PHB, should they still be in the 2025 SRD?

Why bother? They’re in the 5.1 SRD under the OGL and CC-BY licenses.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

1e Dragonlance came out in 1987. Lot's of 1e modules predate that.

I can think of one. The tournament version of Hidden Shrine has a standard party of 3 pregens. One of them is a half elf magic user/thief. He is even included in the art. I can’t remember his name, but he did have one.

As already pointed out, half elves were not in Basic/Expert D&D, so do not appear in in any of the modules created for those systems, such as Keep on the Borderlands and Castle Amber.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Why bother? They’re in the 5.1 SRD under the OGL and CC-BY licenses.

Even that doesn’t matter. Aside from a few things WotC reserves the rights too, you can add anything you like to your game that isn’t in the SRD! No one owns the IP rights to half elves.

It’s actually a good reason for WotC to focus on things like Tieflings - WotC do own those!