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

[Umbran]

It's not pretentious to assert that LotR is a more significant artistic/literary creation than the Transformers.

And in the same way that you wouldn't take seriously the views on astronomy and geology of someone who thinks that the earth is flat

Mod Note:
Wow, posted just this morning, and 11 pages back...

But, it amounts to... "I disagree with you on what is significant in art, therefore you are like a flat-earther," and that is pretty darned insulting. Indeed, we can only take it that the reference is intentionally insulting, instead of just accidentally so.

That's a problem.

Folks in this fast moving thread probably ought to shy away form insulting each other, because we may not be able to take time to give you space to self-correct. Morrus spoek to one person. I just did to another. More insults after this probably just get you removed from the discussion.

 

[Hriston]

This effectively says Elves and dwarves qre just more distant relatives of uman. Congratulations, Middle Earth has no races, it's all just different variety if humans!

Relatedness doesn't eliminate racial categorization. Humans on Earth, for example, are related to other species of animals. That doesn't eliminate species as a useful concept. The point is that hobbits are more closely related to the Big Folk than are elves or dwarves, who are described as other races. Hobbits, on the other hand, are described as our relatives.

 

[AnotherGuy]

This effectively says Elves and dwarves qre just more distant relatives of uman. Congratulations, Middle Earth has no races, it's all just different variety if humans!

So it appears Tolkien used plenty of relatable touchstones to tell his story. What a champion!

 

[Minigiant]

Half Elf still has a point with the Linguist feat missing.

 

[Mecheon]

Quite frankly, it doesn't matter what you believe. Elves and half-elves are very popular with the masses. And since they have other human appearing choices(including human), no one was forced to play one and/or pick them over the others. It was a choice on their part because....................stay with me here..............they LIKE playing those two races.

To try to veer this topic back on topic (i say, after the metaphorical truck has already sailed mostly off the cliff it violently hurled towards), half elves were left out due to them being too similar to elves. That's their ultimate weakness you're not going to get around: half elves are... Half elves. So if elves are already around, they're going to be really similar

Never a popularity thing and why I genuinely think they'll show up in some other book, because you can label it as "Now with the popular HALF ELF from BG3!", but absolutely a 'Why is our page space on the most basic book being used to have a watered down version of another option'

I don't like that change to gnolls, so I don't use it. In part because it creates an issue between PC and NPC gnolls which are the same race. Has 5e even given us a PC gnoll race to pick? I can't remember.

Nothing official-official, but Exploring Eberron is by Keith so fits into that "quasi-official" stance for myself at least and it has gnoll stats

They're fine. Nothing fancy, but get the job done

 

[Mind of tempest]

Have you been to the West Midlands in the late 19th and early 20th centuries? You might have a different opinion!

slightly more trees and worse food.

The real issue, is that instead of reflecting facets or tropes within the human experience, there is this desire amongst some of the playerbase to just have them all as cohabitating, human-like, members of shared cultures, defeating the whole purpose.

At which point, a species option is not about being relatable, its about the style of their funny hat, and whatever mechanical crunch is available.

really depends on location, some nowhere villages not likely to have much over lap, a major trade hub is going to have lots of peoples interacting.

To try to veer this topic back on topic (i say, after the metaphorical truck has already sailed mostly off the cliff it violently hurled towards), half elves were left out due to them being too similar to elves. That's their ultimate weakness you're not going to get around: half elves are... Half elves. So if elves are already around, they're going to be really similar

Never a popularity thing and why I genuinely think they'll show up in some other book, because you can label it as "Now with the popular HALF ELF from BG3!", but absolutely a 'Why is our page space on the most basic book being used to have a watered down version of another option'


Nothing official-official, but Exploring Eberron is by Keith so fits into that "quasi-official" stance for myself at least and it has gnoll stats

They're fine. Nothing fancy, but get the job done

the problem is gnolls is people want hyena people and WOTC needs a replacement for the old style morally okay just to annihilate orc.
no idea what to do there.

 

[Minigiant]

To try to veer this topic back on topic (i say, after the metaphorical truck has already sailed mostly off the cliff it violently hurled towards), half elves were left out due to them being too similar to elves. That's their ultimate weakness you're not going to get around: half elves are... Half elves. So if elves are already around, they're going to be really similar

Half Elves only share 2 of the 5 traits Elves currently have.

Bolded is shared

1. Darkvision
2. Fey Lineage
3. Fey Ancestry
4. Keen Senses
5. Trance

And one is Darkvsion. Something everyone and their momma gets.

 

[Scribe]

really depends on location, some nowhere villages not likely to have much over lap, a major trade hub is going to have lots of peoples interacting.

Thats not going to change the fundamental shift that some are pushing for.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Never a popularity thing and why I genuinely think they'll show up in some other book, because you can label it as "Now with the popular HALF ELF from BG3!", but absolutely a 'Why is our page space on the most basic book being used to have a watered down version of another option'

They used their page space for a questionable large amount of art, so why not actual rule info in the rulebook?

 

[Mecheon]

the problem is gnolls is people want hyena people and WOTC needs a replacement for the old style morally okay just to annihilate orc.
no idea what to do there.

Frankly should have made something new up than pick gnolls, who have been playable since basic. Something being in every edition as 'yup these can be people, just weird hyena ones' probably wasn't the best idea, especially after their 4E interpretation was so well received

Half Elves only share 2 of the 5 traits Elves currently have.

Bolded is shared

1. Darkvision
2. Fey Lineage
3. Fey Ancestry
4. Keen Senses
5. Trance

And one is Darkvsion. Something everyone and their momma gets.

Hence being watered down elves. You lose some of the more specific stuff and you get versitile from the human half, but its still recognisably half of it from the elf side, especially with the various half-elf variants

Like, they legit work as a "Switch out these options and add these" type of deal, that's how close they are to elves

They used their page space for a questionable large amount of art, so why not actual rule info in the rulebook?

Art sells folks on options. You can describe stuff in text all you want, but a picture of it gets it across better.

We can query how good said art is, of course, but a picture's worth a thousand words

(EDIT: if there's weird typos I got a new keyboard I'm getting used to it)