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

[pemerton]

the half-orc who's origins i think do lay with DnD (though don't quote me on that)

JRRT has Half-Orcs in LotR.

 

[Remathilis]

does that actually make them more iconic though?

Considering I started in Basic D&D (which had Elf, which was a fighter/mage, but no half-elf) I'd argue yes. I can play a gish in nearly every edition of D&D, but half-elves don't exist in Original, Basic, and now 24.

That said, it appears neither will be in the new SRD.

 

[Remathilis]

So does tanis exist?

Storywise, yes. There is still the ability for a human and an elf to have a child. Mechanically, that is TBD. The original idea was to remove distinct half X, half Y species and make it all story-based, but people balked, and they are working on an alternative that will come at some point in the future. Since they are starting fresh, its going to take a while to create a system where you can combine species in a way that is balanced. So I don't think Tanis is gone, but right now his mechanics are in flux.

 

[Minigiant]

Elf fighter/mages literally predate the existence of half-elves.

Well there is a fighter class and wizard class in the SRD and Multiclassing is core.

If you need more then a full class is needed.

 

[Micah Sweet]

does that actually make them more iconic though?

Well, my iconic image of an elf is fighter-mage, but I started with BECMI and read Dragonlance (Gilthanas was a fighter-mage) around the same time.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Storywise, yes. There is still the ability for a human and an elf to have a child. Mechanically, that is TBD. The original idea was to remove distinct half X, half Y species and make it all story-based, but people balked, and they are working on an alternative that will come at some point in the future. Since they are starting fresh, its going to take a while to create a system where you can combine species in a way that is balanced. So I don't think Tanis is gone, but right now his mechanics are in flux.

They should have borrowed from Level Up's system in the first place.

 

[Mind of tempest]

although i would admit the mage-knight archetype is an iconic one, it is not one that takes a particular shape or form in it's execution nor is it specifically iconic to the identity of DnD, it's much more of a generic idea than that, since we've had knights and mages we've had people imagining what if we put them together, and while the half-elf is also not conceptually exclusive to DnD it's association is much stronger as well as the other cross-species the half-orc who's origins i think do lay with DnD (though don't quote me on that)

I grasp we all want the magic warrior but I think we have worked the conversation to death.

Well, my iconic image of an elf is fighter-mage, but I started with BECMI and read Dragonlance (Gilthanas was a fighter-mage) around the same time.

how? The most elf has a bow and looks like they could be from one of those pretty men boy bands.
If I think magic knight there is more swords and helmets involved

 

[Micah Sweet]

I grasp we all want the magic warrior but I think we have worked the conversation to death.

how? The most elf has a bow and looks like they could be from one of those pretty men boy bands.
If I think magic knight there is more swords and helmets involved

The "most elf"? What are you saying? The elf class in BECMI could fight and use magic. Gilthanas in Dragonlance could fight and use magic. Legolas, who I was not talking about, can fight very well, but no better than Gimli in the books (and in the movies Legolas was ridiculously over-the-top and Gimli was designated comic relief.

 

[CreamCloud0]

I grasp we all want the magic warrior but I think we have worked the conversation to death.

my point was just that as i understand it, the roots and origins of half-elves/orcs have more ties to DnD than the mage-knight's do which is a more generic concept, making them comaparatively 'more iconic' to the franchise

 

[Mind of tempest]

my point was just that as i understand it, the roots and origins of half-elves/orcs have more ties to DnD than the mage-knight's do which is a more generic concept, making them comaparatively 'more iconic' to the franchise

true.

The "most elf"? What are you saying? The elf class in BECMI could fight and use magic. Gilthanas in Dragonlance could fight and use magic. Legolas, who I was not talking about, can fight very well, but no better than Gimli in the books (and in the movies Legolas was ridiculously over-the-top and Gimli was designated comic relief.

it is not the skill but the choice of weapons that matter, remember neither TSR nor wotc had control over what we think elves or orcs are thus magic knight is not the most elfly class unless you give it a magic bow