D&D General So how do Half-Elfs feel different to Elfs?

[Reynard]

Has any half elf since Tanis been an outsider?

 

[tetrasodium]

I don't think that 5e elf lives long enough for the two to really feel all that different. The old 1500-3000+(?)∆ year lifespan really made them feel different in play when the elf player could ask the gm what they remember about living in the old kingdom or whatever.

If I wanted to widen the difference between races in play I would steal a change to potions used in a web novel I follow where different races have totally different option formats like traditional potions for humans full on bottles of beer from dwarves steaming cups of teas for elves cheeses for rat people fancy pastries for the (actual) fey etc but they are different or nothing special for other races§. I think it would probably allow some interesting division and make room for more treasure but haven't tried it in play because 5e doesn't really do that treasure well.

∆ honestly don't remember at this point
§ it was a minor thing hing that only came up once or twice rather than a significant & deeply fleshed out thing.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

Has any half elf since Tanis been an outsider?

It's all a matter of setting. Forgotten Realms, and generally most modern "official" campaigns and settings, are so aggressively cosmopolitan that a hybrid person isn't remotely unusual (and so cutting the half-elves and half-orcs was a ridiculous move for 5.5 because they were not just a character option, but a ubiquitous type of NPC in the 5e products that were supposed to remain compatible). Practically every remote village has people of half a dozen species living side-by-side. If your setting is one where species/races even keep to themselves a little bit being a hybrid person is going to have a very different vibe.

 

[GMMichael]

So in top 3 playable species poll I noticed a couple of people voted both Elf and Half-Elf, which got me thinking in terms of actual playability what is the difference between an Elf and a Half-Elf, is there anything that actually distinguishes one from the other? or is it just the choice of mechanics?

Elves always pick Charisma as their prime stat, for some annoying reason. Half-elves can branch out into the good abilities.

Slightly longer answer: They get to be weird and special with an unique background which can be decades long but still play mostly a human. Even a young looking "human".

I'd go for this. A half-elf is just a human who doesn't age. Nice!

 

[Yaarel]

So in top 3 playable species poll I noticed a couple of people voted both Elf and Half-Elf, which got me thinking in terms of actual playability what is the difference between an Elf and a Half-Elf, is there anything that actually distinguishes one from the other? or is it just the choice of mechanics?

I can see how Drow might be different to standard Elf, but cant really think of anything other than the contrived "feels like an outsider" to differentiate Half-Elf (but most monsters ought to feel that way).

Anyway I am genuinely interested to know (even if -in all honesty- I dont like Elfs)

In general, no, there is no essential difference between an Elf and a Half-Elf.

An Elf can be quite Human, and a Human can be quite magical.

For me, the essence of the Elf is that magic itself is manifesting as a humanlike form. The inherent magic relates to sunlight energy and positive fates. In my games, Elves are always highly magical, normally fullcasters and other kinds of wielders of magic are also possible. I never have an Elf choose a nonmagical class like Rogue Thief or Fighter Battlemaster. A Half Elf from Elf and Human ancestry can choose to lean into this elven magic or not.

Thus I am satisfied with the player choosing either the Elf species or the Human species to represent the stats of the Half Elf character. A Half Elf can be completely magical, just like an Elf. If using Human stats, one can use the extra feat for Lucky or Magic Initiate to nod toward the elven heritage. Or not lean into any elven magic at all.

 

[Charlaquin]

So in top 3 playable species poll I noticed a couple of people voted both Elf and Half-Elf, which got me thinking in terms of actual playability what is the difference between an Elf and a Half-Elf, is there anything that actually distinguishes one from the other? or is it just the choice of mechanics?

I can see how Drow might be different to standard Elf, but cant really think of anything other than the contrived "feels like an outsider" to differentiate Half-Elf (but most monsters ought to feel that way).

Anyway I am genuinely interested to know (even if -in all honesty- I dont like Elfs)

You may consider “feels like an outsider” to be contrived, but it is the primary appeal of half-elves. Specifically, that they are outsiders both among humans and among elves. Other species may be outsiders in common society, but they generally at least have small communities to which they do belong. Half-elves don’t have that. Even if they happen to know other half-elves, every half-elf’s experience of being half-elven is different.

This is, not by accident, very relatable to anyone of mixed heritage in real life.

 

[Charlaquin]

It's all a matter of setting. Forgotten Realms, and generally most modern "official" campaigns and settings, are so aggressively cosmopolitan that a hybrid person isn't remotely unusual (and so cutting the half-elves and half-orcs was a ridiculous move for 5.5 because they were not just a character option, but a ubiquitous type of NPC in the 5e products that were supposed to remain compatible). Practically every remote village has people of half a dozen species living side-by-side. If your setting is one where species/races even keep to themselves a little bit being a hybrid person is going to have a very different vibe.

They weren’t cut, they just don’t have explicit PC stats in the PHB. They still exist, and can be played a number of ways, from using human or elf stats and describing your appearance as a mix, to using the Eberron version, to adapting Tasha’s custom species rules, to just using the 2014 version.

 

[Tigris]

So in top 3 playable species poll I noticed a couple of people voted both Elf and Half-Elf, which got me thinking in terms of actual playability what is the difference between an Elf and a Half-Elf, is there anything that actually distinguishes one from the other? or is it just the choice of mechanics?

They have different mechanics (in some editions). In D&D 4e Humans were flexible but you were just more flexible in your class.

Meanwhile half elfs let you be flexible but mixing your class with another class.

Same as a half elf is human mixed with something more strange.


Elfs I find often boring. Its just humans with pointy ears as a race. Half elf feels almost human but something foreign mixed in it, while an elf as a pure race does not have the strangeness, since its normal.

 

[Hriston]

An alternative to seeing half-elves as stuck between two peoples and as outsiders to both is to see them as members of a lineage that shares both elvish and human ancestry, like the House of Elros. As Aragorn says in LotR, Book 5, Chapter 8 (p 863 of my copy): 'Would that Elrond were here, for he is the eldest of all our race, and has the greater power.' He seems here to regard himself as part of a "race" that includes Elrond, Half-elven.

 

[Charlaquin]

An alternative to seeing half-elves as stuck between two peoples and as outsiders to both is to see them as members of a lineage that shares both elvish and human ancestry, like the House of Elros. As Aragorn says in LotR, Book 5, Chapter 8 (p 863 of my copy): 'Would that Elrond were here, for he is the eldest of all our race, and has the greater power.' He seems here to regard himself as part of a "race" that includes Elrond, Half-elven.

I would suggest that both are true and both should be part of a the half-elf experience. You are human, and you are even, and at the same time you aren’t either. You are able to walk within both worlds, and at the same time you are held at arm’s length from each. Humans will, as Aragorn does in this example, hold you in awe and reverence for your age and power, but won’t be able to identify with you for the same reason. Elves will tell you that your mortality is a blessing as you won’t have to outlive everyone and everything you know and love as they must, and yet they will avoid becoming attached to you to try to spare themselves the eventual grief of losing you.