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

[Benjamin Olson]

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.

Well sure, it's D&D. Literally anything can be played if you want to put in the work to make it playable and everyone at the table agrees. The issues are that a) WotC is leaving the work of supporting this previously popular option up to the players for no real compelling reason, b) defaults matter, because every deviation from defaults is a table negotiation on some level, and c) the point I was actually making in the aside I assume you are responding to, that there's a bunch of NPCs in published campaigns that are supposed to be compatible with 5.24 who now needlessly require compatibility patching, because WotC was all in for half-elves and half-orcs right up until the moment they disappeared them.

 

[Yaarel]

It seems to me, the term "species" matters in 2024.

Different species normally dont produce offspring together.

When there are individuals who are "Half Dragon" or "Half Elf", the crossfertilization is accomplished by means of magic. It is the magical version of gene splicing. Often the Elf or Dragon is magically shapeshifting into a Human who can have Human offspring, but the magical inheritance transmits as well.

These D&D options are species. They arent ethnicities. Normally admixture isnt possible.

 

[Hriston]

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.

You seem to have misunderstood what I was saying. I was positing that the quote shows that Aragorn regards both Elrond and himself as part of the same "race". I.e. that there is a Half-elven lineage that runs from Eärendil and Dior down through Aragorn and Arwen and their descendants. And I was contrasting this with the idea of not belonging. Aragorn belongs to and identifies with this lineage. By his own testimony, it is his race.

 

[Argyle King]

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)

Navigating a mixed heritage is an experience that's tough to explain. Sometimes, even "good" prejudices can cause anxiety and pressure because "you're part [fill in the blank], so you should [assumed thing]."

To other people, you often count as whichever half they need you to count as to justify whatever their position a particular matter is. If you think/act/vote/behave in a way that fits what they already believe someone from a particular background "should" be doing, you're one of the 'good ones' and the echo chamber of their own bias is affirmed. But, If you don't think/act/vote/behave in a way that fits what they already believe someone from a particular background "should" be doing, then it is decided that you don't really count as X because you're only half or whatever portion feel you count as.

If you are successful at something, your hard work gets undercut because "well, you were born with..., so "you should be able to..." But, if you fail something, your heritage is also blamed for that. Either way, you're often seen as a set of categories (that change depending upon the person labeling you) first and a person second.

Half-elves have to navigate that while still being just human. There's no otherworldly influence or abstract magical lineage. It's everything I said above while also being a reflection of very real prejudices found within humanity.

 

[Charlaquin]

You seem to have misunderstood what I was saying. I was positing that the quote shows that Aragorn regards both Elrond and himself as part of the same "race". I.e. that there is a Half-elven lineage that runs from Eärendil and Dior down through Aragorn and Arwen and their descendants. And I was contrasting this with the idea of not belonging. Aragorn belongs to and identifies with this lineage. By his own testimony, it is his race.

No, I understood, I was just “yes, but”ing your point. I was saying, yes, humans ought to recognize half-elves as members of their own race, as Aragorn is doing in your example. But, they should still struggle to fully empathize with half-elves despite recognizing them as part of the same race. The Watsonian reason for this being that humans cannot really understand what it’s like to have the lifespan of an (half-)elf, but more importantly, the Doylist reason is that the simultaneous acceptance and alienation from both sides is part of the inherent allegory of the “half-breed”.

 

[Koloth]

In current versions of D&D or even PF, there really isn't much meta game difference between Elf, 1/2 Elf and Human. Maybe a +1/-1 modifier on a couple of stats and a bonus ability tossed in(think secret doors, low light). Any real difference is supplied by the player and in the last several games I have been in, Elf blooded critters were pretty much played as Human. The 'long lived' thing almost never enters into play as most campaigns don't last long enough in game time for the life span issue to matter. When a 1-20 adventure path perhaps lasts a few years, a 20 year old 1st level Human might wind up as a 25 year old 20th level Human at campaign's end.

 

[Charlaquin]

It seems to me, the term "species" matters in 2024.

Different species normally dont produce offspring together.

When there are individuals who are "Half Dragon" or "Half Elf", the crossfertilization is accomplished by means of magic. It is the magical version of gene splicing. Often the Elf or Dragon is magically shapeshifting into a Human who can have Human offspring, but the magical inheritance transmits as well.

These D&D options are species. They arent ethnicities. Normally admixture isnt possible.

Not only is this mere pedantry, it’s wrong pedantry, and this kind of silliness is why I was opposed to species being the term used to replace race in 2024.

The way different fantasy peoples relate to each other in D&D has never really reflected how different species relate to each other in real life. Moreover, the idea that what separates species in real life is interbreedability is an oversimplification. It is often, but not always, true that animals of different species can’t produce viable offspring together, and that is certainly not what defines species. Species doesn’t really have a single fixed definition, it’s ultimately (as all categories are) a social construct that we use to sort animals into distinct kinds. The criteria we use to do that sorting has changed over time and in all likelihood will continue to change over time, and isn’t even fully consistent between disciplines. How an entomologist distinguishes species of insects is very different than how a paleontologist distinguishes species of dinosaur, for example. And all of that is very, very irrelevant to whether the children of imaginary creatures like elves and orcs can have babies together.

 

[Seramus]

There was a definite chunk of players of mixed heritage that identified with half-elves, and wanted to play them for that specific reason.

 

[Charlaquin]

There was a definite chunk of players of mixed heritage that identified with half-elves, and wanted to play them for that specific reason.

Was?

 

[CreamCloud0]

Was?

past tense presumably used for when choosing to be a half elf actually mattered mechanically in the game.