D&D 5E (2024) Solasta 2 and the 1/2 elf

[wicked cool]

Solasta 2 is an upcoming video game and they have said they are using the 2024 d&d srd
ruleset. They did a live YouTube show and one of their questions/requests was would you add/make an exception for the 1/2 elf. The panel (I believe there were 4 developers on the call) came up with a suggestion of adding the 1/2 elf in the game and just using the 2014 rules (it’s a maybe )
Curious if
-if you were a dm would you allow it
-if there’s enough push coming from the community on a game like Solasta 2 is there underlying discontent with this rule change? Could wotc change their mind and add them back in through a supplement

 

[UngainlyTitan]

I would allow it, or be open to another interpretation of the half elf/orc.

Are they not needed for Ebberon?

 

[aco175]

I would try to not mix the stuff. If I said that we are using the 24 rules and there are no 1/2 elves, then there is no 1/2 elves. If only to prevent the next question to be what about 1/2 orcs. Then all the what abouts to cheese the game to make your cool combo.

Show people the new rules and how to play that way of that is the game you are making. Next year come out with a patch to let you have unlimited life or unlimited ammo.

 

[AlViking]

I've been kind of on the fence on this for a while, but I've decided that going forward we'll figure something out for half races because personally if I want to play a half elf it's because I want to reinforce that feeling of not really belonging anywhere. On the other hand a lot of the time things like half elves were only chosen because of the ability score benefits which no longer apply.

But half elves and orcs have long been part of my world so I want a way to continue to represent them.

 

[FrogReaver]

I’d prefer none in the official game. Make an easy mod to add custom races. Done!

 

[The Firebird]

-I would allow as a DM for some worlds. If my setting had half elves before, I'd allow 2014 rules.
-I think it was a poor change but I'm not that discontented and I doubt we'll see a return. Here I think it depend on what other systems do. If after 10 years, WotC is the only one doing it this way, maybe they'll switch back.

 

[Burnside]

Story-wise, half-elves still exist in 2024 rules. They just no longer exist mechanically. You just pick the mechanics of a either human or an elf, but for setting and roleplay purposes you're still a half-elf to the extent that this matters in your campaign.

The 2014 half-elf was mechanically great, and the half-orc was mechanically fine. Since both still exist for story and rp purposes, what's really being asked is should the rules be bent so they can exist mechanically. IMO, no.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Story-wise, half-elves still exist in 2024 rules. They just no longer exist mechanically. You just pick the mechanics of a either human or an elf, but for setting and roleplay purposes you're still a half-elf to the extent that this matters in your campaign.

The 2014 half-elf was mechanically great, and the half-orc was mechanically fine. Since both still exist for story and rp purposes, what's really being asked is should the rules be bent so they can exist mechanically. IMO, no.

Exactly. If (general) you want your PC's history to include the fact that one parent was an elf and the other was a human... that's fine by me. Your backstory is your backstory. But I wouldn't have (general) you use special game mechanics to represent it. There aren't any special mechanics given to any PCs that have both a gnome and a halfling parent, or a human parent and a dwarf parent, or an elf parent and orc parent... so I have never felt like the human/elf parentage and human/orc parentage deserved to get them over everyone else.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Are they not needed for Ebberon?

Nope, khoravar are a separate species, and always have been.

They descend from elves and humans but have since become a race distinct from both their elven and human ancestors

 

[The Firebird]

Exactly. If (general) you want your PC's history to include the fact that one parent was an elf and the other was a human... that's fine by me. Your backstory is your backstory. But I wouldn't have (general) you use special game mechanics to represent it. There aren't any special mechanics given to any PCs that have both a gnome and a halfling parent, or a human parent and a dwarf parent, or an elf parent and orc parent... so I have never felt like the human/elf parentage and human/orc parentage deserved to get them over everyone else.

At least for me, that's because the gnome/halfling, human/dwarf, elf/orc lineages don't exist in any of my settings. Human/elf and human/orc sometimes do. And I like to play species as sufficiently distinct that mechanical differences make sense.

If you have many half-species with small mechanical differences I think the 2024 approach is the right one.