Suggestions to replace Half-Elves

[Voss]

Monkey people!

Seriously. Go with descendants of the Monkey God from Journey to the West. Of course, it means you have to explain to people that no, you aren't ripping dragonball, but still. Monkey people

 

[IanB]

Eberron changelings? Probably my favorite "social" role race that WotC has created, that's what I'd go with.

As for differentiating an astral or celestial race (we shall see what 4e decides to call such things) I would go with things like eye color and skin tinges that don't exist in normal humans. Stuff like 'alabaster skin' (not to pick on the earlier poster) always makes me think "why do angels have to look like white people." So, something like a silvery tinge or sheen to their skin, maybe a natural glow. Something like the lumi from MM3 (or was it 4?), but less alien - no detached heads, etc.

 

[ZombieRoboNinja]

You replaced halflings with rats?

 

[Nahat Anoj]

I would make a counterpart for the tiefling (i.e. Aasimar) to fill that role, I think... Makes sense for beings that are somehow related to angels to be charismatic and inspiring...

In R&C, a race called the Celestials was mentioned as taking over the Aasimar's place.

That would work for replacing the half-elf IMO. They would be naturally inspiring by virtue of their divine heritage - they also would be good clerics and paladins. The important thing to do is make sure they have a compelling backstory and aren't all goody goody.

 

[Tewligan]

Ever since I started playing, I didn't like having Half-Elves as a seperate race. The concept never worked for me, and such characters were rarely played in campaigns I participated in. So for the future, I have decided to ditch them, much like Halflings. But since they use up page count, I'd like to replace them with some other race, that fits into their mechanic niche, much like I chose to replace Halflings with Nezumi.

I'm not sure I get why they need to be replaced rather than just dropped. When you say they take up page count, are you talking about in the PHB? Or in a document you have typed up for your own campaign in which you want to have so many pages of PC races? IMO (for what that's worth...), half-elves don't have any particularly notable niche that even needs to be filled. Just drop 'em and go with what's left, I say!

 

[Klaus]

Honestly? Humans work just fine in that niche.

Perhaps a feat along the lines of 'elf blood'?

What he said.

Elf Blood (Racial)
You have elven blood in your ancestry.
Requirements: Human, 1st level only.
Benefit: You gain +2 racial bonus to Perception checks and low-light vision. For all effects related to race, you're considered either a human or an elf, whichever is more advantageous to you.

 

[HP Dreadnought]

They should be replaced by the Pan-Fo!

(Gain a cool point if you caught the reference.)

 

[Anthtriel]

I'm not sure I get why they need to be replaced rather than just dropped. When you say they take up page count, are you talking about in the PHB? Or in a document you have typed up for your own campaign in which you want to have so many pages of PC races? IMO (for what that's worth...), half-elves don't have any particularly notable niche that even needs to be filled. Just drop 'em and go with what's left, I say!

The idea is that there will be mechanics, as in powers and feats specifically for Half-Elves anyway, so instead of throwing all that away, it would be more prudent to use it for something else, i.e. for another race. With (hopefully minor) rewriting I can turn the Half-Elves rule material into a race I actually consider useful.

 

[Aage]

In R&C, a race called the Celestials was mentioned as taking over the Aasimar's place.

That would work for replacing the half-elf IMO. They would be naturally inspiring by virtue of their divine heritage - they also would be good clerics and paladins. The important thing to do is make sure they have a compelling backstory and aren't all goody goody.

Yeah, I agree.. there were a quite interesting discussion on this very topic on the gleemax forums (here: http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=978627) about a week ago...

 

[Sir Brennen]

I think it would be better not to use terms which refer to particular types of angels. Nephilim might be a more appropriate name. You could Anglicize the name to an extent if it feels too foreign - I believe the term Nephilite is sometimes used, for example.

Oooo... Renaming Aasimar to Nephilim seems like a great idea to me. They inherit their ancestors grace and charisma, which I think would make them excellent replacements for the half-elf "role". And if, as it's been indicated, all deities in 4E have angels, then this race is unrestricted in alignment, even if they're traditionally pictured as more virtuous.

The question would be, what gave rise to such a race (if they're now true breeding race, like the tieflings)? Do we have a knock-off of the tieflings, with yet another ancient empire, this one maybe involved in angel worship? Or do we stick closer to the mythological origins of the Nephilim, where, at the dawn of time, angels bred freely with the mortal races, until the gods put the kebosh on that? Perhaps there was a time when the World and the planes of the gods where much closer in the Astral Sea, allowing this sort of contact, but as they drifted apart, and the separation became physical, metaphysical and spiritual, such pairings became impossible. Another interesting story could be told of how the first generations of Nephilim found each other, forming their first kingdom.

The MtG reference is much less well known, and don't really think there's going to be much of a confusion issue there. The OP should just have his group read that Wikipedia link