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The Half Orc. Are they still needed?
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<blockquote data-quote="DEFCON 1" data-source="post: 8686841" data-attributes="member: 7006"><p>There are many reasons why I do not like half-elves and half-orcs and would like how they are represented in D&D changed. I don't mind the idea of children of two different lineages (and think it can definitely be a wonderful narrative to play)... I just don't like how they currently are represented in the game.</p><p></p><p>1) The humanocentric idea that they are half "elf" and half "orc" as the group names for people of those lineages. Why does Human get the obvious pass? The supposedly obvious default? The fact that neither of these lineages ever get called "half-humans" denigrates the half that is used as the defining characteristic. If we are going to define these two <em>specific</em> mixed lineages as their own thing, there should be a different name for them.</p><p></p><p>2) Why are elves/humans and orcs/humans the only two that get defined by their mixed lineage (and thus their own entries in the Player's Handbook?) Where is the dwarf/human entry? Where is the elf/gnome entry? The halfling/goblin entry? The human/halfling entry? If we are assuming that most of these humanoid races can interbreed... they there is no reason to single out the elf/human and orc/human as the only two that get their own entries for lineage selection. This is one of the things that's been grandfathered into the current game from editions past... but I do not believe they warrant any specialness in getting their own PHB entry-- especially because the grandfathered reason for including "half-orcs" is so distasteful for how the interbreeding has been portrayed in the first place.</p><p></p><p>3) Like all lineages in the game... mechanically they are just three or four special features. If we want to give players the ability to mix lineages, then these two specific lineages shouldn't have unique abilities. Instead a player should select half their features from one of the lineages and then the other half from the other lineage, that way you can have every cross-lineage combination you want. Again... these two <em>specific</em> mixed lineages are no more important than any other and shouldn't get special treatment by their own entry in the PHB.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="DEFCON 1, post: 8686841, member: 7006"] There are many reasons why I do not like half-elves and half-orcs and would like how they are represented in D&D changed. I don't mind the idea of children of two different lineages (and think it can definitely be a wonderful narrative to play)... I just don't like how they currently are represented in the game. 1) The humanocentric idea that they are half "elf" and half "orc" as the group names for people of those lineages. Why does Human get the obvious pass? The supposedly obvious default? The fact that neither of these lineages ever get called "half-humans" denigrates the half that is used as the defining characteristic. If we are going to define these two [I]specific[/I] mixed lineages as their own thing, there should be a different name for them. 2) Why are elves/humans and orcs/humans the only two that get defined by their mixed lineage (and thus their own entries in the Player's Handbook?) Where is the dwarf/human entry? Where is the elf/gnome entry? The halfling/goblin entry? The human/halfling entry? If we are assuming that most of these humanoid races can interbreed... they there is no reason to single out the elf/human and orc/human as the only two that get their own entries for lineage selection. This is one of the things that's been grandfathered into the current game from editions past... but I do not believe they warrant any specialness in getting their own PHB entry-- especially because the grandfathered reason for including "half-orcs" is so distasteful for how the interbreeding has been portrayed in the first place. 3) Like all lineages in the game... mechanically they are just three or four special features. If we want to give players the ability to mix lineages, then these two specific lineages shouldn't have unique abilities. Instead a player should select half their features from one of the lineages and then the other half from the other lineage, that way you can have every cross-lineage combination you want. Again... these two [I]specific[/I] mixed lineages are no more important than any other and shouldn't get special treatment by their own entry in the PHB. [/QUOTE]
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The Half Orc. Are they still needed?
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