D&D (2024) What new jargon do you want to replace "Race"?

[Crimson Longinus]

How do sea elves breath underwater without being physically different?

Magic, I suppose. Alternatively get rid of them, as there already are tritons who cover the same concept.

 

[Charlaquin]

How do sea elves breathe underwater without being physically different?

I suspect a 1D&D sea elf would just get the Waterbreathing spell Prof times between long rests.

 

[Charlaquin]

Yeah, this literally doesn't say that anything can crossbreed with anything. It says some species might sometimes crossbreed and it might involve magic.

It definitely doesn’t say that anything can’t crossbreed with anything. It seems to me this is very much “your character can be any combination your DM doesn’t disallow.”

Also, another of @Charlaquin's concerns seem to be moot too. Elves share one main entry, so there are no implication that drow and high elves are different species, they're lineages within one species.

Yeah, they neatly wrapped drow into the core elf race, which I think was a great move. But drow were not the only subrace with this problem. We still have duergar, svirfneblin, Gith, and probably others that escape my mind at the moment.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

Yeah, this literally doesn't say that anything can crossbreed with anything. It says some species might sometimes crossbreed and it might involve magic.

It is strongly implied that the crossbreed appear at player's whim, to justify his character creation (it's "if you want to play such a wondrous pairing, choose two Schlorps..." not "ask the DM whatever schlorps are available in the world".


But, outside of having humans with any potential kind of specific abilities, there is no "munchkinism" into that, as you can't mix and match. You can actually munchkin a little, as your lifespan is the average of your two parents, so 250 years old humans are possible but it shouldn't matter that much.

 

[ART!]

none of the other races produced offspring at all if they mixed.

To my knowledge there's no indication of this in the rules or any WOTC setting book.

Race meant species in D&D originally, as in the human race, distinct from other races and animals.

Race has been used in D&D the way it has been used in fantasy fiction, wherein sometimes it seems to mean species and sometimes it seems to mean outdated notions of "race". It's vague.

 

[Xamnam]

Wait a second. I'm not hugely passionate about the change from Race to Species, and personally I don't particularly object to race because it has a much broader meaning and is clearly being used that way in D&D: but I get the complaint. Terms that are presently used by hate groups would seem to be much more prone to abuse to me personally, or at the very least pose the same issue that people are complaining about with race. I mean, maybe people don't know the history of Nazi Germany enough, modern hate movements enough, racialist science and eugenics, but maybe they are incorrect to not be bothered by these terms? Like I said, I don't wince at race because I understand its usage in this context, but I do wince seeing ancestry, ethnicity, people and folk proposed. And like others have said, the reasons for this are not exactly obscure.

Outside of this thread, and prior to reading it, I had never heard of any negative history related to the world folk, nor have I seen it used in conjunction with modern hate movements, which I'll admit I am passingly but not thoroughly familiar with. I would say that's likely the perspective of the average 5e player? I would not claim so definitively. However, I do hear the word folk regularly in everyday conversation in terms of things like "Alright, gather around folks." or "I know some folks really enjoy playing d&d with this specific rule set." It's not just that the negative side is news to me, but that a friendly toned usage is regular to me.

I don't say this to invalidate the issues, just explaining my perspective, especially prior to hearing it can be used a very contradictory sense to my understanding.

 

[Xamnam]

I am unfamiliar with the "shmorp". Can someone explain this term, where it comes from, and how it is relevant to D&D?

Here's the origin:

Maybe WotC should just make up a word that means "your chosen creature type in a D&D setting." Then the word would have only one meaning with no possible miscommunication and we could move on.

I vote for Schmorp.

It's very silly, but honestly, it has been helpful to have a context-less stand in word in some of these discussions.

 

[Bagpuss]

To my knowledge there's no indication of this in the rules or any WOTC setting book.

Which setting book prior to the recent "make anything you feel like" option, had half-dragonborn, half-goliaths, or a gnome-elf cross for example?

 

[Scribe]

Which setting book prior to the recent "make anything you feel like" option, had half-dragonborn, half-goliaths, or a gnome-elf cross for example?

One of the Critical Role ones, wasnt it?

 

[Xamnam]

Which setting book prior to the recent "make anything you feel like" option, had half-dragonborn, half-goliaths, or a gnome-elf cross for example?

PHB P. 102