OK, why is there so much hatred for half-elves? Seriously, every DM and most of the players I know mass so much hatred on them, and I cannot see why for the life of me! They say it's one of the worst races, and I think it's actually one of the better ones! Certainly not one of the best, but better. As such, I challenge the people on this forum to explain why there is so much hatred, by posting things that make the half-elves not work, using in-game mechanics! Don't bring up role-play oriented stuff, or other things that are directly tied to the player, only stuff that is directly tied to the character, which the player has no influence over.
Why is there so much hate?
- Thread starter Aleolus
- Start date
Victim
First Post
Half Elves aren't really good at anything, besides twinking out Diplomacy. Basically, they're like a human with your bonus skills picked out for you (and often too spread out to amount to much), and low light vision instead of a bonus feat (not an even trade IMO). Half elves lack the customizeability of the human and the default specialization in other races. And considering the common demand for some stats, a race like dwarf is still usually going to be more generally useful for most classes. For pretty much any class idea, half elves generally aren't in the top 3 races.
Arkhandus
First Post
Aleolus said:
I don't know, really. But they are rather sub-par.
The only thing they really do well is being socially-oriented and scouting-oriented Bards or Rogues, and they're not so great at those, since they lack the human's bonus feat and skill points, and the elf's greater skill bonuses, Search benefits, Dex bonus, and proficiencies (which are more useful for Rogues than for most other classes). And they didn't even have the Diplomacy and Gather Information bonuses in 3.0.
I give them nicer benefits in my own games so they're worth playing.
blargney the second
blargney the minute's son
They get the best dragonmarks, so they're fine now. 
-blarg
-blarg
I don't hate them. I play them.
However, the more I GM, the more I eliminate them- not out of hate, but of dislike of "Half-" races in general. I get rid of all of them...hybrids are still possible, but it requires a LOT of magic or science. Basically, they usually just don't fit my vision of a FRPG campaign world anymore.
Don't forget their immune to sleep and similar effects, and a +2 bonus on saving throws against enchantments, a +1 bonus on listen, search and spot checks, and the fact that they're counted as elf for all purposes related to race. Now, granted, that's not a lot, but it seems good to me!
Victim
First Post
Immune to sleep isn't worth that much, IMO. Sleep spells are mostly low level problems and have a long casting time. Plus there's Color Spray.
The skill bonuses are too diffuse to make much out of: +3 to any one one of those skills is generally more notable than the +1 to each. Since the bonuses are non scaling (unlike the bennies of a human), they also lose value at higher levels.
Being an effective elf also opens the character up to more bane and favored enemy possibilities. Plus I haven't seen many benefits for counting as an elf.
The skill bonuses are too diffuse to make much out of: +3 to any one one of those skills is generally more notable than the +1 to each. Since the bonuses are non scaling (unlike the bennies of a human), they also lose value at higher levels.
Being an effective elf also opens the character up to more bane and favored enemy possibilities. Plus I haven't seen many benefits for counting as an elf.
Plane Sailing
Astral Admin - Mwahahaha!
Aleolus said:
That seems a fairly atypical experience to me - I don't see any hate for them at all (either in personal groups or online).
Or are you using hyperbole to underscore the idea that they seem sub-par choices?
(as blargney the second says, Eberron gives them really cool dragonmarks which has made them much more attractive in that setting)
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