Would you allow half-races?

[Ghostwind]

Half-races, especially half elves and half-orcs are a staple for D&D. But what is the appeal behind them? In one of the projects I've been playing around with, I am seriously considering not allowing half races to exist. After all, when you look at nature, you don't really see naturally occurring half-breeds between species. Oh, there have been intentional genetic manipulations on the part of man to create certain cross or half-breeds, but naturally occurring animal half-breeds don't exist.

Why should an orc be able to impregnate a human female or elf? For that matter why should elves and humans be able to mate when their biologies are so radically different? If you were creating a new world, would you allow for the birth of half races?

 

[MonsterMash]

I've always disliked the half- races, but in my Wilderlands campaign they are still there, but as NPC races not player races.

I've always wondered why just half-elf and half-orc, where are the half-dwarf, half-gnome and half-halfling (quarterling?)?

 

[lukelightning]

No half-races for me. No half-elves, half-orcs, half-dragons, half-trolls, half-illithid-half-dragon-half elves. I'm willing to accept the "Eberron Compromise" in which half-elves and half-orcs are virtually races unto themselves (i.e. a half-orc is normally born of two half-orc parents).

The idea that there are enough random orcs getting it on with humans to warrent a half-orc race is ridiculous.

 

[Eva of Sirrion]

Half-elves, half-orcs,

These are fine by me.

half-dragons, half-trolls, half-illithid-half-dragon-half elves.

These are stretching it. But it could be my general disdain for nonstandard PC races in general showing through here. The whole "no half-breeds in nature" argument doesn't hold water for me. I'm assuming you've all heard of mules, mixed-breed dogs and cats, wolf-dogs and so forth?

 

[Mercule]

I've been going down the same general line of thought for a while, myself. My current homebrew has half-elves and half-orcs "grandfathered" in (no pun intended). Odds are extremely good that such races will either not exist or will be vanishingly rare in my next campaign.

 

[CronoDekar]

Never particularly had a problem with it. I don't try to think of them as "species," since I doubt D&D meant to express them in such scientific terms. Why can humans breed with orcs and elves? Because they can!

Though, if a DM decided to throw out half-races, I wouldn't exactly be up-in-arms about it. Personally I'd rather have that than to throw in a bunch of really odd half-races ("yeah my setting is ruled by a half-elf half-owlbear race known as the Bearded Hoots").

 

[Voadam]

No genetic half-races in my games. Half-orc mechanics are for a certain breed of orc. And there are things that can infuse a creature with a half-template.

 

[DMH]

Oh, there have been intentional genetic manipulations on the part of man to create certain cross or half-breeds, but naturally occurring animal half-breeds don't exist.

Uh, no. Hybrids are common among sister species or withing genera and there are tons of funky hybrids among plants. One of the fun things about plant breeding is trying extreme outcrossing. And some of the worst weeds are natural outcrossings (like wheat X goatgrass).

But on the subject- neither tigons or ligers are natural. The Gir forest in India has both lions and tigers and there has never been a report of either hybrid.

would you allow for the birth of half races?

The standard ones, no. Other ones depends on the intial species. I treat some of the existing OB races as halfbreeds.

 

[WayneLigon]

I've always wondered why just half-elf and half-orc, where are the half-dwarf, half-gnome and half-halfling (quarterling?)?

1. Because Tolkien had at least one half-elf. And because you can see a human being attracted to an elf. Not so with any of the other races.
2. Because it was a sop to people who wanted to play monsters but since there were no rules for doing so, this was the next best thing.

 

[jerichothebard]

("yeah my setting is ruled by a half-elf half-owlbear race known as the Bearded Hoots").

Give a hoot, don't pollute... or we'll tear your arms off!


My campaign has half-elves, and a small number of half-orcs. I can see the two races - humans and elves - being compatible, and the precedent is certainly there in the source material... (Arwen and Aragorn).

My next campaign probably won't, but that's because it is likely to be d20 Modern (not urban arcana).