Okay, I'm extremely new to forum stuff, but this seems like the most reasonable thread for a question of sorts I've had for awhile now, as someone who got into D&D in 2022 and exclusively uses the free stuff on this site. Uh, if not, please let me know, because I don't 100% know what I'm doing, lol.
My first (and so far only) campaign was during my senior year of high school, which was during the 2023-2024 school, which was kinda just before we got the 2024 rules/edition stuff, meaning we used the 2014 5th Edition stuff. We had a blast, of course. I played a Half-Elf Evocation Wizard/Thief Rouge who couldn't seem to steal anything to save her life. I only mention all of this because:
1). I actually kinda love the half-elf race. At the time, it was great mix of things from both the Human and Elf races, which was pretty fun.
2). When we got the 2024 Basic Rules, I was pretty bummed that the Half-Elf didn't get a revamp like some of the other classes did (and mildly irritated that I can't play 2024 half-orcs without paying, but whatever since we at least 2024 Goliaths and 2024 Orcs for free).
Anyways, since Half-Elves didn't get a revamp (or even become a sub-species thing for the 2024 Elf), how well would they work with the 2024 rules? Specifically the free stuff, because I'd rather not spend money I don't have, lol. I mean, I love that we can have feats for free now, but I wish I could use an updated Folk Hero background without paying, as well as Haunted One if that ever ever gets updated.
Also, is there any chance that the Half-Elf will get a new version like the other races (now species) did? I was honestly pretty surprised it didn't.
Okay, I'm extremely new to forum stuff, but this seems like the most reasonable thread for a question of sorts I've had for awhile now, as someone who got into D&D in 2022 and exclusively uses the free stuff on this site. Uh, if not, please let me know, because I don't 100% know what I'm doing, lol.
My first (and so far only) campaign was during my senior year of high school, which was during the 2023-2024 school, which was kinda just before we got the 2024 rules/edition stuff, meaning we used the 2014 5th Edition stuff. We had a blast, of course. I played a Half-Elf Evocation Wizard/Thief Rouge who couldn't seem to steal anything to save her life. I only mention all of this because:
1). I actually kinda love the half-elf race. At the time, it was great mix of things from both the Human and Elf races, which was pretty fun.
2). When we got the 2024 Basic Rules, I was pretty bummed that the Half-Elf didn't get a revamp like some of the other classes did (and mildly irritated that I can't play 2024 half-orcs without paying, but whatever since we at least 2024 Goliaths and 2024 Orcs for free).
Anyways, since Half-Elves didn't get a revamp (or even become a sub-species thing for the 2024 Elf), how well would they work with the 2024 rules? Specifically the free stuff, because I'd rather not spend money I don't have, lol. I mean, I love that we can have feats for free now, but I wish I could use an updated Folk Hero background without paying, as well as Haunted One if that ever ever gets updated.
Also, is there any chance that the Half-Elf will get a new version like the other races (now species) did? I was honestly pretty surprised it didn't.
I think you'll love the new Eberron book for this explicit concern
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
DM, player & homebrewer(Current homebrew project is an unofficial conversion of SBURB/SGRUB from Homestuck into DND 5e)
Once made Maxwell's Silver Hammer come down upon Strahd's head to make sure he was dead.
Always study & sharpen philosophical razors. They save a lot of trouble.
Heya, moved this from the previous thread as it wasn't relevant to Hardcover Books, D&D Beyond and You FAQ. To be honest there were probably many other threads on the approach to mix species but sometimes it's good to let a conversation have a fresh start, especially with the new material available.
The intention of the 2024 corebooks was not to include the iconic mixed-species such as 'half-elf' or 'half-orc' not because they wouldn't exist, but because they are not individual species and are not so easily codified. Their existence as a 'core species' in D&D has always been a bit of an odd one. While many mixed species are possible, very few are rarely given set statistics because to do so would bloat the game terribly. This has been a question of design since 1e, with articles in Dragon Magazine touching upon the designers intentions and goals with such. Half-orc and half-elf are in some ways quite the tolkienism and focused on due to that popularity.
However the 2024 core books didn't touch on how one might approach mixed-species in general and folk have noticed a few characters from D&D lore that were explicitly half-elven or half-orc now being noted as 'elf' or 'orc' in new books. This understandably did lead to a bit of a question on if mixed species actually existed as mechanically they didn't and the lore didn't touch on it so much.
CHILDREN OF DIFFERENT HUMANOID KINDS Thanks to the magical workings of the multiverse, Humanoids of different kinds sometimes have children together. For example, folk who have a human parent and an orc or an elf parent are particularly common. Many other combinations are possible. If you’d like to play the child of such a wondrous pairing, choose two Race options that are Humanoid to represent your parents. Then determine which of those Race options provides your game traits: Size, Speed, and special traits. You can then mix and match visual characteristics—color, ear shape, and the like—of the two options. For example, if your character has a halfling and a gnome parent, you might choose Halfling for your game traits and then decide that your character has the pointed ears that are characteristic of a gnome. Finally, determine the average of the two options’ Life Span traits to figure out how long your character might live. For example, a child of a halfling and a gnome has an average life span of 288 years.
You could also look to the newer releases of Eberron books for inspiration and mechanics: In Eberron mixed species has been touched upon in the lore and we have two species options that to many seem to be a replacement for 'Half-elf' and 'half-orc', being Khoravar (Forge of the Artificer) and Jhorgun'taal (Exploring Eberron) respectively. Here we run into lore and design choices.
Khoravar would actually dislike being called 'Half-elven' as they as a people are of mixed elven-human heritage for generations, with some folk having more or less of some of that ancestry. It would be strange to focus on one specific part of their heritage (elven) and try and quantify it with a term like 'half-elf'.
Jhorgun'taal are interesting as it's noted that there are in Eberron many folk of orcish-human ancestry, but Jhorgun'taal are specifically those who show distinct physical traits and abilities of both parentage, and so are 'children of two bloods'.
Most humans or orcs from the Marches have some degree of mixed lineage, even though they may use the game statistics of the species they outwardly resemble. However, the union of human and orc can produce children who have physical traits of both parent species. In the Shadow Marches, such people are called Jhorgun’taal, “children of two bloods”
And there is some strange implications there, as you could be 'half orc/human' and not be Jhorgun'taal mechanically. Your character might also identify as jhorgun'taal (children of two bloods) while mechanically using the orc or human statblock.
This is where the tricky part has always come in for these character concepts. Identity, lineage and mechanics might not all match up.
Certainly mechanically Jhorgun'taal resembles half-orc of 2014, so could be used as the 2024 update- but you could just use the 2014 version if you really felt like neither orc or human represented your character. Khoravar are a bit different to 2014 half-elf, but the idea is there.
But overall- you can pick the species mechanics that best fit your character concept. You're also not locked in to playing human + 'other species', but could say that your mechanically dwarven PC is actually of dwarven-halfling heritage. But if you want species mechanics that are designed to reflect being mix origin, then yes, the newer Eberon books have a few that might suit you.
The above answer your questions regarding the 5.24 content well, so I will not address those questions.
You did also ask how well the existing 5.14e half-elf species would work in 5.24e, which does not appear overly addressed above. I do not think there would be any issue with choosing 5.14e's half-elf species, provided your DM agrees to let you use legacy content. 5.24e is explicitly backwards compatible for this reason - old species still work as intended and can be utilized as player options. Species do not tend to be significantly powerful and were not super power crept with the revised rules, so you should have no real trouble slotting the 5.14e half-elf species into a 5.24e game. You might want to choose some of the optional features that let you shift around ASI to bring things more up to date if your game is using the modern rules.
I also wanted to make a bit of a pitch for another product you might be interested in. DMs Guild (a website that sells third party content) has a cute little product called "An Elf and an Orc had a Little Baby", which is a set of rules for creating characters with mixed-species lineage. Basically it has a point buy system where you can buy traits from each different species to build a combination. Great product that is relatively balanced (though, like anything, there are some flaws--especially when there are detrimental abilities that let you get extra points). I recognize that you said you did not want to spend money, and obviously any third-party content requires DM approval and review, so might not be what you want based on either or both of those considerations. Still, figured you might want to know it is out there if you like making characters of mixed origins and wanted to respond to your above point anyway, so decided to add this to my comment.
Heya, moved this from the previous thread as it wasn't relevant to Hardcover Books, D&D Beyond and You FAQ. To be honest there were probably many other threads on the approach to mix species but sometimes it's good to let a conversation have a fresh start, especially with the new material available.
The intention of the 2024 corebooks was not to include the iconic mixed-species such as 'half-elf' or 'half-orc' not because they wouldn't exist, but because they are not individual species and are not so easily codified. Their existence as a 'core species' in D&D has always been a bit of an odd one. While many mixed species are possible, very few are rarely given set statistics because to do so would bloat the game terribly. This has been a question of design since 1e, with articles in Dragon Magazine touching upon the designers intentions and goals with such. Half-orc and half-elf are in some ways quite the tolkienism and focused on due to that popularity.
However the 2024 core books didn't touch on how one might approach mixed-species in general and folk have noticed a few characters from D&D lore that were explicitly half-elven or half-orc now being noted as 'elf' or 'orc' in new books. This understandably did lead to a bit of a question on if mixed species actually existed as mechanically they didn't and the lore didn't touch on it so much.
CHILDREN OF DIFFERENT HUMANOID KINDS Thanks to the magical workings of the multiverse, Humanoids of different kinds sometimes have children together. For example, folk who have a human parent and an orc or an elf parent are particularly common. Many other combinations are possible. If you’d like to play the child of such a wondrous pairing, choose two Race options that are Humanoid to represent your parents. Then determine which of those Race options provides your game traits: Size, Speed, and special traits. You can then mix and match visual characteristics—color, ear shape, and the like—of the two options. For example, if your character has a halfling and a gnome parent, you might choose Halfling for your game traits and then decide that your character has the pointed ears that are characteristic of a gnome. Finally, determine the average of the two options’ Life Span traits to figure out how long your character might live. For example, a child of a halfling and a gnome has an average life span of 288 years.
In Eberron mixed species has been touched upon in the lore and we have two species options that to many seem to be a replacement for 'Half-elf' and 'half-orc', being Khoravar (Forge of the Artificer) and Jhorgun'taal (Exploring Eberron) respectively. Here we run into lore and design choices.
Khoravar would actually dislike being called 'Half-elven' as they as a people are of mixed elven-human heritage for generations, with some folk having more or less of some of that ancestry. It would be strange to focus on one specific part of their heritage (elven) and try and quantify it.
Jhorgun'taal are interesting as it's noted that there are in eberron many folk of orcish-human ancestry, but Jhorgun'taal are specifically those who show distinct physical traits and abilities of both parentage, and so are 'children of two bloods'.
Most humans or orcs from the Marches have some degree of mixed lineage, even though they may use the game statistics of the species they outwardly resemble. However, the union of human and orc can produce children who have physical traits of both parent species. In the Shadow Marches, such people are called Jhorgun’taal, “children of two bloods”
And there is some strange implications there, as you could be 'half orc/human' and not be Jhorgun'taal mechanically. Your character might also identify as jhorgun'taal (children of two bloods) while mechanically using the orc or human statblock.
This is where the tricky part has always come in for these character concepts. Identity, lineage and mechanics might not all mash up.
Certainly mechanically Jhorgun'taal resembles half-orc of 2014, so could be used as the 2024 update- but you could just use the 2014 version if you really felt like neither orc or human represented your character. Khoravar are a bit different to 2014 half-elf, but the idea is there.
But overall- you can pick the species mechanics that best fit your character concept. You're also not locked in to playing human + 'other species', but could say that your mechanically dwarven PC is actually of dwarven-halfling heritage. But if you want species mechanics that are designed to reflect being mix origin, then yes, the newer Eberon books have a few that might suit you.
Such a comprehensive and helpful response Elgate. Definitely gets the mental wheels turning a little bit and makes me want to learn more about the Eberron concepts you referenced. Thanks very much for this - I'm going to have to take some time to dig deeper into those books.
A short way to get something like a Half-Elf without buying new stuff, or just using the old one, is to talk to your DM and either add a few traits to a human PC or remove a few from an Elven PC. You may also have to talk to your DM about additional starting feats since 2024 species don't have in-built things like Half elf Versatility that lets you pick something, but even if you don't get that you can still make someone who plays like one.
If you start elf, then remove the Trance/Reverie feature that makes your rest period only 4 hours, and give that PC an 8-hour sleep cycle.
If you Start Human then Darkvision and fey ancestry for the advantage on charmed. (Immunity to magic sleep is no longer part of Fey Ancestry. So that is a change there.)
I get the frustration of something you gelled with being removed, and have had friends who have walked from D&D over Half races being removed. They were mixed ancestry IRL and they felt represented by the themes inherent in Half-orc and Half elf. (I did explain they could still make mixed heritage characters in the new system and continue to explore those themes, but they still didn't like what they saw as erasure.)
That said, for a oneshot I made a Mixed Elf-Dwarf (Called a Dwelf in older works) character and we had a lot of fun playing with the tensions of being caught between cultures, which was the theme of the oneshot, and I used the methods I listed above, so it is easily done.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
He/Him. Loooooooooong time Player. The Dark days of the THAC0 system are behind us.
"Hope is a fire that burns in us all If only an ember, awaiting your call To rise up in triumph should we all unite The spark for change is yours to ignite." Kalandra - The State of the World
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Okay, I'm extremely new to forum stuff, but this seems like the most reasonable thread for a question of sorts I've had for awhile now, as someone who got into D&D in 2022 and exclusively uses the free stuff on this site. Uh, if not, please let me know, because I don't 100% know what I'm doing, lol.
My first (and so far only) campaign was during my senior year of high school, which was during the 2023-2024 school, which was kinda just before we got the 2024 rules/edition stuff, meaning we used the 2014 5th Edition stuff. We had a blast, of course. I played a Half-Elf Evocation Wizard/Thief Rouge who couldn't seem to steal anything to save her life. I only mention all of this because:
1). I actually kinda love the half-elf race. At the time, it was great mix of things from both the Human and Elf races, which was pretty fun.
2). When we got the 2024 Basic Rules, I was pretty bummed that the Half-Elf didn't get a revamp like some of the other classes did (and mildly irritated that I can't play 2024 half-orcs without paying, but whatever since we at least 2024 Goliaths and 2024 Orcs for free).
Anyways, since Half-Elves didn't get a revamp (or even become a sub-species thing for the 2024 Elf), how well would they work with the 2024 rules? Specifically the free stuff, because I'd rather not spend money I don't have, lol. I mean, I love that we can have feats for free now, but I wish I could use an updated Folk Hero background without paying, as well as Haunted One if that ever ever gets updated.
Also, is there any chance that the Half-Elf will get a new version like the other races (now species) did? I was honestly pretty surprised it didn't.
I think you'll love the new Eberron book for this explicit concern
DM, player & homebrewer(Current homebrew project is an unofficial conversion of SBURB/SGRUB from Homestuck into DND 5e)
Once made Maxwell's Silver Hammer come down upon Strahd's head to make sure he was dead.
Always study & sharpen philosophical razors. They save a lot of trouble.
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ModeratorHeya, moved this from the previous thread as it wasn't relevant to Hardcover Books, D&D Beyond and You FAQ. To be honest there were probably many other threads on the approach to mix species but sometimes it's good to let a conversation have a fresh start, especially with the new material available.
The intention of the 2024 corebooks was not to include the iconic mixed-species such as 'half-elf' or 'half-orc' not because they wouldn't exist, but because they are not individual species and are not so easily codified. Their existence as a 'core species' in D&D has always been a bit of an odd one. While many mixed species are possible, very few are rarely given set statistics because to do so would bloat the game terribly. This has been a question of design since 1e, with articles in Dragon Magazine touching upon the designers intentions and goals with such. Half-orc and half-elf are in some ways quite the tolkienism and focused on due to that popularity.
However the 2024 core books didn't touch on how one might approach mixed-species in general and folk have noticed a few characters from D&D lore that were explicitly half-elven or half-orc now being noted as 'elf' or 'orc' in new books. This understandably did lead to a bit of a question on if mixed species actually existed as mechanically they didn't and the lore didn't touch on it so much.
You could draw on the 2024 UA Character Origins:
You could also look to the newer releases of Eberron books for inspiration and mechanics:
In Eberron mixed species has been touched upon in the lore and we have two species options that to many seem to be a replacement for 'Half-elf' and 'half-orc', being Khoravar (Forge of the Artificer) and Jhorgun'taal (Exploring Eberron) respectively. Here we run into lore and design choices.
Khoravar would actually dislike being called 'Half-elven' as they as a people are of mixed elven-human heritage for generations, with some folk having more or less of some of that ancestry. It would be strange to focus on one specific part of their heritage (elven) and try and quantify it with a term like 'half-elf'.
Jhorgun'taal are interesting as it's noted that there are in Eberron many folk of orcish-human ancestry, but Jhorgun'taal are specifically those who show distinct physical traits and abilities of both parentage, and so are 'children of two bloods'.
And there is some strange implications there, as you could be 'half orc/human' and not be Jhorgun'taal mechanically. Your character might also identify as jhorgun'taal (children of two bloods) while mechanically using the orc or human statblock.
This is where the tricky part has always come in for these character concepts. Identity, lineage and mechanics might not all match up.
Certainly mechanically Jhorgun'taal resembles half-orc of 2014, so could be used as the 2024 update- but you could just use the 2014 version if you really felt like neither orc or human represented your character. Khoravar are a bit different to 2014 half-elf, but the idea is there.
But overall- you can pick the species mechanics that best fit your character concept. You're also not locked in to playing human + 'other species', but could say that your mechanically dwarven PC is actually of dwarven-halfling heritage. But if you want species mechanics that are designed to reflect being mix origin, then yes, the newer Eberon books have a few that might suit you.
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The above answer your questions regarding the 5.24 content well, so I will not address those questions.
You did also ask how well the existing 5.14e half-elf species would work in 5.24e, which does not appear overly addressed above. I do not think there would be any issue with choosing 5.14e's half-elf species, provided your DM agrees to let you use legacy content. 5.24e is explicitly backwards compatible for this reason - old species still work as intended and can be utilized as player options. Species do not tend to be significantly powerful and were not super power crept with the revised rules, so you should have no real trouble slotting the 5.14e half-elf species into a 5.24e game. You might want to choose some of the optional features that let you shift around ASI to bring things more up to date if your game is using the modern rules.
I also wanted to make a bit of a pitch for another product you might be interested in. DMs Guild (a website that sells third party content) has a cute little product called "An Elf and an Orc had a Little Baby", which is a set of rules for creating characters with mixed-species lineage. Basically it has a point buy system where you can buy traits from each different species to build a combination. Great product that is relatively balanced (though, like anything, there are some flaws--especially when there are detrimental abilities that let you get extra points). I recognize that you said you did not want to spend money, and obviously any third-party content requires DM approval and review, so might not be what you want based on either or both of those considerations. Still, figured you might want to know it is out there if you like making characters of mixed origins and wanted to respond to your above point anyway, so decided to add this to my comment.
Such a comprehensive and helpful response Elgate. Definitely gets the mental wheels turning a little bit and makes me want to learn more about the Eberron concepts you referenced. Thanks very much for this - I'm going to have to take some time to dig deeper into those books.
A short way to get something like a Half-Elf without buying new stuff, or just using the old one, is to talk to your DM and either add a few traits to a human PC or remove a few from an Elven PC.
You may also have to talk to your DM about additional starting feats since 2024 species don't have in-built things like Half elf Versatility that lets you pick something, but even if you don't get that you can still make someone who plays like one.
If you start elf, then remove the Trance/Reverie feature that makes your rest period only 4 hours, and give that PC an 8-hour sleep cycle.
If you Start Human then Darkvision and fey ancestry for the advantage on charmed. (Immunity to magic sleep is no longer part of Fey Ancestry. So that is a change there.)
I get the frustration of something you gelled with being removed, and have had friends who have walked from D&D over Half races being removed. They were mixed ancestry IRL and they felt represented by the themes inherent in Half-orc and Half elf.
(I did explain they could still make mixed heritage characters in the new system and continue to explore those themes, but they still didn't like what they saw as erasure.)
That said, for a oneshot I made a Mixed Elf-Dwarf (Called a Dwelf in older works) character and we had a lot of fun playing with the tensions of being caught between cultures, which was the theme of the oneshot, and I used the methods I listed above, so it is easily done.
He/Him. Loooooooooong time Player.
The Dark days of the THAC0 system are behind us.
"Hope is a fire that burns in us all If only an ember, awaiting your call
To rise up in triumph should we all unite
The spark for change is yours to ignite."
Kalandra - The State of the World