Why did DnD remove Half-Elves?

Quote from MaedraDawnkeeper >>

But I strongly advise instead focusing more on cultures a PC lives/lived with/in than what a character is born into, body-wise.

 This was specifically called out as to why they shifted ability score increases to backgrounds.  Because the character's upbringing and would provide more variety and strengths than "I have these genes therefore I am smart."

Quote from Perringaiden >>

Quote from CunningSmile >>

Admittedly I'm a pasty white guy from England so my lived experience is different from a lot of other people (so tell me to butt out if I'm being insensitive) but why do people always question/complain about/resent the Half Elf being removed but you never hear a peep about the fact half-Dwarf or half-gnome has never been an option or the fact that the two half races we did have were both other half-human? I admit that the answer should have been to expand options rather than remove, even just a side bar like they had in UA if they weren't willing to go full An Elf and an Orc had a Little Baby, but it seems to responses to stuff being removed have all been very selective and many just based on the Half-Elf being a pretty powerful mechanical choice

 Mul is a Dark Sun race option from 2e, with a dwarf parent and a human parent, but as the name hints, genetically sterile.  There's also mentions in Forgotten Realms old lore about Dwelves. And Ogrillion is a Half-ogre.

 Mul is also a bigoted term in Athas itself.

Quote from PPSS2022 >>

Like, whhhhhy? I get the removal of half-orcs, because the true orc species really filled in that niche and to make room for other species, but Half-Elves are a staple of fantasy! Why were these removed?

 "I get the removal of half-elves, because the true elf species really filled in that niche and to make room for other species, but Half-Orcs are a staple of fantasy!"

It's the exact same thing.  You can absolutely play a "half-elf" in standard 5.5e.  Either the Elven side is prominent and you use the Elf species, or the Human side is prominent and you use the Human species.  

I would recommend reading previous threads on this exact topic before starting a new one to rehash what has already been said.

Quote from RecordiconKnok >>

Quote from Frachese >>

It makes perfect sense with the change in terminology. It's sort of in the biological definition of species that you can't mix them to get a new species.

 Actually, you can mix two species to get a new one. It's called hybrid speciation. Plenty of species are the result of this, like the Clymene dolphin or the New Mexico whiptail

 And, in the Eastern parts of the United States and Canada, the Eastern Coyote, also called the Coydog, Coyle, or Coywolf.  A hybrid that on average is 2/3 coyote, with the remaining third being split roughly between wolves and domestic dogs.  

Quote from ArmorStorm >>

Quote from PPSS2022 >>

Like, whhhhhy? I get the removal of half-orcs, because the true orc species really filled in that niche and to make room for other species, but Half-Elves are a staple of fantasy! Why were these removed?

 "I get the removal of half-elves, because the true elf species really filled in that niche and to make room for other species, but Half-Orcs are a staple of fantasy!"

It's the exact same thing.  You can absolutely play a "half-elf" in standard 5.5e.  Either the Elven side is prominent and you use the Elf species, or the Human side is prominent and you use the Human species.  

Not really- half-orcs had almost nothing mechanically or descriptively to distinguish them from full orcs beyond "orcs are too evil to be a PC race", which is both setting specific and has a lot of baggage. This because the race was largely a half-measure- wordplay intended- to allow for orcs in typical parties once they gained a lot more prevalence in fantasy media as something besides generic minions. Half elves have a lifespan that is out of sync with either side of their lineage, qualities like seeing in the dark that distinguish them from humans on the one hand, and on the other lacking the iconic D&D elven trance, which has the narrative/characterization advantage of raising spiritual questions in settings like the FR. Creates a very distinct characterization that doesn't lend itself well to just reskinning one of the parent sets of traits.

Quote from ArmorStorm >>

Quote from PPSS2022 >>

Like, whhhhhy? I get the removal of half-orcs, because the true orc species really filled in that niche and to make room for other species, but Half-Elves are a staple of fantasy! Why were these removed?

 "I get the removal of half-elves, because the true elf species really filled in that niche and to make room for other species, but Half-Orcs are a staple of fantasy!"

It's the exact same thing.  You can absolutely play a "half-elf" in standard 5.5e.  Either the Elven side is prominent and you use the Elf species, or the Human side is prominent and you use the Human species.  

 I completely disagree. The half-orc species and the 5.5e orc species are almost the same. The only difference besides things that were removed from all species like ability scores are: 

• Loss of Intimidation Proficiency.
• Loss of Savage Attacks feature (was only useful for martials anyway).
• Gained Adrenaline Rush.

So, mechanically practically the same, and regarding the lore. My guess was that by the time of release, true orcs were still considered "Too Evil" to be a playable species (look at Orcs in 5e monster manual), so this was their solution.

Half-Elves though, imo, are completely different. They had much more ingrained lore, for instance, about being caught between two worlds, and had some interesting features, like a unique lifespan.

They also had some interesting elf traits, such as Darkvision and Fey Ancestry, but lacked others, such as Trance and the spells.

This duality would be hard to replicate by just playing a Human or Elf.

Quote from Perringaiden >>

Quote from CunningSmile >>

Admittedly I'm a pasty white guy from England so my lived experience is different from a lot of other people (so tell me to butt out if I'm being insensitive) but why do people always question/complain about/resent the Half Elf being removed but you never hear a peep about the fact half-Dwarf or half-gnome has never been an option or the fact that the two half races we did have were both other half-human? I admit that the answer should have been to expand options rather than remove, even just a side bar like they had in UA if they weren't willing to go full An Elf and an Orc had a Little Baby, but it seems to responses to stuff being removed have all been very selective and many just based on the Half-Elf being a pretty powerful mechanical choice

 Mul is a Dark Sun race option from 2e, with a dwarf parent and a human parent, but as the name hints, genetically sterile.  There's also mentions in Forgotten Realms old lore about Dwelves. And Ogrillion is a Half-ogre.

 Thanks, so they exist (or at least have existed in previous editions) but that just reinforces my point about why do people get so angry about Half-Elf being removed but you never hear a word to ask why Dwelves aren’t playable? This isn’t even the first thread about half-elves, we seem to get one a month, but I’ve never even heard of an Ogrillon. The whole thing just seems motivated by power gamers who miss a powerful choice and people nostalgic for Dragonlance 

Quote from CunningSmile >>

Quote from Perringaiden >>

Quote from CunningSmile >>

Admittedly I'm a pasty white guy from England so my lived experience is different from a lot of other people (so tell me to butt out if I'm being insensitive) but why do people always question/complain about/resent the Half Elf being removed but you never hear a peep about the fact half-Dwarf or half-gnome has never been an option or the fact that the two half races we did have were both other half-human? I admit that the answer should have been to expand options rather than remove, even just a side bar like they had in UA if they weren't willing to go full An Elf and an Orc had a Little Baby, but it seems to responses to stuff being removed have all been very selective and many just based on the Half-Elf being a pretty powerful mechanical choice

 Mul is a Dark Sun race option from 2e, with a dwarf parent and a human parent, but as the name hints, genetically sterile.  There's also mentions in Forgotten Realms old lore about Dwelves. And Ogrillion is a Half-ogre.

 Thanks, so they exist (or at least have existed in previous editions) but that just reinforces my point about why do people get so angry about Half-Elf being removed but you never hear a word to ask why Dwelves aren’t playable? This isn’t even the first thread about half-elves, we seem to get one a month, but I’ve never even heard of an Ogrillon. The whole thing just seems motivated by power gamers who miss a powerful choice and people nostalgic for Dragonlance 

 Honestly, I've never seen the point of half-races by definition in the mechanics.  Story-wise sure, but then you can do exactly what they intended.

If you want a race that's adaptable with intelligence and pointy ears, make a fully fledged independent race.  The 'half' quality is pointless mechanically.

Quote from Perringaiden >>

Quote from CunningSmile >>

Quote from Perringaiden >>

Quote from CunningSmile >>

 Honestly, I've never seen the point of half-races by definition in the mechanics.  Story-wise sure, but then you can do exactly what they intended.

If you want a race that's adaptable with intelligence and pointy ears, make a fully fledged independent race.  The 'half' quality is pointless mechanically.

From a player psychology standpoint, half races make a lot of sense.  Players absolutely love when their roleplay bleeds into their mechanics.  After all, you can say whatever you want at table, but unless it is reduced to a mechanic, it has little functional representation on your character sheet.

Speaking from my own experience, I have seen a lot of players who make suboptimal choices on their mechanics simply because it works for their character.  “My character like to dance, so I’ll take performance even though I am bad at Cha.”  “I might not be an Int character, but my little guy is still devout, so I’ll take religion.”

I see half-species as an extension of that same mindset.  They are a way for players to live out a classic fantasy trope - folks who don’t fully fit into either of their worlds - and have that “I’m part of both but also neither” vibe reflected mechanically on their sheet.

They also make a lot of sense from a biology standpoint.  Even acknowledging that D&D is a fantasy world and real world biology is not applicable, part of any fantasy is reflecting the parts of reality one is interested in.  Hybrids like mules and ligers have very different traits than either of their parent species, and it makes sense someone would want such real world hybridization reflected in the game.

Now, all that said, I’m not sure Wizards really is equipped to fill this fantasy.  Given their limited publishing space means they’re only going to have room to put in relevant half species, like in Eberron (and very likely Dark Sun), that actually are an established part of the worlds.  

But it is pretty easy to see why there is a point to their existence, even if that point might be eclipsed by publishing limitations (and, frankly, better handled by third party content which can dedicate multiple books to charts of mix and match characteristics).

Quote from Davyd >>

They only "removed" half-elves (and half-orcs) in the non-narrative mechanical sense. To quote Crawford:

“Frankly, we are not comfortable, and haven’t been for years with any of the options that start with ‘half’…The half construction is inherently racist so we simply aren’t going to include it in the new Player’s Handbook.”

 

Now, many a bad-actor has misrepresented this as meaning "OMG Jeremy Crawford thinks the existence of mixed-ancestry people is racist". That's not what is being said.

What is being said is that the way that D&D mechanically delineated mixed-ancestry peoples (specifically those of orc and elf lineage) was inherently racist. It's othering and problematic because it says that being of a mixed ancestry makes you objectively disconnected from either of your heritages.

Even the "half-X" naming convention is a whole level of othering on its own, centering human as a 'default' species

Treating them as fantasy analogues to groups like the Metis or Louisiana Creoles, with separate names and cultural identities, seems like the better way to go

Probably why half elves and half orcs got their own unique names in the recent Eberron books 

Quote from bthec18 >>

Probably why half elves and half orcs got their own unique names in the recent Eberron books 

Not really; those names have been part of established Eberron lore since long before 5.5e existed.

Quote from PPSS2022 >>

Half-Elves are a staple of fantasy! Why were these removed?

Just the term was removed. Mixed heritage still exists in D&D: you just choose elf or human for the stats. Or (as mentioned) if you have the Eberron bundle you can choose Khoravar (i.e. half-elves that hate being called half-elves).

Quote from MattV >>

Quote from PPSS2022 >>

Half-Elves are a staple of fantasy! Why were these removed?

 

Just the term was removed. Mixed heritage still exists in D&D: you just choose elf or human for the stats. Or (as mentioned) if you have the Eberron bundle you can choose Khoravar (i.e. half-elves that hate being called half-elves).

Eh, they felt pretty removed in the 2024 PHB. As has been noted by myself and others, there's a particular "caught in the middle" vibe the 2014 stats captured that you can't really replicate with the "pick one parent's stats and average the lifespan" approach. You've either got an elf who might have facial hair- which might not even be significant if the table is loose with appearance stuff to begin with- or a human with pointy ears. On the system-wide scale that's a reasonable plug and play approach once there's literally hundreds of possible pairings, but compared to the official 2014 block it was notable for its absence prior to the 5.5 Eberron book.

CunningSmile brings up the other half of the reason why the "halves" may have been removed. Certainly there is the moral sensitivity aspect which our current societies are thankfully more cognizant of than those of the 1970s. But beyond that there is the matter of plain and simple space on the page. Just the core 5.5 ruleset gives us 10 species options. That gives us 55 possible parental combinations for your character. And that doesn't even factor in the "dominant/recessive" aspect, which would expand it even more. Then if we were to add to that all the other species available through Ravenloft, Lorwyn, Eberron, MotM, Dragonlance, Spelljammer, Strixhaven, Van Richten's, Theros, Ravnica, SCAG, AI, MToF, Volo's, Ebon Tide, Grim Hollow, the Tortle, Grung, and Locathah, and the dozen or so other sourcebooks available, we would soon find ourselves buried under an exponentially-expanding mountain of potential species combinations that would require a 5,000 page Player's Handbook to properly delineate.

Sourcebooks have finite space available. Printing costs money. Shipping costs money. And besides, the "rules" presented in D&D have always been guidelines and nothing more. The books give us a framework upon which to build our own games. If you want half-elves or half-orcs or dwelflings or Tiesimar or Gnorcs... you can have them. You may need a pencil and a paper character sheet, or you may need to type up a homebrew entry in DNDB, but the option is always there. The only limit is your imagination. 

At this point, there's no smooth way to handle a fundamental issue like this.

Damned if they do, damned if they don't. Every time w/every thing until Dungeons & Dragons is ejected into the public domain in every conceivable way.