Just started reading through the playtest doc and see that half-elves and half-orcs as we knew them seem to be gone, there is no-longer a specific racial entry for either. Instead you can now decide that your parents were any humanoid combo, and there is no benefit to this beyond choosing which parent's racial options you get, and then you can just "mix and match" aesthetics from both races to decide how you look.
So a "Half'Elf" is not an elf combined with any other humanoid race. You can choose to be half-elf and half-halfling. If you choose that you decide which parent grants you racial benefits. So you can say you are half-elf and half-halfling, and decide you get the benefits of being an elf, and... what? Your size and speed are determined by the parent you chose for your benefits? What's the point?
"I know I look like a goblin, but I'm actually half-orc and half-gnome."
This is just stupid.
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.
Personally, I'm fine with not halving half-species'. You can't make a race for each and every one of them and it just ends up creating more confusion. That being said, I don't like the fact that the people in the video tried to make it sound like they had a new way for you to play half-species' which was just to use on races stats and flavor it as both. That being said, I'm completely fine with this change.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
BoringBard's long and tedious posts somehow manage to enrapture audiences. How? Because he used Charm Person, the #1 bard spell!
He/him pronouns. Call me Bard. PROUD NERD!
Ever wanted to talk about your parties' worst mistakes? Do so HERE. What's your favorite class, why? Share & explainHERE.
I think that really summarizes it right there. We're not against more half-race options. Just that Half-elf and half-orc are pretty iconic by this point and removing them in favor of a watered down option feels wrong.
I think that really summarizes it right there. We're not against more half-race options. Just that Half-elf and half-orc are pretty iconic by this point and removing them in favor of a watered down option feels wrong.
They weren't removed, they were folded into the greater idea of biracial and multiracial characters. Their mechanically distinctand thus slightly uncomfortable presence was removed to make room for the greater widening of multiracial characters.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Canto alla vita alla sua bellezza ad ogni sua ferita ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
Okay. But why? There was literally no reason to do so especially with them being fairly popular on their own.
Edit: I want to add that other races noted for being half-breeds (EX: Tieflings) also are not getting folded in. So why are Aasimar special enough but not half-elves?
Okay. But why? There was literally no reason to do so especially with them being fairly popular on their own.
Because it's a slippery slope from a design standpoint. If you give a player a Half-Elf and Half-Orc, they're going to want to be able to play a Half-Dwarf. And then Half-Halfling. Then Half-Gnome. Maybe even a Lizardfolk-Kobold Hybrid. Or Half-Sea Elf/Half-Triton.
Eventually, that would snowball into the vast majority of PC options being "hybrid" races. That takes too much time and effort, so "just use the mechanics of one of your parent races, change your appearance, and reflavor some things" is a much easier solution that covers all of those possible hybrids and more.
I personally think that a system where you choose one Major feature from one of your parent races (like damage resistance or spellcasting) and a minor one (powerful build or halfling nimbleness) would be cool, but 5e wasn't made with that kind of race design, so it would probably be too complicated to add it now.
Edit: I want to add that other races noted for being half-breeds (EX: Tieflings) also are not getting folded in. So why are Aasimar special enough but not half-elves?
Tieflings aren't "half-breeds" (that would be Cambions). They're in a different category called "Planetouched", which also includes the Genasi, Ardlings, Aasimar, and Hexblood. They have more in common with Sorcerers than they do with half-races like Half-Elves and Half-Dwarves.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Okay. But why? There was literally no reason to do so especially with them being fairly popular on their own.
Being biracial should not some with its own super-special statistics. They're not exotic oddities, despite the "wondrous parings" language in the Origins packet. They're just people.
Because it's a slippery slope from a design standpoint. If you give a player a Half-Elf and Half-Orc, they're going to want to be able to play a Half-Dwarf. And then Half-Halfling. Then Half-Gnome. Maybe even a Lizardfolk-Kobold Hybrid. Or Half-Sea Elf/Half-Triton.
Okay. So? That's what the other stuff is for. You want to play a half-sea-elf half-triton, you use that half-race option. You want to play one of the most popular combinations, they got their own thing.
Being biracial should not some with its own super-special statistics. They're not exotic oddities, despite the "wondrous parings" language in the Origins packet. They're just people.
CORRECTION! They are among the most popular people to play as. While the exact numbers vary, IIRC Wizards own numbers had half-elves coming in at being the third most popular behind only humans and elves and even then you'll find plenty of statistics showing people play half-elves anywhere between the number 4 to number 2 slot, even possibly number 1. Half orcs, while less popular, are still very popular in their own rite as well. I don't see why we should be rolling this into a generic option when they're, well, THAT POPULAR.
Why not? The change opens up more options for players to play the character they really want to. That seems like generally a good thing.
You can have half-elves and half-orcs as their own distinct races (as well as any other half-types you can think of. Half-Goliath/half-halflings become popular for whatever reason? Give them an entry!) with a catch-all option for generics and have no reduction in options. If anything it's an increase in options as you're both expanding ON some of the possible choices and drawing attention to it's existance.
I seriously don't get it. This is a BAD choice. You will never get MORE variety by REMOVING content!
Because it's a slippery slope from a design standpoint. If you give a player a Half-Elf and Half-Orc, they're going to want to be able to play a Half-Dwarf. And then Half-Halfling. Then Half-Gnome. Maybe even a Lizardfolk-Kobold Hybrid. Or Half-Sea Elf/Half-Triton.
Okay. So? That's what the other stuff is for. You want to play a half-sea-elf half-triton, you use that half-race option. You want to play one of the most popular combinations, they got their own thing.
Being biracial should not some with its own super-special statistics. They're not exotic oddities, despite the "wondrous parings" language in the Origins packet. They're just people.
CORRECTION! They are among the most popular people to play as. While the exact numbers vary, IIRC Wizards own numbers had half-elves coming in at being the third most popular behind only humans and elves and even then you'll find plenty of statistics showing people play half-elves anywhere between the number 4 to number 2 slot, even possibly number 1. Half orcs, while less popular, are still very popular in their own rite as well. I don't see why we should be rolling this into a generic option when they're, well, THAT POPULAR.
Why not? The change opens up more options for players to play the character they really want to. That seems like generally a good thing.
You can have half-elves and half-orcs as their own distinct races (as well as any other half-types you can think of. Half-Goliath/half-halflings become popular for whatever reason? Give them an entry!) with a catch-all option for generics and have no reduction in options. If anything it's an increase in options as you're both expanding ON some of the possible choices and drawing attention to it's existance.
I seriously don't get it. This is a BAD choice. You will never get MORE variety by REMOVING content!
One of my players has an elf/bugbear druid, and guess what? She uses the bugbear statistics, because the generic half-elf from the PH is bland. It's powerful, sure, but it lacks flavor. We thought of creating a subrace for her, but we weren't happy with any of them so, honestly, this rule change fits.
I think you're missing the forest for the trees, bud.
Because it's a slippery slope from a design standpoint. If you give a player a Half-Elf and Half-Orc, they're going to want to be able to play a Half-Dwarf. And then Half-Halfling. Then Half-Gnome. Maybe even a Lizardfolk-Kobold Hybrid. Or Half-Sea Elf/Half-Triton.
Okay. So? That's what the other stuff is for. You want to play a half-sea-elf half-triton, you use that half-race option. You want to play one of the most popular combinations, they got their own thing.
It wasn't an option before. And having two different ways to play the same race concept is bad design. Also, the other options have never been playable before, so who know whether or not Half-Dwarves and Half-Gnomes will be less popular than Half-Elves and Half-Orcs?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Because it's a slippery slope from a design standpoint. If you give a player a Half-Elf and Half-Orc, they're going to want to be able to play a Half-Dwarf. And then Half-Halfling. Then Half-Gnome. Maybe even a Lizardfolk-Kobold Hybrid. Or Half-Sea Elf/Half-Triton.
Okay. So? That's what the other stuff is for. You want to play a half-sea-elf half-triton, you use that half-race option. You want to play one of the most popular combinations, they got their own thing.
Being biracial should not some with its own super-special statistics. They're not exotic oddities, despite the "wondrous parings" language in the Origins packet. They're just people.
CORRECTION! They are among the most popular people to play as. While the exact numbers vary, IIRC Wizards own numbers had half-elves coming in at being the third most popular behind only humans and elves and even then you'll find plenty of statistics showing people play half-elves anywhere between the number 4 to number 2 slot, even possibly number 1. Half orcs, while less popular, are still very popular in their own rite as well. I don't see why we should be rolling this into a generic option when they're, well, THAT POPULAR.
Why not? The change opens up more options for players to play the character they really want to. That seems like generally a good thing.
You can have half-elves and half-orcs as their own distinct races (as well as any other half-types you can think of. Half-Goliath/half-halflings become popular for whatever reason? Give them an entry!) with a catch-all option for generics and have no reduction in options. If anything it's an increase in options as you're both expanding ON some of the possible choices and drawing attention to it's existance.
I seriously don't get it. This is a BAD choice. You will never get MORE variety by REMOVING content!
You are advocating for two different rules to be applied - one to the half-elves and half-orcs and another to… everyone else. It also seems that you do not really care much for half-elves or half-orcs at all if by changing some mechanical perks, you think that half-elves and half-orcs are no longer worth playing.
I disagree that removing content cannot result in more variety. By your own admission, half-elves are one of the most popular races to play. If players are only playing half-elves for their mechanical perks, those players would be incentivized to play other combinations. How about a half-elf that has halfling luck? That sounds interesting to me. Or maybe a gnome with a breath weapon. Perhaps a tabaxi with long limbs. Already I am more interested than what you get with half-elves (2014).
You are not losing much and gaining a whole lot more. Anyway, at the end of the day, you never have to play with the new rules - One D&D is compatible with 5e in that if you do not like it, you do not have to use it.
Did you miss the part where I said it was uncomfortable?
You now, it's amazing that only just now are people using words like "uncomfortable" to describe two of the most important player race options in the entirety of the DND setting and lore.
Half-orcs and half-elves aren't aren't "uncomfortable" and they aren't an afterthought. They are integral to the setting. Yes, they should stand out. And yes, they are distinctly different from both parent races. Always have been.
If I wanted to play an elf with the serial numbers filed off, which is what the playtest rules would offer, I would have done that.
As for this hand-wringing about how this would result in a separate system for the less common half-races, honestly, so what? In the uncommon edge case where someone *actually* wants to play a firebreathing halfgnome half-dragonborn, just make it a separate option and that can be that.
Otherwise, you can have my +2 CHA half-elf Paladin when you pry her from my cold dead hands. That's my hill, and I'm happy to die on it. /rant
Did you miss the part where I said it was uncomfortable?
You now, it's amazing that only just now are people using words like "uncomfortable" to describe two of the most important player race options in the entirety of the DND setting and lore.
I can literally cite a poster from this forum saying how half orc description made them bounce off the game entirely dating back to ... looks like January of last year ... well before 1DD even a thing in our consciousness. And that's just the retelling of the story, considering they were talking about a previous edition of D&D, I think this discomfort goes back awhile.
Half-orcs and half-elves aren't aren't "uncomfortable"
I don't think you get to tell people how they feel about something. I'm telling you that how they are handling multiracial people in 1DD makes me, personally, more comfortable.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Canto alla vita alla sua bellezza ad ogni sua ferita ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
You now, it's amazing that only just now are people using words like "uncomfortable" to describe two of the most important player race options in the entirety of the DND setting and lore.
Half-orcs and half-elves aren't aren't "uncomfortable" and they aren't an afterthought. They are integral to the setting. Yes, they should stand out. And yes, they are distinctly different from both parent races. Always have been.
If I wanted to play an elf with the serial numbers filed off, which is what the playtest rules would offer, I would have done that.
As for this hand-wringing about how this would result in a separate system for the less common half-races, honestly, so what? In the uncommon edge case where someone *actually* wants to play a firebreathing halfgnome half-dragonborn, just make it a separate option and that can be that.
Otherwise, you can have my +2 CHA half-elf Paladin when you pry her from my cold dead hands. That's my hill, and I'm happy to die on it. /rant
It is more like you ignored concerns voiced from others because, based on this post, you do not care about what does not impact you personally. How terribly ironic.
If they are integral to the setting, you will pleased to learn that they have not been removed, rendering this entire post pointless. Were their traits all that made half-elves worthwhile to you? They may have been distinctly different from both parent races before, but to borrow a snippet from your post, so what? That is an appeal to tradition… a logical fallacy.
I appreciate that you tried to address my argument without tagging me. Your argument for two systems that clearly favor two races at the expense of all others can easily be flipped on you to show you how entirely unhelpful it is as a solution. Observe.
“As for this hand-wringing about how half-elves’ mechanical traits are being removed, making them no better thematically than any other half-race, so what? In the case where someone *actually* wants to play a half-elf (2014), just open up your DDB character creation and make that. Otherwise, you can take my One D&D half-elf paladin when you blah blah blah.”
>>I can literally cite a poster from this forum saying how half orc description made them bounce off the game entirely dating back to ... looks like January of last year ... well before 1DD even a thing in our consciousness. And that's just the retelling of the story, considering they were talking about a previous edition of D&D, I think this discomfort goes back awhile.
Shrug? I'm not sure what you're driving at here, but you seem to be basing this portion of your response off of... a single poster's anecdotal experience from like a year ago?
Forgive me for saying so, but this is a not a compelling argument.
>>I don't think you get to tell people how they feel about something.
But you do?
>>I'm telling you that how they are handling multiracial people in 1DD makes me, personally, more comfortable.
If you're going to require that we each preface every sentence with the disclaimer, "In my opinion," to be valid, then this is going to be a very, very long conversation.
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but you seem to be implying that there is something vaguely offensive in the fact that Half-Elves and Half-Orcs have traditionally been distinct playable race options, or that they might continue to be. And in my opinion, if that is indeed how you feel then you are certainly entitled to feel that way and to hold that point of view. However, it is not a position I agree with or even find to be sensible. Uncomfortable how? Over what? Where is the offense? Because from where I sit I don't see any reason, vague or otherwise, to be uncomfortable with something that boils down to an established, long-standing, and dare I say quite beloved game mechanic.
By all means, institute the playtest mechanic for those edge case half-races as written. I'm all for it. But exclude half-elves and half-orcs from it and let them keep their own identity and flavor, as they have for many, many years now. That's all I'm saying.
Did you miss the part where I said it was uncomfortable?
You now, it's amazing that only just now are people using words like "uncomfortable" to describe two of the most important player race options in the entirety of the DND setting and lore.
Half-orcs and half-elves aren't aren't "uncomfortable" and they aren't an afterthought. They are integral to the setting. Yes, they should stand out. And yes, they are distinctly different from both parent races. Always have been.
There is literally only one setting that does anything fairly big with Half-Elves and Half-Orcs, and that's Eberron. That's it. They barely get a mention in most other settings, often being "IDK, they're ambassadors between the two peoples or something like that". And in Eberron, they already have distinct rules for how they work, so there's not really any reason to have full racial stats for them in 5e, especially when most of their features are 75% of the non-human parent race with an extra skill or something like that.
Half-Orcs and Half-Elves absolutely are an afterthought in most settings. The only reason why Half-Orcs were playable in the first place was because older editions of D&D considered Orcs too "savage" to be playable, but that went away a while ago. Half-Elves are stupidly designed in D&D because it doesn't take into account the dozen or so Elf subraces and just has a single "one size fits all" identity that is nonsensical in the context of 5e's elf design.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Shrug? I'm not sure what you're driving at here, but you seem to be basing this portion of your response off of... a single poster's anecdotal experience from like a year ago?
You were the one who said "You now, it's amazing that only just now are people using words like "uncomfortable" to describe two of the most important player race options in the entirety of the DND setting and lore."
So I gave you a direct account from literally a previous edition as proof that it not "just now" which I think is relevant.
Forgive me for saying so, but this is a not a compelling argument.
It's just direct proof that your statement about how it's only recently that people are saying Half Elves and Half Orcs are uncomfortable is wrong.
>>I don't think you get to tell people how they feel about something.
But you do?
And how am I doing that, exactly? I'm telling you how I and other people feel. Me in my own words, and others by quoting them. That is direct first hand evidence of how those two races made us uncomfortable. Whereas you were saying that Half Elves and Half Orcs are "not uncomfortable" which is invalidating to me and others who are saying it makes us uncomfortable.
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but you seem to be implying that there is something vaguely offensive in the fact that Half-Elves and Half-Orcs have traditionally been distinct playable race options, or that they might continue to be. And in my opinion, if that is indeed how you feel then you are certainly entitled to feel that way and to hold that point of view. However, it is not a position I agree with or even find to be sensible. Uncomfortable how? Over what? Where is the offense? Because from where I sit I don't see any reason, vague or otherwise, to be uncomfortable with something that boils down to an established, long-standing, and dare I say quite beloved game mechanic.
Like someone already pointed out, portraying biracial people as inherently distinct races with mechanical differences is othering to people who are actually biracial. 1DD making multiracial characters just part of the character lore is so much better because multiracial people are just people, not inherently and mechanically different from anyone else. You don't get to "agree" or disagree with how something makes others feel. You don't get to dictate whether or not it is sensible, that is not your place.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Canto alla vita alla sua bellezza ad ogni sua ferita ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
>>There is literally only one setting that does anything fairly big with Half-Elves and Half-Orcs, and that's Eberron. That's it.
Bro. Did you not read *any* of the DND novels when you were in middle school?
Not only that, but both subraces are among the most popular of all DND player choices, period. This is a verifiable fact. They have both been an option in DND since virtually the beginning. Whether or not you think they are stupidly designed or nonsensical is, to be candid, quite beside the point. There is overriding precedent.
Finally, the fact that there isn't a unified half-elven or half-orc "people" in most settings doesn't mean that they are unimportant or an afterthought. In fact, if time has proven anything, it's that players (and authors too) are often drawn to characters who are outsiders. That's a big part of why these character options are consistently popular.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Personally, I'm fine with not halving half-species'. You can't make a race for each and every one of them and it just ends up creating more confusion. That being said, I don't like the fact that the people in the video tried to make it sound like they had a new way for you to play half-species' which was just to use on races stats and flavor it as both. That being said, I'm completely fine with this change.
BoringBard's long and tedious posts somehow manage to enrapture audiences. How? Because he used Charm Person, the #1 bard spell!
He/him pronouns. Call me Bard. PROUD NERD!
Ever wanted to talk about your parties' worst mistakes? Do so HERE. What's your favorite class, why? Share & explain
HERE.I'm with you, OP. Everyone who thinks that the watering down of these iconic player choices is a good thing is just wrong.
I think that really summarizes it right there. We're not against more half-race options. Just that Half-elf and half-orc are pretty iconic by this point and removing them in favor of a watered down option feels wrong.
They weren't removed, they were folded into the greater idea of biracial and multiracial characters. Their mechanically distinct and thus slightly uncomfortable presence was removed to make room for the greater widening of multiracial characters.
Canto alla vita
alla sua bellezza
ad ogni sua ferita
ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty
To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me
The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
Okay. But why? There was literally no reason to do so especially with them being fairly popular on their own.
Edit: I want to add that other races noted for being half-breeds (EX: Tieflings) also are not getting folded in. So why are Aasimar special enough but not half-elves?
Because it's a slippery slope from a design standpoint. If you give a player a Half-Elf and Half-Orc, they're going to want to be able to play a Half-Dwarf. And then Half-Halfling. Then Half-Gnome. Maybe even a Lizardfolk-Kobold Hybrid. Or Half-Sea Elf/Half-Triton.
Eventually, that would snowball into the vast majority of PC options being "hybrid" races. That takes too much time and effort, so "just use the mechanics of one of your parent races, change your appearance, and reflavor some things" is a much easier solution that covers all of those possible hybrids and more.
I personally think that a system where you choose one Major feature from one of your parent races (like damage resistance or spellcasting) and a minor one (powerful build or halfling nimbleness) would be cool, but 5e wasn't made with that kind of race design, so it would probably be too complicated to add it now.
Tieflings aren't "half-breeds" (that would be Cambions). They're in a different category called "Planetouched", which also includes the Genasi, Ardlings, Aasimar, and Hexblood. They have more in common with Sorcerers than they do with half-races like Half-Elves and Half-Dwarves.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Being biracial should not some with its own super-special statistics. They're not exotic oddities, despite the "wondrous parings" language in the Origins packet. They're just people.
Why not? The change opens up more options for players to play the character they really want to. That seems like generally a good thing.
Okay. So? That's what the other stuff is for. You want to play a half-sea-elf half-triton, you use that half-race option. You want to play one of the most popular combinations, they got their own thing.
CORRECTION! They are among the most popular people to play as. While the exact numbers vary, IIRC Wizards own numbers had half-elves coming in at being the third most popular behind only humans and elves and even then you'll find plenty of statistics showing people play half-elves anywhere between the number 4 to number 2 slot, even possibly number 1. Half orcs, while less popular, are still very popular in their own rite as well. I don't see why we should be rolling this into a generic option when they're, well, THAT POPULAR.
Why not? The change opens up more options for players to play the character they really want to. That seems like generally a good thing.
You can have half-elves and half-orcs as their own distinct races (as well as any other half-types you can think of. Half-Goliath/half-halflings become popular for whatever reason? Give them an entry!) with a catch-all option for generics and have no reduction in options. If anything it's an increase in options as you're both expanding ON some of the possible choices and drawing attention to it's existance.
I seriously don't get it. This is a BAD choice. You will never get MORE variety by REMOVING content!
One of my players has an elf/bugbear druid, and guess what? She uses the bugbear statistics, because the generic half-elf from the PH is bland. It's powerful, sure, but it lacks flavor. We thought of creating a subrace for her, but we weren't happy with any of them so, honestly, this rule change fits.
I think you're missing the forest for the trees, bud.
It wasn't an option before. And having two different ways to play the same race concept is bad design. Also, the other options have never been playable before, so who know whether or not Half-Dwarves and Half-Gnomes will be less popular than Half-Elves and Half-Orcs?
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Did you miss the part where I said it was uncomfortable?
Canto alla vita
alla sua bellezza
ad ogni sua ferita
ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty
To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me
The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
You are advocating for two different rules to be applied - one to the half-elves and half-orcs and another to… everyone else. It also seems that you do not really care much for half-elves or half-orcs at all if by changing some mechanical perks, you think that half-elves and half-orcs are no longer worth playing.
I disagree that removing content cannot result in more variety. By your own admission, half-elves are one of the most popular races to play. If players are only playing half-elves for their mechanical perks, those players would be incentivized to play other combinations. How about a half-elf that has halfling luck? That sounds interesting to me. Or maybe a gnome with a breath weapon. Perhaps a tabaxi with long limbs. Already I am more interested than what you get with half-elves (2014).
You are not losing much and gaining a whole lot more. Anyway, at the end of the day, you never have to play with the new rules - One D&D is compatible with 5e in that if you do not like it, you do not have to use it.
DM mostly, Player occasionally | Session 0 form | He/Him/They/Them
EXTENDED SIGNATURE!
Doctor/Published Scholar/Science and Healthcare Advocate/Critter/Trekkie/Gandalf with a Glock
Try DDB free: Free Rules (2024), premade PCs, adventures, one shots, encounters, SC, homebrew, more
Answers: physical books, purchases, and subbing.
Check out my life-changing
You now, it's amazing that only just now are people using words like "uncomfortable" to describe two of the most important player race options in the entirety of the DND setting and lore.
Half-orcs and half-elves aren't aren't "uncomfortable" and they aren't an afterthought. They are integral to the setting. Yes, they should stand out. And yes, they are distinctly different from both parent races. Always have been.
If I wanted to play an elf with the serial numbers filed off, which is what the playtest rules would offer, I would have done that.
As for this hand-wringing about how this would result in a separate system for the less common half-races, honestly, so what? In the uncommon edge case where someone *actually* wants to play a firebreathing halfgnome half-dragonborn, just make it a separate option and that can be that.
Otherwise, you can have my +2 CHA half-elf Paladin when you pry her from my cold dead hands. That's my hill, and I'm happy to die on it. /rant
I can literally cite a poster from this forum saying how half orc description made them bounce off the game entirely dating back to ... looks like January of last year ... well before 1DD even a thing in our consciousness. And that's just the retelling of the story, considering they were talking about a previous edition of D&D, I think this discomfort goes back awhile.
I don't think you get to tell people how they feel about something. I'm telling you that how they are handling multiracial people in 1DD makes me, personally, more comfortable.
Canto alla vita
alla sua bellezza
ad ogni sua ferita
ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty
To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me
The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
It is more like you ignored concerns voiced from others because, based on this post, you do not care about what does not impact you personally. How terribly ironic.
If they are integral to the setting, you will pleased to learn that they have not been removed, rendering this entire post pointless. Were their traits all that made half-elves worthwhile to you? They may have been distinctly different from both parent races before, but to borrow a snippet from your post, so what? That is an appeal to tradition… a logical fallacy.
I appreciate that you tried to address my argument without tagging me. Your argument for two systems that clearly favor two races at the expense of all others can easily be flipped on you to show you how entirely unhelpful it is as a solution. Observe.
“As for this hand-wringing about how half-elves’ mechanical traits are being removed, making them no better thematically than any other half-race, so what? In the case where someone *actually* wants to play a half-elf (2014), just open up your DDB character creation and make that. Otherwise, you can take my One D&D half-elf paladin when you blah blah blah.”
DM mostly, Player occasionally | Session 0 form | He/Him/They/Them
EXTENDED SIGNATURE!
Doctor/Published Scholar/Science and Healthcare Advocate/Critter/Trekkie/Gandalf with a Glock
Try DDB free: Free Rules (2024), premade PCs, adventures, one shots, encounters, SC, homebrew, more
Answers: physical books, purchases, and subbing.
Check out my life-changing
>>I can literally cite a poster from this forum saying how half orc description made them bounce off the game entirely dating back to ... looks like January of last year ... well before 1DD even a thing in our consciousness. And that's just the retelling of the story, considering they were talking about a previous edition of D&D, I think this discomfort goes back awhile.
Shrug? I'm not sure what you're driving at here, but you seem to be basing this portion of your response off of... a single poster's anecdotal experience from like a year ago?
Forgive me for saying so, but this is a not a compelling argument.
>>I don't think you get to tell people how they feel about something.
But you do?
>>I'm telling you that how they are handling multiracial people in 1DD makes me, personally, more comfortable.
If you're going to require that we each preface every sentence with the disclaimer, "In my opinion," to be valid, then this is going to be a very, very long conversation.
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but you seem to be implying that there is something vaguely offensive in the fact that Half-Elves and Half-Orcs have traditionally been distinct playable race options, or that they might continue to be. And in my opinion, if that is indeed how you feel then you are certainly entitled to feel that way and to hold that point of view. However, it is not a position I agree with or even find to be sensible. Uncomfortable how? Over what? Where is the offense? Because from where I sit I don't see any reason, vague or otherwise, to be uncomfortable with something that boils down to an established, long-standing, and dare I say quite beloved game mechanic.
By all means, institute the playtest mechanic for those edge case half-races as written. I'm all for it. But exclude half-elves and half-orcs from it and let them keep their own identity and flavor, as they have for many, many years now. That's all I'm saying.
There is literally only one setting that does anything fairly big with Half-Elves and Half-Orcs, and that's Eberron. That's it. They barely get a mention in most other settings, often being "IDK, they're ambassadors between the two peoples or something like that". And in Eberron, they already have distinct rules for how they work, so there's not really any reason to have full racial stats for them in 5e, especially when most of their features are 75% of the non-human parent race with an extra skill or something like that.
Half-Orcs and Half-Elves absolutely are an afterthought in most settings. The only reason why Half-Orcs were playable in the first place was because older editions of D&D considered Orcs too "savage" to be playable, but that went away a while ago. Half-Elves are stupidly designed in D&D because it doesn't take into account the dozen or so Elf subraces and just has a single "one size fits all" identity that is nonsensical in the context of 5e's elf design.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
You were the one who said "You now, it's amazing that only just now are people using words like "uncomfortable" to describe two of the most important player race options in the entirety of the DND setting and lore."
So I gave you a direct account from literally a previous edition as proof that it not "just now" which I think is relevant.
It's just direct proof that your statement about how it's only recently that people are saying Half Elves and Half Orcs are uncomfortable is wrong.
And how am I doing that, exactly? I'm telling you how I and other people feel. Me in my own words, and others by quoting them. That is direct first hand evidence of how those two races made us uncomfortable. Whereas you were saying that Half Elves and Half Orcs are "not uncomfortable" which is invalidating to me and others who are saying it makes us uncomfortable.
Like someone already pointed out, portraying biracial people as inherently distinct races with mechanical differences is othering to people who are actually biracial. 1DD making multiracial characters just part of the character lore is so much better because multiracial people are just people, not inherently and mechanically different from anyone else. You don't get to "agree" or disagree with how something makes others feel. You don't get to dictate whether or not it is sensible, that is not your place.
Canto alla vita
alla sua bellezza
ad ogni sua ferita
ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty
To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me
The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
>>There is literally only one setting that does anything fairly big with Half-Elves and Half-Orcs, and that's Eberron. That's it.
Bro. Did you not read *any* of the DND novels when you were in middle school?
Not only that, but both subraces are among the most popular of all DND player choices, period. This is a verifiable fact. They have both been an option in DND since virtually the beginning. Whether or not you think they are stupidly designed or nonsensical is, to be candid, quite beside the point. There is overriding precedent.
Finally, the fact that there isn't a unified half-elven or half-orc "people" in most settings doesn't mean that they are unimportant or an afterthought. In fact, if time has proven anything, it's that players (and authors too) are often drawn to characters who are outsiders. That's a big part of why these character options are consistently popular.