Right now, Half-Orc and Half-Elves presume the other half is human. That is something Wizards is looking into changing with 5.5, but those changes are not implemented yet. You could look at those rules—I think they were in the first playtest package released.
Without an official rule, this falls firmly into “ask your DM/if you are DM, make a decision on your own” territory. I know if I were DMing, I would let the player choose either half-elf or half-orc (their pick based on which traits they want to exhibit more) and let them say the other half was whichever they did not choose.
Custom Lineage from Tasha’s was created, in part, for this very reason. Or you can choose either the elf stats or orc stats (or whatever two races you are combining) and use one of those. Or talk to your DM and see if they can work with you to create a balanced combo.
As a personal note, if the One D&D change goes into effect where each Race is a Species, mixed lineages doesn’t really make any sense anymore. Personally I actually never saw Half Orcs as being a mix of human and orc but instead being their own thing that was given the name of Half Orc by the other Races, while in actuality it was closer to the creatures we saw in Lord of the Rings that Saruman created. Half Elves were half elven and human and I can justify that as having coke from the same creators. Biology in D&D is almost intentionally weird.
As a personal note, if the One D&D change goes into effect where each Race is a Species, mixed lineages doesn’t really make any sense anymore. Personally I actually never saw Half Orcs as being a mix of human and orc but instead being their own thing that was given the name of Half Orc by the other Races, while in actuality is was closer to the creatures we saw in Lord of the Rings that Saruman created. Half Elves were half elven and human and I can justify that as having coke from the same creators. Biology in D&D is almost intentionally weird.
It still would make sense. Species interbreed all the time in the real world and the 8th grade biology "species cannot produce viable offspring" is a myth perpetrated by bad science teachers for decades. Modern humans, in fact, are the product of different species interbreeding, with upwards of 4% of the modern genome coming from the production of viable offspring between early Homo Sapiens and Neanderthals.
Plus, even if one still wanted to follow incorrect, but commonly believed, teachings, it all kind of falls apart when you can say, "okay, but this world is Magic."
As a personal note, if the One D&D change goes into effect where each Race is a Species, mixed lineages doesn’t really make any sense anymore. Personally I actually never saw Half Orcs as being a mix of human and orc but instead being their own thing that was given the name of Half Orc by the other Races, while in actuality is was closer to the creatures we saw in Lord of the Rings that Saruman created. Half Elves were half elven and human and I can justify that as having coke from the same creators. Biology in D&D is almost intentionally weird.
It still would make sense. Species interbreed all the time in the real world and the 8th grade biology "species cannot produce viable offspring" is a myth perpetrated by bad science teachers for decades. Modern humans, in fact, are the product of different species interbreeding, with upwards of 4% of the modern genome coming from the production of viable offspring between early Homo Sapiens and Neanderthals.
Plus, even if one still wanted to follow incorrect, but commonly believed, teachings, it all kind of falls apart when you can say, "okay, but this world is Magic."
Interesting, I was honestly not aware of this (understand that it’s nothing I had to care about for purposes of RL anything). I feel like it’s still unlikely that a human or elf would breed with an orc (their differences are definitely more than skin deep and physical attractiveness always plays a part here) BUT if it’s possible than it likely already has happened. For worlds with any basis in our own world or inspired by published fantasy it’s also likely that the offspring would face severe xenophobia. Obviously it wouldn’t be a species wide certainty but I find it easier to suspend disbelief over Flight and Invisibility than a completely lack of bigotry.
Edit: Thanks to the OP, I enjoy threads like these, especially when I pick up something new. Certainly inspires me to do a bit of scientific research.
Naturally it goes without saying it’s up to the DM.
if you want a lore answer for the Forgotten Realms, orcs and elves cannot have children together. Neither Corellon Larethian or Gruumsh would permit such a soul to be created. It’s actually one of the few things they agree upon. You can have an orc and drow have a child since the Drow are not under Corellon’s portfolio. Also there is canonical evidence in a novel of a half-orc half-drow character.
As a personal note, if the One D&D change goes into effect where each Race is a Species, mixed lineages doesn’t really make any sense anymore. Personally I actually never saw Half Orcs as being a mix of human and orc but instead being their own thing that was given the name of Half Orc by the other Races, while in actuality is was closer to the creatures we saw in Lord of the Rings that Saruman created. Half Elves were half elven and human and I can justify that as having coke from the same creators. Biology in D&D is almost intentionally weird.
It still would make sense. Species interbreed all the time in the real world and the 8th grade biology "species cannot produce viable offspring" is a myth perpetrated by bad science teachers for decades. Modern humans, in fact, are the product of different species interbreeding, with upwards of 4% of the modern genome coming from the production of viable offspring between early Homo Sapiens and Neanderthals.
Plus, even if one still wanted to follow incorrect, but commonly believed, teachings, it all kind of falls apart when you can say, "okay, but this world is Magic."
I mean, it's worth noting that while interbreeding is easier than some might think, the offspring can still be sterile, like most mules and ligers, whereas the D&D half races are (to my knowledge), capable of having children of their own. So technically you might still be stretching to say that something like a tabaxi/dragonborn union would produce a child who could then have children of their own.
Of course, that's getting into boring real world science; personally while I might not allow some of the more biologically distinct pairings such as the above (dragonborn lay eggs, whereas I assume tabaxi live birth) that seem a bridge too far, that's just me and if you and the DM if applicable are good with whatever pairing, have fun with it, go wild.
Yeah, cross-species reproduction in D&D doesn't even pay lip service to science. Dragons aren't even tetrapods, due to having wings in addition to four legs, which means that taxonomically, they're less-closely related to humans than lungfish are. But they're perfectly capable of interbreeding.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
If an Orc and a Human have a kid, its a half-orc. If am elf and a human have a kid, its a half-elf.
Can an Orc and an Elf have a kid? If so, what happens? Do I make a homebrew for that, or does it just make a half-orc? Or is there a Race for that?
In official canon, the gods of Orcs and Elves hate each other an actively prevent such pairings. Now in the up coming edition Hasbro is trying to remove the "racial" animosity. But with the new edition halves will be done differently. But on the current lore and rules such a mix is impossible. But in homebrew settings I would start with half Orc rules and add a feat from elves ie fey step at 3 and allow fey ancestry feats.
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Big Bad Pigsmelled lotsof flowersand becamea good pig. - Snapple 1999~ radio ad.
If an Orc and a Human have a kid, its a half-orc. If am elf and a human have a kid, its a half-elf.
Can an Orc and an Elf have a kid? If so, what happens? Do I make a homebrew for that, or does it just make a half-orc? Or is there a Race for that?
In official canon, the gods of Orcs and Elves hate each other an actively prevent such pairings. Now in the up coming edition Hasbro is trying to remove the "racial" animosity. But with the new edition halves will be done differently. But on the current lore and rules such a mix is impossible. But in homebrew settings I would start with half Orc rules and add a feat from elves ie fey step at 3 and allow fey ancestry feats.
That's only true in the Forgotten Realms and other settings that make use of Gruumsh and Corellon. Neither exists in Eberron, for example, and there's no "racial animosity" between orcs and elves and no divine prohibition on them reproducing.
It's really important to remember that there's no such thing as "D&D lore," really. All lore is setting specific, even when we're talking about official WotC settings.
Going off the Custom Lineage rules from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, here's a quick-and-dirty set of traits:
Elf-Orc Racial Traits
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength and Dexterity scores both increase by 1.
Creature Type. You are a humanoid.
Size. You are Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision. You have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern colour in darkness, only shades of gray.
Skilled. You gain proficiency in the Intimidation and Perception skills, and in one additional skill (such as Nature or Survival), tool (such as the Herbalism Kit or a type of musical instrument), or simple weapon (such as handaxes or shortbows) of your choice.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common, and either Elvish or Orc.
Design Notes:
Tasha's Custom Lineage rules actually only recommends having an Ability Score Increase increase one score by 2, not two by 1, but I figured that no harm's done tweaking it.
The Custom Lineage rules give you a feat—that's what the Skilled trait is. As you know, however, the Skilled feat only provides proficiency in skills and tools, not simple weapons; but Tasha's also has rules for exchanging a tool proficiency with proficiency with a simple weapon.
Optionally, you could modify these traits in the following ways:
You could make the Ability Score Increase trait increase Strength or Dexterity by 2, rather than both by 1.
You could replace the Skilled trait with a different feat of your choice. Thematic options include Savage Attacker, Durable, or Orcish Fury,* representing one's Orcish heritage; or Observant, Sharpshooter, or Elven Accuracy,* representing one's Elven ancestry; or Mobile, for either.
Hope this helps. I might also make this into a D&D Beyond Homebrew Race.
*These feats are found in Xanathar's Guide to Everything.
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Player Characters: Wes Wisetune, Halfling Bard; Zook Beren, Gnome Diviner; Cael, Eladrin Wild Mage; Sir Sammal, Kenku Cavalier; & Mitchell Giovanni, Human Conjuror.
If we are using multiple editions for lore to complete the blanks, the gods of the orcs designed them to be the perfect pillagers. This includes the fact half-orcs will typically become stronger then their forbearers which incentivizes orcs to mate outside of their race to create stronger offspring even if the other parent would technically be weaker. Half elves are just a mixing of race. Orcs are a godly intervention to force certain traits to be pushed. So a orc/elf hybrid would always be a half orc.
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If an Orc and a Human have a kid, its a half-orc. If am elf and a human have a kid, its a half-elf.
Can an Orc and an Elf have a kid? If so, what happens? Do I make a homebrew for that, or does it just make a half-orc? Or is there a Race for that?
Upvote Ichulla the Unfathomed
"Be the change you wish to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi
RAW I think you'd just make a half-orc. You can flavor it however you want, but you wouldn't get a mechanical change for it.
One DnD has a system for mixed lineages like this, but 5e only really supports half-orcs that are half human or half-elves that are half human.
Right now, Half-Orc and Half-Elves presume the other half is human. That is something Wizards is looking into changing with 5.5, but those changes are not implemented yet. You could look at those rules—I think they were in the first playtest package released.
Without an official rule, this falls firmly into “ask your DM/if you are DM, make a decision on your own” territory. I know if I were DMing, I would let the player choose either half-elf or half-orc (their pick based on which traits they want to exhibit more) and let them say the other half was whichever they did not choose.
It's only until recently that half-elves even got the versatility to choose which type of elf the elf half even was.
Originally it was just vague.
I’d say you’re either a half-orc or a half-elf, whichever you prefer.
Custom Lineage from Tasha’s was created, in part, for this very reason. Or you can choose either the elf stats or orc stats (or whatever two races you are combining) and use one of those. Or talk to your DM and see if they can work with you to create a balanced combo.
There's always the custom lineage rules in Tasha's. You might be able to cobble together something the feels like an orc/elf.
Ninja'd
Up to DM and player what would be the result of such offspring as written Half-Elf and Half-Orc are human half-breed.
If it's for a player character race, it could use the statistics of a Half-Elf, Half-Orc, Elf or Orc and be called accordingly.
Well it'll be either an Olf or an Erc, and you can go with any race involved or the fusions, as there are no rules that tell you what to pick.
As a personal note, if the One D&D change goes into effect where each Race is a Species, mixed lineages doesn’t really make any sense anymore. Personally I actually never saw Half Orcs as being a mix of human and orc but instead being their own thing that was given the name of Half Orc by the other Races, while in actuality it was closer to the creatures we saw in Lord of the Rings that Saruman created. Half Elves were half elven and human and I can justify that as having coke from the same creators. Biology in D&D is almost intentionally weird.
It still would make sense. Species interbreed all the time in the real world and the 8th grade biology "species cannot produce viable offspring" is a myth perpetrated by bad science teachers for decades. Modern humans, in fact, are the product of different species interbreeding, with upwards of 4% of the modern genome coming from the production of viable offspring between early Homo Sapiens and Neanderthals.
Plus, even if one still wanted to follow incorrect, but commonly believed, teachings, it all kind of falls apart when you can say, "okay, but this world is Magic."
Interesting, I was honestly not aware of this (understand that it’s nothing I had to care about for purposes of RL anything). I feel like it’s still unlikely that a human or elf would breed with an orc (their differences are definitely more than skin deep and physical attractiveness always plays a part here) BUT if it’s possible than it likely already has happened. For worlds with any basis in our own world or inspired by published fantasy it’s also likely that the offspring would face severe xenophobia. Obviously it wouldn’t be a species wide certainty but I find it easier to suspend disbelief over Flight and Invisibility than a completely lack of bigotry.
Edit: Thanks to the OP, I enjoy threads like these, especially when I pick up something new. Certainly inspires me to do a bit of scientific research.
Thanks for all your answers
Upvote Ichulla the Unfathomed
"Be the change you wish to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi
Naturally it goes without saying it’s up to the DM.
if you want a lore answer for the Forgotten Realms, orcs and elves cannot have children together. Neither Corellon Larethian or Gruumsh would permit such a soul to be created. It’s actually one of the few things they agree upon. You can have an orc and drow have a child since the Drow are not under Corellon’s portfolio. Also there is canonical evidence in a novel of a half-orc half-drow character.
I mean, it's worth noting that while interbreeding is easier than some might think, the offspring can still be sterile, like most mules and ligers, whereas the D&D half races are (to my knowledge), capable of having children of their own. So technically you might still be stretching to say that something like a tabaxi/dragonborn union would produce a child who could then have children of their own.
Of course, that's getting into boring real world science; personally while I might not allow some of the more biologically distinct pairings such as the above (dragonborn lay eggs, whereas I assume tabaxi live birth) that seem a bridge too far, that's just me and if you and the DM if applicable are good with whatever pairing, have fun with it, go wild.
Yeah, cross-species reproduction in D&D doesn't even pay lip service to science. Dragons aren't even tetrapods, due to having wings in addition to four legs, which means that taxonomically, they're less-closely related to humans than lungfish are. But they're perfectly capable of interbreeding.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
In official canon, the gods of Orcs and Elves hate each other an actively prevent such pairings. Now in the up coming edition Hasbro is trying to remove the "racial" animosity. But with the new edition halves will be done differently. But on the current lore and rules such a mix is impossible. But in homebrew settings I would start with half Orc rules and add a feat from elves ie fey step at 3 and allow fey ancestry feats.
That's only true in the Forgotten Realms and other settings that make use of Gruumsh and Corellon. Neither exists in Eberron, for example, and there's no "racial animosity" between orcs and elves and no divine prohibition on them reproducing.
It's really important to remember that there's no such thing as "D&D lore," really. All lore is setting specific, even when we're talking about official WotC settings.
Going off the Custom Lineage rules from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, here's a quick-and-dirty set of traits:
Design Notes:
Optionally, you could modify these traits in the following ways:
Hope this helps. I might also make this into a D&D Beyond Homebrew Race.
*These feats are found in Xanathar's Guide to Everything.
Player Characters: Wes Wisetune, Halfling Bard; Zook Beren, Gnome Diviner; Cael, Eladrin Wild Mage; Sir Sammal, Kenku Cavalier; & Mitchell Giovanni, Human Conjuror.
If we are using multiple editions for lore to complete the blanks, the gods of the orcs designed them to be the perfect pillagers. This includes the fact half-orcs will typically become stronger then their forbearers which incentivizes orcs to mate outside of their race to create stronger offspring even if the other parent would technically be weaker. Half elves are just a mixing of race. Orcs are a godly intervention to force certain traits to be pushed. So a orc/elf hybrid would always be a half orc.