Quote from vaderman72 >>

You know that's not the real reason at least be honest

 Why don't you tell me what it is you want me to be honest about?

But in the future D&D Beyond "My Character" section (for D&D 2024) will I be able to select Half-Orc or half-elf to create my character?

Technically species can't interbreed, you have to be of the same race to do that. So the suggested flexibility in the new system is going to allow any combination though the small bit of info on it seemed lack luster: Pick the traits from one of the 'species' but you blend the appearance with the other chosen 'species' is what it boiled down to.

Personally, (and I haven't seen any further information on this) a more modular approach to the different traits of each race would then allow you to pick and chose things that actually mattered when it comes to the dice rolls.

That said, all hail the new Dwarf and Orc cross species ..... now known as the 'Dork'.

Also, a Dark Elf/Drow who does not have sunlight sensitivity and lives above ground is just an Elf.

In many ways, the negative traits allow for more roleplaying options than the positive ones do and provide a character with more depth. Removing them, along with the removal of the stat adjustments takes away some of that uniqueness from each one and mechanically then does not allow for proper mixing and matching when it comes to trying to create the 'half-breed' races that have always been super popular.

For example,  if each species had a 'Standard Trait' that applied to all sub-races of that species, a 'Minor Trait' and then a 'Major Trait' which could vary between the sub-races we start to get a better definition of that species and some subtle and interesting differences within it. Add to that a 'Standard Drawback', 'Minor Drawback', 'Major Drawback' and you have a much stronger and meaningful way to manage things when it comes to building a 'half-breed' you would like to play where you would have to take one standard trait, one standard drawback and so on.

There was a point in time where we never had the easy option to increase our stats as we levelled up as well so what you started with was what you probably ended with and having stat bonuses on the species meant those species favoured, but were not limited, to certain classes meaning that we had a great way of building and describing the societies of those species.
Again, any positive should be balanced with a negative so if you get a +1 for something, there should probably be a -1 somewhere. Given flexibility in deciding where to put these adjustments could allow a player to simply have them cancel each other out, or further tilt the attributes in a manner that suits the character they are building.

I'd like to also add that age doesn't have any significant impact in the game and it could. There were some rules in an earlier edition but for the sake of discussion, having some rules that could reflect a character being older, particularly for those species that have lifespans that extend multiple centuries, would further give players ways to perceive and build their characters.
For example: A middle aged character, what ever that might be according to species, might get a +1 to Wisdom but also gets a -1 to another stat of choice. A player can still cancel it out, but they might see it as the character getting a little forgetful, or a bit clumsy, a bit more crotchety or declining in health.
For the long lived species, something simple like a +1 to History or a crafting skill for every 100 years they've lived would be simple enough.

In the end it's about fun and having some choices and using our imaginations. Having some rules there makes it easy for players to get further invested in their characters but anything can be optional as set by the DM or the campaign.

That was my favorite race. Probably from back in the Tanis Half-Elf days of Dragonlance. Great for Rangers!

I think Orc is a dumb race to have for core rules. They are supposed to be an antagonist race.

I really hate modern depictions of tieflings. They look more like colored Qunari with tails. 

I know it is a magical setting, but should all races be interbreed-able? I mean come on, a Gnome/Goliath???  

Quote from HolyHare >>

So… Half-elf is no longer exist in this setting right?

Quote from DaveJ >>

Nor the Half-Orc, it seems.

 Meh. I’ll still use them, just editing them a bit to match with the other revisions.

As with all the other species in 5e, they’ll just release new books or online resources containing the “legacy content”. That means that we’ll get access to some of the old 5e stuff for free, which might also include revised options for D&D 5.2e. Also, the books that used to have these previously non-core species, Orcs, Goliaths and Aasimar,  will have them replaced with Half-Orcs/Elves.

It can get a bit silly (horrific) thinking about it.

By definition, one species cannot breed with another. ie. A cat cannot breed with a horse.
Race by definition sits within a species and you can have interbreeding at this level.

However, magical setting where anything could be possible and we can throw all that out the window.

One thought might be to say only certain species groups could do it and then define those groups. Gets messier and messier though.
This is why I believe it was only ever the Elf + Human and Orc + Human pairings as they might have felt there were some biological similarities but more likely some story telling options that seemed semi plausible.

Quote from Khashir >>

Bonus damage from Celestial Revelation doesn’t apply to spells anymore? Current description only mentions attacks.

If it says “a melee/ranged spell attack”, it still counts as an attack, just that the attack is being caused by a spell, which is irrelevant here.

That means that Aasimar are still as OP as ever. ;)

Quote from Astwook >>

NixaloPosted 4 hours ago

So no variant rules to recreate half orcs and half elves. And Orcs lose Powerful Build and no longer powerlifters for 2 Big Boy species

 

Orcs still get powerful build. If they didn't mention it, it didn't change. And there was a mixed race sidebar in the playtest. 

 It does specifically say that "Orcs no longer have the Powerful Build feature."

Taxonomical definitions of life are not as clear cut as we teach you in Biology 101. The idea that "Species" cannot interbreed implies that we have an accurate and foolproof definition of what a species is, and as someone who has a PhD in Molecular Biology, I can assure you whenever we try to apply definitions to life and biological systems the inevitable answer is "It's complicated." However, High School students and Freshmen Biology Majors crumble from that level of uncertainty, so we make generalizations when we write textbooks, so they don't run screaming from the classroom as if they just saw a Beholder turn their crush into a pile of dust.

In reality, if two creatures that mate have gametes with roughly the same chromosome count (I say roughly, because some polysomies are viable [see the "It's complicated" already]), and the "male" gamete is compatible with the defenses the oocyte has to prevent fertilization by a non-compatible "male" gamete, then fertilization could occur, and a viable offspring could result from the pairing. That is likely the reason why modern humans were able to produce offspring with neanderthal and denisovans, with the caveat that our classification of neanderthals and denisovans as not modern humans is correct (maybe we are wrong).

All that said, I think it is ridiculous to try to apply a real world Biological argument to a fantasy world, when the reality in the real world is that the argument isn't as simple as what is being stated. Add to that that these fantasy worlds have Magic in them, and all bets are off. What do you think all of those Monstrosities that are running around your campaign that your Murder Hobos are killing came from? Failed (or maybe successful, depending on perspective) magical experiments by high powered mages or possibly even fiends. Is it magic to be able to take the fluorescent gene from a jellyfish and clone it into a bacterium, or a worm, or even a mouse to track cell development? No, but we use it all the time in biological research, and we are dealing with Biological "laws" that are MUCH STRICTER than any magical system in a fantasy setting.

So simply give it a rest. If you want to run a campaign where species are hard and fast and viable interbreeding is impossible, then you do you. But let the people who want to have cities full of Tabaxi/Aasimar love children running the show have it.

Quote from Zippermeup >>

I think Orc is a dumb race to have for core rules. They are supposed to be an antagonist race.

 They still can be, that hasn't changed. In fact I'd have liked them to toss out gnomes, and put in goblins.

If they are going to have LE, NE, and CE origin tieflings, then I really wish they had LG, NG, and CG themed aasimar.

Quote from InaKreka >>

Now we have rules to make your own mixed species and give them features from sides of the family. Which I think is way better than just having a couple half options. This way you have more versatiltiy and customization. 

 

 

 That does sound fun, but will for sure off-balance your species selections relative to those who choose options of only one type of parentage. As long as everyone is having fun though, there is no problem.

You call yourself half, but pick a primary heritage.  Dumb.

Quote from Zippermeup >>

I know it is a magical setting, but should all races be interbreed-able? I mean come on, a Gnome/Goliath???  

 They aren't ALL "interbreedable," just the humanoids. Your Autognome isn't breeding with anyone.

Quote from Zippermeup >>

I think Orc is a dumb race to have for core rules. They are supposed to be an antagonist race.

 So make your Orcs antagonists at your table. Why does other people (including the designers) wanting heroic Orcs affect you?

I see that in the new D&D 2024 manual there will be Aasimar, Dragonborn, Goliath and Orc.
So "mordenkainen presents monsters of the multiverse" has already become an old manual?

Quote from PsyrenXY >>

Quote from Zippermeup >>

I think Orc is a dumb race to have for core rules. They are supposed to be an antagonist race.

 So make your Orcs antagonists at your table. Why does other people (including the designers) wanting heroic Orcs affect you?

This is becoming a tired counter to people's concerns, for a number of reasons, the most important being that it's completely invalid.

We all know that there are official D&D games (Adventure's League, etc.) and official settings and even official rulings about game mechanics. So when something is put out as the official rule/standard/description/whatever, and something else isn't, then that will affect what is and is not playable (and HOW it is playable) in official settings at the very least, and will also affect what might possibly come down the pipe later in terms of modifications, lore, etc.

Asking why something being officially declared to be a certain way in a game--ANY game--affects someone is silly. The decisions on how a game is officially supposed to be played affect EVERYONE who plays the game, immediately and in the future, to varying degrees (even if it's just having to waste time justifying to a RAW-only DM, or to a new player at your table, why what one person wants should take precedence over what someone else wants.)

If someone thinks a certain change is good or not, and wants to challenge someone else's counter assertion, fine; address it on the merits, or lack thereof, of the change.

But responding to dismay about the inclusion of something in the new game rules with "it doesn't affect you" is starting to get old (*especially* if in the same breath people fail to apply that logic to OTHER things of the same sort--races, in this case--NOT being included in the new rules.)