This week, I’m going to tackle three different races: the half-elf, half-orc and the half-dwarf. Most will probably know the latter better by the term “mul,” but, since my campaign isn’t Dark Sun, I’d rather do with the “half-dwarf” term.
However, I went through several stages with this column as I was cobbling together my thoughts, so please stick with me with me as I break it down.
Crossbreeding
Now I’ve seen source books and homebrewed posts that attempt to provide the answer to those questions that have to have come up in every gaming group: “What would happen if a minotaur and a gnome had a baby?”
The results are races that are sometimes ridiculed — namely the dwelf. For those of you aren’t familiar, this little guy is the half-breed result of a dwarf and elf gettin’ jiggy wi’ it (I think that’s the technical term).
Unfortunately, the whole notion that interbreeding is possible opens up a weird round of questions. If a human and an elf can create a half-elf and a human and dwarf make a half-dwarf, does that mean the three races are genetically related? Does this mean orcs and these races can have babies, the dworc and the orlf? Am I asking for too much realism from a fantasy game? I find all a little far-fetched.
At least my non-belief won’t cost me a kidney … hopefully.
If you think about it, elves are fey creatures, not natural — keep in mind that’s referring to creature types. So, typewise, they seem like fairly different species.
As I toyed around with this, I contemplated allowing the races, only retooling them so that they aren’t half-breeds. Maybe the half-elves were actually another fey race that traveled to the mortal world. In way of attributes, half-dwarves are pretty similar to the goliath. Could the half-orc just simply be replaced with the orc?
But that felt like too drastic a step, and it didn’t keep with the fact that this lack of crossbreeding ability would have put a damper on one of the key D&D classes, the sorcerer, whose power has almost always been tied to a bloodline with another, powerful creature type. This is mainly made up of dragons, angels, demons, devils, elementals and, last but not least, fey — meaning the whole question of elves, who sit in the fey species, breeding with non-fey is mute.
Then, it finally occurred to me. While I have no problem with people changing this and homebrewing their own strange half-races, in the base campaign, I think the reason why these half-human races exist is because of a strange genetic quirk in humans. It makes sense that humans and other races could breed where those other races couldn’t because humanity is all about adaptability. If they are stuck in an extreme environment, they can breed with a local non-human populace to bring favorable traits into the genetic pool. So there you have it — how I convinced myself half-races are possible.
But now that this scientific nonsense — which will likely have no other impact on the game — is hashed out, I’ll get to write-ups on the half-races.
Half-Elves
Half-elves are probably the luckiest of half-breeds. Human and elf relations — both sexual and non-sexual — have mostly been good. And their adaptive cultures are probably the most accepting. Elves don’t really care about the half-breed status. In fact, most fey don’t as they have had enough relationships with mortals to create a potential for fey-blooded sorcerers. They are also a true breeding race (i.e., there are enough half-elves of both sexes to mate without requiring a human-elf pregnancy to continue the race). Because they are accepted in many places, they are naturally fluid in actions, blending into whatever environment they currently live in. They are often jacks-of-all-trades and are the most likely to multiclass, picking up classes that allow them tackle many things. It is not uncommon to see a half-elf rogue who weaves spells and a sword in unison.
Half-Orcs
Half-orcs, though, have never had it easy. The race started with, shall we say, less that savory relations among humans and orcs, and that background still remains in how humans perceive them. Also, orcs view them as watered-down and not worth keeping if born to an orc mother. Another true-breeding race, they are the more independent of half-races. In societies that view them as curses or weak, they have to fend for themselves and often rebel against authority and tradition. They are known for extremes, and stereotypes hold them as criminals at best. However, they have proven they can excel is whatever they choose and have slowly been building respect and acceptance for their race. Their brashness is seen in all they do. They tend to take advantage of their strength and speed to dish out damage.
Half-Dwarves
On the contrary, half-dwarves are not yet a true-breeding race. In Dark Sun lore, they are sterile, like “mul’s” base, the mule; however, I’m not going to stick with that. They are probably the half-breed race with the fewest numbers because it is so rare for dwarves to mate with humans. Remember back where I talked about dwarves’ ancestor worship and belief in reincarnation? Well, that is a primary force in selecting a mate. A half-dwarf is considered by the larger dwarf community to not have soul at all, at best. At worse, they are considered a prison for the dwarf spirit that cannot be perfected in an imperfect body. But, while they are reviled in dwarven societies, they are luckier than half-orcs because they easily find acceptance among humans. As such, they almost always act like humans. Their size and strength makes them perfect guards, and their strength of will is hard to match.
In closing, I couldn’t help but share this song — which was stuck in my head the entire time writing this post.
The Bloodrift Canticles 