Half-thing?

[evyldead]

Can anyone character be lets say 3 different Half races. Like Half-dragon/half-elemental/half-elf ?

[Shinken]

If the templates involved can be applied, yes.
In your example it works.

[evyldead]

Oh sweet, Thanks! I never really knew if one could do that haha.

[Socratov]

ofcourse it's possible: as long as you can justify why a half-elf and half-dragon/half-elemental would get freaky...

[Fouredged Sword]

Nah, it's a half dragon elf and a half elemental human getting freaky.

[The Prince of Cats]

In the case of a half-elf, the race is not really 'half-X' anyway because they can breed true within their own species (which kind of means that elves and humans are the same species, since their progeny are not sterile) and they are applied as a race rather than a template.

By the RAW, you can add them all, but I'd argue as a DM that a half-dragon can't really have 'half-dragon' kids unless the other parent is also a half-dragon. Also, very few DMs will let you keep adding templates to a character unless they want a min-maxed party.

One note I would make though; the half-dragon and half-elf share a few traits, so you're not getting the best bang for your buck mixing them.

[Asteron]

It may be RAW legal, but I'd never allow it. A character can only have one Half-X template in any game I've ever been in, and the groups I run/play in love to add templates (usually for free...)

[ShurikVch]

It may be RAW legal, but I'd never allow it. A character can only have one Half-X template in any game I've ever been in, and the groups I run/play in love to add templates (usually for free...)
Hey, what's about "Half-..." templates, which are not the result of a heritage, but rather manipulations with this particular creature:
Half-Golem
Half-Illithid
Half-Machine
and so on.
Also, Half-Fiend can be applied via spell Nar Fiendbound (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20050202a&page=3).

[Particle_Man]

Also, very few DMs will let you keep adding templates to a character unless they want a min-maxed party.

I thought that with LA adjustments templates usually did the opposite of min-maxing.

[Asteron]

Hey, what's about "Half-..." templates, which are not the result of a heritage, but rather manipulations with this particular creature:
Half-Golem
Half-Illithid
Half-Machine
and so on.
Also, Half-Fiend can be applied via spell Nar Fiendbound (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20050202a&page=3).

You still only get one. Too many "Half-" stuff and they all should get downgraded to "Quarter-" things.

Edit: This is just how it gets ruled in the groups I roll with. I'm not aruing RAW here, just what makes sense to us. Feel free to ignore me and do whatever you want.

[Millennium]

Half-elf isn't a template, but a species in its own right, so it doesn't apply. Same goes for half-orcs. It's also worth noting that these particular cases are only names, not literal proportions: the child of half-elves is still a half-elf, as is the child of a half-elf and a human or an elf.

RAW allows you to stack up half-templates, though it leads to a question of how that would even work, which RAW does not state for most (Fiend Folio's half-golem being a notable exception).

My typical ruling is that you may be born with only one half-template. If you are the child of two creatures with half-templates, then you are the same species as whichever parent gave birth to you (which I assume to be your mother unless you tell me otherwise), and you have the other parent's half-template. You can take more half-templates with my approval, but I will need an explanation for how you got them.

[Socksy]

Four halves make perfect sense! A half-Dragon half Elemental half Illithid Half-Elf obviously has twice as much DNA as a regular Half-Elf.

[ShurikVch]

Four halves make perfect sense! A half-Dragon half Elemental half Illithid Half-Elf obviously has twice as much DNA as a regular Half-Elf.

http://scifiinterfaces.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/fifthe-nucleolab-004.png?w=545&h=227

[Slipperychicken]

I thought that with LA adjustments templates usually did the opposite of min-maxing.

This. On PCs, templates tend to be counterproductive unless you really know what you're doing (i.e. feral half-minotaur water orc). RHD and LA can gimp you like you wouldn't believe.


NPC non-casters, however, love templates. When most NPCs aren't going above level 3 in Warrior, RHD are a godsend: free hit points, BAB, and skill points, no training or adventuring required. And they aren't too worried about Level Adjustment either: NPCs generally aren't going to earn much XP anyway. So if you're an NPC humanoid who wants the most awesome kid ever, you generally want to get knocked up by mate with the scariest, most dangerous monster you can find.

[hamishspence]

In the case of a half-elf, the race is not really 'half-X' anyway because they can breed true within their own species (which kind of means that elves and humans are the same species, since their progeny are not sterile)

Different species - and even different genera - have been known to produce fertile offspring (though in the case of different genera it's very unusual - the "wholphin (half-False Killer Whale, half-bottlenose dolphin) is one of the few examples.

[VoxRationis]

Well, it is technically legal according to the rules, which don't really have much in the way of restrictions on template stacking, to the best of my knowledge; however, it kind of violates fractions, and makes even less genealogical sense than the normal half-X rules. The progeny of a half-U/half-V and a W are going to be quarter-U/quarter-V/quarter-W.

[Larkas]

You guys are too attached to names. "Half-" something merely indicates heritage, not literally "half of something". This has nothing to do with real fractions. I mean, just look at the way the templates are applied, a half-celestial human is part celestial and full human.

[VoxRationis]

You guys are too attached to names. "Half-" something merely indicates heritage

Yes, a heritage of half one's ancestry being one thing and half another, in the same vein of one being half-Irish, half-Dutch (for the sake of example) if one's parents were both of completely homogenous descent from Ireland and the Netherlands, respectively, or in the same way that a mule is half-donkey and half-horse. They don't say you're half-human because it's too much effort to unbuild part of a race's attributes to go with the template; it's easier to just stack things on.

[geekintheground]

they actually go into this in savage species, if you want to take a look.

[VoxRationis]

I don't have that book. What does it say?
The text for half-elves and half-orcs writes that they either were born to human/elf or human/orc pairings, respectively, or to half-elf/half-elf or half-orc/half-orc pairings. In either case, the blend of human and elf or orc blood remains 50/50. Half and half.

[geekintheground]

When applying templates, the rules are more important than anatomy. With all the polymorph spells, shapechangers, alter form, and similar abilities in the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game, there is no point in worrying about size or anatomy. Any creature can produce any offspring, and you can describe that offspring using a template. Also remember that the parents may be creatures not yet published. Many templates occur through the influence of magic, rather than biology. The rules, and your imagination, should be your guide. When adding multiple templates, halves become quarters. A creature with both half-celestial and half-dragon templates becomes a quarter-celestial/quarter-dragon creature.


basically, you DO become quarter-X. but since most of the half-X templates are magic, the ability stuff doenst diminish because magic.

[Larkas]

Yes, a heritage of half one's ancestry being one thing and half another, in the same vein of one being half-Irish, half-Dutch (for the sake of example) if one's parents were both of completely homogenous descent from Ireland and the Netherlands, respectively, or in the same way that a mule is half-donkey and half-horse. They don't say you're half-human because it's too much effort to unbuild part of a race's attributes to go with the template; it's easier to just stack things on.

You missed my point completely. In D&D, a creature with the half-dragon template (for example) is not literally one-half dragon, it's a creature with an important dragon ancestry (or even the product of magical meddling). The same way it's just easier to just stack things on, it's just easier to call the template "half-dragon", even if the creature is not "one-half dragon".

Take what Savage Species say in the sidebar at page 142:


When adding multiple templates, halves become quarters. A creature with both half-celestial and half-dragon templates becomes a quarter-celestial/quarter-dragon creature.

It doesn't say that there can be only one template, it simply says that the template should be renamed, exactly because the name is unimportant in this case. Likewise, an offspring of the sample creature would be one-eighth-celestial and one-eighth-dragon, but could still have the half-celestial and the half-dragon templates. It's really up to the DM to decide when the bloodline has thinned enough to not allow the offspring to have the templates possessed by the parent(s): the "transformation" into tieflings, aasimars, draconic creatures and, ehm, sorcerers is left purposefully vague.

[dantiesilva]

Well I know a half drowned/half fey

A half demon/ half dryad which is amusing as the demon part only comes out when mad otherwise it's human

[John Longarrow]

http://scifiinterfaces.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/fifthe-nucleolab-004.png?w=545&h=227

I think you have one too many elements for a D&D game there...