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JNAProductions
2015-01-19, 02:16 AM
It's always assumed a Half-Elf is part Elvish, part Human. How come there are none that are half-Halfling? Or half-Gnome? Or half-Dwarf? Or etc.

Likewise, how come there are no Half-Dwarf crossbreeds at all? It seems just kinda odd to me.

Sidmen
2015-01-19, 02:33 AM
Its largely because half-elves and half-orcs are simply the most popular among the playerbase of D&D. Literature that has been produced and become popular (most of which I've never read) has led to these particular half-breeds being far more popular than others.

But that isn't to say the others don't exist.

In Norfressa, Half-elves are an unstable race, able to breed with themselves and elves to produce more half-elves, but if they breed with a human the child is purely human. At the same time half-dwarves are very common in the Empire of the Axe - because Humans and Dwarves founded that nation together, and still dwell there in unity. It doesn't say, but presumably they follow the same rules as above. Other mixtures are often impossible, or are very rare without magical aid. Some couplings (humans/ their orc analogue) produce sterile offspring.

What I'm saying, I suppose, is that it really depends on the setting. In Tamriel all pairings are possible, but the child is always the race of the mother, for example.

chainer1216
2015-01-19, 02:35 AM
Because its assumed that no one wants to sleep with a dwarf or gnome?

I think darksun has a half human half dwarf race.

JNAProductions
2015-01-19, 02:39 AM
And Gnome-Halfling crossbreeds don't exist because...

That's the bigger thing that gets, me really. That half-[RACE] is always half of that race and the other half human.

Zejety
2015-01-19, 02:41 AM
And Gnome-Halfling crossbreeds don't exist because...

That's the bigger thing that gets, me really. That half-[RACE] is always half of that race and the other half human.

Maybe the well-known human flexibility extends to genetics and they are the only race that is even compatible with others (and dragons, don't forget the half-dragons :D).

JNAProductions
2015-01-19, 02:46 AM
Half-dragon is a template, so that's a much niver way of doing it. Just slap it on any race. Human? Sure. Gnome? Of course. Turtle? Hell yeah! Deep-sea sponge? Why on earth not? (I haven't actually looked at the template rules in a while, so if there can't actually be half-dragon sponges, don't disillusion me.)

BWR
2015-01-19, 03:36 AM
Humanity is humano-centric. That's all the explanation you need out of universe for 'half X' being human plus.

Dark Sun did indeed have the half human, half dwarf muls.
Dragonstar had oruks, a race half orc, half ogre in origin. I think they were actually considered a proper race not just halfbreeds at that point because there were generations of them breeding viable offspring.
Thunder Rift (barely) had a half elf half dwarf kid at one point.

Zejety
2015-01-19, 04:20 AM
Humanity is humano-centric. That's all the explanation you need out of universe for 'half X' being human plus.

Dark Sun did indeed have the half human, half dwarf muls.
Dragonstar had oruks, a race half orc, half ogre in origin. I think they were actually considered a proper race not just halfbreeds at that point because there were generations of them breeding viable offspring.
Thunder Rift (barely) had a half elf half dwarf kid at one point.

Yeah, there are quite a few examples of non-human half-breeds in fantasy literature and pop culture.
Warcraft also has orge-orc combinations (Rexxar) and a "regular" half-orc that was later revealed/retconned to be half orc, half draenai (noble alien race). In the comics, she was even revealed to have a son with a human. That son, Marty Stu Med'an,, consequently has orcish, draenai and human heritage.

hifidelity2
2015-01-19, 06:31 AM
I have had half dwarfs (Human / Dwarf) in a game but also had a half Orc / half Elf

Naturally the play wanted the best of the Stat / Ability mix of the two races

What we did was have them roll for each start and special ability (a 50/50 roll) and I think they ended up with more Elf than Orc (75/25 IIRC)

TheTeaMustFlow
2015-01-19, 06:44 AM
1. There are more humans than anyone else.

2. Humans are easy.

goto124
2015-01-19, 06:55 AM
2. Humans are easy.

At first I read that as 'humans are easier to write', but then thought about it...

Solaris
2015-01-19, 09:11 AM
Oruks, ogrillons, and orogs have existed since AD&D, where they were crossbreeds of the savage humanoids.


Maybe the well-known human flexibility extends to genetics and they are the only race that is even compatible with others (and dragons, don't forget the half-dragons :D).

I've taken "Humans can breed with anything" and "Dragons can breed with anything" to the logical conclusion in my Dragon Realms setting by having humans be the larval form of dragons.

Faily
2015-01-19, 09:43 AM
Then you have settings like Eberron where Half-Elf is its own race and not considered a crossbreed of Human-Elf relations.

Drow mating with demons (or devils, I can never remember) create Draegloths. War of the Spider Queen features Jagrred, son of Triel and a demon.

Not only can Dragons mate with anything, but the same goes for Fiends and Celestials. :smallbiggrin:

Calen
2015-01-19, 09:52 AM
The whole only human half races has always annoyed me too. And what is a Ling? I mean a Halfling is a half human half Ling right? But what is a Ling? :small tongue:

Though more seriously in one of my games I decided that many of the races could breed with each other and what those new races would be. So half-eladrin half-drow equals elf etc.

LibraryOgre
2015-01-19, 11:04 AM
It's always assumed a Half-Elf is part Elvish, part Human. How come there are none that are half-Halfling? Or half-Gnome? Or half-Dwarf? Or etc.

Likewise, how come there are no Half-Dwarf crossbreeds at all? It seems just kinda odd to me.

As others have mentioned, there was the Mul in Dark Sun, which was explicitly a half-human, half-dwarf (and sterile, so you only got them from human-dwarf pairings). Other settings have handled them, as well... Forgotten Realms Dwarves' Deep mentioned that, due to dwarven infertility, human women who married into dwarven clans were highly honored, and their offspring were treated as dwarves, both mechanically and socially.


And Gnome-Halfling crossbreeds don't exist because...

Gnomeling. They're in Hackmaster; the 4th edition had rules for them as PCs, while the current edition mentions them in the Hacklopedia as a subrace. Given that gnomes tend to deal mostly with halflings, its unsurprising.



Dragonstar had oruks, a race half orc, half ogre in origin. I think they were actually considered a proper race not just halfbreeds at that point because there were generations of them breeding viable offspring.


As others have mentioned, Orogs and Ogrillions have been part of D&D for a long time. Heck, the original write-ups of Gnolls had them as gnome-troll crossbreeds.

Segev
2015-01-19, 11:34 AM
You know, given the sometimes unfortunate "where do they fit in as a unique race...?" that sometimes afflicts halflings...

Maybe they're half-dwarves and half-gnomes, with the other half varying by subtype.
Tallfellows = half-elf/half-dwarf or half-human/half-gnome
Stouts = half-human/half-dwarf
Hairfeet = half-dwarf/half-gnome
Lightfeet = half-elf/half-gnome.


The hairfoot is the most common type because interbreeding amongst halflings tends to emphasize the dwarven and gnomish bloodlines, due to those being the most common denominators.

This is also why half-human/half-elves tend to look a lot like very tall halflings (or, in a more human/elf-centric view, halflings tend to look like miniature half-elves).


If one wanted to get particularly elaborate, one could use various somewhat-overlapping humanoid races as half-orc crossbreeds with other PC races:

Goblins = half-gnome/half-orc
Bugbears = half-dwarf/half-orc (admittedly, they probably should be shorter than depicted in this case)
Hobgoblins = half-elf/half-orc

Kid Jake
2015-01-19, 12:07 PM
Heck, the original write-ups of Gnolls had them as gnome-troll crossbreeds.

That's....horrible.

Lord Torath
2015-01-19, 02:31 PM
I think darksun has a half human half dwarf race.True. But Muls are sterile, so they can't make more muls. At least in 2E AD&D Dark Sun. Not sure about 4E/5E.
I've taken "Humans can breed with anything" and "Dragons can breed with anything" to the logical conclusion in my Dragon Realms setting by having humans be the larval form of dragons.Again, this is pretty much how it works for Dark Sun (although not ALL human can become dragons. Only those that are level 20 as Defilers and Psionicists)

JaminDM
2015-01-19, 05:53 PM
The reason that these are the only two statted half-races are because they are the most common.

They are both half-human because humans are the most common race.

There are so many half-elves because human and elves are similar and humans are sexually attracted to elves.

There are so many half-orcs because:

Only open this spoiler if you are over 13, it's for your own good
Lots of orcs raped lots of humans.

In my setting your can also get Halfling-Gnomes
Halfling-Elves
Gnome-Elves
Halfling-Humans (Very rare)
Human-Xeph
Various goblinoid crosses

There are no dwarf crosses as they consider marriage outside of their race incredibly immoral.

Segev
2015-01-19, 06:00 PM
There are so many half-orcs because:

Only open this spoiler if you are over 13, it's for your own good
Lots of orcs raped lots of humans.


There are no dwarf crosses as they consider marriage outside of their race incredibly immoral.

I don't see how that prevents the spoilered reason for half-orc/half-humans to also generate half-orc/half-dwarves.


(Also, I am given to understand that, just as elves provide a certain famanine allure that male humans find appealing, there might be human women who find the masculine presence of an orc desirable. Unless your orcs are much more of the "hideously ugly by any human standard" variety.)

Honest Tiefling
2015-01-19, 06:04 PM
I don't see how that prevents the spoilered reason for half-orc/half-humans to also generate half-orc/half-dwarves.


(Also, I am given to understand that, just as elves provide a certain famanine allure that male humans find appealing, there might be human women who find the masculine presence of an orc desirable. Unless your orcs are much more of the "hideously ugly by any human standard" variety.)

Well, if we go by art, I wouldn't touch a 3.5 elf even if you paid me. As another person put it, Mialee didn't just get hit with the ugly stick, she climbed the tree to systematically hit all of the branches on the way down. The 4th edition half-orcs are quite into rugged beefcake territory, through not all women are into beefcake from what I hear from my female friends. I'd totally do Imrijka, so I am guessing her orc parent wasn't half bad.

JaminDM
2015-01-19, 06:06 PM
I don't see how that prevents the spoilered reason for half-orc/half-humans to also generate half-orc/half-dwarves.


(Also, I am given to understand that, just as elves provide a certain famanine allure that male humans find appealing, there might be human women who find the masculine presence of an orc desirable. Unless your orcs are much more of the "hideously ugly by any human standard" variety.)

Dwarves more commonly live in very well defended fortresses in my setting which harder to raid than human villages, also, there are less of them.

In my campaign, to erradicate any moral dilemmas, orcs are all completely evil, similar to in Arda.

Rater202
2015-01-19, 06:06 PM
Half Elves and Half Orcs always being half human is, depending on who you ask, either a result of humanocentrism on the part of the creators, or a bet of self depreciation about humanity being willing to screw anything vaguly human.

My personal preferences are that elves, and gnomes, and dwarves and crap are just different subspecies of humanity that evolved in different ways due to the magic in the environment or due to tampering by other species, and the reason humans can interbreed with elves and orcs but not gnomes and dwarves because Elves and Orcs are genetically closer to baseline humans.

JaminDM
2015-01-19, 06:07 PM
Well, if we go by art, I wouldn't touch a 3.5 elf even if you paid me. As another person put it, Mialee didn't just get hit with the ugly stick, she climbed the tree to systematically hit all of the branches on the way down. The 4th edition half-orcs are quite into rugged beefcake territory, through not all women are into beefcake from what I hear from my female friends. I'd totally do Imrijka, so I am guessing her orc parent wasn't half bad.

My setting is similar to Arda, so this means that all elves are beautiful/handsome.

Honest Tiefling
2015-01-19, 06:15 PM
My setting is similar to Arda, so this means that all elves are beautiful/handsome.

Are they idealized verisons of humans, or like (what I think 3.5 was trying to do) in that they have very different features that tend to be visually pleasing to many humans? Because the latter would suffer from the issue that it just would not appeal to many, if not most people because everyone has different tastes.

Segev
2015-01-19, 06:21 PM
Dwarves more commonly live in very well defended fortresses in my setting which harder to raid than human villages, also, there are less of them.Ah, so availability. It doesn't mean there are no half-orc/half-dwarves, but if there are any, they're exceptionally rare.


In my campaign, to erradicate any moral dilemmas, orcs are all completely evil, similar to in Arda.

This does not preclude the existence of highly-evil and, um, appetite-driven human men and women who might enjoy a war prisoner or two. Especially if it can be seen as a demonstration of just how awesome one is, for having "tamed" them.

In other words, the orc may be the unwilling participant, or it could still be mutual.

That said, I do see why the MAJORITY would result from the antics you spoilered before.

JaminDM
2015-01-19, 06:23 PM
Are they idealized verisons of humans, or like (what I think 3.5 was trying to do) in that they have very different features that tend to be visually pleasing to many humans? Because the latter would suffer from the issue that it just would not appeal to many, if not most people because everyone has different tastes.

The first one, but with pointy ears and some have shiny hair.

JaminDM
2015-01-19, 06:26 PM
Ah, so availability. It doesn't mean there are no half-orc/half-dwarves, but if there are any, they're exceptionally rare.



This does not preclude the existence of highly-evil and, um, appetite-driven human men and women who might enjoy a war prisoner or two. Especially if it can be seen as a demonstration of just how awesome one is, for having "tamed" them.

In other words, the orc may be the unwilling participant, or it could still be mutual.

That said, I do see why the MAJORITY would result from the antics you spoilered before.

Yeah, I just did the most common, obviously there will be others.

Blackhawk748
2015-01-19, 06:27 PM
Kingdoms of Kalamar has several Half races, though most are still half humn. Though it makes more sense there since humans are the most common race. Also they have the Tel-Amhothlen, or Half-Orc Half-Elf, and the stats dont even suck.

JaminDM
2015-01-19, 07:00 PM
Heck, the original write-ups of Gnolls had them as gnome-troll crossbreeds.

How? Why? HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

LibraryOgre
2015-01-19, 07:01 PM
Kingdoms of Kalamar has several Half races, though most are still half humn. Though it makes more sense there since humans are the most common race. Also they have the Tel-Amhothlen, or Half-Orc Half-Elf, and the stats dont even suck.

And the sil-karg, which are half-human, half-hobgoblin, and the uk-karg, which are hobgoblin-orc crosses.

goto124
2015-01-19, 07:09 PM
If humans call half-elves, well, half-elves, shouldn't the elves call those people half-humans?

JaminDM
2015-01-19, 07:14 PM
If humans call half-elves, well, half-elves, shouldn't the elves call those people half-humans?

Probably. That would make sense. Although it might be a bit confusing

LibraryOgre
2015-01-19, 07:16 PM
If humans call half-elves, well, half-elves, shouldn't the elves call those people half-humans?

They do, in some fiction.

goto124
2015-01-19, 07:20 PM
And the dwarves call them elfmans. Or something.

Sooner or later the races would have to agree on a common terminology. Or not, seeing how English IRL works :D

gom jabbarwocky
2015-01-19, 08:15 PM
And the dwarves call them elfmans.

Do they tend to get a lot of work scoring dwarven motion pictures?

Blackhawk748
2015-01-19, 08:44 PM
If humans call half-elves, well, half-elves, shouldn't the elves call those people half-humans?

I believe Races of the Wild had these, they were half-breeds raised in Elf culture, where-as Half Elves are assumed to have been raised in human culture.


And the sil-karg, which are half-human, half-hobgoblin, and the uk-karg, which are hobgoblin-orc crosses.

Ah the Sil-Karg, one of my favorite races to play, and i totally forgot about the Uk-Karg, also i feel i need to mention, specifically, that in KoK they have Half-Gnolls, really weird but kinda cool.

Solaris
2015-01-19, 08:46 PM
Then you have settings like Eberron where Half-Elf is its own race and not considered a crossbreed of Human-Elf relations.

Eh, kind of. They're established as a race, but the human-elf crossbreeds are still a thing.


Drow mating with demons (or devils, I can never remember) create Draegloths. War of the Spider Queen features Jagrred, son of Triel and a demon.

Demons. Yochlols, I think.


You know, given the sometimes unfortunate "where do they fit in as a unique race...?" that sometimes afflicts halflings...

Maybe they're half-dwarves and half-gnomes, with the other half varying by subtype.
Tallfellows = half-elf/half-dwarf or half-human/half-gnome
Stouts = half-human/half-dwarf
Hairfeet = half-dwarf/half-gnome
Lightfeet = half-elf/half-gnome.


The hairfoot is the most common type because interbreeding amongst halflings tends to emphasize the dwarven and gnomish bloodlines, due to those being the most common denominators.

This is also why half-human/half-elves tend to look a lot like very tall halflings (or, in a more human/elf-centric view, halflings tend to look like miniature half-elves).

I did some thinking about that, a few weeks back when I was doing up a setting that has a lot of crossbreeding, and I agree - halfling subraces are hybrids between different races.
I kept them as halfling-hybrids, though. Tallfellows are halfling-elves, stouts halfling-dwarves/gnomes, and so on.


If one wanted to get particularly elaborate, one could use various somewhat-overlapping humanoid races as half-orc crossbreeds with other PC races:

Goblins = half-gnome/half-orc
Bugbears = half-dwarf/half-orc (admittedly, they probably should be shorter than depicted in this case)
Hobgoblins = half-elf/half-orc

I did goblins as a root race, with hobs being a human or elf crossed with a goblin and bugbears being hobgoblins crossed with ogres.


True. But Muls are sterile, so they can't make more muls. At least in 2E AD&D Dark Sun. Not sure about 4E/5E.

They've stayed sterile.


Again, this is pretty much how it works for Dark Sun (although not ALL human can become dragons. Only those that are level 20 as Defilers and Psionicists)

Pretty much, although Dark Sun has them be more momentous than I do in my setting. In Dark Sun, they're epic-level god-kings while in mine, they're merely Dragon Disciples who hit the capstone and then reached venerable age (instead of dying, the metamorphose into sterile adult dragons).


I believe Races of the Wild had these, they were half-breeds raised in Elf culture, where-as Half Elves are assumed to have been raised in human culture.

Are you sure they weren't in the DMG, the part about variant races?

Winter_Wolf
2015-01-20, 12:41 AM
You know, given the sometimes unfortunate "where do they fit in as a unique race...?" that sometimes afflicts halflings...

Maybe they're half-dwarves and half-gnomes *snip snip snip*


Gully dwarves. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gully_dwarf#Aghar_Dwarves_.28Gully_Dwarves.29) They were a thing (http://www.lomion.de/cmm/dwargull.php). From the same folk who spawned kender, yet.

Shadowsend
2015-01-20, 03:05 AM
In Pathfinder, the elven side just needs to be "enough", it doesn't have to be half or even quarter. But I think the assumption is elven/human pairing because of "opposites attract"...While one would think that would apply with orcs or dwarves, I think the races are said not to interact as frequently due to violence. Half-dwarf might just be dwarf....likewise with halfling...

LibraryOgre
2015-01-20, 10:10 AM
Ah the Sil-Karg, one of my favorite races to play, and i totally forgot about the Uk-Karg, also i feel i need to mention, specifically, that in KoK they have Half-Gnolls, really weird but kinda cool.

Come to Hackmaster, Blackhawk. The basic rules are free. Come to Hackmaster, where every cleric faith is a different class. The basic rules are free. Come to Hackmaster, where mages can pump spells by spending more spell points. The basic rules are free.

Gracht Grabmaw
2015-01-20, 12:47 PM
The general assumption with dwarves is that they are too isolated and xenophobic to breed with the other races, (although I have no clue how that does not apply to most species of elves)
Also in my mind, a half-elf half-gnome is a halfling.

hamishspence
2015-01-20, 12:49 PM
I recall some dwarf-blooded humans in Elaine Cunningham's Forgotten Realms novels.

gutza1
2015-01-20, 03:22 PM
In my campaign setting, Elves, Humans, and Orcs are the same species (Homo Sapiens), while Dwarves, Halflings and Gnomes are different species. Plus there's always this quote from the List of Things Mr Welch is not Allowed to do in an RPG: "I cannot insinuate elf chicks are all easy, even though you never hear about a half gnome do you?" Personally, I believe that is because female elves take the whole "graceful and aloof" facial structure much better than guys and therefore look just like humans with pointy ears. Male elves on the other hand (except for Link from Legend of Zelda), just look weird/creepy/snooty.

TheThan
2015-01-20, 04:15 PM
I’ve always wondered why humans didn’t have a racial trait called “prolific” or some such, which made them genetically compatible with a large variety of other species.

There’s also the half giant in the expanded psionics handbook… think about that.

veti
2015-01-20, 04:17 PM
The whole only human half races has always annoyed me too. And what is a Ling? I mean a Halfling is a half human half Ling right? But what is a Ling? :small tongue:

Obviously, 'ling' were a species that interbred with hobbits, to the point where both races are now effectively merged. So there.

As I've mentioned previously, I've certainly played in campaigns where you could be (and some PCs were) half-anything. Copious mind bleach may be required if you try to think about some of the combos.

LibraryOgre
2015-01-20, 04:40 PM
I’ve always wondered why humans didn’t have a racial trait called “prolific” or some such, which made them genetically compatible with a large variety of other species.

There’s also the half giant in the expanded psionics handbook… think about that.

The original half-giants (from Dark Sun) were an independent species that were the result of ancient magical experiments, not necessarily direct breeding.

BWR
2015-01-20, 04:55 PM
The original half-giants (from Dark Sun) were an independent species that were the result of ancient magical experiments, not necessarily direct breeding.

Dark Sun was fun in that all humanoid races were descended from halflings, thanks to massive genetic engineering. That neatly explains why so many races look basically the same and can interbreed.

Blackhawk748
2015-01-20, 05:55 PM
Come to Hackmaster, Blackhawk. The basic rules are free. Come to Hackmaster, where every cleric faith is a different class. The basic rules are free. Come to Hackmaster, where mages can pump spells by spending more spell points. The basic rules are free.

Hmmm, free you say? that was pretty much the only thing stopping me.

LibraryOgre
2015-01-20, 06:25 PM
Hmmm, free you say? that was pretty much the only thing stopping me.

There's a link in my sig to the Basic game, which goes to level 5.

Blackhawk748
2015-01-20, 06:35 PM
There's a link in my sig to the Basic game, which goes to level 5.

Ya i downloaded it, im definitely gonna look into it later

Solaris
2015-01-20, 07:33 PM
Obviously, 'ling' were a species that interbred with hobbits, to the point where both races are now effectively merged. So there.

I'm thinking they were goblinoids, perhaps even goblins. They're the most similar to halflings and explain the differences between hobbits and halflings - they're goblin traits. It also appeals to my sense for conservation of detail.

Their names even sort of work in, too.
Hobbit-Goblins => Hobbitlins => Hoblins => Hablins => Haffuns, and from there you get the Common word of "Haflings" as a sort of false cognate of haffuns.

Segev
2015-01-21, 11:02 AM
How? Why? HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!Well, when a mommy troll loves a daddy gnome very much...
...a really ugly stork brings them a present.


I did some thinking about that, a few weeks back when I was doing up a setting that has a lot of crossbreeding, and I agree - halfling subraces are hybrids between different races.
I kept them as halfling-hybrids, though. Tallfellows are halfling-elves, stouts halfling-dwarves/gnomes, and so on.

Sure. Though I was suggesting that all halflings were half-something/half-something. There is no "halfling" base race. So "hairfeet" (which are the base halfling in D&D 3e and 2e, at the least) are just the most common, but are still a crossbreed. In this case of dwarves and gnomes. Since it's the most common, it probably means dwarves and gnomes like each other at least as well as humans and elves.

gutza1
2015-01-21, 02:24 PM
To elaborate on my previous post, I have come up with a theory called the "Space Babe Postulate" (you can also call it the "Elf Effect"). If it is hot (as in attractive) and female, some human will screw it. No exceptions.

Segev
2015-01-21, 02:28 PM
To elaborate on my previous post, I have come up with a theory called the "Space Babe Postulate" (you can also call it the "Elf Effect"). If it is hot (as in attractive) and female, some human will screw it. No exceptions.

Let's be fair: it doesn't have to be female. It just has to be sexually compatible with the human in question. (Female!Kirk likes her alien princes, and heterosexuality is not the only option. Heck, "heterosexual" takes on a whole new meaning if dealing with species that have more than 2 sexes, or even "just" two or one sex that is not identifiable as specifically "male" or "female" by human standards.)



In a story I tried writing once, though never managed to develop into something even short-story worthy, the setting included an alien bug-like species whose male and female sexes were physically sexually incompatible. (I defined "male" and "female" by gamete vs sperm donor.) The life-cycle of the species included a larval stage which had shapeshifting capability (non-magically explained by very rapid growth that was consciously controllable; it wasn't the super-fast, combat-usable shapeshifting one normally pictures; more controllable metamorphosis). This larval stage had a "mature" stage akin to how humans have identifiably adult stages of our lifecycles. At this stage, they could be compatible with either gender via their shapeshifting, and would take both genetic materials into themselves to combine into fertilized eggs.

In this capacity, they did not actually serve as genetic parents to the offspring generated.

The actual final metamorphosis into fully adult, sexually identified stage happened when two of these juveniles assumed mutually compatible shapes and mated. This formed a joint chrysalis from which would emerge the male and female adults and their own genetic offspring.


The story was going to involve one of these mature-but-still-larval individuals being sent to human space to interact as a diplomat, the hir shapeshifting capability enabling hir to be aesthetically pleasant and to have a larynx and facial aparatus capable of human speech. Hi was going to have at least one romantic relationship with a human. Whether "alien space babe meets human boy" or "alien space hunk meets human girl" is...mutable. Heck, a love triangle could (have) be(en) interesting. Like I said, I never really got the story off the ground.

Honest Tiefling
2015-01-21, 02:32 PM
Eh, I think Space Babe Postulate is more accurate when talking of fiction, given that...A lot of writers sorta ignore those other possibilities. What, women pursuing sex? That's inconceivable!

illyahr
2015-01-21, 03:20 PM
All half- races are half human because humans are already the mutts of the fantasy universe. They're kind of a mixture of every race already so any race can breed with them.

Yep. All humans have in them the blood of elves, orcs, gnomes, halflings, dwarves, fey, celestials, devils, demons, dragons.......

Rater202
2015-01-21, 06:18 PM
All half- races are half human because humans are already the mutts of the fantasy universe. They're kind of a mixture of every race already so any race can breed with them.

Yep. All humans have in them the blood of elves, orcs, gnomes, halflings, dwarves, fey, celestials, devils, demons, dragons.......

Don't forget Fish and Squid peoples. Little of that in there to.

illyahr
2015-01-22, 11:58 AM
Don't forget Fish and Squid peoples. Little of that in there to.

Let's not forget the Aberration bloodline for sorcerers. :smallamused:

veti
2015-01-22, 02:48 PM
To elaborate on my previous post, I have come up with a theory called the "Space Babe Postulate" (you can also call it the "Elf Effect"). If it is hot (as in attractive) and female, some human will screw it. No exceptions.

In that scenario, the "space babe" can be seen as type of Chekhov's gun, which might be expressed as follows:

"Given the infinite number of possible ways of portraying an alien race, there's only one reason why the writer would choose to make them look like a hot babe."

Jay R
2015-01-22, 02:56 PM
Half-elves exist in D&D, starting with the first supplement (Greyhawk, 1975) because Tolkien had Elrond Halfelven in the Lord of the Rings, and for no other reason.

I have no idea why half-orcs appeared, but I expect that they were supposed to be Uruk-hai.

Half-halflings and half-dwarves don't exist because Tolkien didn't include them.

All the other half-templates exist mostly to sell more products.

illyahr
2015-01-22, 03:56 PM
To elaborate on my previous post, I have come up with a theory called the "Space Babe Postulate" (you can also call it the "Elf Effect"). If it is hot (as in attractive) and female, some human will screw it. No exceptions.


"Given the infinite number of possible ways of portraying an alien race, there's only one reason why the writer would choose to make them look like a hot babe."

Can I sig these? The Space Babe Postulate totally needs to be a thing. :smallbiggrin: