Half-Dwarf PC Race

[the_brazenburn]

Has anybody wondered why there is a half-elf race, but not a half-dwarf or half-halfling (quarterling?) or any other half-human race?

No? Okay, maybe just me.

Well, how would you guys make a balanced half-dwarf (or other half-X) race for PCs?

[xroads]

Half-Dwarfs (aka Muls) do exist in the Dark Sun setting. I don't think they've been converted to 5e yet.

[the_brazenburn]

Oh, cool. What are the Dark Sun stats? I can try converting them to 5e, assuming they are from 3e (not familiar with 4e mechanics).

[lunaticfringe]

I think the only thing that approaches an official 3e Mul is a Dragon Article in their Dark Sun issue.

They were in 4e which may help more.

I just use Half Orcs to represent them but that only works in Dark Sun because Orcs aren't a thing.

[the_brazenburn]

Oh, okay. I don't have any experience with 4e mechanics, so I wouldn't have a very easy time converting them. Back to the drawing board, I guess.

[Naanomi]

If I were going to use existing stats for Mul, I would reskin Goliaths

In classic DnD Cosmology, there are some cross breeds that don’t work basically because the Gods made their races that way; not because of ‘fantasy genetics’

[lunaticfringe]

Anyway just because Muls exist, doesn't really make them a good template for a Half Dwarf from other campaign settings. Athasian Dwarves are different from your standard fantasy dwarves.

[Anonymouswizard]

Half-Dwarfs (aka Muls) do exist in the Dark Sun setting. I don't think they've been converted to 5e yet.

Yeah, this is in some ways the problem with half-dwarves in D&D. Because they only really appeared in one campaign setting for over two decades (and didn't appear for a couple of decades before that) trying to seperate half-dwarves from the Muls of Dark Sun is really difficult.

Bare in mind that a lot of Mul physical traits are a mixing of the best of humans and dwarves. They're taller than humans with the strength, constitution, and hairlessness of an Athasian dwarf, an ability to work even longer than a dwarf can without getting tired, but not the intense focus of a dwarf. They also lack a dwarf's resistance to magic, but in exchange get to learn it if they really want to.

A more 'traditional' half Dwarf would be along the lines of +2 Constitution, +2 to any other stat of your choice (which I consider very powerful), stonecunning, +1 skill, and a dwarven tool proficiency. To make them more distinct replace the +1 skill and tool proficiency with some sort of ability, maybe we give them the ability to march for (1+CON mod) days without rest before having to make constitution checks or something.

[the_brazenburn]

Here's my first draft:

Half-Dwarf

Your Constitution score increases by 2, and two ability scores of your choice increase by 1.

30 foot speed

Darkvision 60 feet

You speak Common and Dwarvish

You gain proficiency in one skill and one tool of your choice.

You have poison resistance and advantage on saves against being poisoned.

[Sigreid]

It's because no one would willingly lie with a dwarf. This is even true of dwarves, but they don't have a choice. That's why they drink so much. 😛

Sorry, blue font is hard on the phone.

[the_brazenburn]

It's because no one would willingly lie with a dwarf. This is even true of dwarves, but they don't have a choice. That's why they drink so much. 😛

Sorry, blue font is hard on the phone.

To a human, a dwarf is incredibly unappealing. To an elf, a human is equally disgusting.

It's all about how you look at it.

[Sigreid]

To a human, a dwarf is incredibly unappealing. To an elf, a human is equally disgusting.

It's all about how you look at it.

I figure half elves happen because the elf knows the human will die long before they become inconvenient. An entire human lifespan is a fling for an elf.

[GlenSmash!]

Half-Elves are better represented in Fantasy fiction that that Half-Dwarves.

That is why the former is in the game, but the latter is not.

Still making a half-dwarf shouldn't be too hard.

[JNAProductions]

Here's my first draft:

Half-Dwarf

Your Strength score increases by 2, and two ability scores of your choice increase by 1.

30 foot speed

Darkvision 60 feet

You have poison resistance and advantage on saves against benig poisoned.

Could probably use one more ability.

And I'd swap Strength for Constitution-that's what Dwarves get +2 of.

[LordEntrails]

Here's my first draft:

Half-Dwarf

Your Strength score increases by 2, and two ability scores of your choice increase by 1.

30 foot speed

Darkvision 60 feet

You have poison resistance and advantage on saves against benig poisoned.

No, Seems a lot like a dwarf.

First what is a half-dwarf to you? Is it a human with a constitution? Or is it a dwarf with the adaptability of a human? Or something else?

Figure out your flavor, then figure out your mechanics.

[the_brazenburn]

Could probably use one more ability.

And I'd swap Strength for Constitution-that's what Dwarves get +2 of.

Okay, good point. I took the half-elf stats and replaced the ASI and the Fey Ancestry.

Which feature would you give it?

[Nidgit]

Here's my first draft:

Half-Dwarf

Your Constitution score increases by 2, and two ability scores of your choice increase by 1.

30 foot speed

Darkvision 60 feet

You have poison resistance and advantage on saves against being poisoned.
Add:
Proficiency with any one tool

One skill proficiency

Speaks Common and Dwarvish

[the_brazenburn]

Add:
Proficiency with any one tool

One skill proficiency

Speaks Common and Dwarvish

Not Stonecunning?

[PopeLinus1]

I tried to do this once. Talk to your DM. The dungeon master will definitely want a say in what your abilities are.

[the_brazenburn]

I tried to do this once. Talk to your DM. The dungeon master will definitely want a say in what your abilities are.

A voice booms down from heaven:

"I AM THE DM, PUNY MORTAL! I CAN DO WHAT I LIKE!"

[Nidgit]

Not Stonecunning?
Nah, I feel like the lack of Stonecunning could really separate a Half-Dwarf from his full-blooded brethren and create more feelings of alienation. It's a small thing that's kind of taken for granted by Dwarves, just the kind of thing where absence will be uncomfortable.

[the_brazenburn]

Okay, I'll give him the tools, skills, and languages.

[the_brazenburn]

Now that Half-Dwarf is done, what would you guys do about a half-halfling (quarterling?)?

[Naanomi]

Now that Half-Dwarf is done, what would you guys do about a half-halfling (quarterling?)?
Variant Human with Lucky feat and minimum height roll?

[the_brazenburn]

Variant Human with Lucky feat and minimum height roll?

I guess so...

I was hoping for something a little more meaty.

[Naanomi]

I guess so...

I was hoping for something a little more meaty.
Halflings are already very close to just being ‘the small race version of humans’... they don’t have as much racial ‘oomph’ like Elves and Dwarves, mechanically or flavorwise

They probably would be pretty ‘meaty’... big appetite on a bigger frame and a human metabolism; that could be a chunky crossbreed

[Mjolnirbear]

Halflings are already very close to just being ‘the small race version of humans’... they don’t have as much racial ‘oomph’ like Elves and Dwarves, mechanically or flavorwise

They probably would be pretty ‘meaty’... big appetite on a bigger frame and a human metabolism; that could be a chunky crossbreed

The Hin are tribal wanderers. Well, lightfoots are. Their schtick is bravery and luck. So my attempt would be thus:

The Hin-hearted
Very few of these are born, but they tend very strongly towards their Hin parents; they have wandering feet to decide their path and a fearlessness that helps keep them on it. The Hin-hearted are almost all to human mothers; Hin mothers sadly die in childbirth at a very high rate.

+2 Dexterity, +1 stat of their choice
Advantage on saves against fear
+1 language
+1 skill
Three times per day, you gain advantage on a save of their choice.

[Sigreid]

Halflings are already very close to just being ‘the small race version of humans’... they don’t have as much racial ‘oomph’ like Elves and Dwarves, mechanically or flavorwise

They probably would be pretty ‘meaty’... big appetite on a bigger frame and a human metabolism; that could be a chunky crossbreed

I could see halflings being the half dwarves, but they've been their own thing for so long no one remembers that this is what they are.

[Moredhel24]

The stoutheart halflings could be reflavored/skinned as half dwarves. In the phb it says that they've some dwarvish blood in them.

[Anonymouswizard]

With regards to actually representing them in a game, generally Variant Human with X feat is the easiest way to do it, if you don't want to just refluff one of the subraces.

For those races which aren't single subrace, it's probably easiest to go with adding a subrace instead of going the half-elf model. So...

Half Dwarf
+1 to two ability scores of your choice.
Proficiency in one skill.

Quarterling
+1 to two ability scores of your choice.
Proficiency with stepladders or one tool of your choice.

Half Gnome
+1 to two ability scores of your choice.
-Proficiency in one skill.
-Proficiency with one tool of your choice.

As a very rough set, potentially with other variations to come (which should be more fun, half-elf half-dragonborn and things like that).

In all honesty, I've not found a game with a better system for mixed species parentage than Fantasy AGE. You count as the race of one parent for your stat boost, free focus, and languages, and then get to roll once on the extra benefits table for both races instead of twice on one table.

[MxKit]

If going the Half-Elf-ish route... Well, let's take a look at what Half-Elf does, exactly.

Elf Base: +2 to Dex, darkvision, proficiency in Perception, advantage against being charmed and magic can't put them to sleep, and trance. For (mostly) fluff: they becomes adults at 100 and can live to be 750; they lean towards Chaotic Good in alignment; they can be under 5' tall or over 6' tall; they have the Common and Elvish languages.

Humans: +1 to ALL ability scores. For (mostly) fluff: they become adults in their late teens and live less than 100 years; they have no tendency toward any alignment; they can be barely 5' or well over 6' tall; they have Common language and any other language of the player's choice.

Half-Elf: +2 to Cha and +1 to TWO ability scores of the player's choice, darkvision, advantage against being charmed and magic can't put them to sleep, and proficiency in two skills of the player's choice. For (mostly) fluff: they become adults around the age of 20 and often live over 180 years; they lean towards Chaotic alignments; they're about 5' to 6' tall; they have the Common and Elvish languages AND one other language of the player's choice.
Interestingly, it's possible to see where all of the things Half-Elves get sources from, even where they differ from their parents... except for the +2 to Cha, which stems not from elves in general (only Drow gets +1 to Cha), but specifically from their place in society as diplomats and go-betweens. Otherwise, they get some more versatility with the ability scores from their human heritage (though not as much); the darkvision, charm, and sleep things directly from their elven heritage; shockingly, an even better skill-related trait than either parent (not only gaining the sort of "can do/be anything they choose" aspect of humans but DOUBLING the number of proficiencies the elf gets). Likewise, their age is more human but skewed a bit upward, their height kind of falls between what's normal for the two races with fewer extremes, they have a bit of lean in alignment due to their elven ancestry but not the full thing, and they get both the elf's languages and the human's extra language-of-choice.

What they DON'T get—at all or any equivalent to—are trance and, basically, +1 to three more ability scores (or two, if you count Cha as two +1 increases, just on the same stat).

So let's look at some of the other races and come up with proposed half-X's...

Dwarves: +2 to Con, darkvision, advantage on saving throws against poison and resistance to poison damage, proficiency with four weapons (battlexe, handaxe, light hammer, and warhammer specifically), proficiency with either smith's tools OR brewer's supplies OR mason's supplies, and immediate double proficiency bonus to any Intelligence (History) checks related to the origin of stonework. For (mostly) fluff: they become adults at 50 and live about 350 years on average; they tend towards Lawful Good in alignment; they're between 4' and 5' tall and average about 150 pounds; their base speed is 25 feet (but it's not reduced by wearing heavy armor); they have the Common and Dwarvish languages.

Proposed Half-Dwarf Build: +2 to Con and +1 to TWO ability scores of the player's choice*, darkvision, advantage on saving throws against poison and resistance to poison damage, proficiency with two weapons of the player's choice, proficiency with one artisan's tool of the player's choice. For (mostly) fluff: they become adults at around 20 and often live well over 100 years; they lean towards Lawful alignments; they can be anything from a bit under 5' to a bit under 6' tall and are often stocky in weight; their base speed is 30 feet and they receive only a 5 foot reduction in speed from heavy armor; they have the Common and Dwarvish languages AND one other language of the player's choice.

*If this is too powerful, it could potentially be changed to +2 to Wis instead of Con; rather than being the diplomats, maybe Half-Dwarves keep more distant from others but are also good at survival stuff.
Halflings: +2 to Dex, can reroll a die when they roll a 1 on the d20, advantage on saving throws against being frightened, and can move through the space of any creature that is of a size larger than yours. For (mostly) fluff: they become adults at 20 and generally live to be around ~250 or so; they tend towards Lawful Good in alignment; they're about 3' and weigh about 40 pounds; their base walking speed is 25 feet; they have the Common and Halfling languages.

Proposed Half-Halfling (Quarterling?) Build: +2 to Dex and +1 to TWO ability scores of the player's choice, can reroll a die when they roll a 1 on the d20, advantage on saving throws against being frightened. For (mostly) fluff: they become adults around 18-20 years old and generally live to be about 100; they tend towards Lawful alignments; they're about 4' and are very slight in weight; their base walking speed is 25 feet; they have the Common and Halfling languages AND one other language of the player's choice.
This one is hard, because a mix of just plain Gnomes and Humans makes either basically a Gnome or just something that's not as good as either one. So for this I'm going to go with the fluff that half-Gnomes are driven to learn and basically take advantage of their Intelligence even more than regular Gnomes are, and that comes with a few unique advantages...

Gnomes: +2 to Int, darkvision, and advantage on all Int and Wis and Cha saving throws against magic. For (mostly) fluff: they become adults around 40 years old and live over 350 years and can even almost reach 500; they lean towards Good alignments; they're between 3' and 4' and weigh about 40 pounds; their speed is 25 feet; they have the Common and Gnomish languages.

Proposed Half-Gnome Build: +2 to Int and +1 to ONE ability score of the player's choice, darkvision, advantage on all Int saving throws against magic, and proficiency in two skills of the player's choice. For (mostly) fluff: they become adults around 20 years old and can live over 150 years; they don't lean towards any alignment; they're between 4' and just under 5' and are slight in weight; their speed is 30 feet; they have the Common and Gnomish languages AND two other languages of the player's choice.
Most races without subraces are too hard to really do half-version of, imo. Or at least, I don't have enough brainpower for them right now; I might revisit them later. Tieflings, Aasimar, and Genasi are basically all half-races already, so I'm not going to do them. But I do have one more, thanks to Unearthed Arcana: Gothic Heroes (though it's only inspired by that, I did have to do a little legwork...)

Dragonborn: +2 Str and +1 Cha, breath weapon in a line or cone of some element that does 2d6 damage that increases at various levels (up to 5d6) and recharges on a short or long rest, and damage resistance to that same element. For (mostly) fluff: they become adults by 15 and live to be around 80; they tend mostly towards Good or Evil rather than Neutral on that axis; they stand well over 6' and average almost 250 pounds; they have the Common and Draconic languages.

Proposed Half-Dragonborn Build: +1 Str and +1 Cha and +1 to TWO other ability scores of the player's choice, breath weapon that works the same except without increasing in damage at any level, damage resistance to that same element, and proficiency in ONE skill of the player's choice. For (mostly) fluff: they become adults in their mid to late teens and live less than 100 years; they tend towards extremes on one axis or the other (usually both), most are either Lawful Good, Chaotic Good, Lawful Evil, or Chaotic Evil, and very few are True Neutral; they're 6' or taller and tend to be heavier built; they have the Common and Draconic languages AND one other language of the player's choice.
Half-Halflings are the ones I'm least convinced by, tbh. Maybe instead of getting to reroll a 1 on the d20 for attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws, it only works for one or two of those?

[Oerlaf]

Well, I'm familiar with 4E mechanics, so we could basically convert Muls from the Dark Sun to 5E:

Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by +2, and your Strength and Wisdom score increase by +1 each.
Size. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your speed is 30 feet.
Legacy of Stone. You have advantage on saving throws against poison.
Humanity's Heir. You gain proficiency in one skill of your choice.
Tireless. You need to sleep 6 hours in a 72-hour period (instead of 8 hours in a 24-hour period) to gain the benefit of a long rest.
Half-Dwarf Vitality. Whenever you regain hit points, you can spend one Hit Die and regain the number of hit points equal to the roll in addition to the healing.
Incredible Toughness. When you fail a saving throw against magic that incapacitates you, you can choose to succeed instead. If you do, you can't do this again until after you finish a short or long rest.

[JNAProductions]

Well, I'm familiar with 4E mechanics, so we could basically convert Muls from the Dark Sun to 5E:

Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by +2, and your Strength and Wisdom score increase by +1 each.
Size. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your speed is 30 feet.
Legacy of Stone. You have advantage on saving throws against poison.
Humanity's Heir. You gain proficiency in one skill of your choice.
Tireless. You need to sleep 6 hours in a 72-hour period (instead of 8 hours in a 24-hour period) to gain the benefit of a long rest.
Half-Dwarf Vitality. Whenever you regain hit points, you can spend one Hit Die and regain the number of hit points equal to the roll in addition to the healing.
Incredible Toughness. When you fail a saving throw against magic that incapacitates you, you can choose to succeed instead. If you do, you can't do this again until after you finish a short or long rest.

I think that's slightly too many. I'd drop either Half-Dwarf vitality, or Incredible Toughness.

Very fluffy though.

[Naanomi]

If building from scratch, I’d give Mul +1 STR, +2 CON; a tool proficiency of choice, Powerful build, a once/long rest re-roll on any save, and some ability to negate exhaustion (a special save to ignore, removing it on a short rest, or just ignoring one level/day)

[PopeLinus1]

A voice booms down from heaven:

"I AM THE DM, PUNY MORTAL! I CAN DO WHAT I LIKE!"

Yes. Like that.

[Wampyr]

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?378155-Half-Dwarf-for-5e-and-3-5!-(PEACH)

I use this for half dwarves.

[JNAProductions]

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?378155-Half-Dwarf-for-5e-and-3-5!-(PEACH)

I use this for half dwarves.

That's mostly okay, except for granting a STRONG SAVING THROW as a racial feature. That's crazy good.