Eldariel
2008-05-09, 04:40 PM
Am I the only one who finds the present way of having "pre-made" half-races that are invariably Human/X around with no other options? Also, the fact that Half-X is a template seems stupid; having X-Blood should be a template, sure, but being Half-X would mean that half of your heritage comes from that source and half from another meaning you shouldn't really have multiple Half-X templates at once and that you should only get half the abilities of the base race. So I figured, why not simplify things? If there were stats for each Half-Race, it'd be a simple matter of combining the abilities of any two Half-Races to create the offspring of those two races. The beauty of that would be that it'd be incredibly easy for DM or players to make new Half-Races as the story and their whim dictates as the Halves would be the same no matter the other parent.
The only problem I see about this is how it removes the possibility of making a race like Half-Elf with bonuses to Diplomacy and such skills for being adaptable, but they'd get extra points for being Humans so it'd probably all work out. It's reasonable to assume you have a bonus to Charisma-based skills towards your own race anyways. I think a reasonable ruling would be to give the Half-Race halves of all ability bonuses and penalties the base race has along with a bunch of the abilities. It'd be something like this:
Half-Elf
-+1 Dex, -1 Con
-+1 to Spot, Listen and Search
-+2 to saves vs. any Sleep-inducing effects and any effects from the Enchantment-school
-Low-Light Vision
-Counts as an Elf
Half-Human
-+1 skill point per level, +4 on the first level
-Counts as a Human
Making the PHB Half-Elves mechanically:
Half-Elf
Medium
30' land speed
+1 Dex, -1 Con
+1 to Spot, Listen and Search
+1 skill point per level, +4 on the first level.
+2 to saves vs. any Sleep-inducing effects and any effects from the Enchantment-school
Low-Light Vision
Counts as an Elf and a Human
To add to that, statting Half-Orc out would give:
Half-Orc
-+2 Str, -1 Int, -1 Wis, -1 Cha
-Darkvision
-Recessive Light Sensitivity - If both races have Light Sensitivity, so does the offspring.
-Counts as an Orc
Which would give us PHB Half-Orcs as:
Half-Orc
Medium
30' land speed
+2 Str, -1 Int, -1 Wis, -1 Cha
+1 skill point per level
Darkvision
Counts as a Human and an Orc
And to really do what the system is supposed to, we'd get a child of an Elf and an Orc:
Half-Elven Orc
Medium
30' land speed
+2 Str, +1 Dex, -1 Con, -1 Int, -1 Wis, -1 Cha
+2 to saves vs. sleep and enchantment-school effects
+1 to Spot, Listen and Search
Low-Light Vision
Darkvision
Counts as an Orc and an Elf
If such races existed for all PHB races, it'd be incredibly easy to make all the hybrids you could ever want. They would also make sense and be actually playable powerwise. I suppose I'm posting this here to find out what all of you think of such an arrangement, and to post your own Half-Races here while at it.
Some points, like the weapon proficiencies inherent to an Elf and Favoured Classes (if using them; I intentionally shunned them as I ignore the whole rule), could be given out depending on where the character grew as opposed to his heritage as per DMG suggestion (in "Half-Human"; loses Favoured Class any, gains Elven Proficiencies due to growing up with Elves).
The only problem I see about this is how it removes the possibility of making a race like Half-Elf with bonuses to Diplomacy and such skills for being adaptable, but they'd get extra points for being Humans so it'd probably all work out. It's reasonable to assume you have a bonus to Charisma-based skills towards your own race anyways. I think a reasonable ruling would be to give the Half-Race halves of all ability bonuses and penalties the base race has along with a bunch of the abilities. It'd be something like this:
Half-Elf
-+1 Dex, -1 Con
-+1 to Spot, Listen and Search
-+2 to saves vs. any Sleep-inducing effects and any effects from the Enchantment-school
-Low-Light Vision
-Counts as an Elf
Half-Human
-+1 skill point per level, +4 on the first level
-Counts as a Human
Making the PHB Half-Elves mechanically:
Half-Elf
Medium
30' land speed
+1 Dex, -1 Con
+1 to Spot, Listen and Search
+1 skill point per level, +4 on the first level.
+2 to saves vs. any Sleep-inducing effects and any effects from the Enchantment-school
Low-Light Vision
Counts as an Elf and a Human
To add to that, statting Half-Orc out would give:
Half-Orc
-+2 Str, -1 Int, -1 Wis, -1 Cha
-Darkvision
-Recessive Light Sensitivity - If both races have Light Sensitivity, so does the offspring.
-Counts as an Orc
Which would give us PHB Half-Orcs as:
Half-Orc
Medium
30' land speed
+2 Str, -1 Int, -1 Wis, -1 Cha
+1 skill point per level
Darkvision
Counts as a Human and an Orc
And to really do what the system is supposed to, we'd get a child of an Elf and an Orc:
Half-Elven Orc
Medium
30' land speed
+2 Str, +1 Dex, -1 Con, -1 Int, -1 Wis, -1 Cha
+2 to saves vs. sleep and enchantment-school effects
+1 to Spot, Listen and Search
Low-Light Vision
Darkvision
Counts as an Orc and an Elf
If such races existed for all PHB races, it'd be incredibly easy to make all the hybrids you could ever want. They would also make sense and be actually playable powerwise. I suppose I'm posting this here to find out what all of you think of such an arrangement, and to post your own Half-Races here while at it.
Some points, like the weapon proficiencies inherent to an Elf and Favoured Classes (if using them; I intentionally shunned them as I ignore the whole rule), could be given out depending on where the character grew as opposed to his heritage as per DMG suggestion (in "Half-Human"; loses Favoured Class any, gains Elven Proficiencies due to growing up with Elves).