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Teneck
Learned Scribe

USA
133 Posts

Posted - 07 Aug 2009 :  16:55:36  Show Profile  Visit Teneck's Homepage Send Teneck a Private Message  Reply with Quote  Delete Topic
This question came up in a game recently, so I have to ask.

We know about Half Elves,Half Orcs, and Half Dragons.

Is there any info/lore on a Half Human/ Half Halfling(I know it's really Hin)

Or a half Elf/ Half Orc mix?

Or are Humans the only ones able to cross breed with Orcs and Elves?

I searched my repository(albeit small) library of Realms guides, but I couldn't find any references at all. I did run across a D20 book on the net called "Bastards and Halfbreeds" but they aren't "official" Realms.

Has this just never come up or are the mixes so rare that they aren't speced out?

Thanks in advance sages.

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Bladewind
Master of Realmslore

Netherlands
1280 Posts

Posted - 07 Aug 2009 :  17:17:05  Show Profile Send Bladewind a Private Message  Reply with Quote
In core D&D elves and orcs get sterile offspring or usually no offspring at all.

Only humans are the race that easily breeds with a multitude of other races and get fertile offspring. Dwarves and humans beget a sterile race aswell (Darksuns Mul are a good build in 2e edition for "halfdwarves").

Halfling and humans are also incompatible (I can imagine that the ordeal for female hin that need to birth a halfbreed usually can kill them in the process).

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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
Moderator

USA
36803 Posts

Posted - 07 Aug 2009 :  17:59:53  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Bladewind

In core D&D elves and orcs get sterile offspring or usually no offspring at all.

Only humans are the race that easily breeds with a multitude of other races and get fertile offspring. Dwarves and humans beget a sterile race aswell (Darksuns Mul are a good build in 2e edition for "halfdwarves").

Halfling and humans are also incompatible (I can imagine that the ordeal for female hin that need to birth a halfbreed usually can kill them in the process).



A halfling father and a human mother shouldn't have any issues.

They're rare, but we do have elf-dwarf crossbreeds ("dwelves") in canon.

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Teneck
Learned Scribe

USA
133 Posts

Posted - 07 Aug 2009 :  18:09:24  Show Profile  Visit Teneck's Homepage Send Teneck a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

quote:
Originally posted by Bladewind

In core D&D elves and orcs get sterile offspring or usually no offspring at all.

Only humans are the race that easily breeds with a multitude of other races and get fertile offspring. Dwarves and humans beget a sterile race aswell (Darksuns Mul are a good build in 2e edition for "halfdwarves").

Halfling and humans are also incompatible (I can imagine that the ordeal for female hin that need to birth a halfbreed usually can kill them in the process).



A halfling father and a human mother shouldn't have any issues.

They're rare, but we do have elf-dwarf crossbreeds ("dwelves") in canon.



So have there been any ability specs laid out anywhere?
I have a player that is interested in trying a Hin/Human mix...hoping I think for some human feat and skill bonus with a "non-human" racial bonus.

And where oh Master of Mischief are the "dwelves" mentioned...now I am curious.

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Hawkins
Great Reader

USA
2131 Posts

Posted - 07 Aug 2009 :  18:43:11  Show Profile  Visit Hawkins's Homepage Send Hawkins a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Teneck

So have there been any ability specs laid out anywhere?
I have a player that is interested in trying a Hin/Human mix...hoping I think for some human feat and skill bonus with a "non-human" racial bonus.
Without being half-hin, you can get the feat bonus as a Strongheart Halfling (check out the 3e FRCS, pg 196 for Stronheart Halfing stats). It does not, however, give you the skill point bonus.

EDIT: also, I created 3.x stats for a Half-Elf Half-Orc hybrid race HERE.

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Edited by - Hawkins on 07 Aug 2009 18:46:53
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
Moderator

USA
36803 Posts

Posted - 07 Aug 2009 :  18:47:31  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Teneck

So have there been any ability specs laid out anywhere?


Nope. I think it's just been "so-and-so was a dwarf-elf crossbreed" and nothing more.

quote:
Originally posted by Teneck

I have a player that is interested in trying a Hin/Human mix...hoping I think for some human feat and skill bonus with a "non-human" racial bonus.


I'd allow it. You could either say the offspring came out as one race or the other, or you could take some abilities away from one race and replace them with abilities from another. I'd not allow a straight one-for-one trade; I'd do more like two-for-one, and/or have a couple of things simply get lost and not be available. Either way, it's entirely your call.

I'd ask the player what he hopes to accomplish with this, and in particular if it's for a crunchy boost or just to match some interesting concept.

quote:
Originally posted by Teneck

And where oh Master of Mischief are the "dwelves" mentioned...now I am curious.



I'm only recalling the existence of two named dwelves.

One was Isinghar "Feyrune" Ironstar, described as a dwelf runecarver and archmage of Ammarindar, who was one of the secondary casters in the raising of the mythal over Myth Glaurach. This is from the Myth Glaurach article that was part of the Mintiper's Chapbook series.

The other named dwelf was Dlarbraddath. We don't know if that was his actual name; we just know that a section of Myth Drannor was "named for the gardener who laid it out, a being said to have an elven mother and a dwarven father!" (page 19, Campaign Guide to Myth Drannor, Ruins of Myth Drannor boxed set). I think it more likely he was named Dlarbradd.


The Myth Glaurach article also notes, in the footnotes, that

quote:
Dwarf-elf crossbreeds, known as "dwelf" in the singular and "dwelves" in the plural, are noted as having been common in the days of Eaerlann in FR11 – Dwarves Deep, p. 6.


Page 6 of Dwarves Deep says:

quote:
Humans, gnomes, and halflings are cross-fertile with dwarves. Elminster says elves and dwarves can have issue as well. Common in Ardeep, Eaerlann, and Myth Drannor of old, this is unheard-of today.


and

quote:
"Half-dwarves" are not a distinct race. Save for their height (a head taller than most dwarves) all offspring of unions between dwarves and other races look and act (and are treated in the rules) as pureblood dwarves. Dwarven halfbreeds always have the stocky build and hirsute appearance of purebloods.



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Edited by - Wooly Rupert on 07 Aug 2009 18:51:30
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Hoondatha
Great Reader

USA
2449 Posts

Posted - 07 Aug 2009 :  18:48:20  Show Profile  Visit Hoondatha's Homepage Send Hoondatha a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Quick correction: human/dwarf crossbreeds are fertile with both humans and dwarves, and like half-elves, breed true if bred back into one race (ie: child of dwarf and half-dwarf is a dwarf). Check out Dwarves Deep for more, though don't pay too much attention to the supposed "last salvation" stuff, since Ed's said that's human propaganda.

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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High

Australia
31772 Posts

Posted - 08 Aug 2009 :  00:55:11  Show Profile Send The Sage a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

quote:
Originally posted by Teneck

So have there been any ability specs laid out anywhere?


Nope. I think it's just been "so-and-so was a dwarf-elf crossbreed" and nothing more.

quote:
Originally posted by Teneck

I have a player that is interested in trying a Hin/Human mix...hoping I think for some human feat and skill bonus with a "non-human" racial bonus.


I'd allow it. You could either say the offspring came out as one race or the other, or you could take some abilities away from one race and replace them with abilities from another. I'd not allow a straight one-for-one trade; I'd do more like two-for-one, and/or have a couple of things simply get lost and not be available. Either way, it's entirely your call.

I'd ask the player what he hopes to accomplish with this, and in particular if it's for a crunchy boost or just to match some interesting concept.

quote:
Originally posted by Teneck

And where oh Master of Mischief are the "dwelves" mentioned...now I am curious.



I'm only recalling the existence of two named dwelves.

One was Isinghar "Feyrune" Ironstar, described as a dwelf runecarver and archmage of Ammarindar, who was one of the secondary casters in the raising of the mythal over Myth Glaurach. This is from the Myth Glaurach article that was part of the Mintiper's Chapbook series.

The other named dwelf was Dlarbraddath. We don't know if that was his actual name; we just know that a section of Myth Drannor was "named for the gardener who laid it out, a being said to have an elven mother and a dwarven father!" (page 19, Campaign Guide to Myth Drannor, Ruins of Myth Drannor boxed set). I think it more likely he was named Dlarbradd.


The Myth Glaurach article also notes, in the footnotes, that

quote:
Dwarf-elf crossbreeds, known as "dwelf" in the singular and "dwelves" in the plural, are noted as having been common in the days of Eaerlann in FR11 – Dwarves Deep, p. 6.


Page 6 of Dwarves Deep says:

quote:
Humans, gnomes, and halflings are cross-fertile with dwarves. Elminster says elves and dwarves can have issue as well. Common in Ardeep, Eaerlann, and Myth Drannor of old, this is unheard-of today.


and

quote:
"Half-dwarves" are not a distinct race. Save for their height (a head taller than most dwarves) all offspring of unions between dwarves and other races look and act (and are treated in the rules) as pureblood dwarves. Dwarven halfbreeds always have the stocky build and hirsute appearance of purebloods.




And a little bit from Steven Schend -

"Dwelves....okay, I'll stop myself early before I start doing haiku about stone shelves and dungeon delves....

As stated above (and like half-elves), they favor and adopt the lifestyle/culture under which they are raised. Same goes for which gods they revere.

Both elves and dwarves have serious cognitive dissonance when it comes to dwelves, as (unlike half-elves or half-orcs, IMO) there's no set form or expectation for how they'll look. It's anyone's guess if you'll end up with a dwarf's body size and shape with elven features and ears or an elf's body but stocky vs. svelte and rather hairier than the norm. Dwarven parents may mourn their child's inability to grow a decent beard, thanks to their elven half, while elves may grumble that the child is more interested in the dirt rather than the tree from which it springs. Most likely, they're only comfortable among some societies that embrace acceptance and unity (like Myth Drannor or Miyeritar or elsewhere).

That said, I was surprised by that Myth Glaurach note. Methinks I'll have to talk to Eric and find out what else he's had the Blackstaff up to while I've not been watching....if only for my own curiousity, of course."

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