Do half-breeds right, or don't do them at all.

[Alweth]

If you allow two different races to cross-breed. Please do it in a way that makes sense.

 

It doesn't make sense when two different "races" can interbreed and yet you see nobody of more complex heritage than half of one and half of the other. It would make sense if the half-breeds were sterile. Otherwise you would expect to see a whole spectrum of mixed breeds with a variety of racial features from both sides.

 

Personally, I'm fine with there being no half-breeds, or not having them be playable, etc.

 

However, if you are going to allow characters of mixed race (and they're not going to be sterile), please do it right:

 

When you choose a mixed race character, you should be able to select a variety of racial attributes from each race he's supposed to be have the ancestry for. Obviously, there should be some restrictions.

 

Most people have no idea of how genetics actually works, so if you're going to do mixed races, it might be good to look into that a little too.

[Nonek]

I agree on this, if you can breed with another race then that means it is simply another offshoot of humanity, or humanity's an offshoot of elves etcetera. I'd prefer that the other peoples of Eternity are either completely different species, and thus incapable of successful mating or distant offshoots such as the donkey is to the horse family, only birthing sterile mutants.

 

Arcanum had a good bit on this in the manual, introducing not only natural selection but also supernatural selection, where it was hinted at that elves might have been born of a massive influx of supernatural energy affecting a race of mankind. Damn pity that Mr Cain couldn't continue with that world, it was so engrossing.

[Blackbeard]

I think adding fertile mixed races would definitely overcomplicate things. And if they are included, having them as a playable option just worsens this. At most only 50% mixtures should be found with such explanations as sterility as you explained, and the fact that most groups could be highly endogamous.

[NerdBoner]

i don't know how i feel about this yet...half to know more about the setting and races involved before i can speculate on interspecies breeding...

 

i'm all for handsome square jawed half elves though...my rogues get all the ladies.

[Tale]

I don't see why it needs to be perfectly representative of ancestry. Mixed races are diverse, sure, but so are any of the pure races. It doesn't mean humans are going to get a selection of racial abilities. They just get to mix around their stat allocation.

 

A half-elf race is already part of a spectrum. The elf race and humans are sides of it, nobody says that picking an elf has to be pure. It can be mixed too, just one that favors the elf traits. The human race favors the human traits. Half-elf is balanced. More granularity than that is appreciable, but not necessary.

[C2B]

I agree on this, if you can breed with another race then that means it is simply another offshoot of humanity, or humanity's an offshoot of elves etcetera. I'd prefer that the other peoples of Eternity are either completely different species, and thus incapable of successful mating or distant offshoots such as the donkey is to the horse family, only birthing sterile mutants.

 

Arcanum had a good bit on this in the manual, introducing not only natural selection but also supernatural selection, where it was hinted at that elves might have been born of a massive influx of supernatural energy affecting a race of mankind. Damn pity that Mr Cain couldn't continue with that world, it was so engrossing.

 

Yup.

[Piccolo]

I'm fine with them leaving half-breeds out personally. I can see the roleplaying appeal of being a mix instead of a standard race, but it seems like a lot of time and effort that could be better spent on making the standard races and cultures as unique and interesting as possible.

[Andre]

I don't mind half-breeds, the offspring being sterile I think is the best choice if they're gonna make them.

 

Btw, how does Forgotten Realms deal with this? or any DND world? Can anybody just mix in? Quarter fiend/dragon/elf/human?

[Tale]

I don't mind half-breeds, the offspring being sterile I think is the best choice if they're gonna make them.

 

Btw, how does Forgotten Realms deal with this? or any DND world? Can anybody just mix in? Quarter fiend/dragon/elf/human?

There's a gigantic chart.

[Enclave]

Eh, I don't think they need to go with various degrees of what race a character is.

 

I basically see it as no matter what degree of the race you are as long as you're showing traits of both you're considered a half breed. You could still be a Half-Elf if your great grandmother was an Elf as long as you still maintain the Elf traits. Once you no longer have strong Elf traits then you're just considered Human.

[Rostere]

I agree on this, if you can breed with another race then that means it is simply another offshoot of humanity, or humanity's an offshoot of elves etcetera. I'd prefer that the other peoples of Eternity are either completely different species, and thus incapable of successful mating or distant offshoots such as the donkey is to the horse family, only birthing sterile mutants.

 

Arcanum had a good bit on this in the manual, introducing not only natural selection but also supernatural selection, where it was hinted at that elves might have been born of a massive influx of supernatural energy affecting a race of mankind. Damn pity that Mr Cain couldn't continue with that world, it was so engrossing.

This.

[Kissamies]

I basically see it as no matter what degree of the race you are as long as you're showing traits of both you're considered a half breed. You could still be a Half-Elf if your great grandmother was an Elf as long as you still maintain the Elf traits. Once you no longer have strong Elf traits then you're just considered Human.

Yeah, I'd go something like this or have 2 levels. You are either a Half-Elf, regardless of actual proportions, showing the full Half-Elf traits or you have a "feat" or "background option" called "Elven Ancestry" meaning that you've had an Elven ancestor.

[Shades]

I like having half-breeds in, I remember being a bit incredulous at the way Dragon Age did them: A human and elf breed and create... A human (it doesn't seem to make sense).

 

I don't mind half-breeds being able to breed, but half-breeds being infertile certainly makes sense too. Don't you get that infertility with things like lion-tiger half-breeds in the real world? With the number of races I was actually wondering if a) There would be half-breeds, and b) If there are, what would they go under? It would be nice if you could have Humans, Elves, Dwarves, and Half-breeds as an actual category itself, with subraces for it being the type of half-breed be they half-elf or half-dwarf or half elf-dwarf or whatever.

[Aedelric]

Well, everyone has two of every gene type one from mother one from father, one is always recessive. If elves are inherently recessive to humans then all elf/human children will be entirely human.

 

I think it as being a very tidy way of approaching the subject, also gives the elves the reason for them dying off in almost all fantasy settings.

Edited September 22, 2012 by Aedelric

[TCJ]

Just stay away from half dragons, eh?

[Troller]

Also in a world where there are different races, half breeds should probably looked down upon by most of the cultures.

[NerdBoner]

look guys, if i can't be a beautiful and unique snowflake I don't think I wanna play anymore...so there...

[Rostere]

I think that games have not explored enough the kinds of social stigmas you must face as a half- breed.

[NerdBoner]

I think that games have not explored enough the kinds of social stigmas you must face as a half- breed.

i think most people shy away from that kind of story telling because it may hurt feelings or some other PC nonsense...psshh...

 

I'm all for mobs running me out of town because some human raped my grandma 50 years ago. Bring it!

[Troller]

I think there should have, since this is a mature RPG, explained reasons why one race might hate the other, I mean, look at Dragon Age, elfs and humans, IIRC it's just a hate fest for no reason at all, if they would have explained better it would have been for the best, like for example maybe the elfes in the DAO world were pigs, sleeping and ****ting on the same bed, you know any decent reason, so that it wasn't just a blind hate just for the sake of having a quest line, that's pretty lame...

Edited September 22, 2012 by Nigro

[Shades]

Well, everyone has two of every gene type one from mother one from father, one is always recessive. If elves are inherently recessive to humans then all elf/human children will be entirely human.

 

I think it as being a very tidy way of approaching the subject, also gives the elves the reason for them dying off in almost all fantasy settings.

 

Eh, I don't know. With Dragon Age to me it seemed more like a cheap way of getting rid of half-elves so they didn't have to try and put in yet another race choice for the player (which in Origins may have meant a new starting point too which would be a bit of work). That's the way I've always seen it anyway, I would have been fine if they'd said half-breeds were infertile, thus there weren't a lot of them and that was why the player couldn't be one.

 

 

look guys, if i can't be a beautiful and unique snowflake I don't think I wanna play anymore...so there...

 

Actually for me it's more 'I like some parts of elves and some parts of humans, so I'd like to make a character that has a bit of both.'

 

On the subject of half-breeds being looked down upon though I think it would make a lot of sense, it would be very interesting to see in the game, perhaps even some companions could be less than impressed with a half-breed (depending on whether we have half-breeds or not of course).

[Tenamor]

I think half-breeds are a good idea, sterile or not. What I think the best thing to do with half-breeds is how everyone would judge that character.

 

Say the world generally looked down upon them or even just certain ones, be it subtle snips or full blown hatred I want to see it in the dialogue. I want my choice to have traits from both races punished by racist merchants and prejudiced guardsmen, yet rewarded by opened possibilities in gear, traits, skills, etc. Hell, bring gender into things too. Things like that are something I'd really love to see.

 

Sorry if it was already mentioned.

[molarBear]

half-breeds should be special (odd and interesting) and reserved only for your companions (which you recruit)

like a half abishai half thokola freak as your companion (should you choose to recruit her )

i am tired of half orc, half human etc.

[ddillon]

Don't do them at all.

 

Or at most include them as subrace options. Don't waste one of our limited number of playable races (5 total; 3 base + 2 stretch goals) on half-breeds.

 

Mixed heritage is often used to attempt to make a poorly written character interesting, engaging, 'special', etc. Avoid this common fantasy pitfall plz.

Edited September 23, 2012 by ddillon

[khango]

I think it would be cool to have mixed races. I think it could be done algorithmically, just have a slider in increments of 8ths.

 

Would work out fine if however you're doings stats the limits/starting conditions could be slid fractionally. Would work for special abilities, too - fractionation could make them less effective or only available at a higher level or something, or they could even be odds based -3/4 elf gets 3/4 chance of having each special elf thing.

 

That said, I'd certainly be fine with some combos being infertile.

 

But I don't think a system for it would be a huge development sink, though it might be more of a convo scripting sinkhole.

Edited September 23, 2012 by khango