Can Elves and Orcs produce hybrids? If not, do elves-humans-orcs constitute a ring species? Are the other player races separate species, since we see little if any hybridization?
>>47165602
All of these are "depends on the setting" questions, and many settings leave it up to the GM to decide how it works in their game.
You know, almost like the GM is supposed to make rulings and mess with setting canon in order to make it enjoyable for everyone in their group.
>>47165602
Depends on the setting. D&D? Dominant genes win out, making it either a half-orc or a half-elf, stat-wise.
>>47165630
How have you done it then?
>>47165649
In my 5E game humans, goliaths, dwarves and halflings are all closely related enough to produce mules. Elves and Orcs come from an entirely separate world and don't crossbreed with other races.
Mules from the pairings mentioned above are mechanically whichever parent race the player wants his character to be most like. I'm not overly concerned with realism and making a bunch of half-races would be an inefficient and unenjoyable use of my time.
>>47165602
It just makes an elf orcs are elves so tourted by black magic that it polluted their blood
>>47165602
Depends on the setting.
Don't make shitty threads asking questions that you don't give any context for, even if it's just saying "how do you guys handle it in your donut steel settings?" it's better than this shit.
>HAI GUYSE, HOW DOES MAGIC WORK?!
>>47165602
Not in my setting.
Filthy half-breeds get out
>>47165602
>Can Elves and Orcs produce hybrids in your setting? If not, do elves-humans-orcs constitute a ring species? Are the other player races separate species, since we see little if any hybridization?
Fixed that sloppy "depends on the setting"-bait for you.
And no, they can't. Because they're totally different creatures with zero common ancestors. I generally don't subscribe to super-fecundity, I like the Other to stay the Other and half-stuff invites the worst dregs of mary-suedom. The desire to be special and rare.
DND may have institutionalized half-orcs and half-elves but screw them.
>>47165602
>half-elves and half-orcs exist so humans, elves and orcs must be the same species
I guess humans and horses must be one species since centaurs exist. And eagles and lions are the same species.
Depends on the setting, statistically they're always Half-orcs.
>>47165602
Nope. Complete book of Elves goes so far as to say that elf women can just chose to will themselves to death rather than be raped by orcs. To my knolls ge there has never been a half Elf Orc in all of D&D presumably it would not come to term, or would end up as a mongralman.
>>47165602
Half-orc/half-elf is called a human. We live twice as long as Orcs but half as long as elves, sturdier than elves more fragile than orcs, more nimble than orcs but less than orcs, and we look like a combination of the two. The reason you don't hear about where humans came from in most settings is they are covering up the truth.
>>47165602
>hybrids
No. They're fictional creatures.
Protip: All the Half-X entries in the old books were no more than statlines added for variety. So are all the new ones because, much like OP, fantasy creatures never fuck. They can't. So, no magical realm hybrids. Just what's in the books.
What? Someone had to say it.
>>47165602
>Can Elves and Orcs produce hybrids?
Yes. But they're just like human orc half-orcs, because the orcish part is the more dominant and brings the human/elvish parts down to the same 'level.'
>Do elves-humans-orcs constitute a ring species?
That's the thing where part of species A becomes species B, and then part of that becomes species C, meaning C and B are compatible and B and A are compatible, but not A and C?
Nope. They're all able to interbreed.
>Are the other player races seperate species?
It depends on what you include. Tieflings are more transfomed humans, and halfings and gnomes seem similar enough that if I included them both, they'd be able to interbreed.
>>47165602
Yeah, 3.X Bugbears.
>big nasty brutes with an underbite who also have a thing for forests
