We all know the half-orc and the half-elf. But, fantasy & mythology are full of all kinds of bizarre sexual unions that produce offspring. Do you allow interspecies couples in your setting to reproduce? If yes, which ones are interfertile, and what results?
And keep in mind, one of D&D's ancestors was Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar series, which is home to a race of ratfolk born from couplings between humans and sapient rats.
Other urls found in this thread:
archive.4plebs.org
twitter.com
Across my own various settings, these are the rules I've built up... At least, the ones off the top of my head.
Humans
>ANYthing. You name it, humans can breed with it. Elves, orcs, halflings, dwarves, goblins, gnomes, dragonborn, tiefling, lizardfolk, thri-kreen, ratfolk, rabbitfolk... if it's in the mood, a human can make baby.
>The actual result of such a pairing depends on the species. Some produce the classic "half-x" offspring, others produce other forms of hybrids, most follow the law of "vast majority of offspring will be of the mother's race".
Dwarves
>Can produce Muls with humans.
>Can produce Dworgs with orcs.
>Can produce Dwelves with elves.
>Dwarf plus gnome results in either a sorcerous/wizardly-talented dwarf or a gnome, depending on the mother's race.
Halflings
>Dwarven partners produce Stout halflings, who're tougher and hardier.
>Elven partners produce Tallfellow halflings, who are more woodsy and mystical.
>Human partners produce Strongheart halflings, who are stronger and more assertive.
>Halfling plus gnome results in either a sorcerous/wizardly-talented dwarf or a gnome, depending on the mother's race.
Orcs
>Can procreate with humans, elves and dwarves, producing distinct hybrids with each.
Ratfolk
>Can produce Kangaroo Ratfolk by breeding with Rabbitfolk.
"Moonfolk"
>Hybrid race born of Moon Elves and Rabbitfolk in one particular setting.
So, what, nobody has any interspecies stuff in their settings at all?
Human-only gamers really were cancer...
Maybe because Ringworld was very influential on me, but I have always preferred most interspecies breeding to be impossible. Nothing against interspecies relationships, just that blood doesn't mix really.
Yes because all are descendants of a "proto-race" that he gods stumbled upon. Over the years each one warped the ones in their domain to their liking but they all still have a common link. All because I don't care enough to figure that shit out for the rare occasion it comes up.
I've yet to come across a game where they fully detail a race beyond "this kind of fantasy creature lives in this one type of environment and is great there but sucks everywhere else". Humans might be typecast as adaptable and prolific, but at least its accurate.
Elves are so typecasted- they can't live in other places without somehow changing to another species, be it Sea Elf or Drow or feral Wood Elves or what have you. plus they're constantly at odds with each other for the pettiest differences in morality. they're super boring. Dwarves have so little variations that most people just omit them anyways, so they come off as stale and almost obligatory. Orcs are pretty much typecast in the same way.
Humans at least have the potential for making you go "how did we get there from here" and make you invested in the world and trying to figure out why things are the way they are.
I've always played it that due to kobolds being related to dragons, they inherited their ability to make half breeds with with aaaanything. Its just, you know, that never really happens due to kobolds being so xenophobic and unattracted to anything but their own race...
>Do you allow interspecies couples in your setting to reproduce?
There are very, very few interspecies couples beyond the kind of bestiality that happens in real life, and my game is not the kind of place to delve all that deep into that subject. Hybrid offspring are generally mutants, mules and pariahs.
In the Agone bestiary there is an advantage called "bastard" which is how you play as a mechanically significant halfbreed. This advantage specifies that so long as the parents truly love each other, a child is possible.
The only restriction is that if you are half black fey you have to choose their immortality as one of your powers, because they are all female and one of the disadvantages of playing a black fey is they have become infertile, so you have to be from before that happened.
(Minotaurs might also be off limits because there's a whole thing about how a Minotaurs horns are actually made of a magic black metal from the abyss, and I'm pretty sure you're supposed to be born with them fully grown, so the lore is only succubi can give birth to Minotaurs because they're Demons and don't die from birthing them, but you might just have to not take horns)
This does get weird though, because this means one of the 15ft giants if this setting, and a 1 foot tall pixie can apparently have a child as long as they love each other enough... I try not to dwell on this too much.
The advantage is also more expensive the greater the difference in size.
Is the offspring of a halfling and a human a half-halfling or a one-quarterling or a three-quartersling?
We've been over this, Halflings are already the offspring of a Human and a Ling
Why can't they just be a different subrace of halfling, one more like humans in abilities/attitude? That's already the canon explanation for what happens if you breed halflings with dwarves (Stouts) and elves (Tallfellows).
Orcs
>Always produce half orcs with other any other species
>Half orcs and full breed orcs produce full orcs
Humans
>Breed with elves to produce half elves
>Half elves breed true
>Half elves with humans produce humans with slight elvish features
Elves
>Only produce half elves with humans
>Half elves and elves produce half elves
No other mortal species interbreed
Immortals (outsiders) produce offspring partially via magic so just about anything is possible
More like warhammer fantasy taught us all the true path
Wizards are the only exception to the rule that no other mortal species can interbreed
Wizards obviously use magic to create otherwise impossible hybrids
Hybrids exist, but the large the difference between species, the less likely it is the couple produced offspring. A human and an elf will have a better chance of making a half elf than say a human and a goblin making a gob-man
>if people don't include my fetish in their games they are cancer
Classic furfag
Humans can breed with everything and everything looks like "human plus X" because we are unfinished. Man is closest of all races to the gods template, set loose upon this world by divine blunder. We are incomplete and without a hard, set identity we have spread, adopted cultures and spread our bastard offspring across the earth
Why would you want races to be able to interbreed? It makes the game world seem strange and trying to make all kinds of weird autistic half breed half human half wolf half troll monsters is a big fucking hassle.
Just let them bang freely without risk of pregnancy.
>Halfling plus gnome results in either a sorcerous/wizardly-talented dwarf
wut?
I'd really like to explore all the different variations of Half-Orcs, and their place in Orc society, but I don't think others would appreciate the attempt.
>Orc + Human: Smarter, more charismatic, often leaders, chiefs, figure heads. Look similar to Orcs, but with softer features.The most common type of half breed.
>Orc + Elf: Highly intelligent, dark vision so highly expressed that they become light sensitive. Often second in commands, merchants, strategists, engineers, alchemists. Tall and lanky more than toned like other Orcs.
>Orc + Dwarf: Extremely high strength and endurance. Short stacks with tusks, grow really epic beards, even for a dwarf. (Dwarf women find their coarse beards exotic.) Good laborers, miners, but often progress into other fields due to a higher life expectancy.
>Orc + Goblin: "Greater Goblins." Compete with Hobgoblins for dominance in their tribes. Smarter than a normal Goblin, less so than an Orc. Common enough in Orc society, as they often mingle with Goblins, but seen as second class citizens.
>Orc +Ogre/Oni/Giant: Depending on tribe, half-Ogres and half-Oni are usually considered apart of the noble faction. Legendary strength, legendarily rare. Born sterile. Most legendary figures in Orc mythology have some sort of giant's blood in them.
>Orc + Troll: "Stone-skins." Usually have long, hairy ended tails. Some are born lithe and tall, while others walk on their knuckles due to their hulk. Often machines for war, as they have supernatural regeneration from their troll lineage. Have the greatest variety in ability and physique, as trolls as fey in nature and take strange forms.
I have a more taxonomy way of approach when it comes to this sort of thing. It all depends on how closely related the species are with each other
One branch of the sapien races has Elves, humans, and orcs. Each ate fertile with one another like how cromagons and neanderthals were.
another sapiens branch are dwarves, halflimg, and gnomes.
other worthwhile mentionings are dragonborn and lizardfolk, tengu and aarakovcka, and goblins and hobgoblin.
also dragons can only produce offspring with other dragons and closely related species, like wyverns.
> Every single metallic, chromatic, and gem dragons
> every type of celestial from good-aligned upper planes
> representative of the typical evil-aligned lower planes
> all types of djinn and their other elemental counterparts
> Giants good and evil
> most representatives of material plane: Humans, Orcs, Elves, and etc.
A wizard just puts them in an orgy pile, and what would be the result?
a slime, obviously.
>Can produce Dwelves with elves.
Are they the product of elfxdwarf hatefucking?
Not necessarily...
No hybrids, because I really don't see the appeal, find the idea of this one being a thing but this other one not half-assed, it wouldn't make much sense considering how the races came to be, find that it's best to keep races more seperate from each other, it can make special snowflakes harder to snowflake and I really don't want to deal with half-that and half-this and rather spend time fleshing out the races themselves.
Most first-gen unions result in a twisted thing prone to genetic disorder and physical malformations.
Second-gen unions don't happen because first-gen unions always result in mules.
There is a reason interspecies unions are frowned upon. The gods do not look favorably upon it, and therefore their children are cursed by their very nature.
Interracial, however, is totally fine.
High Arcana may or may not be able to circumvent this and result in healthy split-race offspring, but nobody has figured out how yet.
as meh as the Hobbit movies were, I do like the idea of Dwelves....
I find your lack of fun disturbing.
Technically correct (the best kind), but disturbing.
And you're telling me no high-level heroic couple of legend like Beren and Luthiel has ever wasted a Wish on this?
I like the idea of orc-elves.
In my setting: Every race is supposed to be devoted to one god/spirit. Any child produced of a consanguineous union will belong to whichever of the parents’ gods want it more. Or, if neither god wants it, the child willl be human.
sort of like wakfu
Never played it. What do you mean?
To quote that stupid Maiesta RPG thread.
>"Resourceful, ambitious, and prolific, humans have spread to every city and every frontier. Human nations are some of the largest in the world, if not always the most stable, and this race can often be found as a substantial minority even in realms dominated by others. With few truly noteworthy traits - indeed, the race is almost uncannily generic in many respect - many have speculated wildly on the cause of humanity's widespread success. Some, including many human monarchs, claim a blessing of the gods. But others point to a more terrestrial excuse: for whatever reason, nearly every race can find something attractive about the human form, and human family trees are some of the most comically entangled genealogies on the planet. "
In Wakfu, race isn't decided by parentage, but divine patronage. The child's soul actually chooses it's divine patron while in the womb. So one race can be born to a set of parents of a wholly different race. Granted, all the "races" are roughly analogous humanoids with superficial physical differences, but because your God affects your race and to some degree your personality and opportunities, it can have interesting consequences.
The only interspecies possible in my setting is due to a magical ability of the so-called "mongrels" to breed with damn near anything that has XX/XY sexual dimorphism and a pulse. Yes, including most vertebrae. And including themselves. They are 99% chimaeric hermaphrodites and the few that are "just" pure female or pure male still tend to have multiple working wombs or penises, respectively. The results are always also mongrels, though very few of them might not look like it from the outside.
They are about as liked in the general population as your average wandering Gypsy, if that Gypsy was also a known sex-crazed maniac who didn't care much about the sex, age or consent of whoever they want to fuck.
Eh, usually though you'll be born into the right group though. Cra + Cra is another Cra, and so on. Even Evangeline and Tristepin's kids are evenly split between Cra and Yop.
What the fuck is a moon elf
Elves what live on the Moon with the Rabbitfolk.
>So, what, nobody has any interspecies stuff in their settings at all?
We already discussed our settings over the course of the last 8+ threads you've made about this topic so far this month.
Imagine the family reunions.
I was sort of hoping the youngest Iop would turn into a poison demigod after S3.
Why are we still here?
Literally none of those threads were mine.
>Can produce Kangaroo Ratfolk by breeding with Rabbitfolk.
What the fuck can I even say about this?
In my humans only sertting, people don't fuck elves/dwarves/orcs/halflings/gnomes.
They fuck gods, giants, genies, fae, demons, and other immortal shit.
I use Elder Scrolls rules. You are whatever your mother is. Maybe with some small traits being passed down, a Dwarven father and human mother result in a small human.
I find trying to deal with ‘mutts’ so to speak is confusing.
Mortals of different species can't interbreed, but doing odd stuff involving spirits, like having sex while possessed by a ghost or keeping both mortal and demonic lovers, tends to result in kids with physical mutations and/or weird powers.
>Hybrid race born of Moon Elves and Rabbitfolk in one particular setting.
You started out so well. Moonbunnies, really?
Human + Orc = Half-Orc
Human + Elf = Half-Man
Human + Halfling = whatever the mother is
Halfling + Elf = Gnome
Lamia + anything = Lamia
Most anything else I'll play by ear.
In my home campaign, different species are different species. Half-orcs and half-elves are almost always sterile, as are orogs and ogrillons. Other pairings generally result in no offspring at all. This is a plot point, as the human king of the PCs' home nation married a dwarf and caused a succession crisis.
I liked the Earthdawn/Shadowrun route, that all the baseline humanoid races could breed with each other but offspring only becoming one of the parental races.
Bad copy-pasta; forget to change that to "halfling". Because, really, dwarves, gnomes and halflings are so similar to each other that I can't really imagine a dwarf/gnome or a halfling/gnome hybrid being that different to either of its parent races. Especially if dwarves and halflings can both take caster classes.
In my setting, metahumans can breed w/ humans, but only meta/human couplings are fertile. Meta/meta offspring are sterile, but still functioning otherwise.
You just wanted an excuse to post green women on Veeky Forums, you fucking faggot. I've bet you've never played a ttrpg
No, I don't let them survive to reproduce.
Because a certain powerful organization wants to push this narrative. Also furries who feel "welcome" here again.
>setting is an everything and the kitchen sink too fantasy empire which got its hands on starships and went to go all neutral good on the stars
> Relationships across species are fine, even furfaggotry because all citizens are equal under the law
> however genetics are still a thing and only the race of demi-elves which established itself millenia back is a viable, self-sustaining group, every other combo fails to produce offspring at all, aside from shapeshifters breeding with whatever they're shapeshifted to.
tl;dr, NO MISCEGENATIN' WITH THE MUDS
>Wanting a woman that spent her young adulthood taking furry knots
you're projecting user. Besides, no dogmen.
The only time it's ever been a thing and all that came of it was "when two members of different races breed, the offspring is always the same race as the mother"
Legit a phasm, thats what happened in my campaign. Some batshit crazy yuanti lich that was mindfucked by Aboleth made one like that
Hey this is really good, can we see an elf/dwarf chart like this?
Good thread guys
Perfect height difference.
In my setting, the humanoid races can interbreed freely, with a few special cases. However, due to fuckery by the titans, half-breeds have a stigma for being bringers of calamity.
Notable special cases include:
>Stone Elves
Already elf-dwarf hybrids, stone elf + dwarf results in full-blooded children of either race, and twins always come out as one of each.
>Beastfolk
Originally humans altered by eating animals saturated with raw magic, Human-beastfolk go by the mother's race. Outside of that, Fathers count as human for cross-breeding.
>Muls
While still dwarf-human, influence of a specific god is required for them to occur. Count as their own thing for interbreeding, and mul-human and mul-dwarf offspring are half-breeds without further influence from said god.
There's more, but that's all for now.
How do you handle minotars? Do you deal with them as their own separate race or the original cursed race mythos who reproduce through other races? Or both?
>or the original cursed race mythos who reproduce through other races?
afaik the original minotaur was a singular creature that came about when Zeus got jiggy with Europa when transformed into a bull.
There is not reproducing, cause it was not a race.
It's was a single dude who was locked into a dungeon.
...
>Dwarves making half-breeds
Why not make it like real life, user? Human-dwarf pairs either give birth to a dwarf, or a human.
Goblins are an all female race that produces only more goblins, so they require males of other humanoid races to breed. Think CoC goblins but without the rape.
Elves produce half-elves with other species, but you can never breed back in the elf. A half-elf half human breeding with a full elf only produces another half elf. A half elf breeding with any other races passes on the quarter elf, but is 3/4s of the other race (half-elf half-orc with a full Human makes a Human with quarter Elf).
Orcs make half breeds of anything (except Goblins) similar to Elves, except they can breed the Orc back into the blood line.
Humans and Dwarves are a weird one, as they can interbreed but kids come out as a full human or full dwarf. There are cases where they can skip generations, and in a family of full blooded Dwarves you can have a human pop out of “nowhere”.
He just wants more Carrots.
I only let half-elf as a GM.
The rest is uncompatible and Orcs don't even have reproductive organs. Warhammer is the way.
Kobolds are dogs, fuck 3 edition onwards
You mean the same kobolds that had scales despite their canine features in Basic AND Advanced D&D?
...
Back in AD&D, minotaurs were an all-male race originally created by magical curses, but which could reproduce sexually by banging humanoid women.
Except in Dragonlance, but even there, female minotaurs were rare.
Around 3rd edition, D&D said "this is stupid" and dropped that lore entirely.
As someone who normally hates 4e artwork, that feminotaur is pretty fucking cute.
