In D&D, however, Half-Elves are a combination of the traits of their two parents (sort of) and there’s this focus on adaptability and living between two cultures and fitting in.

For example, in Tolkien, Half-Elves like Elrond and his brother Elros had to choose between their Human and Elven sides. These inspirations are obviously pretty tenuous in some cases. Half-Orcs = Half-orcs, orc-men, or Uruk-hai (which are either the same things or they’re not, because it’s Tolkien and I’m not enough of an expert to get my head round it all).Humans, Elves, and Dwarves = Men, Elves, and Dwarves (duh).Of the seven playable race options that have appeared in every version of the game since first edition AD&D in 1977 (Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Halflings, Gnomes, Half-Elves, and Half-Orcs), all but one are based on peoples of Middle Earth from the works of J.R.R. Half-Elves and Half-Orcs have been the only real playable races in D&D since its early days, and it’s not hard to work out why. If you just want to see the hack, skip ahead to the section headed ‘CREATING HYBRID RACES IN D&D 5E’. While the links in this blog have been updated to the latest version, you’ll need to see the updated blog post for an update to the components as presented at the end of this post.īut first, a little digression into the history of it and some other ways of dealing. Update : Another update, this time at Beyond Dwelfs: Even more mixed race options for Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition. You can find it at Dwelfs and Dragoblins: More mixed race options for D&D 5e Update : A follow-up blog post updates some of the rules I originally wrote on this post. You can play other types of hybrid in D&D 5e. We’re even using D&D Beyond for it, because if we’re going down that rabbit hole we might as well go all the way, right?Īnd going through character creation has got me thinking again about fantasy races in D&D, and pondering yet again the age-old question: what in the Nine Hells is up with the Half-Elf and Half-Orc races? What makes them so special that they get treated as distinct races in their own right? Why can’t I play as any other type of hybrid, like a half-elf/half-dwarf dwelf? Well, this time I actually decided to do something about it. I recently finished playing in a Dungeons & Dragons (5th edition) campaign, and the same group is now planning for the next one, in the same setting but with all new characters. It’s not exactly D&D… because half-elf/half-dwarves don’t exist in D&D. Kiliel, Alison Haislip’s half-elf/half-dwarf from Titansgrave.

All playable races in d&d 5e