Hacking 2e: Half-Elves

Half-elves have had quite the time these past few years. They’ve been saddled with a variety of meanings, from being held up as a representation of lived experiences to being labeled ‘inherently racist.’ The latter opinion was that of Wizards of the Coast, who fully banished the Half-elf and the Half-orc in 2024. The online response to this has its own spectrum, ranging from ‘Hasbro erased my identity’ to ‘Pathfinder did it better’. This is a lot of baggage just because some guy in the 1970s wanted to play Elrond.

 

1. The Half-problem

If the discourse is anything to go by, the primary objection doesn’t seem to be the idea of a person from born of two separate cultures carving out their place in the world. Indeed, that’s the meat of what’s great about it. (Well, that and getting some of the Elf bonuses without the class restrictions.) Rather, the objections focus on the use of the prefix ‘Half’, and the defaulting of that character into the role of outcast.

I think I can work with that. The role is extremely malleable, given that humans themselves are assumed not to follow the tropes placed on demihumans. As for the prefix, I think it falls in the same bucket as ‘race’, in that it’s possible that those within the fiction of the game may use those terms, but that doesn’t mean we need to throw it on the page in 20pt purple font.

 

2. Implementation

So how do we get to this demi-demihuman? How do you select them from the list of options if there’s not a distinct section called “Half-Elves”?

There’s a few options here.

I could give them a new name, but that feels restrictive. If you’re using some distinct and flavored title, then you’re introducing a specific culture and all of its intricacies, rather than providing an archetype with which to play around.

I could develop some intricate system whereby you can mash together the traits of any demihumans, or any demihuman and human. However, that’s mechanically messy, thematically distant from the feel of AD&D, and is really just a way of having the player do all the work. Besides, the implied half should be only human; this is a humanocentric implied-setting, and I’m aiming for something between Elrond and Aragorn, rather than Dwarven Elves or whatever.

I think the best option is to just add to the Elves’ entry, by offering an option of “Elven Ancestry”. I suggested this kit-like approach in the Gnome entry, which didn’t work there, but I think it’s a natural fit for this. By sub-categorizing the Half-elf, I can reference the relevant traits of the Elf directly without duplicating text, while more strongly tying this unique demihuman to its progenitor.

 

3. 2e Traits and Abilities

Half-elves receive the Elf’s infravision and ability to find secret doors, verbatim. They also get the Elf’s magic resistance, but at only a third of its original power. That’s the sum total of their extra abilities.

Of course, their real boon is that they get these truncated Elf abilities and access to the Human’s class selection (sans Paladin). Regarding that parenthetical, I see no purpose in keeping the guy with the Elven grandfather from enrolling in Paladin school; this is someone that potentially has been raised in a Human society, so they should have access to any Human classes. For the purposes of this hack, I think we can just say they get access to the entire suite.

That’ll probably play havoc with multiclassing rules, but I’ll burn that bridge when I get to it.

 

4. The Hacked-Elf

This text would appear below the Elf’s entry.

Elven Ancestry

Rarely, a Human may have an Elf as a parent or an ancestor, from which they inherit some ability. Human societies sometimes call them ‘Half-Elven’ or ‘Feytouched’, and value their perceptiveness. Elf societies generally consider them just another type of Elf, and value their versatility. They often serve as diplomats between Humans and Elves. They may be raised in one society, both, or neither.

They gain the following traits:

Elven Sight and Elven Senses: As per the Elf.

Strength of Will: As per the Elf, but Charm Resistance has a score of 6.

Versatility: Has no class restrictions.

 

5. Final Note

By adding Elven Ancestry as a template, I’ve certainly cut down the word count. Whether I’ve properly addressed the cultural concerns of the Half-elf is unknown, though I’ve given it my best shot.

Giving Half-men the ability to use all classes does present an issue: it’s mechanically just a powered-up Human. There seems little reason not to choose this demihuman. There’s some work I could do with the Multi Class rules to help with this, but I’m not too worried. Ideally, a DM would set a cap on the number of allowed demihumans; those players choosing a fey ancestry (rather than a fully powered demihuman) should result in a game with a closer adherence to humanocentric parties and a limitation on power level.

Alright, that does it for the demihumans. Since I’ve accidentally created new skills out of whole cloth in this series, I think it’s time to move onto titular Nonweapon Proficiency system and Skills.