| Dragon | - | Races | - | Dragon 60 |
Half-elves, the children
of human-elf unions, are not in them
selves a true race. Such
individuals are found throughout hu
man and elven societies,
though not in any great numbers.
In appearance half-elves,
male and female, tend to stand
apart from their contemporaries
of either race. They are larger
han elves and smaller than
humans, with the coordination and
mental sharpness of the
former and the physical might and
oughness of the latter.
Their facial features (ears in particular)
end to carry a strong elvish
influence, though hair color, skin
color and texture, and eye
color are largely derived from the
human parent.
Belanna Telmister (Shayanna)
Despite these differences,
most half
elves see themselves as
gifted and not
“strange.” They are proud
of their heri
age and their abilities,
and are widely
accepted in most societies.
If there were
ever people who could make
a claim to
having the best of two worlds,
half-elves
would be the ones.
Even the inner nature of
the half-elves
shows a confluence of human
and elven
elements. A strong love
of natural beauty
and the outdoors is usually
picked up
from the elven parent, along
with a strong
hint of chaotic variability.
Whereas elves
are by comparison rather
clannish and
avoid contact with non-elven
races, half
elves are very outgoing
and make friends
easily, perhaps a result
of mixing the af
finity elves feel for all
living creatures
with the adaptability of
humans.
Half-elves appear very versatile,
and
manage to fit into a fairly
wide range of
social environments. They
have a wider
range of possible character
classes and
class combinations than
any other race
or being. Because they possess
souls,
half-elves may become normal
clerics and druids; although the
former class offers a rather
limited career, as druids half-elves
may achieve great power
and influence. It would appear that
half-elves have not as much
capability for (or love of) magic as
either humans or elves have,
but they may reach reasonable
evels of skill nonetheless.
Their druid-like abilities also help
make half-elves good at
operating in the ranger and bard
classes.
The most profitable career
that some half-elves may turn to
s, of course, thieving,
in which they are marginally better over
all than even humans. Half-elves
seem to be exceptionally good
at picking pockets; some
believe this is because they present
such a friendly appearance
that people don’t mind having them
near, and some say it is
a function of their exceptional curiosity.
Evil half-elves make very
good assassins, being able to pass
through elven or human society
and disguise themselves as
members of either race.
Only humans and half-orcs have
enough taste for such a
career so as to do better at assassinstyle killing than half-elves.
Though long-lived, half-elves
are not extraordinarily so.
They tend to share the faster-paced
human view of time than
the all-the-time-in-the-world
elven view. Still, with an average
lifespan of 250 years, they
tend to feel that they need not rush to
do most things. They do
seem to try to keep fairly active, and
many half-elves are drawn
to a vagabond, adventuring sort of
life. Perhaps many of them
feel some degree of separateness
from the lives of humans
and elves, not completely at home in
either case even if otherwise
welcome.
Individually, half-elves
are quite varied
in personality. Some have
more elven
traits than human and others
vice versa.
A few manage to achieve
a reasonable
balance between the two
ways of seeing
things, mixing a deep respect
for nature
and life with the generally
human desire
to build and alter the environment,
and
interact with other peoples
on a more
frequent basis.
In religious matters, half-elves
may
adopt either human or elven
deities;
there doesn’t seem to be
any particular
preference in either direction,
though
the society in which the
half-elf was
raised is usually the determining
factor.
Most people think of half-elves
only in
terms of those who are the
first-generation descendants of humans and elves;
yet, such half-elves are
fertile, and may
have children by other humans,
elves, or
half-elves. Second-generation
and further descendants will possess more of
the characteristics of whichever
bloodline is predominant. It is not unusual for
otherwise normal humans
on rare occasion to have infravision out to a range of several tens of
feet, or
pointed ears, or a light
build, to remind them of an elven ancestor; in a similar manner, there
are elves who may be stronger
than normal, or have reduced
resistance to sleep and charm
spells, or a broader build,
passed on by a human ancestor. It
might have been more appropriate
in the AD&D™ rules for
half-elves to have had such
variable qualities, to better reflect
the unpredictability of
genetics and heredity.
It is interesting to note
that humans are apparently not the
only beings that elves can
intermix with. Tallfellow halflings
bear distinct resemblances
to their elven neighbors, for good
reason. Since halflings
are closely related to humans in many
respects, this is not surprising.
Half-elves of other racial mixtures are virtually unknown. Elves and orcs
cannot interbreed,
which is interesting since
both races can breed with humanity.