Interspecies Romance/Tabletop Games/Dungeons & Dragons: Difference between revisions

** In the Basic editions of D&D where elves were a class rather than a race, [[Interspecies Romance]] between a human and an elf typically resulted in either a human or an elf, much like in Tolkien's world.

** Eberron gives a very reasonable explanation to why half-elves are a race, and lays down specific rules for half-elves and their offspring (half-elves breed true, elves and half-elves always have half-elf children, and a half-elf/human pairing has an equal chance of producing a half-elf or human). When the elves first started trading with humans, they realized that humans were very short-lived and could die in a matter of ''decades''. Some elves decided it would be good business to marry wealthy human merchants, enjoy the relationship for a few decades, and then inherit sizeable holdings. It [[Did Not Do the Research|didn't even occur to the elves that half-human/half-elf offspring were viable]], and when half-human children started being born [[Fantastic Racism|the elvish nation restricted trade and closed its borders out of fear]]. However, all of the newly born half-elves were born into rich families, and most of the elven parents stayed around to raise their children, so half-elves came to occupy a nice section of upper/middle-class society in Khorvaire and make "Khorvar" villages on their ancestral land holdings.

* Daddy, where do half-[[Our Orcs Are Different|orcs]] come from?

** In fact, orcs likely have the most unstable genetic structure of all humanoid beings. One source claims that can crossbreed with almost any humanoid race except for elves, and have done so with goblins, dwarves, and gnomes, as well as humans. Two well-known half-orc species that don't involve a human parent are orogs (which is the result of male orc and a female ogre, and somehow smarter than its parents and much more disciplined than either) and an ogrillion (a rarer creature that occurs with the same two species, but the genders of the parents reversed; more stupid than both parents and, somehow, armored).

** Though in ''Pathfinder'' the Derro are actually descended from [[Hollow Earth|Darklands]] fae who've [[The Fair Folk|become insanely evil]], with no odd breeding practices involved.

* D&D3+ also features, as templates, half-celestials, half-dragons, half-elementals, half-fey, half-fiends, half-janni, half-minotaurs, half-ogres, half-trolls (which can be anything from half-human to half-griffin to half-stegosaurus), half-vampires, and even half-''golems'' and half-''illithids'' (though at least those last ones thankfully don't involve sex).

** [[The Archmage|Elminster]] has quite a few children; his daughter Narnra Shalace (from the apt-titled novel ''Elminster's Daughter'') was the result of his affair with a female song dragon, who like most intelligent dragons, can take human form.

** Drizzt Do'Urden (drow) and his human wife Cattie-brie, a relationship ''far'' too long and detailed to put down here, [https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Catti-brie so read about it here.]

* Then there is the tauric template. Not happy with centaurs? Pick a humanoid and a creature with four or more legs and [[Biological Mashup|mash 'em up]]. Just try not to think about how they came to be. (Thankfully, the answer is usually "magic".)

* Mechanatrixes, from humans and extraplanar clockwork outsiders like Inevitables. Born as cyborgs. From a living being and a magical robot.

* One example of this Trope that ended ''very'' badly is part of the backstory of the ''[[Dungeon (magazine)|Dungeon]] #44'' module "Train of Events". One of the villains is a [[Lamia|Lamia Noble]] who once fell in love with, married, and even had a child with a human male. (The monstrous equivalent of a she-wolf falling in love with a male sheep, at least from the typical lamia's point of view.) Problem is, she used her shapechanging ability to pose as human almost all the time, and one day he saw her in her true form. He was both repulsed and terrified, and she became enraged at such a reaction. (As the text states, [[Black Comedy|"after all the years of giving up raw human flesh for boring roast beef, this is how he treated her?"]]) In her rage, she killed him by shoving him out a third floor window, and fled. Her ultimate goal in the story is to find and reclaim her son with the aid of factions of derro and duergar. There's even a portrait of her son in her private quarters, placed for the DM to use as a [[Sequel Hook]].

* Ahem, Drow. They are known to hold rituals to summon demons simply for horrid orgies, simply to appease their dark goddess or prove how tough they are, and it is not uncommon for prisoners of the drow to be "invited" to these rituals. The "guests" used as [[Human Sacrifice]] for the actual summoning ritual are the lucky ones.

[[Category:Tabletop Games]]