D&D 5E Half-Elf Variant idea

[TrueBagelMan]

So I saw that in Sword Coast I think there are Half-Elf Variants where you can have stronger Elven Blood. I was wondering how we could implement them having more Human Blood instead. I just think it’s odd that they only have a focus on stronger elven blood and not human. Any thoughts?

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

Humans are generally better at things generally rather than having a racial proclivity for a specific thing. If you were to swap out the elf-type bonuses of the half elf, there wouldn't be much to distinguish it from a human.

 

[Guest 6801328]

So I saw that in Sword Coast I think there are Half-Elf Variants where you can have stronger Elven Blood. I was wondering how we could implement them having more Human Blood instead. I just think it’s odd that they only have a focus on stronger elven blood and not human. Any thoughts?

I don't think so. The variants are for specific varieties of elf (wood, high, drow) not "more" elven blood.

But I hardly ever open SCAG so maybe I'm remembering wrong.

 

[TrueBagelMan]

I just remembered hearing somewhere that it was having your Elven Traits be more prominent.

 

[cbwjm]

I think it is just a way to show which subrace your elven parent was rather than stronger elven traits. I actually prefer it over the standard half-elf.

 

[Charlaquin]

I just remembered hearing somewhere that it was having your Elven Traits be more prominent.

Nah, it’s about making them more clearly half-wood/high/dark elf rather than just generic half-elf.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

Their elfy qualities are Darkvision and the Fey ancestry. That's already kind of bare minimum for being elfish at all. You could lose the Darkvision, but Fey Ancestry on its own is a pretty minor claim to elfery. Darkvision on its own is a ubiquitous feature among all sorts of races, so not distinctive. The humanish sort of qualities to add would be yet more ability score boosting or feats which would both be way too powerful, or an extra skill of which they already have plenty.

 

[Horwath]

for more human touch, have them +1 to 4 abilities instead of +2 cha and +1 to 2 abilities.
It will give more versatility and remove half-elf a default go-to race for any charisma based class

 

[Li Shenron]

So I saw that in Sword Coast I think there are Half-Elf Variants where you can have stronger Elven Blood. I was wondering how we could implement them having more Human Blood instead. I just think it’s odd that they only have a focus on stronger elven blood and not human. Any thoughts?

Well you could mix-and-match but take a look at the different racial sets of benefits.

Half-Elf:

+2 Charisma (unique)
+1 two abilities (same as human)
2 skill proficiencies (more than human)
Darkvision (same as Elf)
Fey Ancestry (same as Elf)
Elvish language (same as Elf)

Human:

+1 six abilities

Human (variant):

+1 two abilities
1 skill proficiency
1 feat

The only two ways to make Half-Elves be more human is to either remove some of their Elven abilities or to remove the Charisma bonus, but this is the only thing they have of their own.

Maybe something like this...

One-quarter Elf:

+1 Charisma
+1 three abilities
2 skill proficiencies
Darkvision OR Fey Ancestry
Elvish language

 

[Iry]

I want Dwarf, Halfling, Gnome, and Dragonborn variants of Half Elves.