D&D (2024) Half Race Appreciation Society: Half Elf most popular race choice in BG3

[Ruin Explorer]

I don't purchase most adventures as I run a homebrew campaign.

So you're saying you don't know? Fair enough, but if they replaced that single character and not others, and you're claiming it's a "different timeline" rather than a retcon, that rings obviously false as a claim of fact rather than statement of opinion. If they're the only one changed, it's definitely a retcon, I would suggest, just a limit retcon only apply to new products rather than a full-on retroactive one.

So far 5E has mostly stuck to the latter, retaining old content as "legacy". That doesn't mean retcons don't happen.

 

[Scribe]

So far 5E has mostly stuck to the latter, retaining old content as "legacy". That doesn't mean retcons don't happen.

They plainly do happen. Even just stealth errata.

 

[JEB]

Apparently the old version of Lost Mine of Phandelver has not yet been rendered Legacy Content, FWIW. Unlike Volo's and Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, which were downgraded to Legacy when Monsters of the Multiverse came out. (Maybe that will change, though.)


As a sidenote, they changed their page on Legacy Content, from this on 26 August: Legacy Content

To this as of today: Legacy Content

So now they're not even acknowledging the existence of either older book on DDB.

They also changed the spin:
Old: The introduction of Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse to the Dungeons & Dragons game has revised older content. Going forward, any content that does not reflect the latest rules and lore will be categorized as Legacy Content.
New: Dungeons & Dragons is a game that is constantly evolving. This means that we may revisit older content in order to improve or otherwise adjust them. Going forward, any content that does not reflect the latest rules and lore will be referred to as Legacy Content.

 

[Scribe]

They also changed the spin:
Old: The introduction of Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse to the Dungeons & Dragons game has revised older content. Going forward, any content that does not reflect the latest rules and lore will be categorized as Legacy Content.
New: Dungeons & Dragons is a game that is constantly evolving. This means that we may revisit older content in order to improve or otherwise adjust them. Going forward, any content that does not reflect the latest rules and lore will be referred to as Legacy Content.

I'll never buy digital from Wizards, and this is why.

 

[Weiley31]

This is an understatement. I felt very slighted by them. The closest to an ethnicity I -and the vast majority of my compatriots and I'd venture a lot of Latin America- is being a mixture. With us as a collective squished in a limbo by activists on the left who want to erase us with a dichotomic "everybody is indigenous -if not Aztec- or a white colonizer" and the higher classes -who are disproportionately white-.

And I feel this so hard because despite my mother's family inhabiting the same area since pre-Columbian times, I'm too light skinned to be "a real Mexican". (And I'm not exactly lily white either) So the whole charade felt like a giant middle finger wielded against me.

It’s bonkers. It also literally mirrors blood quantum.

I’m confused. I’ve never seen any leftist say anything like that. I could see a dumb 14 year old posting it on tumblr, but otherwise…what?

Same. I’m probably “whiter” than you, having mostly my Irish mom’s complexion, but yeah we aren’t one thing. We can’t be. i get why some folks feel “half-whatever” is a racist linguistic construction, but…that isn’t a strong enough reason to drop the actual folk from the face of the game, and replace them with “you’re actually either white or Indiginous, even if you look like a mixture of traits”. No. Unacceptable.

I still can't believe WoTC has a big issue with me simply because I'm more of a mutt than my late dog Bauer was (god rest his doge soul).

 

[Veltharis ap Rylix]

Apparently the old version of Lost Mine of Phandelver has not yet been rendered Legacy Content, FWIW. Unlike Volo's and Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, which were downgraded to Legacy when Monsters of the Multiverse came out. (Maybe that will change, though.)


As a sidenote, they changed their page on Legacy Content, from this on 26 August: Legacy Content

To this as of today: Legacy Content

So now they're not even acknowledging the existence of either older book on DDB.

They also changed the spin:
Old: The introduction of Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse to the Dungeons & Dragons game has revised older content. Going forward, any content that does not reflect the latest rules and lore will be categorized as Legacy Content.
New: Dungeons & Dragons is a game that is constantly evolving. This means that we may revisit older content in order to improve or otherwise adjust them. Going forward, any content that does not reflect the latest rules and lore will be referred to as Legacy Content.

To be fair, there are other options tagged as Legacy Content that aren't part of Volo's Guide/Mord's Tome of Foes - the Changeling and Shifter from Eberron, for example, as well as the Centaur, Minotaur, and Satyr from Theros - and that amount is certain to grow when the '24 revamp hits. Similarly, if/when they put out a big Forgotten Realms setting guide, SCAG could get the same treatment.

They just changed the page from being specifically about Legacy Content in regards to Monsters of the Multiverse and Volo's Guide/Mord's Tome of Foes to simply being a statement on Legacy Content in general.

 

[Scott Christian]

As opposed to a "pick the best traits of your parents' species?"

The only flavorful option is dedicated species write-ups for each combination. And unless you are willing to fill a decent sized sourcebook to cover every variant, you are creating two castes of hybrids: legitimate (those with stats) and illegitimate (those that don't).

As a side note, that would be a very big book! Think of all the combinations, then try to make those combinations unique. I have said it before, there are only so many knobs and dials to turn for character creation, and inevitably, with good intentions towards sales, they turn some knobs to 11 or 12.

 

[Scott Christian]

Well it's confirmed. The half-elf NPC from phandelver has been retconned into a drow.

Seems like hybrid species are being actively retconned out of the adventures and official settings.

I actually think this is the best long-term approach for them if they are trying to avoid conflict. They get rid of the entire half-species, and they eliminate so many mechanical and racist-tropy problems. They can always create half-species later using magic, lycanthropy, etc. But to start with, their intentions are to simplify.
They are looking to expand their audience, and to do that, they feel they need to appeal to younger players. They probably believe keeping things simple will expand the audience.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I'll never buy digital from Wizards, and this is why.

Both times I bought something on DDB, I immediately copied if offline to keep it available to me in case anything happens. Now I apparently also need to keep it out of WotC's grasp.

 

[QuentinGeorge]

I'll never buy digital from Wizards, and this is why.

Digitial Ownership is not real ownership. I keep saying this....