Half-Dwarves

[Julian Grimm]

While working on my Itar/Karstlands stuff I looked over some older notes that I had from some initial tinkering I had been doing. What caught my eye was this:

Quote:
Dwarves were the initial settlers of the Karstlands. The name of the region actually comes from the the Dwavren Patron named Karst who is said to have asked permission to create the region eons ago. It is also known that Humand and Dwarves are cousins to each other and that humans are known to marry and have long lives with dwarves. Curiously enough, unlike human mixtures with elves*, the children of a union of human and dwarf are of one race or another with physical traits of the opposite race. Thus taller dwarves or shorter, stockier humans are the result.

*Note: scholors are confused by the nature of the offspring of elves and humans since Elven history prooves that elves came from the faerie realms and are not related to humans.

My wife and I talked about this and I feel strongly that if there can be half-elves and half-orcs why can there not be half-dwarves? So I want to open this up to the community for discussion and the possible building of a half-dwarven race.
_________________
The Lord of Ravens
My blog

[serleran]

They were called muls in Dark Sun, but the result of magical breeding to develop a perfect slave workforce. That said, if you want them, have them. I like to keep the races separate, because it gives each race its identity... if I wanted a "doesn't matter" I'd probably just remove race altogether.

[Julian Grimm]

I remember the Muls but it doesn't fit with my idea.I am tinkering with either building the race (Races like classes and spells are difficult for me to build) or removing the 'half-breeds' altogether. I can go either way here
_________________
The Lord of Ravens
My blog

[serleran]

Yeah, I had that decision too, which is why there are no half-orcs, half-elves, or half-whatevers in The Doldrums. Helps that I went with race as class, mechanically, but I've not offered the reasons "fluffed" yet.

[Fizz]

The Midnight setting had an interesting take on things.

Orcs and dwarfs had a common ancestry (though neither would ever acknowledge it), thus dwarf-orcs are possible, known as dworgs. They're outcast from both parent races.

But dwarves are also related to the gnomes, and gnome-dwarf children are possible. They're known as dwarrow.

Conversely, humans and elves are not related. So the typical half-elf is not possible. Instead, halflings and elves are related, and can have children known as elflings.

Midnight makes an effort to really define the race lineages carefully, thus determining the half-breeds that are possible.

-Fizz

[gideon_thorne]

Julian Grimm wrote:
why can there not be half-dwarves?

Cause no one wants to be 2 feet tall?
_________________
"We'll go out through the kitchen!" Tanis Half-Elven

Peter Bradley

[Dristram]

FYI Kalamar has half-dwarves in their Dangerous Denizens book.

[jamesmishler]

The main reason there are no half-dwarves in D&D/C&C is that there were no half-dwarves in Tolkien's works.

Elves and Men were both Children of Eru, and thus were able to breed together.

Dwarves were a creation of Aule, and thus not able to breed with Elves or Men.

Halflings, according to Tolkien's later works, are actually a sub-race of Men, so presumably they could breed with Men, and even Elves. Of course, the three breeds of Hobbits each closely resembled one of the other other three goodly races, Elves, Men, and Dwarves... so perhaps the Hobbits could breed with all three. That would be an interesting element of the halfling race...

The Orc/Hobgoblin/Goblin race could crossbreed with Men, and presumably too, then, Elves. It was said, and even thought by Tolkien that the Orcs were descended from tormented Elves in ages long passed, as Morgoth and his followers could never truly create, merely corrupt. There were goblin-men and half-orcs, the one favoring the Mannish side, the other the Orcish side, and of course, the Uruk-Hai, or Super Orc.

The Trolls, interestingly, are given no origin, though they too must have sprung from or been warped from some other race. Created in mockery of the Ents, perhaps they were of descended from Stone Giants, mentioned only in The Hobbit... though where, then, do the Giants fit in the canon of Tolkien in the intelligent races? Obviously intelligent and humanoid... and yet nowhere in the creation myth? Hmmm... Odd question, that... perhaps they were descended from the bastard children of the Valar and Maiar from earlier ages, much as Balrogs were fallen Maia... Though that might be too Greek an origin for Tolkien. Gotta look that up...

Anyhoo, that's the basic reason why half-dwarves were never a core race in the olden days; Tolkien didn't have them, so neither did D&D. You can go any way with them that you wish...
_________________
James Mishler

Main Man, Adventure Games Publishing
jamesagp1@gmail.com
http://adventuregamespublishing.blogspot.com/
http://jamesmishler.blogspot.com

[concobar]

the reason there are no half dwarfs is because dwarfs know better.

[Julian Grimm]

Dristram wrote:
FYI Kalamar has half-dwarves in their Dangerous Denizens book.

I'd be interested in seeing that.
_________________
The Lord of Ravens
My blog

[imperialus]

Fizz wrote:
Orcs and dwarfs had a common ancestry (though neither would ever acknowledge it), thus dwarf-orcs are possible, known as dorks. They're outcast from both parent races.

FIFY

[gideon_thorne]

The question is, if you have a half of anything...whats the other half?
_________________
"We'll go out through the kitchen!" Tanis Half-Elven

Peter Bradley

[serleran]

And, is that other half significant?