what is a half elf?

[Lilswanwillow]

thats what I ment

[silverdraco]

I didn't read everything here so I'm sorry if I ask something that has been awnsered already.

I have a character that is fully human. she has maried with a half elf and gotten children. Those children are 1/4th elf 3/4 human. no matter what you say thats what they are.

now i'm already working on one of those characters. the question is. would a 1/4th elf 3/4th human be ingame terms be accepted as half elf.

I want to know this because I alreayd know the road I want this one to follow. and that is the road of an arcane archer. and as you all know you need to be half elf or full elf for this. I'm just wondering if it's only game terms  and that in rp terms a 1/4th elf could be accepted as a arcane archer.

please let me know as the awnser of this will determine whether or not I can continue with my idea's or that I have to adust it a bit.

[Lilswanwillow]

thats a half elf.

[Weeblie]

There are only three races in the human/elf combo:

1. Human
2. Half-Elf
3. Elf

These combinations do not exist:

1/4 elf
3/4 elf
234/914 elf
24% elf
(and many more)

The only valid ones are "none", "half" or "full". Nothing in-between.

Appearance wise, a child of a Half-Elf and an Elf would display more of the elven traits. Slightly more pointed ears, slightly more slanted eyes... slightly shorter than "other" Half-Elves...

But, it does NOT make a "3/4 elf" a race (nor subrace) of its own as nothing except the appearance would differ from any other Half-Elf. The said child would not live (on average) longer than a normal Half-Elf, nor would the said child be able to meditate like the elves instead of sleeping. Same goes for all other unique elven traits.

A "3/4 elf" is just a completely normal Half-Elf with a slightly more elven look...

Conclusion is the following:

Human and Elf parents = Half-Elf (duuuh!)
Human and Half-Elf parents = Human and probably Half-Elf (not 100% sure about the last)
Half-Elf and Elf parents = Half-Elf (without exceptions)

[DiegoBastet]

Anything not in the middle is the race with more.

3/4 elf, is a half-elf with something human (maybe strange looking human eye's color)

3/4 human is a human with something elven (hey, nice flowing blonde hair!)

A half elf is someone with the blood of the two. There are "second generation" half-elves, with both parents half-elf, and they tend to be a little more human than their parents (in D&D, half-elves ALWAYS have the green eyes of the elves (or high-elves), and the second generation may have the other colors that human can have). Some generations (let's say, 3) must pass with always half-elves mating for the elven blood to get to weak and the child be born a human with elven traits, instead of a half-elf of 2nd generation...

At least this is the WOTC official awser to this...

[Dove de Dona Pheonix]

It's not possible to get a "full elf" by breeding half-elves with pure elves and continuing to introduce pure elven blood over generations...no matter how hard you may try. Best you can get is a half-elf.

OK so in all the PnP books that I've read on this subject a 75%elf/25% human split or greater would be considered for game purposes to have the same adjusts as an elf. My question is why the change than in Layonara? Just curious.

[Stephen_Zuckerman]

Leanthar wants it that way. *Shrug.* Good enough for me. Besides, there's enough basis for it... Human blood will infect anything, and keeping elven blood pure's a bloody chore (excuse the pun).

[Eorendil]

Elves are an inherently mystical race.  By tainting their blood even a little with the human genome which, while hardy, is pretty much the epitome of mundane you effectively impare, to some degree, the offspring's mystical nature.  It won't matter whether its 1% or 75%.  

Physical traits may vary and show as more or less elven but the physical and mystical traits are a world apart and not mutually exclusive.

The name Half Elf is a very general classification and not really a racial designation so while your character may be offended at being called a half elf when he's two thirds or three quarters.. it has no bearing on the label.

[lonnarin]

Humans pretty much mate with anything they can get their hands on.  Half-Elves, Half-Giants, Half-Ogres, Half-Orcs, Yuan-ti Half-bloods, Tiefers, Aasimar etc.  The other races probably all look at us like we're insatiable perverts.  No wonder the dwarves guard their women!

[OldBear]

Aye dat is why ye will never see a half dwarf, unlike dem elves we are a bit more careful in whom we chose te mate with.

[gilshem ironstone]

I asked a number of months ago if dwarves were even capable of mating with other races and the answer came back "no".

[lonnarin]

If you were to look at the attempted pregnancy under a microscope, you'd see thousands of dying minnows being hacked apart by teeny tiny axe-weilding regiments of white blood cells protecting the eggs from undwarven fertilization.  The dwarven immune system won't put up with infiltration of any kind!

[Dorganath]

Dwarves and non-dwarves don't mix.  Their genomes are too different (and too resistant) to combine with anything but another dwarven breed.

[Faldred]

Besides, a half-dwarf would be kind of like "lite" beer -- in theory, yeah, you could have it, but what's the point?

[AeonBlues]

I thought that a half-elf and a half-elf could make full-elf babies... One-fourth of the time.

This would imply that there is one recessive elf chromosome.  I would have to imagine that a half elf has more then 1 elf chromosome....

AeonBlues

[LynnJuniper]

So...

Half Elf + Human = Half Elf or Human With Elvish Traits?

If the second, then

Human with a Half Elf Parent + Elf = Half elf that looks slightly more elven than your average half elf?

O.oO.oO.o

[Interia_Discordius]

You guys overcomplicate this so much
*giggles*

[Marswipp]

My brain is complicated! :p

[Stephen_Zuckerman]

This would imply that there is one recessive elf chromosome.  I would have to imagine that a half elf has more then 1 elf chromosome....

AeonBlues

Um... No. http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b230/ProfessorPerrin/Punnet.jpg

Neither would be a recessive trait in that scenario. They would be equally dominant, and would be able to mix to make a half-X.

However, what we need to remember here is that in Layonara, if an elf breeds with a human, the offspring will never be able to produce fully elvish (or even elvish enough to be elves) offspring.

[silverdraco]

Elves are an inherently mystical race.  By tainting their blood even a little with the human genome which, while hardy, is pretty much the epitome of mundane you effectively impare, to some degree, the offspring's mystical nature.  It won't matter whether its 1% or 75%.  

Physical traits may vary and show as more or less elven but the physical and mystical traits are a world apart and not mutually exclusive.

The name Half Elf is a very general classification and not really a racial designation so while your character may be offended at being called a half elf when he's two thirds or three quarters.. it has no bearing on the label.

oke so if I understand this correctly no mater how the human/elf mixture is it will either clasify as half elf or fully human. so for a quarter elf you could pick either half elf or fully human depending on what you want. correct me if I'm wrong.

Then I have an other question. could a quarter elf be accepted as a "arcane archer"?
I have a character who's father is one. and in his family tree several people where also arcane archers.
I hope this would qualify as a character being able to become an arcane archer. if not there's no use for that character trying to follow that road.

so please let me know.