Half-Elves

[Maecius]

The fantastic Races of Faerûn, a joint effort overseen by Eric L. Boyd, Matt Forbeck, and James Jacobs, opens with the following:

Faerûn is home to hundreds of intelligent peoples, divided into thousands of tribes, clans, nations, and ethnicities. Some of these races are monstrous predators armed with terrible powers and some are bloodthirsty marauders who terrorize more civilized folk, but most are good-hearted folk who wish to live in peace in whatever manner they find most prosperous and fulfilling. This great diversity in physical nature, magical talent, beliefs, and values creates an incredible patchwork of cultures that spans the entire continent, a tapestry so complex and wondrous that no one mortal can hope to ever comprehend it in its entirety. (Page 3)

In BALDUR'S GATE: THE SWORD COAST CHRONICLES we try to accurately reflect the setting's wonderful diversity of races by allowing players to select from a vast number of character races (24 to be exact). Because not everyone who plays here has access to the same amount of information, this thread, its subsequent posts, and its related threads, exist to give you a solid introduction to the races that you can elect to play:

Below, we cover half-elves. In similar threads, we look at dwarves (gold, gray, and shield), elves (from drow to wood elf), gnomes (deep and rock), halflings, half-orcs, humans, planetouched, and gray orcs. It is our hope that the information provided here will allow you to make the most of your roleplaying experience.

[Maecius]

HALF-ELVES

Of all the mixed races of Faerûn, half-elves are the most numerous and the most prominent (RoF, 58) (1) Although half-elves can easily "feel at home both in the sprawling human empires and the secretive elven retreats," they do not truly belong to either; a fact that ensures that they often become wanderers (RoF, 58).

No half-elven realms exist in Faerûn, and half-elves have no homeland.

Of the three Faerûnian half-elf subraces, the two that players can elect to play in BG:TSCC are half-elf and half-drow.

(1) RoF: Races of Faerûn.

[Maecius]

HALF-ELVES

Regions: Any.

Common half-elves are born of a union between a human and an elf of any of the elven subraces, except drow or aquatic elf. They can also be born of a union between half-elves. Half-elves are most common in the country of Aglarond. (RoF, 59)

APPEARANCE:

Common half-elves blend human and elven features, influenced by the subrace of their elven parent and the ethnicity of their human parent. Moon half-elves have pale skin tinged bluish around the ears and chin, framing their lower faces. Sun half-elves have bronzed skin, and hair of gold. Wild half-elves have brown skin. Wood half-elves have coppery skin tinged with green highlight. (RoF, 59)

PERSONALITY:

Most half-elves have the curiosity, inventiveness, and ambition of the human parent, along with the refined senses, love of nature, and artistic tastes of the elf parent. (PHB, 18) (2)

OUTLOOK: The average half-elf's worldview is as follows:

While elves and half-elves are respected and admired in many parts of Faerûn, humans in lands where elves are not commonly encountered can be resentful of elven blood. Elves are graceful, attractive, long-lived, mysterious, and skilled with mighty magic, and humans who do not know them well can easily come to regard elves -- and, by extension, half-elves -- with envy and fear. In places such as Silverymoon or the Dalelands, a half-elf's race is nothing remarkable, and [he or she] faces little or no bigotry. In lands where there is a long history of elven-human conflict, such as Tethyr or Sembia, [his or her] elven blood marks [him or her] as different and dangerous, with all the fears and suspicions one might expect.

Many half-elves respond to the suspicions and slights of their human neighbors by staying well away from human civilization, preferring a solitary life in the wildernesses of Faerûn. Others instead take up a life of travel, never staying in one spot long enough for racial prejudices to distance them from the folk around them. (RoF, 59)

SOCIETY: Half-elves are loners, who often keep to themselves, and who often take up a life of traveling. Half-elf adventurers "treasure the camaraderie and the sense of family they get when traveling with a group of adventurers." (RoF, 59)

RELIGION: Common half-elves can choose any human or elven deity as a patron. "Many favor Sune for the love that brought their parents together." (RoF, 60)[/quote]

RELATIONS WITH OTHER RACES:

Common half-elves [...] get along well with most of the major races of Faerûn. They favor their own kind first and foremost, but they happily work with both humans and elves too, as well as dwarves, gnomes, and halflings. The half-elves of Aglarond show a marked tolerance of half-orcs. (RoF, 60)

PLAYING A HALF-ELF: Although no one can tell you how to design your character, here are some tips for getting started:

Half-elves are diverse. Among them can be found people of every character class and nearly every multiclass combination, for flexibility is the key trait among half-elves. (RoF, 60)

(2) PHB: Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook (3.5 Editon).

[Maecius]

HALF-DROW

Regions: Any.

Because most drow are irredeemably evil, half-drow are rare, and usually born of rape or slavery. "The only exception are the half-drow of the land of Dambrath in the Shining South, who arise from the centuries-old drow subjugation of the human folk of that land." (RoF, 62)

APPEARANCE:

Half-drow have dusky skin, silver or white hair, and a broad range of eye colors. (RoF, 62)

PERSONALITY:

Half-drow are often just as dark-hearted as their drow parents, but with a bitter resentment that comes from knowing that they are considered second-class members of drow society. In human society, half-drow are distrusted nearly as much as their full-blooded cousins. Despite this, good half-drow are much less rare than good drow. Whether this has to do with the influence of their human blood, or the desire to rebel against the drow who treat them so poorly, is difficult to tell. (RoF, 62)

OUTLOOK: The average half-drow's worldview is as follows:

Dambrathan half-drow combine cold, condescending arrogance with secret shame. Although they consider themselves the better of the humans over which they rule, they know that their drow cousins feel similarly about them. They spend a great deal of time trying to prove themselves to everyone around them, including each other.

Many half-drow become adventurers to escape the bigotry they face in just about every community they find outside of Dambrath. Dambrathans, on the other hand, often range far outside their homeland to garner the wealth and fame that can prove their superiority back home. (RoF, 62)

SOCIETY:

In Dambrathan society, half-drow are aristocrats by birth. They grow up pampered, but a great deal is expected of them. When they become adults, they must do their best to prove that they are worthy of their blood. If they fail, they disgrace their entire family, and may be disowned and expelled from the country in shame.

[...]

Outside Dambrath, many half-drow are solitary souls, preferring to keep their own counsel than sully themselves with the opinions of others. Other times, they band together into a self-important group, often bullying those they feel they can intimidate. (RoF, 63)

RELIGION: Half-drow can choose any human or drow deity as a patron. "Dambrathan half-drow almost always choose either a patron among the drow pantheon or, better yet, Loviatar." (RoF, 63)[/quote]

RELATIONS WITH OTHER RACES:

Most half-drow don't get along well with anyone outside other half-drow. Dambrath is really the place for such people. Good half-drow are often friendly when approached, with acceptance or understanding, but standoffish otherwise. They know all too well how most people feel about their drow kin and, by extension, them. (RoF, 63)

PLAYING A HALF-DROW: Although no one can tell you how to design your character, here are some tips for getting started:

The half-drow of Dambrath are often fighters and wizards -- two quick paths to power on the surface world. Unlike the caste-driven society their drow forebears came from, half-drow show all the adaptability of other half-elves. Accordingly, many of them opt to multiclass. (RoF, 62)