We knew this was coming.

To provide some context, this is a response to a video by Esper the Bard link here. The rest of what follows is my opinion. The last time I discussed this I was nearly chased off the Internet by an angry mob. That article has long since been taken down. I also want to point to this article from Wargamer.com about Jeremy Crawford’s (Lead Game Architect for D&D) comments clear back in early April 2023.  Link to that article here.

TTRPG social media went berserk over Crawford’s comments on both sides. The word “bigot” was getting thrown around by both sides. It came down to one side claiming Wizards of the Coast was racist for removing Half Elves and Half Orcs from D&D or everyone who didn’t agree with them was racist for the sake of being racist. Obviously as an old white guy from the Midwestern flyover state, I inadvertently got called racist for even stating an opinion on the matter. My bad, I guess? But I’m not bitter…

I’m on the side of the Dungeon/Game Master on this one. If you have a player who wants to play a Half Orc or Half Elf, there are solutions out there. It’s an easy workaround. At this point, whatever damage has been done to WotC’s reputation, D&D’s social standing, whatever. I can’t fix that. I can help the TTRPG community.

We’ve hit another impasse where real world politics collide with gaming.

Personally, I think D&D is WotC’s IP and they can do whatever they want with it. They gave us three good to mediocre renditions of the game. T$R gave us the rest. WotC can do whatever they want with this 2024 D&D thing. Good for them.

At one point during the development of the 2024 D&D Player’s Handbook we were told by the design team that they were considering making mixed species available simply by mixing and matching background options during character creation. I’m guessing by all accounts that didn’t happen. (I won’t by buying the 2024-25 books. My $180 is being saved for other projects.)

So that would indicate to me that Crawford and his team at WotC decided the best way to avoid the controversy was just to not print anything involving half races. It’s their decision to make. Some say it’s evolution. I say it’s another example of WotC neutering the D&D we all knew and loved.

Politics aside, what can we do about it?

I happen to have some ideas about what can be done unofficially to work around the situation, some may work better than others depending on your players. (Standard disclaimer about what works at your table here. You can’t get it wrong.)

From D&D Beyond Free Species.
  • Play a different edition of D&D. Even D&D 5E still had the half races. Every other edition except maybe B/X had half races. I think there were a few Dragon Magazine or Polyhedron articles for Half Races in the BECMI era that would help. IIRC, 3rd/3.5 D&D had the widest variety of races, especially in third party supplements.
  • Play a different game altogether. There have literally been dozens of new or revised fantasy TTRPGs released in the last two or three years. Many of these games are d20/D&D clones. Wizards of the Coast will likely survive without the $180 dollars they want you to spend on the official core rules. Seriously, so many other games cover this topic differently, though.
    *My friend Knigobi won’t agree with this suggestion. (Apologies if you see this.)

  • Go on D&D Beyond and see if there are homebrew rules or grandfather in the 5E content where possible. Half Elves are available on DDB as “Legacy” content. This one by Arcanist Press from DriveThruRPG.com using my Affiliate Link seems pretty cool. There are plenty of products floating around and people are already covering this gap in the official rules. You can even create a Species for free on D&D Beyond.

    Please note I found 137 PAGES of homebrew species on DDB with the word “half” in them. Your DM might want to take a look at your homebrew before you begin play with that character. Your mileage may vary from mine, but egad why so many?

  • Create your own unique backgrounds using preexisting Species. For those of us who literally enjoy homebrewing everything in their game, you can always build upon the Elves, Orcs and Humans already in the game. You could also get really crazy and make Dwelfs and Orclings. I know this solution isn’t for everyone, but I enjoy coming up with my own unique kin in Dragonbane and other games.

  • (This last one causes cognitive dissonance.) Accept the circumstances as-is. We cried “foul” back in ye olden days when Half Ogres vanished from the game. (Until someone homebrewed them back in.) Dragonbane, Lord of the Rings, and lots of other fantasy TTRPGs don’t have half anything. Sometimes simpler rules are better.

    If WotC chose to omit half species from official rules, okay. That’s their call to make. We don’t have to live with it, but we can.
Others have already designed unofficial workaround rules for this issue.

Do I wish 2024 D&D looked different? Yeah. I really do.

Without rehashing the Orc, Drow, Half-, and whatever-drama-happens-tomorrow with just the PHB, I would have possibly welcomed a new edition of the game or a revision as D&D is famous for. The Dungeon Master’s Guide looked a little artsy when I perused a copy at my FLGS. I don’t know about this Monster Manual that’s coming this week. From what I’ve seen, I can’t get too excited about it.

I think a lot of the decisions that are being made about this 2024-25 edition look like they’re being made through the lenses of a corporate marketing team. Personally, I don’t agree with a lot of what I’m seeing with the new edition. I imagine what the game could have looked like had it not been designed by committee governed by the likes of Cobra Commander, Starscream, and Rita Repulsa answering to Reptilian Overlords at Hasbro. At that point I had just as well design my own game, though.

My money is reserved for games I truly enjoy, companies I wholeheartedly support, and writers that I truly enjoy. Sorry WotC, but that doesn’t fit with your corporate culture. I’m not who you’re looking for. Us old white guys from the flyover states in the Midwest were told to leave the hobby, remember?

News flash! I don’t care where you’re from, what’s between your legs or what you choose to do with it, if you’re neurodiverse, your economic status, or physically disabled. You’re welcome at my table as long as you intend no harm to others, don’t hate, and remain peaceful. Everyone is welcome in the hobby so long as they can get along. We’re here to have fun, not obsess over politics, religion, and money. Leave all the baggage at the door and let’s game.

Along those lines, I want nothing short of peace for everyone on Earth at this time. I don’t desire or need to squabble with anyone as long as they’re here to have fun and not hate. If I don’t resonate, well that’s a shame, but I don’t control that. We can only control how one person feels about anything, ourselves.