Why Dungeons and Dragons Is Getting Rid of Controversial Half-Races

While there are other half-races in parts of D&D lore (it’s a big universe), the Half-Elf and Half-Orc are notable for being specifically outlined during the character creation process in many versions of the game. They even had their own race sheets that explained their unique attributes. That’s one of the big things that will be changing moving forward (at least in some versions of the game).

Actually, this change was confirmed quite some time ago. As far back as 2022, the D&D team noted that One D&D (the next phase of D&D) will remove the old Half-Orc and Half-Elf character creation options from the game. Instead, players will be able to create a physical combination of various races. The keyword there is “physical.” So, if you want to create an Orc/Human hybrid character, you can make a character that physically resembles both races. When it comes to stats and attributes, though, you will have to choose either Orcs or Humans for your characters’ base information.

In some ways, this change addresses both balance and role-playing issues that have long existed in the game. “Half” character creation options will (ideally) now be treated a little more evenly since the Half-Elf and Half-Orc won’t have separate pages/options available specifically to them. This change may also help address some potential balancing issues. Half-Elves have long been a pretty powerful character creation option, while Half-Orcs have long offered that aforementioned workaround to some of the potential downsides that come with playing a full Orc character.

It’s also important to note that this change applies to the upcoming D&D update. Those who use older versions of the game (most notably, the 2014 Player’s Handbook and D&D Beyond) will still be able to create traditional Half-Elf and Half-Orc characters with all of their usual attributes and features.

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So why is this change causing such a stir now? Well, this reignited debate seems to stem from this comment on the change that was recently made by D&D Rules Designer Jeremy Crawford:

“Frankly, we are not comfortable, and haven’t been for years with any of the options that start with ‘half’…The half construction is inherently racist so we simply aren’t going to include it in the new Player’s Handbook.”

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