Halfbreeds

"Well... "
Baroness Amira Kord of Under-Kell pinched the back of her nose and sighed... The black haired, slender woman of about 40 Summers was looking at something which some might call a family tree. She called it a major disaster hit by a catatstrophe already. This case had been given to her by the local Inquisitor, and she began to understand why he didn't want to handle it, despite it being a subject that fell so squarely into his purview. The boons of theocracy. Amira sighed again.
"Mr... Fargazer, also known under the name... " another sigh, which almost hid an amused and a little bewildered grunt."... Seawolven? You are accused of imposing your will on the accusant, Ms. Tatiara Guldaenn, whom you met in Brynnen while on a shore leave. According to her testimony, she was on a trip with her father, a well respected carpenter in the greater area of Kell, which is, by the way, the reason why it is up to me to deal with it.
She was there to help deliver some of her fathers goods to a rather rich buyer. In the evening of 20th to 21st of Harvestmoon she met you in the..." the pale, well manicured hand of the Baroness brushed aside the page and her pupils narrowed while she read " 'The Tide Respite', where she , how i see it at least, was out for a little adventure. Something which you gladly provided.
As we can all very clearly see, she is heavy with child, and although she admitted the act was consentual, she definitely didn't intend to become pregnant. As for you being a wolven, and her being a human, the only way she deems this to be possible would be by faebirth... with the necessary will to start it thus coming from you.
Anyway... i see here that you claim to not be a full wolven, but that your father was... lets see... by some odd chance... 7/8 wolven and 1/8 elf , while your mother was half wolven, half human. Which... in case of wolven seedbirth ancestry rather than faebirth, would make you... " the baroness stared on her hand, and tried to figure out the numbers in her head but soon gave up, letting shine through irritatedly, how little she was really interested in the family geneology of wolven sailors. "Yes... lets say.. mainly wolven, a little human and a little elvish..., which would make a human seedbirth at least a possibility. I dare not ask how a sailor gets this document and why his captain seems to deem it necessary to vouch for its correctness and provide the necessary references, but i can only assume this is not the first time that you are in this kind of predicament, am i right?"
The baroness waited till the towering grey furred wolven grunted a stubborn acknowledgement at her implicit question. This was going differently than he was used to. Usually the judges he had to face when something like this... happened... had been men and thus probably a little more understanding. Given the papers, he didn't commit a crime but...
"...Yeah... thought so. I bet in the cities around the Inner sea you are quite the sensation, am i right? Tall, wild and unruly, different, strange even, and adventurous, not in the worst of shapes and always with a story about exotic places on your lips, you must be quite the heartthrob with the women who never saw much more than their parents villages. Like..."
Her head turned towards the tall blond woman in carpenters attire, whose round belly was showing under the brownish apron. As of now she had held her head up high, sure of her case, but when Amira faced her...
"Tatiara... i know you now since you were ... what... seven years old?. Your father provided my household with an armoire which i am still quite proud of. You didn't really ever consider your fathers work honorable though, am i right? I kind of remember you saying... was it last year...? "Just a few months more and i am outta here..." in public and to your fathers face nonetheless, bringing quite shame on him"
The young woman slumped and searched with a questioning look for her parents guidance, which earned her a harried "Don't worry... everything will be alright, yet we can't really do anything..." smile. As her gaze returned to Amira, the baroness gave her a somewhat similar-but-laden-with-disappointment nod.
"So... Mr. Fargazer... According to the laws of Haven, i can't convict you of forcing your will upon Ms. Guldaenn here to sire this child by faebirth, which would qualify you for a nice and painless castration, down there..." She pointed at his crotch ..."and a somewhat more painful up there... " Her hand shifted until her finger pointed upward at his head. " ...delivered by our trusted inquisitors and magisters, and leaving you as a husk without drives, but also without exploitable connection to the Fae, whereas all your acquired riches would go to Tatiara. Which..., i bet..., some of your, and here I bet again... many... former paramours might enjoy to see, but which would rob our society, and especially Under-Kell, of your strong arms and all the other qualities a young and healthy man such as yourself has to offer. Also the baby would have no father.

So... while you might be innocent of the afforementioned crime, by sly "miscommunication" you have managed to "miss" the chance to tell Tatiara, that part of you is still human, probably because she might have reconsidered her, anyways, stupid, reckless and irresponsible, path of action. Because, as one should know, it could have... " and the baroness looked over to Tatiara "... always been a possibility, even if he didn't knew it. THUS..."

The baroness leaned back, crossed her arms and let her gaze wander over the assembled group, shaking her head and smiling disappointedly, as if thinking about an unreasonably bad joke.
"...I hereby declare you both husband and wife. Which, by the power imbued in me by my title, I can do. I just consider this:..." she pointed at Tatiaras belly "...your both application and consent. With all rights and duties this brings about...
This should be punishment enough for both of you. Dismissed."

— Court in the home of Amira Kord, Baroness of Under-Kell

Halfbreeds, Nature vs Nurture

Once a halfbreed grows to adulthood, one of his halfs that was the one most useful during growing up, becomes dominant for purposes of procreation via faebirth.
For a halfelf who is living with humans in High Haven, this would be the human part, whereas, for the halfelf who lives on a world tree village in Cun Moragh Norn, the elven part would take hold as dominant. Once these halfelves now find a partner, it is those dominant genes which will determine the outcome by conception via faebirth. In their offsprings some remaining traces of the other half that have proven useful might persist.
The reaso is that faebirth, unlike seedbirth, is an at least somewhat directed and intentional process, with the intention to prevail being one of the major drivers.
If for example the halfelfves in our example would ever meet, fall in love and conceive via faebirth together, the result would be a halfelf, but not because both parents were, but because the dominant half of one is human, while the dominant half of the other is elvish.
It is however perfectly possible, that two halfelfs conceive a human or an elven child together, entirely depending on where the expecting parents grew up and which halves became dominant for procreation. Two halfelves who grew up with the humans and who conceive via faebirth, will have human children, with probably a slight little remaining "elvishness" mixed in.
HOWEVER... This is where it gets complicated...
Halfbreeds also inherit the possibility of conception via seedbirth from their parents (if those had it), allowing them to either sire or conceive via seedbirth with partners of the opposite sex who also share this trait, which are:

1. Members of the race whose seedbirth ability they inherited
2. Members of any subrace of the race whose seedbirth ability they inherited
3. Any kind of halfbreed who has also inherited the same seedbirth ability from one of his parents

Seedbirth however is not a directed process at all. For seedborn halfbreeds, the result is always a good blend of the traits that made up the involved parents, regardless of which part would be dominant for faebirth. In case of two half elven parents, the result would be another half elf, regardless if both parents were human or elven dominant. In this case because both parents were half-elves.
This really kicks in, once the half breeds are NOT of the same kin though, as the result can very well be something which shares the traits of three or more different races, which is impossible via faebirth. The child of a half human Dragonborn, and a halfelf, conceived via human seedbirth, would have mainly human but also dragonborn and elvish traits.
However while faebirth acts as the great instigator, so seedbirth can shuffle the deck, it also works as the great equalizer. For the purpose of faebirth, however complicated the combination of races in a being, it is the upbringing which determines which part prevails and becomes dominant for (faebirth-)procreation purposes. With the exception of minor mutations, all traits which do not prevail, get eradicated. This also includes the capability for seedbirth. The faeborn child of an (elven dominant) halfelf and another elf will lose the ability for seedbirth, because it is part of what gets thrown out (as it was obviously not useful). Neither the elf has it, nor does the halfelf need it, because, if he did, why is he elvish dominant and not human?
The faeborn child of a wolven dominant, half human/quarter elven/quarter wolven (however that came to pass...) with a wolven would ALSO be a wolven, lose the ability for human seedbirth, but, as a wolven, keep the ability for wolven seedbirth. Some miniscule elvish / human features may remain.
Over time this has led to the following result: While there are barely any larger numbers of halfbreeds descending from races who can procreate solely via faebirth, like half elvish / half gnomish halfbreeds, those which are half human or half wolven can come in greater numbers and even groups. These halfbreeds can procreate with each other via seedbirth, which somewhat stabilizes their numbers. This is the reason why halfelves, halfwolven, halforcs and human dragonborn are fairly known and common, whereas few have ever heard of orcgnomes (although they do exist. they call themself Orclings or Skeks, but are mostly Orcggoblins rather than -gnomes)
It is safe to say though, that most halfbreeds in the world today descend from humans, mainly because humans cover such a huge territory and thus have so many... possibilties. Compared to them, the wolven, who also have the capability for faebirth and seedbirth, remain rather local around the Wolven forests and the north of the world, such that half -wolven combinations are more rare anyway. In addition to this wolven are generally not as fertile as humans (see here: Wolven.)

DM Tip

There are even other self aware, and thus faebirth capable creatures on Ardu, but halfbreeds with or between them are almost always unique, if they even exist today. As a DM you would have to come up with the features of that race.

Plaguebreeds

Although most plaguebeasts procreate in ways specific to their expression, some plaguebeasts keep the ability to procreate via faebirth.
Dark Elves and Hobgoblins for example are very well known to be able to procreate via faebirth, where, much like orcs, they are able to initiate a conception by the will of the respective draugh or hobgoblin alone, without requiring the consent of the partner.
Furthermore do plaguefiends retain the ability for faebirth even on Ardu, although most have a too specific focus to follow up on it.
It is still contested if gremlins or ragebeasts retain their ability to procreate via faebirth, as they don't show interest in doing so, either because of trustissues (in case of gremlins) or because they are entirely consumed by Rage.
Common to all kinds of plaguebreeds is that the plague is not a trait that is automatically inherited from a parent and is instead, as per usual in case of faebirth, passed on if an only if the child is raised by the plague afflicted parent, or in a society of plague afflicted like in case of the Dark elves.

DM Tip:

It is perfectly possible to play a plaguebreed (half plaguebeast), provided the character was not raised by the plague afflicted parent or in a society of plaguebeasts, as this would have stabilized the plague trait. Make sure the character was separated from the plague afflicted environment early on, and note that this is a hard life in almost all human controlled regions (or elf controlled if its a dark elvish halfbreed), because of prejudices and justified or unjustified accusations for almost everything that can go wrong.

Serpentfolk and Lizardmen

Serpentfolk and Lizardmen are not able to procreate via Faebirth, not so much because they aren't self aware, which they are, but because, due to the absence of emotions, they miss a key ingredient to manipulate the Fae, but also for the Fae to connect back to them. This being also the reason why they have no wizards or druids, but manipulate the Fae solely through the practice of sacrificial magic, there are no half Serpentfolk or half Lizardman Halfbreeds.

Common Halfbreeds and Habitat

Red parent combinations mark Plaguebreeds, which have to be raised by non plague afflicted parents, in order not to have the Plague trait become dominant (aka remain playable).

Name	Combination	Geografic distribution
Dragonborn	Human + Dragon	All over Ardu in smaller Populations
Deep Orc	Draugh + Hobgoblin	Underdark
Duergar	Draugh + Dwarf	Underdark
Faebrood, Fiendbrood	Any + Fiend / Fey / Plaguefiend	All over Ardu.
Halfelves	Human + Elf (Norn, Sitha, Eadun)	All over Ardu, Concentrations: Haven, Silverwood, Cun Moragh Norn, Caldaven, Aquira, Reach, Emerald Coast, Cityleague of Eridu,Underdark
Half-Draugh	Draugh + Human	Concentrations: All over Ardu, but mostly the Underdark Haven, Silverwood, Cun Moragh Norn, Caldaven, Aquira, Reach, Emerald Coast, Cityleague of Eridu,Underdark
Halfgiants	Human + Goliath	Culmeria, Aesgard, Oskraja, Caldaven, Whispering Tundra
Halflings	Human + Gelf	Haven, Culmeria, Aesgard, Oskraja, Reach, Caldaven, Aquira, Undermountain
Halforcs	Human + Orc	Orc Plains, Reach, Weyland, Dragonstones, Culmeria, Underdark,Ocean of Grass, Caldaven, Whispering Tundra, Cun Moragh Norn
Halfwolven	Human + Wolven	Wolven Forests, Reach, Wolven Peaks, Ocean Of Grass, Weyland, Koda, Whispering Tundra, Hammer of Ice, Black Crowns, Caldaven
Mul	Human + Dwarf	Odhal, Aquira, Ulthue, Um-kal
Nornwolven	Wolven + Elf	Wolven Forests, Ocean of Grass, Dragon Stones, northern Cun Moragh Norn, Whispering Tundra, Koda
Ogre	Orc + Ice Giant	Hammer of Ice, Aesgard, Culmeria, Caldaven northern Cun Moragh Norn
Orcling / Skek	Orc + Gelf(Goblin)	Orc Plains, Ocean Of Grass, Dragonstones, Black Crowns, Caldaven, northern Cun Moragh Norn, Cityleague of Eridu
Worgen	Wolven + Orc	Wolven Forests, Ocean Of Grass, Orc Plains, Black Crowns, Dragon Stones, Whispering Tundra, Northern Cun Moragh Norn, Caldaven

Lifespan

Dependent on dominant half

Average Height

None, Based on Parents

Average Weight

None Based on Parents

Related Ethnicities

• Dragonborn
• Faebrood / Fiendbrood

How to create Create a Halfbreed:

Dnd 5E

In order to create a Halfbreed of the Core Ancestries (Human, Dwarf, Goliath, Norn, Eadun, Sitha, Undergelf, Uppergelf, Goblin, Wolven or Orc) one simply chooses a dominant ancestry which is the base to develop from. This ancestry became dominant by the characters upbringing, and becomes the basis of the attributes as described for the respective ancestry.

Example:
A half norn Elf (Elf dominant) chooses the Ancestry: Norn Elf.
An undergelf halfling (Gelf dominant) chooses the Ancestry: Undergelf
a half orc (human dominant) chooses the Ancestry: Human

Each Ancestry is characterised by seven traits, most of them explicit. Some ancestries (like goliaths and Humans) have a smaller list of traits, but offset this by a greater number of Attribute Boni. For the purpose of creating a Halfbreed consider the extra attribute boni as Traits. A Goliath ancestry for example provides six explicit traits, and one Attribute Bonus to either Constitution or Strength which counts as a trait, while a human would have 4 explicit traits, yet provide 3 attribute boni on top which also count as traits for the purpose of building a halfbreed. Which ones of the attribute boni for a human player are considered base attibute boni and which are additional traits is up to the player.

Either take four traits from the dominant ancestry and three traits from the non dominant amcestry or take five traits from the dominant ancestry and two traits from the non dominant ancestry. These are the Traits of your Halfbreed. remeber that only three of the Attributes were considered traits. It is not possible to reinvest the additional "trait" attributes (should you choose to keep them) back into attributes which already got a bonus. The max bonus for human dominant halfbreeds on any attribute is 1.

Pathfinder 2e

Halfbreeds

To play a half-bred character you must choose a versatile heritage.

First select your ancestry, just like you would for any character. You gain Hit Points, size, Speed, ability boosts and ability flaws, languages, traits, and other abilities from that ancestry. Then, instead of choosing a heritage from those normally available to that ancestry, apply your chosen versatile heritage. You gain all the features from your versatile heritage, some of which might modify or replace statistics, abilities, or traits from your ancestry. Since a versatile heritage is a heritage, you can have only one, and you can't have any other heritage in addition to your versatile heritage. Sometimes a versatile heritage might give you an ability that conflicts with an ability from your ancestry. In these cases, you choose which of the conflicting abilities your character has. When selecting ancestry feats, you can choose from those available to your ancestry as well as those specific to your versatile heritage.

Lineage Feats Some ancestry feats within a versatile heritage have the lineage trait. These feats specify a physiological lineage your character has—such as the type of hag that birthed a changeling character, or the type of fiend that influenced a tiefling's birth. You can have only one lineage feat; you can select such a feat only at 1st level, and you can't retrain into or out of this feat.

Versatile Heritages:

Versatile: Dragonborn (Half-Dragons)
You have dragons in your bloodline and retain some of their abilites. You have a scaly skin, a general dragon like appearance (albeit humanoid) and you have a tail.

You gain the Dragonborn trait, in addition to the traits from your ancestry. You can choose from dragonborn feats and feats from your ancestry whenever you gain an ancestry feat.

You can spit a form of energy related to your ancestors nature. Choose one of the following cantrips: Acid Splash, Electric Arc, Produce Flame, or Ray of Frost. You can cast this spell as an innate arcane spell at will, and when you cast it, the spell's energy emerges from your mouth.

At 1st level, Dragonborn must choose a Dragonborn lineage feat, which describes the nature of their Dragon ancestor.

Versatile: Faebrood / Fiendbrood
You descend from Faebeings, beings from the counterrealm beyond the veil, be it now fiends like demons or devils, fey or other beings whose realms are reachable through the counterrealm. This manifests as a combination of features that belie your heritage, such as glowing eyes, horns, tails, tentacles, eyes in odd places or other even stranger manifestaions of your ancestors nature and realm.

You gain the nephilim trait, in addition to the traits from your ancestry. You gain low-light vision, or you gain darkvision if your ancestry already has low-light vision. You can choose from nephilim feats and feats from your ancestry whenever you gain an ancestry feat.

At 1st level, Faebrood characters must choose a Faebrood lineage feat, which describes the nature of their ancestor.

Versatile: Dwarf
One of your parents was a dwarf, or one or both were half-dwarves. You have a stockier build and are generally very tough. You gain the dwarf trait in addition to the traits from your ancestry. You gain Low-Light Vision, or you gain Darkvision if your ancestry already has low-light vision. You can choose from dwarf feats and feats from your ancestry whenever you gain an ancestry feat.

Versatile: Elf
One of your parents was an elf, or one or both were half-elves. You have pointed ears and other telltale signs of elf heritage. You gain the elf trait in addition to the traits from your ancestry. You gain Low-Light Vision. You can choose from elf feats and feats from your ancestry whenever you gain an ancestry feat.

Versatile: Gnome
One of your parents was a gelf, or one or both were half-gelf. You are smaller than the average representative of your ancestry, have several gnomish features and pointed ears. You gain the gnome trait in addition to the traits from your ancestry. You gain Low-Light Vision. You can choose from gnome feats and feats from your ancestry whenever you gain an ancestry feat.

Versatile: Goblin
One of your parents was a goblin, or both were half-goblins. You have a green tinge to your skin and other indicators of goblin heritage, like size and general goblin like features. You gain the goblin trait in addition to the traits from your ancestry. You gain Low-Light Vision, or you gain Darkvision if your ancestry already has low-light vision. You can choose from goblin feats and feats from your ancestry whenever you gain an ancestry feat.

Versatile: Goliath
One of your parents was a goliath (Ice giant) of one or both were half-goliaths. You are generally taller than other representatives of your kin, and your skin is slightly more pale. You gain the Goliath trait in addition to the traits from your ancestry. You gain cold resistance much like the ice giants. You can choose from goliath feats and feats from your ancestry whenever you gain an ancestry feat.

Versatile: Human
You have human features which distinguish you from your original ancestry, either by being taller or smaller and having rounder ears. You gain the Fae connection sense. You gain the human trait in addition to the traits from your ancestry. You can choose from elf feats and feats from your ancestry whenever you gain an ancestry feat.

• Fae connection
  Your mind is strongly connected to the Fae, granting you an instinct about its presence. Whenever you like, you can roll on perception to detect the presence of magic. (If you succeed at the DC set by the GM). The GM must tell you if magic is present where you are looking for it.
  However, once per rest, in regions in which the Veil between physical world and counterrealm must be considered thin (at GM's discretion), the GM can demand you to roll a d20. On a 1 you connect through your dreams with the Fae and suffer nightmares, preventing you from fully recovering. This night you get only half the hit points back, which you would get normally.

Versatile: Orc
One of your parents was an orc, or one or both were half-orcs. You have a green tinge to your skin and other indicators of orc heritage. You gain the orc trait in addition to the traits from your ancestry. You gain Low-Light Vision, or you gain Darkvision if your ancestry already has low-light vision. You can choose from orc feats and feats from your ancestry whenever you gain an ancestry feat.

Versatile: Wolven
One of your parents was a wolven, or one or both were half-wolven. You have increased growth of Body hair, sharper canines and more canine facial features, also you are taller than most representatives of your kin. You gain the Wolven trait and imprecise scent (30 ft). In addition, you can select wolven feats and feats of your ancestry whenever you gain an ancestry feat.