Editing Half-Elf (section)

==PC Stats==
===BECMI===
Whilst half-elves didn't ''begin'' in OD&D/BECMI, that didn't mean they weren't added in later.

The first version of the concept was the ''Forester''; a [[gish]] class introduced in ''[[Known World Gazetteers|Dawn of the Emperors: Thyatis and Alphatia]]''. The basic idea was that this was a human who either had enough elfin blood to inherit the ability to wield magic and martial skills together, or else who had trained in the elfin fighting styles. Mechanically, this was handled by taking the Elf Class and forsaking the Infravision and Immunity to Ghoul Paralysis. Simple, easy to understand, and effective.

The [[Known World Gazetteers|Elves of Aelfheim]] splatbook claims that half-elves in the AD&D sense do not exist on [[Mystara]]; humans and elves are interfertile, but the child fundamentally takes after one race, though its appearance and its innate abilities may not match. To quote the segment of the book itself... ''"As far as can be told, the elven traits are inherited through the female line. The product of a union between human female and male elf is always human. Moreover, the male children are always stillborn. When female elf mates with male human, the male children are always elves, the female children always human. Of course, all of these female 'human' children have the potential for growing up to bear elf children of either sex."'' If you need a little help deciphering this, you're not alone.

The second version of a [[Mystara]]n half-elf, and the one closer to the AD&D "human-elf hybrid" in lore, appeared in the serial "[[The Voyage of the Princess Ark]]". Debuting in issue #178 of [[Dragon Magazine]], the "true" [[Mystara]]n half-elf is native to the land of Eusdria on the Savage Coast, and is the result of divine meddling by the Immortals Fredar and Fredara (better known to other lands as [[Frey]] and [[Freya]]), who created them in an effort to promote and increase homogeneity in the land that worshipped them. The trait is mostly dominant - a child with a half-elf parent has a 65% chance of being a half-elf itself, although it doesn't clarify if this only applies to half-elf/human couples, or if it means a half-elf/pure-elf breeding has a 65% chance of a half-elf and a 35% chance of a pure elf. Mechanically, half-elves are treated as humans, allowing them to take any class open to humans and achieve unlimited levels - their elven ancestry manifests in having the Elfin Infravision racial trait alongside increased longevity (they use the [[halfling]] aging table instead of the human one), bonuses for which they pay by suffering a -5% penalty to their Experience Points.

===AD&D 1e===
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::Ability Score Minimum/Maximum: Strength 3/18, Dexterity 6/18, Constitution 6/18, Intelligence 4/18, Wisdom 3/18, Charisma 3/18
:::[[-4 Str|Female half-elves have a maximum Strength value of 17]]
::Ability Score Adjustments: None
::Racial Class & Level Limits: [[Cleric]] 5, [[Druid]] Unlimited, [[Fighter]] 8, [[Ranger]] 8, [[Wizard|Magic-User]] 8, [[Thief]] Unlimited, [[Assassin]] 11
:::Half-elves can only achieve 8th level as Fighters or Rangers if they have Strength 18; Str 17 caps their level at 7, and a Str lower than that caps their level at 6.
:::Half-elves can only achieve 8th level as Magic-Users if they have Intelligence 18; Int 17 caps their level at 7, and an Int lower than that caps their level at 6.
::Racial Multi-Class Options: Cleric/Fighter, Cleric/Ranger, Cleric/Magic-User, Fighter/Magic-User, Fighter/Thief, Magic-User/Thief, Cleric/Fighter/Magic-User, Fighter/Magic-User/Thief
::30% Resistance to Sleep and Charm Spells
::+1 bonus language for each Int point above 16.
::Infravision 60"
::1 in 6 chance to detect a concealed door when passing by, 2 in 6 chance to detect a secret door when actively searching, 3 in 6 chance to detect a concealed door when actively searching
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[[Unearthed Arcana]] used the new rules for extraordinary ability scores (18/00 to 20) to heighten some of the half-elf's level limits; by having the right stats, they could reach up to 12th level as Clerics, 13th level as Fighters, and 15th level as Rangers.

===2e===
In the change to 2nd edition AD&D, half-elves remained mostly the same as before, just with a few minor tweaks:
* Now, half-elves could become specialist wizards, when they had been denied access to the Illusionist class in 1e.
* They lost their favored classes in the [[Druid]] and [[Thief]]; ironically, half-elves now capped at as 9th level druids (compared to '''14th''' level clerics) and 12th level thieves. Instead, they gained the ability to become [[Bard]]s of any level. Their other class limits were set to Fighter 14, Mage 12, and Ranger 16.
* Finally, half-elves had a slight tweak to their innate ability to detect secret/concealed doors:
::Merely passing within 10 feet of a concealed door (one hidden by obstructing curtains. etc.) gives the half-elven character a one-in-six chance (roll a 1 on Id6) of spotting it. If the character is actively seeking to discover hidden doors, he has a one-in-three chance (roll a 1 or 2 on Id6) of spotting a secret door (one constructed to be undetectable) and a one-in-two chance (roll a 1, 2, or 3 on 1d6) of locating a concealed door.

===3e===
Much like the [[Half-Orc]], the half-elf of 3e is generally regarded as being really, really shortchanged. Really the only use for Half-Elf is qualifying for Elf-only stuff without a Constitution penalty.  See also the insane ''[[aelfborn]]'' variant.

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::Medium
::No ability score bonuses
::Base speed 30 feet
::Immune to magical Sleep.
::+2 racial bonus on saves vs. enchantment spells and effects.
::Low-light vision
::+1 racial bonus on Listen, Search and Spot.
::+2 racial bonus on Diplomacy and Gather Information.
::Elven Blood: Half-elves count as pure-blood [[Elf]] for effects that specifically target race.
::[[Favored Class]]: Any
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===4e===
4th edition half-elves took a serious level in badass compared to what they were working with in 3e. This edition really sold the image of the half-elf negotiator and diplomat, but also gave them a certain jack-of-all-trades feel.

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::Ability Scores: +2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom or Charisma
::Size: Medium
::Speed: 6 squares (30 feet)
::Vision: Low-light
::Skill Bonuses: +2 Diplomacy, +2 Insight
::Dual Heritage: You can take feats that have either elf or human as a prerequisite (as well as those specifically for half-elves), as long as you meet any other requirements.
::Group Diplomacy: You grant allies within 10 squares (50 feet) of you a +1 racial bonus to Diplomacy checks.
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Initially, half-elves had the Dilettante racial trait, which let them pick an at-will power from a different class and use that as an encounter power. But, after Essentials rolled out, half-elves could switch that racial trait/power for a new one; Knack for Success, a racial encounter power which can affect either the half-elf or an ally within close burst 5 (25 feet); the target can either make a saving throw, shift up to 2 squares as a free action, gain a +2 power bonus to his or her next attack roll made before the end of his or her next turn, or gain a +4 power bonus to his or her next skill check made before the end of his or her next turn.

===5e===
In 5e, the dev team got out bottles and bottles of anabolic steroids.  They are ''easily'' the most powerful race in the base book, and just for comparison, look at what they get compared to the poor [[dragonborn]]:

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::Ability Score: +2 Charisma, +1 two ability scores of choice
::Size: Medium. Range from 5 to 6 feet tall.
:Speed: 30 feet walking.
::Darkvision
::Fey Ancestry
::Skill Versatility: Immediately gain proficiency with two skills of your choice. Can be swapped out with Sword Coast Adventurers Guide Variant rules for one Elven Trait.
::Languages: Common, Elvish, one bonus language

SCAG Variant rules for half-elf provide rules for swapping your Skill Versatility for the following:
* A half-wood elf can take Elf Weapon Training, Fleet of Foot, or Mask of the Wild.
* A half-high elf can take Elf Weapon Training, or a know any one wizard cantrip
* A half-drow can take Drow Magic.
* A half-sea elf can take a swim speed of 30 feet.
* Any half-elf can take Keen Senses. (Because this does literally nothing but grant proficiency in the Perception skill, and Skill Versatility grants already proficiency in ''any'' two skills, including Perception, this is literally trading down in every way and no one does this.)
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====Anchorome====
In the [[Anchorome]] setting, there are two distinct lineages of half-elf, both deriving from the native Poscadari elves. Those born to the [[human]] traders of the Azuposi culture in the trade city of Elfmeet are implied to be "normal" half-elves, save for being able to take the Poscadari Elf Heritage option. Then there are the Pagunki; those half-elves born of unions between Poscadari elves and [[Minnenewah]]. These half-elves are treated like shameful outcasts by both sides of their parentage, and typically leave them both behind and head for the Pagunki region of the Adusgi Forest, which is home to an exclusively half-elf half-minnenewah community, upon reaching sufficient maturity to do so. Being an Anchorome half-elf gives the following racial heritage options:
* Minnenewah Heritage: Swap Skill Versatility for Minnenewah Wisdom (Advantage on Wisdom saves vs. magic).
* Poscadari Heritage: Swap Skill Versatility for either Poscadari Weapon Training (shortbow, longbow and tomahawk weapon proficiencies), Survivalist (Advantage on Survival checks made when in a natural environment) or Plains Camouflage (You may attempt to hide even when only lightly covered by foliage, heavy rain, falling snow, mist and other natural phenomena when in a plains environment).

===Pathfinder===
Like [[half-orc]]s, in comparison to their under-powered 3e versions, half-elves enjoy a lot of the versatility of [[human]]s in [[Pathfinder]], with a floating +2 bonus to any stat they like, free skill focus in any one skill, and the ability to select multiple classes as "favored" for the purposes of [[multiclassing]], while getting elven bonuses to their Will saves and low-light vision.  One particularly cool alternate ability lets them trade in skill focus to gain training in any one [[exotic weapon]] they like, just in case you always wanted to ''try'' an urumi or falcata but didn't wanna spring the feat for it. Another alternate racial ability is Blended View, which trades their multiclassing bonuses for darkvision.  Since the excellent Eldritch Heritage feat (gives a bloodline like a [[Sorcerer]], even if you already are a sorcerer) requires skill focus and a high charisma, half-elves are commonly seen in charisma based classes. 

Since half-elves are immune to sleep (which is very bad for a summoner as it unsummons their eidolon), can trade their favored class bonus for extra evolution points, and (as mentioned above) have easy access to Eldritch Heritage, half-elves are by far the best race for [[Summoner]]. This is pretty much the only time in the game humans aren't the best race for something that doesn't require another race.

A survey of characters determined that Half-Elves were the second most common race in the game. Unlike the third and fourth (Elf and Half-Orc, which were overwhelmingly concentrated on intelligence based classes and beat stick classes respectively), Half-Elf characters had a respectable spread of class focus. Like humans they occupied roughly the same percentage of characters on every class with the exception of, oddly enough, the classes where full elves were viable options.

===Starfinder=== 
In the Hazy Greyness of the Far Future, Half-Elves retain their floating bonus and free skill focus, but also gain the Elven immunity to sleep effects. They can swap out the Skill focus for a +2 bonus to Culture and a free re-roll on Diplomacy, or swap out Low-Light vision for Full Darkvision. 

And as it turns out, Half-Elves can also be born from [[Ryphorian]]s as well as Humans. Half-Ryphorians have the same resistances as Transitional Ryphorians(regardless of the state of their Ryphorian parent) in exchange for the free Skill Focus, and have the Ryphorian trait instead of Human.

===Pathfinder 2e===
Half-Elves are a Human Heritage, meaning they use Human as a base. The half-elven heritage adds the Elf trait and grants Low-Light Vision. That's not much, but it's par for the course on heritages. More advantageously, it allows half-elves to take Human, Elven, and Half-Elven racial feats.