A half dwarf and a Half Elf walk into a bar...
 

A half Dwarf male and a Half Elf female walk into a bar. The get drunk. Mother nature with her bag of tricks, gives them both the Morning after surprise they didn't see coming.

What will the end result of that special night be?

Re: A half dwarf and a Half Elf walk into a bar...
 

If you're asking for the genetics of the offspring, it could be a mix of human, elf, and dwarf in any ratio. Children get half the DNA of their parents, but you don't know which half. Statistically, they're likely to be about half human, one-quarter dwarf, and one-quarter elf, but that's not an absolute.

This also depends on the exact nature of elf and dwarf genetics. Do they have DNA? Is it compatible with human DNA (must be somewhat, since there are half-dwarves and half-elves)? Is there even DNA in the fantasy setting? Are humans, elves, and dwarves the same species? Genus? Do they have a common ancestor? How far back is that common ancestor?

Re: A half dwarf and a Half Elf walk into a bar...
 

Genetics between races opens up a real UGLY problem. Mate a horse with a donkey and you end up with a mule. If you mate that mule with any thing other than a donkey - and there is no chance of a fertile offspring of those two combinations. 62 Chromosomes for Donkeys, 63 for Hinneys/mules (depending on which species the mother is determines whether it is a Hinney or a Mule) and 64 chromosomes for a Horse - makes for fertile half-breeds essentially an imposibility.

Now we get into the fantasy races and discuss Half-Elves and/or Half-Dwarves and things get murkier. If the supposition is that the races are fertile and inter-fertile, then we're going down one road. If the half-breed off-spring are not fertile, than a Half-Elf and a Half-Dwarf can't mate to produce anything. Short of using magic to force a hybridization, we're stuck...

I just wondered if Dungeon Fantasy ever went down that road or not. If it hasn't, I'd have to wonder why - seeing as we half-breeds all around.

;)

So, can a Half Dwarf and a Half Elf have viable children outside of magic? If the answer is no, then having a player character with that kind of a background proves to be an interesting conundrum. Since the game world I'm using is ATLANTIS: THE SECOND AGE, a world that has Andamen (Alchemical constructs that are bodies of humans but heads of animals) - it wouldn't necessarily be an impossibility to use a little alchemical help to merge two non-fertile members to produce off spring. It does however, result in said offspring to likely be infertile.

All in all, just wondering if any other rules were posted, or any other GM's who have had to deal with that question.

Re: A half dwarf and a Half Elf walk into a bar...
 

I'm pretty sure the game rules have not dwelt on the scientific taxonomy or genetics of fantasy races, particularly because many fantasy traditions have scientifically ludicrous outcomes, like Zeus turning himself in a swan and raping Leda, leading to her laying two eggs and hatching two children. A half-dwarf and a half-elf having mixed-race children is totally believable next to stuff like that.

Just do what you want; there's no correct answer, and no "official" rules answer.

Re: A half dwarf and a Half Elf walk into a bar...
 

And indeed the outcome might depend on the exact ratio you did get even in a realistic setting. All human genes (admittedly highly unlikely) and you get a human, too many of both elf and dwarf and you get a failure of the fertilized egg to survive first cell division.

I personally think "half" races were a questionable idea from the start, and would be inclined to no offspring.

Another rather logical approach is to assume the reason so many things can interbreed with humans is that humans are *already* a crossbreed mixture of everything else in the setting, and the more different "non-human" parents you have, the closer you get to human average.

Re: A half dwarf and a Half Elf walk into a bar...
 

If you have "half" races as an identifiable thing, and they actually are something distinct as opposed to a spectrum, there's presumably some factor keeping them distinct, so that same thing might apply in this case. If there's no such factor, the result is 25% dwarf, 25% elf, 50% other (are both of those half-human?).

Re: A half dwarf and a Half Elf walk into a bar...
 

Trick question. Half-dwarves are sterile (Dark Sun, Timothy B. Brown and Troy Denning, TSR Games, 1991).
:)

Re: A half dwarf and a Half Elf walk into a bar...
 

Yep, the Muls.

Half-Elves are from Tolkien, right? Although half-"nature spirit" is probably as old as religion.

Re: A half dwarf and a Half Elf walk into a bar...
 

The real question is if half-halflings are quarterlings?

Re: A half dwarf and a Half Elf walk into a bar...
 

Surely to get a quarterling you'd need two halfling parents.

Re: A half dwarf and a Half Elf walk into a bar...
 

Ah I see the logic there. Halflings must therefore reproduce asexually or they would quickly diminish to infinitesimals.

Re: A half dwarf and a Half Elf walk into a bar...
 

Or maybe a halfling is the result of a mating of two quarterlings. Is your universe additive or multiplicative?

Re: A half dwarf and a Half Elf walk into a bar...
 

A similar thread from about a month ago covered some of the same ground (before heading into a deep dive on Tolkien's specific half-elves).

Re: A half dwarf and a Half Elf walk into a bar...
 

First time i hear about HALF DWARFS!!!

Re: A half dwarf and a Half Elf walk into a bar...
 

No such things. We call them gnomes...

Re: A half dwarf and a Half Elf walk into a bar...
 

GURPS Wrong Genetics 1e: "Height mods work like any other enhancement or limitation, e.g., a halfling has a -50% height limitation. A character receives half of each parent's height mod, e.g., a halfling parent contributes a -25% height limitation. Combined height limitations may not exceed -80%. GMs may also use an optional CF-based approach (see p. 633)."

Re: A half dwarf and a Half Elf walk into a bar...
 

Two tall people will usually have less tall offspring. This is known as Regression towards the Mean. So I would expect to Halflings to have something closer to a three-quarterling and not a quarterling. Assuming that Halflings are Men, and we know they are because they share the Gift of Men.

Re: A half dwarf and a Half Elf walk into a bar...
 

As we all know, each successive generation gains a side, and thus is higher in social status than their ancestors.

Re: A half dwarf and a Half Elf walk into a bar...
 

I've never seen a half-dwarf template and I've seen two half-elf templates so that complicates matters. What it might look like is a shorter than average human, with a longer than average lifespan, goes bald early but has a very dark blue beard. Might or might not have magic aptitude. There are a lot of other options of course.

Re: A half dwarf and a Half Elf walk into a bar...
 

I made a template for Athasian half-dwarfs, or "muls".

50 points
Basic Attributes: ST +1 [10]; HT +3 [30].
Secondary Characteristics: Basic Speed +0.25 [5]; Size Modifier 0 [0].
Advantages: Very Fit [15].
Disadvantages: Selfish (12) [-5]; Social Stigma (Second-Hand Citizen) [-5].
Features: Sterile

Re: A half dwarf and a Half Elf walk into a bar...
 

I had a player ask about half-halflings a long time ago, and just told them that half-halflings are halflings. Elf and a halfling? Halfling kids. Minotaur and a halfling? Halfling kids.

Given enough time, we'll all be short, stout, and enjoy the good earthy pastoral life. I regard regression toward the mean indicating a tiny, barefoot mean.