There is a very simple reason why AD&D included half elves and half orcs as PC races - both are in Tolkien.
Where do they show up in Tolkien?
Half Elf should be obvious.
Saruman uses half-orc spies. (didn't make it into the movie).
Huh, I didn't even remember half-elves being in the movies. And it's been way too long since I read the books to remember anything as specific as half-elves/orcs.
Elrond is known as "Elrond Half-Elven", though I am not sure that is mentioned in the movie. It is in the books, The Hobbit, and very nearly every side-game based on LoTR (War in the North comes to mind).
So you may not have noticed it in the movie, but it is there (albeit hidden to those who aren't already aware).
There is also a very very obvious half-elf in the movies. We see a vision of a child of Arwen (elf) and Aragorn (human).
...I don't like elves...or half-elves for that matter too. Bossy, snobby little whine-asses. (Except for Vicky. I love Vicky.) Usually a human or a beast race like half-orc. Occasionaly a dwarf.
I never understood the fun of playing a human... i'm a human in real life, why would I want to play it in a fantasy world?
By that same logic: you already breathe oxygen in real life. Why play something that breathes oxygen in a fantasy world?
Furthermore, I'd be willing to bet a lot of money that you aren't a human capable of fighting a guy like Sarevok with a sword on even terms or shooting lightning bolts out of your brain.
The idea that humans are somehow "not special" or that other races are "more special" than humans is patently absurd. Hell, from a literary standpoint, the other races are just magnified qualities of humanity.
As regards Tolkien... Elrond and Arwen are peredhil (half-elves) in the books, among others like Dior (Beren and Luthien's son).
Saruman bred his orcs with dunlending hillmen to get half-orcs who could go about in sunlight and pass themselves off as humans. This was bowdlerized in the films, because they didn't like the concept of orcs mating with humans. They were (bizarrely) replaced with uruk-hai, which were supposed to be Sauron's elite 'high orcs'. There were even half-trolls (olog-hai).
There are some hints that halflings might have had mixed blood in the distant past (in FR and Tolkien both). The Tooks/tallfellows had an ancestor who 'took a fairie wife' and they are notably taller and more fair than other hobbits. The Stoors/stouthearts seem to have a distant dwarven ancestor, being notably stronger and stockier than other hobbits.
Also, the topic title sucks. Having an affinity for a fantasy race doesn't make someone 'racist'. That word is horribly over-used these days, to the point of becoming almost meaningless.
By that same logic: you already breathe oxygen in real life. Why play something that breathes oxygen in a fantasy world?
...Because there are no alternatives in fantasy that don't breathe oxygen? Except for the undead, but you can't play them anyway and they're kind of evil.
How do you know that humans (or any other race) in FR breathe oxygen? What if they breathe Nitrogen or CO2? Or a magic air molecule that only exists in the FR setting? How would you know?
I think the point is that they all breath the same air regardless of what it is made from, while the cultural and physiological experience of each race is so completely unique to their own being.
Since we are humans 24/7, why pass up the opportunity to play as something else in a fantasy setting?
It's like those people who play as the opposite gender, not because they identify with it but because it's a break from the norm. I personally play the rarer races like Gnomes because they are underrepresented and different from the average Human.
Of course that is assuming that the Humans from the Forgotten Realms are exactly like the Humans from our world but they are what you'd call an extreme departure from reality.
Well, humans in the realms are not exactly like in our world, as they can use magic and we can't. Just an obvious example. Every class is a break from the norm, even if you are actually a thief or a monk in real life.
As regards Tolkien... Elrond and Arwen are peredhil (half-elves) in the books, among others like Dior (Beren and Luthien's son).
Also, the topic title sucks. Having an affinity for a fantasy race doesn't make someone 'racist'. That word is horribly over-used these days, to the point of becoming almost meaningless.
The topic title is play on words. and its purpose is to get you to open it...which it did...im gunna go ahead say you suck and take things too literally? thought so...
Technically Elan is my favorite...but they're technically just psionically powered, quasi-immortal humans converted into something else via psionic ritual...so......yeah, human.
I often play as a half-elf simply because the human model is so very buff and I'm rather skinny. Also, I prefer the hair of the half-elf magic users to the human ones. So, it's more about the cosmetic effect than anything else, as the half-elven model looks something like me, at least compared to the others.
Comments
Usually a human or a beast race like half-orc. Occasionaly a dwarf.
Furthermore, I'd be willing to bet a lot of money that you aren't a human capable of fighting a guy like Sarevok with a sword on even terms or shooting lightning bolts out of your brain.
The idea that humans are somehow "not special" or that other races are "more special" than humans is patently absurd. Hell, from a literary standpoint, the other races are just magnified qualities of humanity.
Saruman bred his orcs with dunlending hillmen to get half-orcs who could go about in sunlight and pass themselves off as humans. This was bowdlerized in the films, because they didn't like the concept of orcs mating with humans. They were (bizarrely) replaced with uruk-hai, which were supposed to be Sauron's elite 'high orcs'. There were even half-trolls (olog-hai).
There are some hints that halflings might have had mixed blood in the distant past (in FR and Tolkien both). The Tooks/tallfellows had an ancestor who 'took a fairie wife' and they are notably taller and more fair than other hobbits. The Stoors/stouthearts seem to have a distant dwarven ancestor, being notably stronger and stockier than other hobbits.
Also, the topic title sucks. Having an affinity for a fantasy race doesn't make someone 'racist'. That word is horribly over-used these days, to the point of becoming almost meaningless.
That whole metaphor you made was pretty idiotic.
Since we are humans 24/7, why pass up the opportunity to play as something else in a fantasy setting?
It's like those people who play as the opposite gender, not because they identify with it but because it's a break from the norm. I personally play the rarer races like Gnomes because they are underrepresented and different from the average Human.
Of course that is assuming that the Humans from the Forgotten Realms are exactly like the Humans from our world but they are what you'd call an extreme departure from reality.
So, it's more about the cosmetic effect than anything else, as the half-elven model looks something like me, at least compared to the others.
I sometimes play humans.
Insane saving throws and a little butt kicker to boot.