can you help me

[Kellen whitewolf]

ok im trying to come up a backgound  for my charcter and i was thinking on saying hes halfblooded like my father was a knight of ul dah and my mom was a mage from the drake tribe could ido that what do you guys think

[Havoc Snow]

ok im trying to come up a backgound  for my charcter and i was thinking on saying hes halfblooded like my father was a knight of ul dah and my mom was a mage from the drake tribe could ido that what do you guys think

Could you be more specific? Knight isn't really a race, and I don't think there are any knights in Ul'dah unless you count the Sultanate.

[Kellen whitewolf]

say my father was a hyur and my mother was miqo te  could i do that sorry im still learning the lore

[Havoc Snow]

Well it's never been done in canon so there's no comparison to work with, it's not clear whether the races can interbreed to be honest. In most fantasy settings it's possible, but genetically speaking that's not really possible, it would be like trying to breed a monkey with a parrot.

[Kellen whitewolf]

ok thank you i was just thinking up some ideas i mean miqo te look like hyru except for the ears an tail so i just wondered

[Havoc Snow]

Well genetically speaking unless every race in Eorzea came from a single ancestor and still had very similar genetic makeup with only slight variations, for example Elezen were really just Hyur that were taller and had pointer ears, or Miqo'te were just small Roegadyn with feline features, then every race in Eorzea has about as much in common as we do with dogs. Races being sentient does not mean that they have any genetic similarities, and without those it would be impossible for their to be cross species interbreeding.

 

This of course is a very scientific way of thinking, in most fantasy games evolution and genetics are pretty much non-existent so hybrids could be completely possible.

[Caysen]

FFXIV's lore team has stated that mixed races are completely possible.

[FreelanceWizard]

Hybrids are totally possible, so say the devs. (There's a Fernehalwes dev post reference for this running around somewhere on these forums.) They're just quite uncommon. Personally, I would recommend avoiding that unless you have a really good narrative reason for it; "half-breeds" are a common cliché, and being something rare is a Thing about your character. You don't want to have too many Things, lest you fall into "special snowflake" territory.

[Kellen whitewolf]

ok thanks you guys its not a problem i just wonder what everyones thoughts on it i dont want my charcter to sound stupid so thats why i asked

[Havoc Snow]

Hybrids are totally possible, so say the devs. (There's a Fernehalwes dev post reference for this running around somewhere on these forums.) They're just quite uncommon. Personally, I would recommend avoiding that unless you have a really good narrative reason for it; "half-breeds" are a common cliché, and being something rare is a Thing about your character. You don't want to have too many Things, lest you fall into "special snowflake" territory.

I wanna add to this by also pointing out that it's some what implied too that there is a certain level of stigma in Miqo'te society for interbreeding among clans, I can only imagine this stigma is even worse when concerning mating with a non-Miqo'te.

[Kellen whitewolf]

see the idea i had was  was my mom fell love with a hyru and was kicked from here clan and halfbreeds are always shund as far as i know  so i figured it might make good role play like an outcast

[Averis]

Besides the fact that it's either not known to exist in the lore or genetically possible (in reality), I think it's important to ask a couple questions about this kind of idea.

 

Mainly, is this something that really helps the character or is it something that just sounds cool? How will this play out in actual role-play? I doubt many people would go around saying, "Hello, I'm John. By the way, did you know I was a half-breed? I know, pretty cool, right?" Well, maybe John would if he though it would help him pick up women... but anyway.

 

Since you can't actually make a character that looks half and half, people will assume you are X race most of the time. Which means, if this is something that is important to the character, you'll have to explain it, which, to me, if you have to explain a physical feature as a defining aspect of the character, then it's going to cause some awkward moments in role-play.

 

My point is, unless there is a personality reason for it, ideas like this can be awkward in actual role-play if it's the cornerstone of your whole character concept. IE, don't let this kind of concept replace your development of their personality. Leaning on a concept like this can make a character seem very one-dimensional.

[Havoc Snow]

Also, if you think about it from a purely genetic stand point a half-breed would be really gross looking. You'd be a human with hairy ears and a vestigial tail, maybe slitted pupils or fangs.

[Kellen whitewolf]

oh ok i see your point on that well these are just ideas  i had i got so many floating in my head i wanted to get your guys opion this helps thanks

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lol coughting up fur balls lol

[Asyria]

I think half-breeds being seen as a Thing has been around since the very first Dragonlance novels... 

 

"Hi, I'm Tanis Half-Elven, and I hide my elf ears under my hair and grow a beard because elves and humans don't like each other and both shun me and I would actually be a cool main character if I was just human but that aspect of me that somehow always get mentioned even though I'm supposed to be hiding it puts me right into the Gary Stu department."

 

So, blame Tanis!

 

Another problem is it's hard to make it show. I guess one could use a Highlander to be a Midlander/Roe crossbreed but other than that, I have no idea... and another thing people frown upon is when someone plays a race that isn't in the options.

Sure, the options are limited, but RPing within the limits of the game and being special through RP is great fun!

[Raccoon]

I think I saw somewhere that half-breeds are sterile too. Not really relevant to playing one, but forget actually RPing family situations one day.

 

On an off-topic side note, you'll want to be sure you treat your character as your character, not as an extension of yourself. You kept saying "my father" and such. Referring to the character's family as "his/her family" is the first step to distancing yourself from your character and all the potential drama that may arise in his/her life.

[K'nahli]

ok im trying to come up a backgound  for my charcter and i was thinking on saying hes halfblooded like my father was a knight of ul dah and my mom was a mage from the drake tribe could ido that what do you guys think

Could you be more specific? Knight isn't really a race, and I don't think there are any knights in Ul'dah unless you count the Sultanate.

 

Sorry to go off-topic, but you've hit on something related to one of my characters and I didn't want to make a topic over it. Would it be fine if I were to say that he was a castle guard and/or from some noble family in Ul'dah(perhaps not the Sultanate, that sounds too prestigious and well known). I wanted to give him some higher and more privileged ties without being it being too famous or making him well-known throughout Eorzea(or even Ul'dah for that matter).

[FreelanceWizard]

Sorry to go off-topic, but you've hit on something related to one of my characters and I didn't want to make a topic over it. Would it be fine if I were to say that he was a castle guard and/or from some noble family in Ul'dah(perhaps not the Sultanate, that sounds too prestigious and well known). I wanted to give him some higher and more privileged ties without being it being too famous or making him well-known throughout Eorzea(or even Ul'dah for that matter).

 

There's a fair number of extremely rich and "noble" families in Ul'dah, in addition to being guards on the upper parts of the city. (Kylin can probably speak more to this than I can; it's one of his areas of lore expertise.) Those guards are part of the Immortal Flames and loyal to the Sultanate politically. That doesn't mean that any individual has strong ties to the Sultanate, of course, and since the Immortal Flames is a Grand Company, you can join it in game.

 

All in all, I think your concept is good as long as you don't tie back to canon characters or the Sultanate itself -- which you said you didn't want to do. You could, for instance, play a member of a rich merchant house that gets a cushy palace guard position in the Immortal Flames, which gives you the connections you want.

[Kellen whitewolf]

you guys make a real good point and your right it would be hard to pull off and as for the knight part i just thought they're was one im still learning the lore this helps me know if its stupid or not

[Havoc Snow]

My only gripe with the whole knight thing is that traditionally it requires a sovereign to actually grant you the title, so as far as a knight of Ul'dah goes it would require the Sultana to grant you the title, and typically that would make you a part of her Sultanate. The other thing is that Knights weren't always gallant and adventurous, a lot of times they were glorified medieval celebrities.

[Asyria]

On an off-topic side note, you'll want to be sure you treat your character as your character, not as an extension of yourself. You kept saying "my father" and such. Referring to the character's family as "his/her family" is the first step to distancing yourself from your character and all the potential drama that may arise in his/her life.

 

While that is true, pen&paper RPers have been doing this for decades.

In a mmorpg, we use 3rd-person all the time but in D&D and other such games, most speak in 1st person when describing their characters or their actions.

"I draw my sword and charge the goblin!"

or

"My father was a simple farmer but I wished for adventures and treasure hunting..."

 

It's just a different way to say things.

[Gideon Aryeh]

Hmmm....I have an idea

 

 

Perhaps your dad was one of the Paladins of the Sultana, the ones you see in the quests in Ul'dah during the game. There are many faceless "joes" that pop up in these scenes Idk why your dad couldn't be one of them. I can see why someone would confuse these guys (the ones that pop up with Papashan) with being knights.

 

In Ul'dah the equivalent of knight would be a Paladin. I don't see it being a problem honestly. It can be done quite easily but I would not put more into it than that due to the fact that you aren't that knowledgeable about the lore. I would also agree to put more thought into your own character and leave that fact about your father as it is. Something in the background your character can be proud of and that's it. Maybe papa introduced your character to the Sultana once when your character was a child and that inspired your character somehow? But don't play into it any more than that.

[Havoc Snow]

Hmmm....I have an idea

 

 

Perhaps your dad was one of the Paladins of the Sultana, the ones you see in the quests in Ul'dah during the game. There are many faceless "joes" that pop up in these scenes Idk why your dad couldn't be one of them. I can see why someone would confuse these guys (the ones that pop up with Papashan) with being knights.

 

In Ul'dah the equivalent of knight would be a Paladin. I don't see it being a problem honestly. It can be done quite easily but I would not put more into it than that due to the fact that you aren't that knowledgeable about the lore. I would also agree to put more thought into your own character and leave that fact about your father as it is. Something in the background your character can be proud of and that's it. Maybe papa introduced your character to the Sultana once when your character was a child and that inspired your character somehow? But don't play into it any more than that.

The people you're referring to are the Sultanate, who as I said would be the closest thing to actual knights in Ul'dah given they're hand picked by the Sultana. As far as I know only a small handful of them are actually named character, during one point in the main scenario in Ul'dah you see a ton of them without names.

[Ildur]

The Sultanate is the form of goverment. It's like saying "The Republic" or "The Kingdom". What he meant by 'paladins of the Sultana' was "Sultansworn". That's their official name. They are not knights, though, in the sense that they have no lands or nobility title: they are just elite soldiers. Like roman Praetorian Guard, in a way.

It makes sense for them to be 'paladins', from a gameplay viewpoint, because gladiators hail from Ul'dah and I think their uniform is similar to the paladin artifact armor.

[Averis]

Those asking about noble families, I started a post about that a while ago, which may help. http://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/showthread.php?tid=2368