I've looked everywhere for an answer, but it seems that not many people even know that firbolgs exist. I'm neither a DnD player nor a DM myself, just an observer, so I don't know much either. I've read that firbolgs prefer not to interact with other species/races, but I guess it wouldn't be weird if an elf and a firbolg "met" at least once in history. So, can they breed with each oter?
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3\$\begingroup\$ An elf and a firbolg cannot breed, since they are imaginary creatures. Do you ask about a playable race in the rules (which edition)? Or do you ask about any precedence of an elf-firbolg hybrid in any books (including fiction)? \$\endgroup\$– enkryptorCommented Aug 11 at 12:14
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\$\begingroup\$ More likely the second, but excluding fiction, I guess. Like I said, I don't play DnD, I'm just interested in the world. \$\endgroup\$– ErsiCommented Aug 11 at 13:48
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8\$\begingroup\$ This assumes there is one singular world, where all D&D games take place. But this assumption is false. Official books describes a multiverse. This multiverse was changing with editions. Moreover, each DM is free to describe their own worlds. That's why this question should probably be narrowed down in order to be truly answerable. \$\endgroup\$– enkryptorCommented Aug 11 at 19:27
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1\$\begingroup\$ @Ersi Hi, welcome! It's polite practice to wait one to two days before accepting an answer. You may get more accurate/detailed answers. \$\endgroup\$– SenmurvCommented Aug 11 at 21:38
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3 Answers
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Almost certainly not
Firbolg were considered giants/giant-kin through 3rd edition D&D, and aside from a unique case in Dark Sun (which has no firbolg), giants and their kin generally haven't had published cases of interbreeding with smaller humanoids like elves. Even in the case of Dark Sun, no actual interbreeding occurred, the half-giants there were explicitly described as a product of sorcerer king experimentation dating to just after the end of the Cleansing Wars, created from humans and giants through magic, not mating.
In later editions, firbolg got shrunk a bit and could conceivably be physically compatible in a way that earlier edition versions would not have been, but they simply haven't addressed hybrids like this in any official source materials that I've read (and I've read a lot of them).
Obviously, a DM can always declare that they are biologically compatible (in 4E they were fey, while elves themselves had a fey background, and in 5E, they're humanoid, like elves, and D&D has always had a flexible relationship with biological rules), but firbolgs have simply not been covered in sufficient detail to describe any possibility of hybrids outside forced hybridization with fomorians (another giant-kin race).
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3\$\begingroup\$ "Conceivably". I see what you did there. Also, you might want to address 1e firbolg's ability to change form and become smaller - could they mate and successfully sire or conceive with an elf while in their 'little person' form? \$\endgroup\$– KirtCommented Aug 11 at 15:02
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\$\begingroup\$ @Kirt: I have no idea what you're talking about. 😉 Yeah, they could become smaller, but that wouldn't do any good for a humanoid mother (who would still have to carry the full-size hybrid baby; there's a reason Dark Sun half-giants were explicitly a product of magical blending, not actual mating). A firbolg mother impersonating a humanoid, perhaps (birth might not be impossible, but now you worry about the child surviving contractions intended for a much more robust baby), but again, this just wasn't addressed in the old fluff or rules. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 11 at 15:19
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3\$\begingroup\$ @DaleM: You should read the comment above yours, which explicitly mentions "there's a reason Dark Sun half-giants were explicitly a product of magical blending, not actual mating". In a world of magic, the existence of Half-Giants does NOT necessarily implied they were conceived through natural means. (Also, playable or not doesn't matter for here, I'd say) \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 12 at 14:24
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It's up to the DM.
The rules don't say
The rules neither allow nor deny such a species as a elf/firbolg hybrid (or "race", using the 2014 term).
For that matter, the rules don't discuss a quarter-human / three-quarter elf hybrid, or any of the infinite variations between the various species.
It's not that such combinations aren't allowable, it's that they just aren't addressed in the rules.
There is no such playable species (or race)
. . . as an elf/firbolg hybrid in any version of D&D.
There's probably no such NPC
There does not seem to be any such NPC, at least in my experience, but hard to prove a negative.
But a DM can decide differently
The rules explicitly allow the DM to create races, see the DMG, "Creating a Race or Subrace".
It's a question of narrative, not biology
There's absolutely zero reason to consider biology the limiting factor here. First of all, fantasy role-playing game: if a DM thinks a firbolg-elf (or elf-firbolg, or for that matter, any combination of species) would be fun, then the DM should not feel constrained by the rules.
We left biology behind on the first page. And an elf-firbolg combination is certainly no more preposterous than a fiend/human or fiend/anything combination.
The DM would just need to come up with the narrative to justify the interbreeding to whatever extent they felt it needed justification. And in a game with celestial and infernal beings, floating castles, unicorns, etc etc, interbreeding between an elf and a firbolg is small potatoes. If the biology bothers you, maybe they were combined by magic.
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5\$\begingroup\$ @EngineerToast: I think that Jack is saying that there is no published hybrid race between the two. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 12 at 12:54
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1\$\begingroup\$ @SeanDuggan Doh! Critical reading fail. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 12 at 13:11
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\$\begingroup\$ I'll see if I can make the language more clear. \$\endgroup\$– JackCommented Aug 12 at 14:05
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In terms of RAW and precedence, you already have two good answers, but I feel it's worth adding that if it's something you want to do there is an interesting connection between Elves and Firbolg that you could consider.
The term "elf" in mythological circles is very wide-ranging, but one possible meaning of it relates to the Tuatha Dé Danann in Irish mythology. They were once a people who inhabited the island, but with the coming of modern humans, they are said to have retreated to an otherworld, accessed via burial mounds and tombs. They appear to have been treated as deities in pre-Christian Ireland. As such, even though they resembled humans, they were associated with magic and superhuman feats, much like the elves of Middle-Earth which inspired those of D&D.
The link is that the Tuatha Dé Danann are said to have displaced an existing people on the island when they arrived - a people known as the Fir Bolg or "men of bags". Wikipedia gives the origin of this name as:
Those who went to Greece became the Fir Bolg. Lebor Gabála Érenn says that they were enslaved by the Greeks and made to carry bags of soil or clay, hence the name 'Fir Bolg' (men of bags).
This is the origin of the D&D monster of the same name: the concept of a supernatural race capable of bearing heavy weights developed into the idea of a Celtic-infused giant-kin.
In the myths, there is nothing to suggest that the Fir Bolg and the Tuatha Dé Danann were seen as substantially different from one another: they met, fought and debated without further comment, and were portrayed as alike beings from different cultures. So, given the history of the two people prior to them coming to D&D, it should be pretty easy to come up with a backstory to house-rule it if so you wish.
