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Pronounceable
2007-12-16, 02:08 AM
Inspired by the kobold thread, the question is almost identical. But includes flavor as well.

Tolkien's elder race of superior beings, real world mythological fey spirits, DnD sterotype treehugger with billions of subtypes, a particular brand of aforementioned buggers who are not necessarily treehuggers (like spider kissers), Warcraftian donkey-ears, Vulcans, WH40k portrayal of scheming backstabbers, fascists of Dragonlance, Discworldian unearthly monsters, any one of thousands of other renditions from many fantasy authors, a certain homebrewed flavor or maybe Santa Claus's freeloading whelps?


My choice would be Discworld style monsters. There's something enchanting about them.

So, how do YOU like your elves?

triforcel
2007-12-16, 02:17 AM
Well definitely not Tolkien elves, those are all rank 0 deities at the least. I pretty much don't use elves at all actually. I don't feel they're that good of a race.

Reinboom
2007-12-16, 02:21 AM
I've been pondering about the possibility of settings elves like the kokiri of the ocarina of time (zelda) - except they don't age anywhere.

Otherwise... no real preference.

ShadowSiege
2007-12-16, 02:29 AM
Stereotypical High and Grey, and bugger the rest.

Really though, they don't come up much, and I've not added any other varieties to the generic campaign I'm running.

Fuzzy_Juan
2007-12-16, 02:33 AM
I like the immortal aspect played up a bit...that and to also play up the whole fact that no matter their appearance, they are NOT humans. They may look frail, but they are stronger pound for pound than any human, possess wisdom beyond most humans, and have witnessed the rise and fall of generations of lesser races. They think long term, but live in the moment...because, without enjoyin the moment...what is there to such a long life?

Elves in my campaign tend to have several levels in whatever class they choose...typical elves are 5-8th level minimum unless they are still in human years. Never huge numbers of elves...but they are skilled from years of dedication and practice...say...a non adventuring elf that practices all the time might have 1 level every 10 years until 10th level and then 1 level every 15-25 years...depending...if they adventure, which they do from time to time, progression might be sped up slightly.

to me, elves talk down to humans like they are children...and treat the most learned humans like an adult would talk to a very bright teenager...potential to be nurtured...but still not on par with the grown ups...unless they are really special. I also like to try and figure some intricacies to elven culture that is just alien to humans...to help play up the fact that...yes..they aren't like you.

I like elves to be the 'first race' style 'elders' of the world. I also like them not to just be long lives, but capable of virtual immortality....2,000 years at least. As such, the oldest elves (500+ years) I always see as quite detatched from the world as a whole...

never really liked the 'fae' aspect to elves in dnd...though I will say that due to genre I have always seen elves as 'woodland' creatures...then I had to solve the dilemma...if they were so smart and learned...why the hell did they live in the forest and never develop any technology?!?!

The answer was that elves were innately magical and had a unique relationship with the woodlands that with their magical nature meant that they never wanted for anything. with few wants, or the need for an 'easier way'...noone bothered to invent certian things. They were too busy persuing their crafts and arts. Also, research is often fueled by the next generation...with so slow generations...it is no wonder that the lesser races have caught up with them in so many ways.

Kizara
2007-12-16, 02:36 AM
See the Killoren for Kokiri elves.

Personally, I use something similar to ethier tolkien-like elves. Also, pretty cosmopoliton, fun-loving and 'free' elves are common as well.

Don't really bother with any subraces but drow, and rarely grey elves.

Talic
2007-12-16, 02:53 AM
Medium-well, wrapped in bacon, with a side of potatoes, and a red wine. I find that white clashes with the flavor.

Seriously, I find the idea that these harmonic unearthly beings are so beyond us because they hug trees to be hippie environmentalist propaganda. Humans are portrayed as the evil cockroaches, outbreeding and stripping earth's resources. It's just way too Captain Planet for my taste.

Kill the cows, chop down a tree, and eat grilled steak. That's a great way to live in the moment.

... and since when does age equal wisdom? You ask me, elves, as they are portrayed, are petulant children with no real motivation. Very poor goal setters. Humans accomplish in 5 years what takes an elf 50, because that elf is so busy with long term planning that he or she doesn't realize that fortune truly does favor the bold.

Admiral Squish
2007-12-16, 02:57 AM
I like the kinds of elves that take weeks at a time to celebrate something, or mourn a friend. Drinking, elven songs, the whole deal. A bit more dignified about it than dwarves, but still passionate. Fancy, but smiles all around. Feats of architecture and magic decorate their realm, an they take pride in this, but not to the extent of 'snooty' elves.

Then, as soon as they leave, they shed their finey and are one with the forest, silent and swift. Joyous when the situation demands, but grim-faced and forceful whenever they needed to be. And above all, graceful.

SurlySeraph
2007-12-16, 03:03 AM
I like three kinds of elves:

1. Graceful, beautiful, perpetually calm, magically-inclined, pleasure-seeking, incredibly slow-paced forest-dwelling lazy druid-artist types.
2. Purity-obsessed xenophobes, who aim to massacre the "lesser" races (meaning pretty much everyone else, but especially dwarves and orcs).
3. City-dwelling wizards-for-hire.

Wizzardman
2007-12-16, 03:14 AM
I like Discworld elves. They're much more like fairies from English and Celtic mythology--sure, they look nice, but they're all jerks, really.

MrNexx
2007-12-16, 03:35 AM
Probably my favorites average 7' tall, call themselves humans, and refer to humans alternately as "Easterners" and, more rarely, "dwarfs". They've also been distantly interbred with a variety (17, to be exact) different creatures native to their world, forming distinct houses.

Seriously, as much as I love Palladium, they don't even begin to compare to Brust's.

Tallis
2007-12-16, 03:42 AM
Otherworldly. Alien. I like my elves inspired by real world mythology and folklore. They aren't from here, but rather travel here from their own world. They aren't necessarily evil, but don't concern themselves much with the welfare of humans and can be capricious at times.

pinkbunny
2007-12-16, 04:48 AM
I like my elves either fey, with celtic sort of flavor, or not raised by elves.

SoD
2007-12-16, 04:49 AM
I don't. Simple as that.

The Extinguisher
2007-12-16, 04:56 AM
Winged.

Best elves ever.

Emperor Demonking
2007-12-16, 05:12 AM
Out of the choices, probably tolkien.

My favorite are the over-arrogant magic users.

d12
2007-12-16, 05:21 AM
Oo, elves. One of my favorite topics of complaint. ^_^ I have no problem with the whole forest-dweller thing--maybe not literally living in the trees as often as sometimes suggested, but certainly possible. Elves could make for good artists who know they have more or less forever to work on their particular craft and so can afford to junk dozens of attempts at something at what most humans would consider rather minor whims in order to try getting it just right. I'm not quite keen on them being literally immortal, but if one is so inclined to use the aging rules, for God's sake, fix their age categories. As someone on here said a few years ago, "Go out into the forest and suddenly you're in crotchety old man land." If you've got a race that lives practically forever, don't rip them off.

I'm also not really sure I care for the idea of elves taking a hundred-plus years to mature either. Aside from the Super-ADD that would require, that could run into survival issues if periodic raids from orcs or other assorted uglies of the week aren't absolutely one-sided every single time. People are dying off and their replacements won't be ready for another century? While the hordes are mounting their next offensive as we speak? Unless I'm missing something fundamental, that doesn't sound good, and I've never heard elves described as being ultra-breeders. Unless they regularly just pack it in and move elsewhere whenever faced with any persistent problems from other races. So I guess maybe have them mature at around the age of 25-30, longer than a human takes, but not completely ridiculous. Then kick around for a few decades deciding what they want to do, no real hurry. Maybe the adventuring bug hits somewhere in there, and off they go.

Next step, rip out any flavor suggesting they have anything to do with magic. I've read their racial traits--they don't. Change favored class to rogue. Why? Cuz that's what they're built for. That's not to say elves couldn't be wizards. They certainly wouldn't occur with any more frequency than, say, humans or dwarves though. Not quite sure about gray elves though. Depends on how nasty I'm feeling I guess. Wild elves, I dunno..maybe barbarians. I can't think of a class that uses dex but not int so much right offhand. Drow are a bit trickier. They have bonuses to casting stats and actually have spell-like abilities built right in, suggesting some kind of magic affinity beyond "they're magicky, just trust us." Probably would un-segregate the males and females as far as favored class goes, mostly because I don't really like racial deities in general. They're still going to be pretty good rogues though. Tough call.

I like the idea of elves regarding half-elves with some degree of pity in many cases. They have the spark of elfiness, but it's buried in a sea of mediocrity. Some extreme individuals may even consider them a form of genetic pollution (there just isn't enough racial strife between non-uglies in the default flavor :smalltongue: ). That's part of the reason I just can't see half-elves as the super-diplomats-loved-by-all that WoTC seems perversely intent on shoveling onto everyone. They'd have problems keeping friends through their youth among humans because they mature more slowly (yeah, it's 5 years, but that's a long time when you're young). The friends that they do make in adulthood would wither before they do. They wouldn't do much better in elf lands either. And I don't really see how non-elves and non-humans would consider them anything special.

Kioran
2007-12-16, 05:43 AM
In decline. In essence, a degenerating high culture, whose veneer of higher morale and civilization crumbles under intense scrutiny. For all their long lives and magic talent, they simply cannot match the human´s drive or prowess at war.
But then, in my homebrew setting, Orcs, Humans and Hobgoblins rule the battlefield, and Elves, Dwarves and all the other Anklebiters are simply outclassed.

Kaelaroth
2007-12-16, 05:47 AM
Lightly toasted.

I like my elves to be powerful, magical, xenophobic, predjudiced bastards, who despise the weaker races, but are being eradicated on all sides by the growing threat of techonology.

I also use High and Grugach though.

vegetalss4
2007-12-16, 05:48 AM
roasted and with fresh potatoes...

evisiron
2007-12-16, 05:52 AM
Argh, too many cooking suggestions before I got here!

Image that jumps to mind is the Warhammer/ DnD elves.

...and their pointy eared heads looks great on pikes!

Armads
2007-12-16, 06:04 AM
I hate elves. I agree with this person, here (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=864104) (warning: long read).

Also, I really dislike how they portray goblins as sneaky ambushers, yet elves 'fire and retreat' to reduce losses. It's like they're saying it's a different thing.

Talic
2007-12-16, 06:18 AM
Winged.

Best elves ever.

Ah yes, like buffalo wings, but with elves, I like it.

Satyr
2007-12-16, 09:04 AM
Thinks I like to associate with Elves: Immortal, immoral bastards, powerful in the ways of magic and with a lot of free times at their hand, because they enslave others to guarantee their own leisure.
Arrogant, smug and malicious cowards.
Breathtaking beautiful and rotten inside - too much free time gets you bored, and bored elves are like the kids who tore out the wings of bugs for fun - only that Elves regard everyone who is not another Elf as little more than bugs.

kentma57
2007-12-16, 09:06 AM
I like Tolkien, they are just plain cool.

Green Bean
2007-12-16, 09:09 AM
I like them best when they're the Fair Folk. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheFairFolk) They're powerful, immortal, and alien; an encounter with them should be both rare and memorable.

Arakune
2007-12-16, 09:16 AM
With pepper.

Mr.Moron
2007-12-16, 09:22 AM
Generally speaking, I don't like elves all that much. I look at the Santa and Keebler types a bit more favorably, but not much. I find a fair amount of their traits don't sit right with me, I guess I'm just not big on pretty people with funny ears, heh.

Lady Tialait
2007-12-16, 09:27 AM
In a nice hot soup...erm...i mean
I like tolkienesk elves, for the most part but I always have a tendancy to turn them into Immortal Sceamers...makeing them act ALOT like dragons.

Arakune
2007-12-16, 09:31 AM
In a nice hot soup...erm...i mean
I like tolkienesk elves, for the most part but I always have a tendancy to turn them into Immortal Sceamers...makeing them act ALOT like dragons.

Give the dragons a (ex) ability to change into a humanoid form (less Str, No Breath Weapon, rest same) and then you are gold.

In both concepts.

KIDS
2007-12-16, 09:32 AM
My absolute favorites are Aerenal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerenal) Elves from Eberron campaign setting (that's a cultural name, has nothing to do with abilities). I always thought that the extent of rumored elven power didn't fit their poor racial abilities until I saw a good explanation in there, and it does make a lot of sense.

Otherwise, I prefer High Elves and think that all the subraces are quite dumb, that's like giving racial bonuses to humans in Germany compared to humans in Austria and also humans in France. Gray Elves are a complete travesty in my mind, unnecessary and with bloated history.

Mando Knight
2007-12-16, 09:36 AM
Inspired by the kobold thread, the question is almost identical. But includes flavor as well.

...But I don't eat elves!:smallbiggrin:

I like them like Leggy in LotR or maybe :vaarsuvius:.

Lady Tialait
2007-12-16, 09:36 AM
@KIDS: I have to agree that they are everything I see in elves, they are mysterious, they are magical, and they have just a little bit of a immortality complex...perfect!

guys...this thread is making my belly rumble..any good elf recipes?

Saph
2007-12-16, 09:51 AM
Man, you guys are disturbing. My elf character's nearly been sacrificed three times, nearly been killed twenty times and nearly been eaten twice. Now I know where the DM gets all the malice from. :P

Anyway, I like the standard/Races of the Wild elves. I get bored fast with settings where elves are made evil just to be 'different' - c'mon, guys, after the five hundredth time it doesn't count as different anymore.

Tolkien elves are favourite as regards fluff and background, but they're no good at all to actually play as characters. If you want to make a fun, flexible race, LA +0 is the only way to go.

- Saph

Arakune
2007-12-16, 10:09 AM
There is an actual noble elf jelly receipt (based on an article on my country rpg magazine).

Noble elf jelly.
Ingredients: One adult elf, a barrel, lots of sugar, a pot large enough for him to fit.
How to make: Beat the elf, he mostly will fade out in the first or second hit and will make your job easier. Keep beating it until his bones are all cracked (you can use a mace if you want, just remember to clear up later). Then put him in the pot with water and heat it just before it starts boiling, remember to always move the elf in the pot. Add the sugar and keep moving for a little more time in order to mix all the elf with the sugar. Let it boil until all the water evaporated, then put the content of the pot in the barrel and shut it down for at least a year in some cool place.

Best to eat with bread, pixies, halflings and human babies (raw).

Wulfram
2007-12-16, 10:10 AM
I prefer them to be actually immortal. No inherent fey connection, though Wild Elves will quite possibly have formed an alliance.

1. High Elves. Extremely civilised, arguably decadent. Arrogant - they'd say justifiably proud - spellcaster types with a streak of hedonism, particularly in the upper classes, once ruled lots of the world, before a major catastrophe wiped out a good chunk of them. Favoured class: Wizard
2. Wild Elves. Xenophobic guerrilla fighter types. When the High Elven civilisation collapsed, rather than retreating to those cities which still stood, they clung on where they could - in the wild places like forests and mountains. Favoured class: Ranger/Scout
3. Common Elves. Also known as "tame" elves, or "city" elves. Craftsmen and Merchants. When the High Elf civilisation collapsed, these stayed in their old cities under the rule of other races. Wealthy, but often having trouble staying friendly with the new rulers - particularly when their wild cousins cause problems. Favoured class: Rogue/Bard

Leadfeathermcc
2007-12-16, 10:20 AM
Probably my favorites average 7' tall, call themselves humans, and refer to humans alternately as "Easterners" and, more rarely, "dwarfs". They've also been distantly interbred with a variety (17, to be exact) different creatures native to their world, forming distinct houses.

Seriously, as much as I love Palladium, they don't even begin to compare to Brust's.

That is an awesome series of books.

As far as the question goes, I have never played an elf and in the game I DM the only playable race is human, although occasionally human parents will give birth to a child that obviously had some giant, lycanthrope, or fae ancestry somewhere in their past. So I guess I prefer my elves gone, as they come with two many conflicting preconceptions.

ARMOURERERIC
2007-12-16, 10:24 AM
The Keebler cookie variety

Vespe Ratavo
2007-12-16, 10:31 AM
The hippie kind, of course. There aren't many other choices for the main hippie race, and elves fit the bill quite nicely. Also, Eldar from Warhammer 40,000. In case you've never played it, they're more or less all space-elf-ninja-pirate-samurai-wizards. No, seriously.

rickvoid
2007-12-16, 10:43 AM
Also, Eldar from Warhammer 40,000. In case you've never played it, they're more or less all space-elf-ninja-pirate-samurai-wizards. No, seriously.

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg211/rickvoid/VAvatar.png

:smallbiggrin:

To the OP's question: Glazed.

....
2007-12-16, 11:04 AM
Wood elves.

I never saw elves as being wizards and sorcerers, more like druids and rangers, living in the forests and meditating with animals and plants.

Also I always imagine them tall, tanned, and strong. In my home-brew setting, they're almost all gone, as they breed very slowly, and humans attribute all of the things that are usually given to elves, beauty, grace, ect... And the elves are always suprised to hear how the humans worship them, as many of them can remember back in the day when elves and humans considered each other equals.

Snadgeros
2007-12-16, 11:08 AM
Specifically because it seems as though every high-fantasy setting has ripped off of Tolkien and made elves these high and mighty prissy little pricks.....I don't. Half-elves are just as bad, but worse because they get crappy stat bonuses and no bonus feat.

The only good elves are KEEBLER elves. Those fudge stripe cookies are AWESOME!:smallbiggrin:

mostlyharmful
2007-12-16, 12:13 PM
Immortal, magically gifted race that's by and large, for the most part, in the majority of cases made up of well meaning, reasonable and personable individuals. Chaotic Good Immortal Wizards, Woodland optional.

Zenos
2007-12-16, 12:33 PM
I think I prefer to have the scheming backstabber type from WH40k, and put them as villains. I only ever play an elf when I want to get a little intelligence boost for no LA and play a Grey Elf.

Xuincherguixe
2007-12-16, 12:34 PM
Grim, and brutal, even Savage.

Maybe they might not kill you just for being in the forest, but you better watch your step.

They have no need for advanced technology. They can just ask the forest for things, and use magic.

Might be covered in body paint, and wearing animal skins with appropriate magical affects.

This goes well with the forests as scary places, and so Elves who live in such a place are scary too. Still with a tendency towards good, but a lot harsher.

Woot Spitum
2007-12-16, 03:42 PM
Personality-wise, like scientists, only with magic. Constantly experimenting and exploring, they come up with many wonderful advances, but also discover and invent some things that simply should not be. Magical curiosity gets them into trouble. Overall, they think magic is the most important thing in life, and that there are no problems that cannot be solved by the proper application of magic.

Lifespan: Same as that of humans.
Alignment: True Neutral.

That's how I prefer them.

John Campbell
2007-12-16, 04:01 PM
Mixed with dzur.

dr awesome phd
2007-12-16, 04:12 PM
I liked them deep-fried, topped with swiss cheese and bacon. /yum

Kojiro Kakita
2007-12-16, 04:17 PM
The Warhammer Fantasy Battle Variants. We are a dying race, but if we go down, we take the whole damn world with us kind of attitude.

Efil
2007-12-16, 04:19 PM
With good punchlines (although a lot of other races are cool with good punchlines).

Zeal
2007-12-16, 04:38 PM
In my brainchild setting, Elves are, basically, Aasimars/Tieflings, the descendants of Half-Celestials and Half-Fiends.

In my current game (and the setting used there) we have our standard elf and elf subraces (in fact three out of my four players play elves, each of them using a different subrace). Then there are the Fey Elves, my players haven't encountered them, but they are savage fey who basically tromp through the wilderness on 'Wild Hunts' tracking and killing dangerous creatures, including humans and other such races. These Fey elves are the main reason why people of the region hate and fear magic.

Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll
2007-12-16, 04:43 PM
My elves are not magicians. They are warmongerers. They like fighting. But they also like crafts, and are always highly specialized. They are taller than humans, and there are 2 or 3 subraces, in the same way that egyptians and frenchmen are different subraces. They have different looks.

Falconer
2007-12-16, 06:33 PM
With fava beans and a nice chianti, of course! :smallwink:

C'mon, someone needed to say it!

GoC
2007-12-16, 07:37 PM
They're arrogant bastards who keep to themselves*, totally convinced that their centuries old superiority is going to be maintained in the future. They don't realise that despite the fact that no humanoid race can defeat them given equal numbers they are vastly outnumbered, humans for instance outnumber them almost a thousand to one.
In an actual all-out war with another race they would still win but would take massive casualties

600 year lifespans and magic focused instead of tree-huggers.
The average adult is at least level 4 and they have a number of bonus skillpoints equal to their age (with higher skill caps as well of course). They gain bonuses to stats as they age that depend on where they focus.

*Their cities are generaly in hard-to-reach locations like in the bottom of the ocean, deep in a dense forrest, on (not in) a high mountain or on/in clouds.

VeisuItaTyhjyys
2007-12-16, 08:16 PM
With a size penalty.
I'm not talking about AC, either.

Shraik
2007-12-16, 08:21 PM
I like my elves the way I like my women,

Willing to "Do" anything out of boredom,

Shorter then me,

And Androgynous...

You know what, skip the last part.

Pronounceable
2007-12-16, 08:35 PM
It seems there's a palpable preference towards WH40k eldar. Descriptions from GoC, Gwyn_ap_Nud, Wulfram, Satyr, Kaelaroth and Kioran (I counted) resemble eldar one way or other.

Rickvoid: They. Are. Space. Elves. So are the Vulcans. Eldar just also happen to be ninja-pirate-wizards.


And now for something completely different: How many elves does it take to make a breakfast?

Laurellien
2007-12-16, 08:39 PM
And now for something completely different: How many elves does it take to make a breakfast?

Considering that they are all skin and bone, I would say about 20.

Heliomance
2007-12-16, 08:53 PM
How do I like my elves in the morning?
I like mine with a kiss.

MrNexx
2007-12-17, 01:11 AM
Mixed with dzur. In a Jenoine experiment or in a bloody conflict? :smallwink:

Oh, and in terms of D&D elves, this is how I tend to see them:

http://www.editors-wastebasket.org/nexx/indep/newdd/Elves.htm

John Campbell
2007-12-17, 02:26 AM
Mixed with dzur.
In a Jenoine experiment or in a bloody conflict? :smallwink:
Creating Dzurlords... or starting a tremendous fight...

I'm not really seeing a difference here.

TheOOB
2007-12-17, 02:31 AM
I wanted my elves to be very mysterious by human(greek) standards, rare, and a little different. I also wanted to add in an element of trade with the orient and get find a way to put some of my love of anime and samurai flicks in the world, thus making elves into a japanese-esq cultured worked out quite well.

Elves are broken up into two general catagories, high/light elves, and low/dark elves. Mechanically they are identical, as are they physically (save for changes in skin and hair color, light elves have light skin and hair colors, while dark elves have darker(tan) skin and dark hair colors). Light elves are defined mostly by they deep worship of a shinto-esq religion. They live in small villages in forests around the world that are generally hidden from humans. While in the forest light elves are protected, suffused by the power of the spirits. Humans would know little of elves except that many elves go onto a quest out of their forest when it is time for them to come of age, shedding off the protection of the kami to gain skill and power of their own(Typically the elves who go on the quests have PC classes, but start out at level 1 leaving the forest, those who don't go on the quest have NPC classes but are rarely below level 5-7). These quests usually around one human lifetime(between 30 and 50 years in average, but exceptions exist), after which they return to elven lands and meditate for a year. After that they make the decision to remain in their forest and stay immortal, or leave and become mortal(living about another human lifetime).

Dark elves, on the other hand, represent and exaggeration of the oppressive caste system of ancient japan. The secret of immortality is held by the nobility, and the higher one is not only the longer they live, but the more power spirits afford them(nobles tend to have PC classes and be high level). The society is very cutthroat(often literally) but also has a perverse code of honor. They are generally xenophobic, but are easier to trade with then light elves, as they don't hide in forests protected by magic to make it impossible for humans to find their homes.

Swordguy
2007-12-17, 05:31 AM
Full-on Tolkein-style elves. They are BETTER than you. Period. From that inherent imbalance comes some of the most interesting stories.

Rolemaster had the racial balances about right, IMO.

Hallavast
2007-12-17, 05:40 AM
I likes me elves like I likes me ale: tall, dark, and bitter ... with a little green umbrella sticking out of the head.

:smallmad:

Lady Tialait
2007-12-17, 07:20 AM
I like my Elves like I like my men...Legolas....mmmm *screams all fangirlish*

bosssmiley
2007-12-17, 11:13 AM
I like to play my elves much like Tadd William's Sithi with elements of WH40K's Eldar. They're older, calmer and slower to anger, but on some level more than a little alien to the younger races.

Their decline from ancient greatness is a fact, plain and simple. Their tree villages and marquee cities are a matter of aesthetic choice, rather than necessity. Their old cities are now dangerously fey ruins.

Elven favoured class: Bard, not wizard.

Doomsy
2007-12-17, 03:15 PM
I've always had a dislike for the standard fantasy elf. I think it started when I read the original LoTR trilogy and progressed from there. D&D-wise, they are not particularly wiser or smarter than humans as far as most of their races go, and I kind of don't get why people treat them like they are. I think what it comes down to is that for the most part, they seem a little bit too haughty and clean. Dwarves live a long time, but they also tend to be pretty honest and to not mind getting their hands dirty.

I generally prefer elves that really break that from tradition and have some snap to them. The Eberron elfin nations are actually pretty decent for that, with less of the typical nonsensical hippy stuff associated with them.