Elven subraces - Avariel, Desert, and Grugach

[ASchmidt]

I haven't seen a handful of my old favorite elven subraces either in the published material, Unearthed Arcana, or as homebrew so I thought I'd give it a try of my own.

The Avariel are modeled both on the later 3rd edition material but also on the original Winged Folk article in Dragon 51 that I remember so fondly from mumble years ago. The Desert Elves are an attempt to take the idea of the Athasian Elf of the Dark Sun setting and to make it a bit more setting independent. And the Grugach are sourced from just about every version of the race including 3rd and 4th but also going back to their original appearance in Dragon 67.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...it?usp=sharing

I hope you enjoy! None of these are too fancy, call it a warm-up exercise for some other stuff I'm playing with.

[Wartex1]

Avariel is very overpowered. Flight along with the other Elven traits is way too strong.

Also, why doesn't the Desert Elf have an ability score bonus?

[Steampunkette]

Two elves walk into a Bar.

Now we need a Bar Elf Subrace.

[ASchmidt]

Avariel is very overpowered. Flight along with the other Elven traits is way too strong.

Also, why doesn't the Desert Elf have an ability score bonus?

Desert Elves should have had a +1 bonus to Constitution to reflect their hardiness in surviving desert climes.

I accidentally left in the proficiency with Perception on the Avariel. Elves get that as a feature of the base race so there's no reason for the Avariel to specifically have it. Seeing your comment about the Avariel, I updated the features to remove the base elven race's darkvision (not really appropriate to sunlit skies). I also added in one item that was mentioned in some of the source material for the Avariel... a vulnerability to fire. I'm not 100% on the fire vulnerability because that's a huge penalty but it's worth putting it in for the time being as a point to discuss.

[DracoKnight]

Desert Elves should have had a +1 bonus to Constitution to reflect their hardiness in surviving desert climes.

I accidentally left in the proficiency with Perception on the Avariel. Elves get that as a feature of the base race so there's no reason for the Avariel to specifically have it. Seeing your comment about the Avariel, I updated the features to remove the base elven race's darkvision (not really appropriate to sunlit skies). I also added in one item that was mentioned in some of the source material for the Avariel... a vulnerability to fire. I'm not 100% on the fire vulnerability because that's a huge penalty but it's worth putting it in for the time being as a point to discuss.

Instead of giving them a fire penalty (one of the most common damage types in the game) I would drop their fly speed to 30 ft., and maybe scale it up to 50 with the character's level.

[Wartex1]

Reduce the speed to 30, and maybe add something about fire burning their wings easily, so if they are struck by fire damage, it takes x amount of hours (equal to the fire damage taken) for their wings to heal. That should balance it with the other racial features.

[ASchmidt]

I'll aim for the middle ground then... drop their flight speed to 30 feet and let it upgrade to 50 feet at 6th level. As for the fire damage, I'm aiming for the middle there as well... fire damage removes the ability to fly until you either receive magical healing or take a long rest.

[DracoKnight]

I'll aim for the middle ground then... drop their flight speed to 30 feet and let it upgrade to 50 feet at 6th level. As for the fire damage, I'm aiming for the middle there as well... fire damage removes the ability to fly until you either receive magical healing or take a long rest.

I would say that is decently balanced, especially since spellcasters get Fly at level 5 which grants them a greater fly speed than you are offering with this subrace.