4th Ed: Elven Crunch

[North]

Elven article just came out on the DnD boards. +2 to Dex and Wis Yay! Lots n lots of bonuses.

Article Spoilered for your convenience.

Spoiler

Show

I've been trying to decide what glimpse into the D&D 4th Edition process I could share with you this month. I wanted something cool, something big, something that said "Happy holidays" to everyone in the D&D community.

So I looked around at what the team and I are working on during these last few days of the work year. James Wyatt, Mike Mearls, and I are reviewing every playtest comment, every monster entry, and every rules element, but nothing in that process seems exactly right for what I'm imagining.

I'm busy putting the finishing touches on the skills chapter, paragon paths, epic destinies, and magic items, but that stuff still needs to go through the editors before it's ready for prime time viewing.

Michele Carter, Jeremy Crawford, and Kim Mohan -- excellent editors all -- are neck-deep in the Player's Handbook, scrubbing classes and powers so that they really shine and making sure that everything synchs up from one chapter to the next. One place where they feel pretty much done (at least until James, Mike, and I come back with an adjustment based on the feedback we're reviewing) is the races chapter. Maybe something in there will satisfy my holiday spirit …

I just stepped over to talk to Andy Collins, my mechanical design and development manager (he oversees all of the mechanical game designers and developers that work on my team) to see what he thinks would make a good present. After a brief conversation, and a courtesy call to Scott Rouse to get his buy off, we're all in agreement. I'm going to share with you the first look at a D&D 4th Edition race entry. And, since it is the holiday season, what better place to start than with the elf.

In the current 4th Edition preview book, Races and Classes, we talked a bit about our approach to races. Let me add to that before you skim down to look at the elf. One of the changes that we decided on early for player character races was that we would only provide ability score bonuses. Penalties based on your choice of race are a thing of the past. We wanted to make sure each race had powers and abilities that set it apart and helped make it feel more like the race in question. We also worked on some size issues to make better sense of the various characters and their place in the world. Finally, we looked at the flavor and back story to make sure that each race had a unique role that didn't impinge on any of the other races in the game.

OK, enough with the chit-chat. Let's unwrap your present!
Elf

Quick, wary archers who freely roam the forests and wilds.

Racial Traits

Average Height: 5' 7"-6' 0"
Average Weight: 100-130 lb.

Ability Scores: +2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom
Size: Medium
Speed: 7 squares
Vision: Low-light

Languages: Common, Elven
Skill Bonuses: +2 Nature, +2 Perception

Elven Accuracy
Elf Racial Power

With an instant of focus, you take careful aim at your foe and strike with the legendary accuracy of the elves.

Encounter
Free Action
Personal
Effect: Reroll an attack roll. Use the second roll, even if it's lower.

Elven Weapon Training: You gain proficiency with the longbow and the shortbow.
Wild Step: You ignore difficult terrain when you shift (even if you have a power that allows you to shift multiple squares).
Group Awareness: You grant non-elf allies within 5 squares a +1 racial bonus to Perception checks.
Elven Accuracy: You can use elven accuracy as an encounter power.

Wild and free, elves guard their forested lands using stealth and deadly arrows from the trees. They build their homes in close harmony with the forest, so perfectly joined that travelers often fail to notice that they have entered an elven community until it is too late.

Play an elf if you want …

* to be quick, quiet, and wild;
* to lead your companions through the deep woods and pepper your enemies with arrows;
* to play a ranger, a rogue, or a cleric.

Physical Qualities

Elves are slender, athletic folk about as tall as humans. They have the same range of complexions as humans, tending more toward tan or brown hues. A typical elf's hair color is dark brown, autumn orange, mossy green, or deep gold. Elves' ears are long and pointed, and their eyes are vibrant blue, violet, or green. Elves have little body hair, but males often grow long sideburns. They favor a wild look to their hair, which is often a shaggy mass of braids.

Elves mature at about the same rate as humans but show few effects of age past adulthood. The first sign of an elf's advancing age is typically a change in hair color -- sometimes graying but usually darkening or taking on more autumnal hues. Most elves live to be well over 200 years old and remain vigorous almost to the end.

Playing an Elf

Elves are a people of deeply felt but short-lived passions. They are easily moved to delighted laughter, blinding wrath, or mournful tears. They are inclined to impulsive behavior, and members of other races sometimes see elves as flighty or impetuous, but elves do not shirk responsibility or forget commitments. Thanks in part to their long life span, elves sometimes have difficulty taking certain matters as seriously as other races do, but when genuine threats arise, elves are fierce and reliable allies.

Elves revere the natural world. Their connection to their surroundings enables them to perceive much. They never cut living trees, and when they create permanent communities, they do so by carefully growing or weaving arbors, tree houses, and catwalks from living branches. They prefer the primal power of the natural world to the arcane magic their eladrin cousins employ. Elves love to explore new forests and new lands, and it's not unusual for individuals or small bands to wander hundreds of miles from their homelands.

Elves are loyal and merry friends. They love simple pleasures -- dancing, singing, footraces, and contests of balance and skill -- and rarely see a reason to tie themselves down to dull or disagreeable tasks. Despite how unpleasant war can be, a threat to their homes, families, or friends can make elves grimly serious and prompt them to take up arms.

At the dawn of creation, elves and eladrin were a single race dwelling both in the Feywild and in the world, and passing freely between the two. When the drow rebelled against their kin, under the leadership of the god Lolth, the resulting battles tore the fey kingdoms asunder. Ties between the peoples of the Feywild and the world grew tenuous, and eventually the elves and eladrin grew into two distinct races. Elves are descended from those who lived primarily in the world, and they no longer dream of the Feywild. They love the forests and wilds of the world that they have made their home.

Elf Characteristics: Agile, friendly, intuitive, joyful, perceptive, quick, tempestuous, wild.

Male Names: Adran, Beiro, Carric, Erdan, Gennal, Heian, Lucan, Peren, Rollen, Soveliss, Therren, Varis.

Female Names: Adrie, Birel, Chaedi, Dara, Ennia, Farall, Harrel, Iriann, Lia, Mialee, Shava, Thia, Valenae.

Elf Adventurers

Three sample elf adventurers are described below.

Varis is an elf ranger and a devout worshiper of Melora, the god of the wilds. When a goblin army forced his people from their woodland village, the elves took refuge in the nearest human town, walled and guarded by soldiers. Varis now leads other elves and some human townsfolk in raids against the goblins. Although he maintains a cheerful disposition, he frequently stares into the distance, listening, expecting at any moment to hear signs of approaching foes.

Lia is an elf rogue whose ancestral forest burned to the ground decades ago. Lia grew up on the wasteland's fringes in a large human city, unable to quite fit in. Her dreams called her to the forests, while her waking hours were spent in the dirtiest parts of civilization. She joined a group of adventurers after trying to cut a warlock's purse, and she fell in love with the wide world beyond the city.

Heian is an elf cleric of Sehanine, the god of the moon. The elven settlement where he was born still thrives in a forest untouched by the darkness spreading through the world, but he left home years ago, in search of new horizons and adventures. His travels lately have brought rumors to his ears that danger might be brewing in the ancient forest, and he is torn between a desire to seek his own way in the world and a sense of duty to his homeland.

Well, there you have it. The first unveiling of a full race entry from the 4th Edition Player's Handbook. Oh, what the heck. I'm feeling generous this morning. It must be the season. Here's a racial feat you can peek at, too.

Elven Precision [Elf]

Prerequisites: Elf, elven accuracy racial power, heroic tier
Benefit: When you use the elven accuracy power, you gain a +2 bonus to the new attack roll.

OK, I better stop here or I'll be tempted to show you the entire class chapter. Hmmm … maybe next time? Anyway, have a great holiday season and remember to …

Keep playing!

--Bill Slavicsek

[Theli]

This was actually released December 21st I believe. There should already be a thread about it on these boards.

[North]

Oops. My bad. Tried looking for it. Didnt see anything on first page.

[Inyssius Tor]

Not that you can really be blamed for not looking, because it's on the ninth page now.

[Crow]

Group Awareness: You grant non-elf allies within 5 squares a +1 racial bonus to Perception checks.

Dear god I hope elves are the only race with something like this. This could become a book-keeping (and mapping) nightmare. Not to mention it makes no f-ing sense. If the elf spots something, he should tell you. There is no reason that having somebody near you should make you more perceptive without them somehow transmitting the information to you.

[Miles Invictus]

I don't see how it's any worse than the Auras the Paladin and Marshall have.

[Draz74]

I don't see how it's any worse than the Auras the Paladin and Marshall have.

1) It makes no sense, fluff-wise. Your senses are keener just because you're around an elf?

2) It has a set distance of radius. That's really annoying, because it means you can be getting and losing this bonus every round, just by moving closer and further from the party elf. Maybe the Paladin and Marshal had the same problem, but Bardic Music, for example, was a better precedent, with an aura that worked as long as you could hear its source.

[TheOOB]

I don't see how it's any worse than the Auras the Paladin and Marshall have.

Aura's are class abilities that a)provide meaningful bonuses, and b) come from supernatural sources or from an exceptional charisma and ability to lead. The elven ability is a tiny bonus and doesn't have an extreamly good reason to exist.

[Wordmiser]

I don't see how it's any worse than the Auras the Paladin and Marshall have.

We don't take kindly to arguments ad antiquitatem 'round these here parts, mister.

[Theli]

There is already a thread about this, it's on the first page, and somebody else already granted the service of posting a link to it on this one.

So why not take the conversation there?

[Ralfarius]

1) It makes no sense, fluff-wise. Your senses are keener just because you're around an elf?

I could see this being a matter of you being aware of the elf's body language cues. If he's glancing about here and there, you might be inclined to look in the same directions if you're close enough to have a similar vantage point, thus giving you a better chance of looking/listening in the right direction to catch something important.

2) It has a set distance of radius. That's really annoying, because it means you can be getting and losing this bonus every round, just by moving closer and further from the party elf. Maybe the Paladin and Marshal had the same problem, but Bardic Music, for example, was a better precedent, with an aura that worked as long as you could hear its source.

Yeah, that book-keeping could be a bit cumbersome, especially if there are a lot of distance-related bonuses to be keeping track of for the party in relation to each other.

Also, I figured posting in here might be more pertinent as the previous thread was past page three and approaching old enough to be bordering on the dreaded thread necromancy.

[Crow]

I could see this being a matter of you being aware of the elf's body language cues. If he's glancing about here and there, you might be inclined to look in the same directions if you're close enough to have a similar vantage point, thus giving you a better chance of looking/listening in the right direction to catch something important.

This would make sense if every party member (non-elves) with better perception than you gave the same bonus.

[Ralfarius]

This would make sense if every party member (non-elves) with better perception than you gave the same bonus.

Don't you see? The pointy ears act as helpful signaling devices! No other race has those!

[Crow]

Don't you see? The pointy ears act as helpful signaling devices! No other race has those!

If they could move independantly of one another, or involuntarily like a dog wags it's tail, that would be priceless.

[TheOOB]

If they could move independantly of one another, or involuntarily like a dog wags it's tail, that would be priceless.

Ohh no, you just turned elves into the live action The Tick.

[Kompera]

I see lots of stat bonuses and skill bonuses and feats and racial abilities, and not a single 'downside'.

I wonder what they're going to give Humans to make them a desirable race, next to all that plussy goodness?

[SmartAlec]

If the elf spots something, he should tell you.

The article only mentions the bonus, not why the bonus happens. Maybe the Elf does.

[Jari Kafghan]

I see lots of stat bonuses and skill bonuses and feats and racial abilities, and not a single 'downside'.

QFT

Nancing arrow targets.

[Inyssius Tor]

QFT

Nancing arrow targets.

Wizards doesn't penalize people for choosing their race anymore. No more downsides, except in comparison to other races' benefits.

[Kioran]

Wizards doesn't penalize people for choosing their race anymore. No more downsides, except in comparison to other races' benefits.

Which is plain bull****. Now they´ve just moved around the frame of reference. Now, not having a Bonus is pretty similiar to having a penalty, since that other guy still does it better.....
Okay, it looks better, but why not play it straight? Oh, forgot, that wasn´t sexy enough next to warbladitude and plussy goodness

*barf*

[Chronicled]

Yeah, that book-keeping could be a bit cumbersome, especially if there are a lot of distance-related bonuses to be keeping track of for the party in relation to each other.

As a DM, I'd like this. It'll ensure the entire party is bunched up, making it simple for my enemy casters to AoE them.

Edit: Also, the elven ears jokes? I choked on my drink.

[Sebastian]

I could see this being a matter of you being aware of the elf's body language cues. If he's glancing about here and there, you might be inclined to look in the same directions if you're close enough to have a similar vantage point, thus giving you a better chance of looking/listening in the right direction to catch something important.

The real question is, what if the elf DON'T catch something important?

(to not mention things like, what if you are in darkness and can't see the elf, or the elf is invisible, or he is behind a brick wall but still within 5 squares, or things like those.)

[Morty]

Wizards doesn't penalize people for choosing their race anymore. No more downsides, except in comparison to other races' benefits.

Which makes no sense. First, you aren't "penalized" for choosing a race in 3ed, because you get more good things than bad, except for half-orcs. Second, what's wrong about races having actual disadvantages? Do people really can't stand losing anything?

[Ralfarius]

The real question is, what if the elf DON'T catch something important?

(to not mention things like, what if you are in darkness and can't see the elf, or the elf is invisible, or he is behind a brick wall but still within 5 squares, or things like those.)

Even if the elf doesn't notice it, the gentle swishing of his ears gives you the focus you need to sharpen your own senses.

Actually, related to the 'if the elf can do it, can anyone else?' question... I can foresee there potentially being some sort of class 'perceptive' perk - perhaps for a rogue or ranger - that might function in a manner very similarly.e

[Person_Man]

I for one dislike any ability that provides X bonus to all Y rolls within a 30 ft radius. It just makes a D&D more about bookkeeping, and it slows down combat, because every player needs to check exactly where they are standing at any moment and recalculate their rolls. I admit that its easy to do if you only have 1 Bard or Elf of whatever in the party. But if each player has some kind of minor bonus that they add to everyone in the group but only within a certain radius, combat grinds to a halt.

And in general, abilities that add minor static bonuses are boring and/or weak. Why would I spend a feat to get a +2 to an attack roll once per encounter? Presumably there are other feats that grant totally different abilities, re-rolls, or scaled bonuses (though they might get rid of these in 4th ed). It would be far better for 4th ed if they limited all buffs to one or two classes, and they made those buffs meaningful and fun, not "+2 to your next whatever."

[Theli]

Also, I figured posting in here might be more pertinent as the previous thread was past page three and approaching old enough to be bordering on the dreaded thread necromancy.

That thread isn't even 3 weeks old. That's hardly thread necromancy.

[Conners]

Well, the elf has certainly become powered.... I'm not sure how to feel about this new direction, I guess it depends on the other races' statistics.... Will the monster races like goblins, gnolls and drow be improved as well?

[Lord Tataraus]

Personally, I hate the idea of no drawbacks on races. I think that every race should lose something. The human was fine because it had no bonuses whatsoever except the skill point. With no penalties, a halfling can be a decent melee power-attacker like the human, but that doesn't really make any sense. Why is the halfling just as strong as the human? Drawbacks also let you think more about a race decision and are sometimes fun to play with (the extremely rude dwarf).

[Emperor Demonking]

The elven special ability looks very strong, I hope not all races have an ability that powerful.

[Jayabalard]

Even if the elf doesn't notice it, the gentle swishing of his ears gives you the focus you need to sharpen your own senses.

Actually, related to the 'if the elf can do it, can anyone else?' question... I can foresee there potentially being some sort of class 'perceptive' perk - perhaps for a rogue or ranger - that might function in a manner very similarly.e

I don't see anything in that text that implies that the party would not get that perception bonus even if the elf is unconscious in a fireman's carry...

The fluff on this is absurd, and while a little absurdity is fine, imo this is well past that point.

Which makes no sense. First, you aren't "penalized" for choosing a race in 3ed, because you get more good things than bad, except for half-orcs. Second, what's wrong about races having actual disadvantages? Do people really can't stand losing anything?

it's just the next step in the "give people have higher numbers to sell more books" game... it's based on the same sort of mentality that leads to splatbooks giving bigger bonuses... people like big numbers, and that sells well.