Races Revisited: Wood Elves

I've been itching to redesign the core races for a while now.  Part of the reason is 5th edition with its really appealing broad-strokes approach to game design, and part of the reason is that Pathfinder is almost 10 years old, based on a system over 15 years old, and it is starting to collapse under its own weight.  I want the playable races to be as simple and evocative as possible.  They need to get across the core idea of the race without getting in the way with too many extraneous skill bonuses or abilities that function in instances so specific that you forget about them when the time comes to use them.

Last time on Races Revisited we looked at high elves - the "aloof, magically-inclined elves who spend their incredibly long lives in shining, elegant cities" - as opposed to wood elves, which the 2nd Editions Player's Handbook described as "wild, temperamental, and savage."  This week, it is the wood elves' time to shine!  On second thought, shining might be more of a high elf thing.  Wood elves are probably more into skulking.

I have already touched on the distinctions drawn between high and wood elves in older editions of D&D and those now resurfacing in 5th edition.  Since the elves described in 1st and 2nd edition were explicitly high elves, what sources did I draw on for creating a separate wood elf race?  Tolkien, of course, is one place to look.  When you think of Tolkien's wood elves, you might first think of Galadirel and Celeborn, rulers of Lothlorien, or of King Thranduil and his son Legolas of the Woodland Realm in Mirkwood, but Celeborn, Thranduil, and Legolas are actually Sindar, or grey elves, while Galadriel is of mixed elvish heritage but primarily Ñoldorin and Falmari.  Still, they ruled over kingdoms largely comprised of the Nandor, or wood elves.  Haldir, the character who intercepts the Fellowship as they enter Lothlorien, was likely a Nando.  Thranduil and Legolas were also said to have basically 'gone native' amongst the Nandor, especially Legolas.  From what little we are shown,  we see Tolkien's wood elves are (unsurprisingly) secretive, stealthy, standoffish, and very good with bows.  Another source I went to for inspiration was mythology.  In many traditions, especially Scandinavian, elves are able to turn invisible.  This is something I really wanted to incorporate into wood elves (don't worry, it's not nearly as overpowered as it sounds).  Of course, a lot of it came down to intuition.  Most people (by which I mean most people who would read this blog, not most people in general) have a pretty good idea of what a wood elf is like.  By separating wood elves and high elves into two different races, I was really able to drill down on each of them and pick out specific details that make them unique.

The following material given in gold text and its accompanying table is available as Open Game Content under the OGL.  Open Game Content is ©2016 Jonah Bomgaars.
Wood Elf Racial Traits

+2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, -2 Constitution: Wood elves are nimble and intuitive but delicate.

Saving Throws: +2 Fortitude: Despite their physical frailty, wood elves are surprisingly resilient.

Medium: Wood elves are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.

Normal Speed: Wood elves have a base speed of 30 feet.

Low-Light Vision: Wood elves can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light. 

Keen Senses: Wood elves gain a +2 racial bonus to Perception checks. 

Sleepless: Wood elves do not sleep naturally, and are immune to magical sleep effects.  Instead of sleeping normally, elves enter into a semiconscious trance state.  An elf is rejuvenated as much by 4 hours of trancing as a human is by 8 hours of rest. 

Sylvan Weapon Proficiencies: Wood elves are proficient with shortbows and longbows and gain a +1 racial bonus to hit with both weapons.

Vanish: Once per day, a wood elf can vanish from sight, turning invisible (as the spell) for one round.  This is a supernatural ability that requires a standard action to activate and does not provoke attacks of opportunity. 

Woodcraft: Wood elves gain a +2 racial bonus to Knowledge (nature), Stealth, and Survival checks. 

Woodland Stride: Wood elves can move through any sort of undergrowth (such as natural thorns, briars, overgrown areas, and similar terrain) at normal speed and without taking damage or suffering any other impairment.  Thorns, briars, and overgrown areas that have been magically manipulated to impede motion, however, still affect wood elves normally. 

Languages: Wood elves begin play speaking Elven and Sylvan.  Wood elves with high Intelligence scores can choose any language they want to study.  

Sub-Race

Sand Elves

Some tribes of wild, dark-skinned elves live not amongst trees but along the trade routes and oases of vast sandy deserts.

Desert Adaptations: Sand elves suffer no ill effects from very hot conditions (between 90° and 110°F) and treat severe heat (between 110° and 140°F) as another character would treat very hot conditions.  In addition, sand elves can go without water for two days plus a number of hours equal to twice their Constitution modifier.  This ability replaces Woodland Stride.

Sand Elf Weapon Proficiencies: Sand elves are proficient with shortbows, longbows, scimitars, and falchions.  They have a +1 racial bonus to hit with shortbows and longbows. 

Languages: Sand elves begin play speaking Elven and Common. 

Here is the ability-by-ability explanation of my reasoning:

Ability Scores: While high elves get a bonus to Intelligence, wood elves have a Wisdom bonus.  Wood elves learn from experience in the school of hard knocks while high elves study their books in their ivory towers (sometimes literal ivory towers).  They retain the typical elven Dexterity bonus and Constitution penalty.  

Saving Throws: A Con penalty and a Fort bonus?  How does that make sense?  Well, I figured that, although wood elves might lack in hit points, they would probably be pretty good and shrugging off diseases and poisons and at running for long distances - all things that the Fort save governs.  

Keen Senses: Just like high elves, but without the part about detecting secret doors, since those aren't common in the forest.

Sleepless: Again, just like high elves.  They are both elves, after all.  

Sylvan Weapon Proficiencies: In AD&D, elves got +1 to hit with bows.  This changes as weapon proficiencies became more of a thing.  I gave high elves proficiency in five weapons (longbow, shortbow, longsword, shortsword, and rapier).  Wood elves just get two (shortbows and longbows) but that +1 to hit is coming back!  This helps to model the elves' superiority with a bow - a true staple of classic fantasy.  And of course wood elves have to be better with bows than high elves are!  

Vanish: At first glance, the ability to turn invisible might seem overpowered for a core race.  But this is not simply the ability to cast invisibility.  This racial ability lasts only one round.  Since it takes a standard action to activate, and "effects that last a certain number of rounds end just before the same initiative count that they began on" (Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook, p178), a wood elf won't be able to use this invisibility to attack anything.  It is basically good for escaping or quickly hiding, especially since, as a supernatural ability, it does not provoke attacks of opportunity.  This ability is meant to mimic the classic tales of elves vanishing from sight when discovered by blundering humans.  

Woodcraft: Bonuses to Stealth, Survival, and Knowledge (nature) seem pretty obvious for these elves.

Woodland Stride: This is a class ability for 2nd level druids and 7th level rangers, but really it is impossible not to give it to wood elves as a racial ability.  I mean, I'm trying to make these races as archetypal as possible - I cannot imagine a wood elf who cannot effortlessly pass through underbrush.

Languages: Wood elves begin play speaking Elven and Sylvan.  What, no Common?  This is an unusual choice, because Common is supposed to give everyone a basic level of common interaction for forming a party and interacting with the world, but I think it makes sense here.  Wood elves are traditionally isolationist and borderline (if not outright) xenophobic.  Haldir from The Lord of the Rings is notable for being one of the few wood elves in Lothlorien who can speak the common speech of Westron.  Removing Common from the default speech of wood elves reinforces their isolated, outsider nature.  Besides, having a language gap in the party can be interesting from a roleplaying perspective.  I enjoy thinking about language and demand you do the same!

Sand Elves: A sub-race of desert elves!  Because not all campaigns take place in European-style environments, and doesn't every land deserve tribes of wild elves? 

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-your skulking d20 despot