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.

Races Revisited: High 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 dwarves and tried to distill their essence into a concentrated dwarven liquor.  This week, we turn to elves.  Specifically: high elves.  Why the distinction?  Older editions of D&D made it clear that elven players were of high elf stock, as opposed to the less civilized wood elves or evil dark elves.  1st Edition AD&D relegated the other elven races to the Monster Manual.  2nd Edition allowed players access to the other elven races "with the DM's permission (but the choice grants no additional powers)".  The designers of 5th Edition are, fortunately, big fans of sub-races as character customization options, and the 5th Edition Player's Handbook allows players to choose from high elves, wood elves, or dark elves, each one lending a slight twist to the base elven race.  I have chosen to treat high elves and wood elves as separate races for Races Revisited.  High elves are the aloof, magically-inclined elves who spend their incredibly long lives in shining, elegant cities.  Wood elves, by contrast, are the gritty forest-dwelling elves more likely to be clad in leather than mithral - the 2nd Edition Player's Handbook describes them as "wild, temperamental, and savage."  So look forward to wood elves in a future post, and scroll down for more high elf action.

One thing I noticed when researching past versions of elves was that elves were always described as having a special affinity toward bows, swordsmanship, and magic, but mechanically while they were given an incentive to use bows and swords, they had no inherent bonus to their magical abilities.  It wasn't until Pathfinder that elves were thrown a bone in the magic department, gaining a racial bonus to Intelligence and some bonuses to overcoming Spell Resistance and identifying magic items.  I take things a little further, as you will see below.

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.