Origins of the "New" Races

[Mallus]

How do you get them in there?

Shackled and blindfolded.

How do you feed them?

With cheap prison food?

Food is slid or dropped into the holding cell in such a manner as to not provide line of sight for the Eladrin. Alternately, they are keep shackled and blindfolded and are fed by prison staff.

If you captured thirty Eladrin warriors, what kind of facility would you need to hold them?

A large, windowless room... hmmmm... I see someone beat me to it.

 

[Majoru Oakheart]

In answer to the original question:

Tieflings have been around for a while. I think it was either one of the monster manuals or planescape in 2e that introduced them. The idea being that they were humans who had a distant ancestor who was demonic/infernal. They were found more often in Sigil(the city that was the nexus of all the planes) where planar travel was easy and therefore people came into contact with demons and devils more often. They were allowed as player races back then. They didn't see much stuff about them in 3e, but they were brought back as a race in 4e because the designers felt there was no race that embodied the "I'm a dark, brooding, partially tainted with evil" character which a lot of players liked about Tiefling in 2e.

Dragonborn are kind of a composite race. People like dragon-like races. This is pretty much shown by all the dragon-like races in existence. There have been Draconians, Dragonborn(the original kind), Half-Dragons, Spellscales, and some more I'm not thinking of. When the designers were making 4e, they sat down and decided that dragon-like races were popular enough that there should be one in the core rulebook. But almost all of them come with story considerations that made them hard to play them as a player race. Draconians were magically altered dragon eggs who were almost all evil. Half-Dragon implied that one of your parents was a dragon and an entire PC race who all had a dragon as a parent seemed unlikely. Dragonborn required that you start human and then undergo a magical process to become a Dragonborn. Spellscales were magical in nature and aren't really what most people think of when they think "dragon". So, they came up with a new race that was strong and tough and made good paladins. They liked the name "Dragonborn" enough that they called it that.

Eladrin are basically Grey Elves who have been around at least since 2e(maybe 1e, but I'm not entirely sure). They've always just been "The type of elf that is smarter than other elves". But many people complained that there were too many types of elves, each with different stats. But still, a lot of people like the "smart elf" as a concept. So, they decided to officially call them by 2 different names and give them more to tell them apart than just different stats. So, they came up with a background story that says that elves originally came from the Feywild, and some left to live in the real world and over time they became creatures of the world, adapted to nature and lost their magical abilities. The ones that stayed behind kept their connection to magic and their home plane enabling them to step briefly into it and then back into the real world.

Each of the races appeals to a different type of person or different parts of people.

 

[pawsplay]

This is what we've been doing in fantasy for many years; imagining what fantastic worlds populated by fantastic races would be like. Thinking about these things is no different from imagining how the medieval castle has to change to account for intelligent flying creatures, wizard spells like DD or Passwall, and the like. Or to imagine what a village of 5000 halflings would look like or a wealthy city in a world of magic or a ring of villages around a mountain inhabited by dragons or any of a million other possibilities.

It is precisely that wealth of experience that gives me pause when I think about an entire city of teleporters. Housing thirty prisoners does not require merely thirty windowless cells; it requires thirty windowless cells with no direct view of the hall even when the door is open. Keeping them would require something close to an airlock system. Blindfolds? Many of the classic mentalism tricks begin with asking an audience member to blindfold you securely. There is no such thing as a really good blindfold, unless you employ glue.

You could certainly burn their eyes out. But now you have to consider a world in which eladrin thieves are routinely subjected to blinding rather than losing a hand or being imprisoned or hanged. And you have to imagine the lengths an eladrin thief would go to in order to avoid capture. Which brings us back to square one...

It's like saying, "Imagine 10% of the population of NYC had a mutant superpower." There's a lot you can do with a concept like that. But it's going to be different than a standard superheroes game, and you're going to have to think ahead if you want to take into account some of the things players are going to come up with.

 

[Intense_Interest]

Blindfolds? Many of the classic mentalism tricks begin with asking an audience member to blindfold you securely. There is no such thing as a really good blindfold, unless you employ glue.

Full-enclosed Head-cages, or even Iron Maidens. Historically proven, conceptually strong.

Or is this just an exercise in playing contrary?

 

[ProfessorCirno]

Some people believe the Eladrin teleport is a problem. I'm glad some of you don't, but that doesn't magically make the others change their mind. To them - and I'm included - it really is problematic.

Oh, and everyone is just participating in an exercise of in playing contrary.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Why imprison an Eladrin?

If the technical problems are so high, why not use different options:
- Fine him
- Hack of a digit or hand, remove an eye or ear. Or any other type of mutilation or branding.
- Whip him
- Execute him
- Exile or outlaw him.

Imprisoning people is not the only way to punish them. Putting them away for a few days, weeks or years is just one.

Exile or outlaw should be pretty nasty in the dangers of the Feywild, and you can even outlaw or exile someone for a limited amount of time.

"The magistrate hereby speaks out its findings on Jarris Windwalker, son of Pelos Windwalker and Irina Windwalker, and sends them out to Jarris Windwalker:
Jarris Windwalker, you have been found guilty of theft and robbery in 9 cases.
Hereby you will be exiled from all Eladrin settlements in the territory of our Beloved Ghaele of Larone, for a time no less then 2,000 days and nights. No one in the territory of our Beloved Ghaele of Larone is allowed to provide you with food or shelter, and no one may trade with you, until the 2,000 days and nights have passed. Anyone violating this order will be fined for no less then 1 part out of 5 parts of his posessions. Your name and face will be provided to every magistrate in every settlement under our Beloved Ghale of Larone. If you are found during this time anywhere in the lands of our Beloved Ghaele of Larone, you are not protected by the laws of our Beloved Ghaele of Larone, and if you are found by soldiers or officials under order of our beloved Ghaele of Larone, you are to be executed on sight. When the time of your sentence has passed, and only then, you may return to this settlement, and this settlement only, and register yourself at the magistrate. Your image and name will be retracted from each magistrate under our Beloved Ghaele of Larone, and all conditions of your penalty are removed."

 

[rounser]

Why imprison an Eladrin?

Precisely. Why not ignore the 4E game that it's in entirely, and avoid the problem completely? Silly thing to have in the core setting, after all. Those dragon things don't make sense either, they'd burn the taverns down.

 

[Hussar]

Y'know, reading the manual pretty much answers the whole "how to imprison Eladrin thing."

PHB Page 286:

Destination: Your destination must be a space you can occupy without squeezing.

So, Eladrin Dungeons have 3 foot wide corridors. End of problem. Next.

 

[Mallus]

Some people believe the Eladrin teleport is a problem. I'm glad some of you don't, but that doesn't magically make the others change their mind.

Which is why people have been posting perfectly reasonable ways of countering Eladrin short-range teleportation.

 

[Mallus]

Keeping them would require something close to an airlock system. Blindfolds? Many of the classic mentalism tricks begin with asking an audience member to blindfold you securely. There is no such thing as a really good blindfold, unless you employ glue.

I see you didn't like my blindfolded and shackled idea. How about putting those pesky Eladrin in a stockade with heavy burlap sacks overs their heads?

... and you're going to have to think ahead if you want to take into account some of the things players are going to come up with.

Now you're no longer talking about the game world's population of NPC Eladrin. The Eladrin's Fey Step is no different from any other minor magical ability PC's typically have access to, and that the DM needs to be mindful of.