Spelljammer Astral Elves: Spelljammer's Elves In Spaaaaace!

WotC has a preview of Spelljammer's upcoming Astral Elves over on D&D Beyond (following on from their preview of the Giff last week).

Astral Elves can teleport as a bonus action, use divine cantrips, and 'tap into the knowledge of the infinite multiverse' to pick up new proficiencies after a long rest.

Sneak Peek: Play as the Immortal Astral Elf From Spelljammer: Adventures in Space!

The astral elf is a timeless creature with a deep connection to the Astral Sea. Click here for a preview of the new race offered by Spelljammer: Adventu...

www.dndbeyond.com

 

[Yaarel]

Unironically, my fave thing in 5E is all the new elves races.

I like having a fuckton of weird elves to play with, and strange cultures to intermingle. I love that elves can be the default race if you want, and I can legit play fun elf-games. I highly enjoy the fact that this one race, which is spiritually protean, is capable of taking on so many different forms (AS IT SHOULD) and can be found everywhere in the multiverse. It makes sense.

I appreciate your elf advocacy.

At the same time, my desire for elegant design (as simple as possible but not simpler) makes me crave a small selection of saliently distinct elf races that are minimalistic but with free choice and wide versatility for diverse concepts.

I always knew elves came from space

Indeed, they originally come from sunlight.

 

[Weiley31]

Thoughts?

Easy enough to House Rule the UA choice or allow them as minor Faction/Renown rewards.

 

[Weiley31]

Along with the Elven Star Moth.

I always thought the Elven Man O'War was a neat looking ship.

 

[Yaarel]

Easy enough to House Rule the UA choice or allow them as minor Faction/Renown rewards.

Personally, I am more interested in the elf race itself allowing the player to choose any cantrip from any spell list.

I want a versatile elf race.

The last thing I want is for player preferences to pressure designers to create yet more bloat for elf races.

For example, darkvision and waterbreathing can become cantrips. Then. A sea elf is a normal wood elf who chooses the waterbreathing cantrip.

 

[Shardstone]

I appreciate your elf advocacy.

At the same time, my desire for elegant design (as simple as possible but not simpler) makes me crave a small selection of saliently distinct elf races that are minimalistic but with free choice and wide versatility for diverse concepts.




Indeed, they originally come from sunlight.

If I compiled them, it would be like this.

Astral (absorbs high and pallid elves)

Wilde (absorbs eladrin, sea, flying, and wood)

Dark (absorbs drow, shadar-kai, eberron shadow elf)

 

[Yaarel]

If I compiled them, it would be like this.

Astral (absorbs high and pallid elves)

Wilde (absorbs eladrin, sea, flying, and wood)

Dark (absorbs drow, shadar-kai, eberron shadow elf)

I am thinking:

Primarily magic: aevendrow, astral, eladrin, shadar-kai, pallid; 1e grey, faerie, valley

Gishy blend of magic and physical: udadrow, high; 1e drow, high

Primarily physical: lorendrow, wood, sea; 1e wood, grugach, aquatic



This division is mechanically salient:

The magic elf can have features that are magical, including innate cantrip and spell choice (such as Misty Step, Invisibility, perhaps Fly), Arcana proficiency.

The physical elf can have physically and sensorially oriented features like, Perception proficiency, darkvision, and Elven Accuracy. (Cultural background can supply primal magic if any, relating to animals, or plants or elementals.)

The gish elf blends both.

Admittedly, the Players Handbook drow qualifies as a magic elf with spell options, but the D&D traditions emphasize the extreme Dexterity of the drow, and is clearly gishy.



Again, Darkvision and Waterbreathing should be cantrips that a player can choose. Some wood elves might breathe the water of a remote forest lake or an ocean coastal area.

 

[Shardstone]

I am thinking:

Primarily magic: aevendrow, astral, eladrin, shadar-kai, pallid; 1e grey, faerie, valley

Gishy blend of magic and physical: udadrow, high; 1e drow, high

Primarily physical: lorendrow, wood, sea; 1e wood, grugach



This division is useful:

The magic elf can have features that are magical, including innate cantrip and spell choice (such as Misty Step, Invisibility, perhaps Fly), Arcana proficiency.

The physical elf can have physically and sensorially oriented features like, Perception proficiency, darkvision, and Elven Accuracy. (Cultural background can supply primal magic if any, relating to animals, or plants or elementals.)

The gish elf blends both.

Admittedly, the Players Handbook drow qualifies as a magic elf with spell options, but the D&D traditions emphasize the extreme Dexterity of the drow, and is clearly gishy.



Again, Darkvision and Waterbreathing should be cantrips that a player can choose. Some wood elves might breathe the water of a remote forest lake or an ocean coastal area.

This is fun! A high-magic race of protean elves that exists seperate from the entirely Prime Material elves who in turn are connected by those elves that don't fit into either category and instead make their own society which kind of connects the other two.

You have some good stuff here, keep at it!

 

[Charlaquin]

DNDBeyond mentions the Astral Elf has "Misty Step a couple of times a day". This feature differs from the UA astral elf version.

Misty Step is a sizable design space. It is unclear where they would make room for it.

If the UA astral elf deletes Radiant Soul and Darkvision, and perhaps reduces the Trance Proficiencies from two tools (or weapons) to only one per trance, that opens enough room for the Misty Step to appear in a balanced way.

The article didn’t mention Radiant Soul, and says they get one skill and one weapon when they trance. I’d eat my PHB if they didn’t have Darkvision.

 

[Charlaquin]

The designers mention Spock as a main inspiration for the astral elf. They wanted him in a setting with a space exploration mood.

Notice the DNDBeyond describes the astral elf as "emotionless" and "stoic".

Yeah, teleporting a few times per day and casting sacred flame sure makes me think of Spock.

 

[Shardstone]

One thing I will say is this.

Why is every elf getting misty step? I feel as if I get a thousand different ways to misty-step via race + feats + certain subclasses these days.