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General Tabletop Discussion
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Alien Character Mindsets: Elves should be pretty conservative about almost everything.
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<blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 8684306" data-attributes="member: 22779"><p>Phew. Ok. Finally plowed through most of that. Skipped some of the longer entries, unfortunately, but, I think I've got the gist of the conversation now. Doesn't help that I'm not seeing a poster or two, so, some of the answers were a bit lacking in context until I realized who they were arguing with and realized that I'm better off for it. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" /></p><p></p><p>So, in full disclosure, I spent a lot of my gaming experience not liking elves very much. Not so much for the way elves were presented in the game. That was generally fine, if a bit derivative mostly, but, what generally annoyed me was that elves in my experience were basically just played as humans that could see in the dark. To the point where you couldn't actually tell that this character was an elf unless you looked over and read the character sheet.</p><p></p><p>And this is generally something that I don't see in other player races. Sure, someone's playing yet another grumpy Scottish dwarf, but, at least it's <em>something</em>. Most players I've seen who play short races like halflings or gnomes or whatnot, lean into the size thing and it becomes a point of the character in play. I never heard a player turn to another player and ask, "Since when is your character a gnome?" But, I certainly have heard that many times about elf characters. And it flies straight up my left nostril. To the point where for years, I just blanket banned elves. Got so sick of the whole thing, that I just said, nope. </p><p></p><p>I've mellowed since then and I don't say too much when someone plunks an elf PC down at the table. Doesn't actually happen to often to me anymore, so, I don't get too bent up over it. Still, the only elves I've ever seen played since I started playing 5e played cypher characters with zero personality and absolutely no reference to the fact that they are elves (or frankly anything else for that matter - these were players who barely bothered giving their characters a name. So, I'm going to chalk that up to some mismatched game expectations, rather than an issue with elves themselves.</p><p></p><p>But, one thing I have noticed with the 5e elves, is two really strong elements to make your elf stand out. 1. the notion of reincarnation. You don't sleep, you just remember your past lives. Which, honestly? Is very cool. This is something an elf player should lean into ALL the time. Deep dive into the lore of the setting and just let 'er rip. You REMEMBER when that dragon was a youngling just making it's name in the world. Ask your DM for exposition tidbits that you can bring to the table. </p><p></p><p>And, as a DM, make full use of that elf player. Pass notes to that player every chance you can to let that player info dump all sorts of setting stuff. Heck, nearly every "former life" story could end with the elf's death. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" /> "Yeah, I remember Old Flame. Burned me and my family to a crisp some five hundred years ago. Did me a favor he did. Never did like that wife." </p><p></p><p>2. The other thing is the gender thing. I'll be honest. I'm a 50 year old white dude. I'm not sure how well I could pull off a gender fluid character. But, honestly? That's the challenge right there. Trying to step outside (and for me, if I'm being honest, WAY outside) my comfort zone and bring something to the table that actually tells a story. I absolutely want to play a Moon Wizard (from that Dragonlance UA) elf (the one that changes with the different seasons - whose name I forget). Holy crap. You could actually play about 16 different variations all in the same character. What a challenge. I absolutely want to see a player give that a go. Or, try it myself one day.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Hussar, post: 8684306, member: 22779"] Phew. Ok. Finally plowed through most of that. Skipped some of the longer entries, unfortunately, but, I think I've got the gist of the conversation now. Doesn't help that I'm not seeing a poster or two, so, some of the answers were a bit lacking in context until I realized who they were arguing with and realized that I'm better off for it. :D So, in full disclosure, I spent a lot of my gaming experience not liking elves very much. Not so much for the way elves were presented in the game. That was generally fine, if a bit derivative mostly, but, what generally annoyed me was that elves in my experience were basically just played as humans that could see in the dark. To the point where you couldn't actually tell that this character was an elf unless you looked over and read the character sheet. And this is generally something that I don't see in other player races. Sure, someone's playing yet another grumpy Scottish dwarf, but, at least it's [I]something[/I]. Most players I've seen who play short races like halflings or gnomes or whatnot, lean into the size thing and it becomes a point of the character in play. I never heard a player turn to another player and ask, "Since when is your character a gnome?" But, I certainly have heard that many times about elf characters. And it flies straight up my left nostril. To the point where for years, I just blanket banned elves. Got so sick of the whole thing, that I just said, nope. I've mellowed since then and I don't say too much when someone plunks an elf PC down at the table. Doesn't actually happen to often to me anymore, so, I don't get too bent up over it. Still, the only elves I've ever seen played since I started playing 5e played cypher characters with zero personality and absolutely no reference to the fact that they are elves (or frankly anything else for that matter - these were players who barely bothered giving their characters a name. So, I'm going to chalk that up to some mismatched game expectations, rather than an issue with elves themselves. But, one thing I have noticed with the 5e elves, is two really strong elements to make your elf stand out. 1. the notion of reincarnation. You don't sleep, you just remember your past lives. Which, honestly? Is very cool. This is something an elf player should lean into ALL the time. Deep dive into the lore of the setting and just let 'er rip. You REMEMBER when that dragon was a youngling just making it's name in the world. Ask your DM for exposition tidbits that you can bring to the table. And, as a DM, make full use of that elf player. Pass notes to that player every chance you can to let that player info dump all sorts of setting stuff. Heck, nearly every "former life" story could end with the elf's death. :D "Yeah, I remember Old Flame. Burned me and my family to a crisp some five hundred years ago. Did me a favor he did. Never did like that wife." 2. The other thing is the gender thing. I'll be honest. I'm a 50 year old white dude. I'm not sure how well I could pull off a gender fluid character. But, honestly? That's the challenge right there. Trying to step outside (and for me, if I'm being honest, WAY outside) my comfort zone and bring something to the table that actually tells a story. I absolutely want to play a Moon Wizard (from that Dragonlance UA) elf (the one that changes with the different seasons - whose name I forget). Holy crap. You could actually play about 16 different variations all in the same character. What a challenge. I absolutely want to see a player give that a go. Or, try it myself one day. [/QUOTE]
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