Are we tired of elves yet?
- Thread starter Dark Jezter
- Start date
demiurge1138
Inventor of Super-Toast
If elves were like they were in Tolkien, I wouldn't mind them so much. I actively like the Eberron elves. But goody-good prissy elves bug me like no tomorrow. I'll also agree with most people here and say that the less subraces there were of elves, the better. They could do with less PrCs as well.
Demiurge out.
Demiurge out.
Dark Jezter
First Post
demiurge1138 said:
I dunno, in the LotR novels the elves seemed pretty darn perfect to me. In fact, I usually skip the Lothlorien chapter because I get tired of hearing about how fair and wonderful and wise the elves are.
I haven't read the Silmarillion. I've tried, but I always end up getting bored and never finishing it. So maybe they're different in that book.
Prince of Happiness
First Post
I voted "no." In games, yes, they're "goobed" to death. Like those those old girly Trapper Keeper folders that are all airbrushed and have unicorns and...and...bleh. Oh, and they can kick anybody's ass to the Moon and back. L...A...M...E.
I like the Silmarillion-style elves better. They seemed like "extra" human (note, Tolkien never described his elves with pointy ears, etc), with very (dangerously) strong emotions. Good stuff. Like the fairy legends of old. Either your worst enemy, or a valued protector. As volatile as a storm and as fleeting as a gentle breeze. Elemental. And that's sexy.
I like the Silmarillion-style elves better. They seemed like "extra" human (note, Tolkien never described his elves with pointy ears, etc), with very (dangerously) strong emotions. Good stuff. Like the fairy legends of old. Either your worst enemy, or a valued protector. As volatile as a storm and as fleeting as a gentle breeze. Elemental. And that's sexy.
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I have a problem with elves (and all the other long-lived races) as PCs.
"Hey, I'm 120 years old, fresh out of school and ready for adventuring!".
That pretty much sums it up...
Protagonist and antagonist NPC elves are so much better.
Elrond-type elf: "Yeah, I may look like a 40-something to you, but I was around when they took down Sauron. You want to hear what really happened?"
"Hey, I'm 120 years old, fresh out of school and ready for adventuring!".
That pretty much sums it up...
Protagonist and antagonist NPC elves are so much better.
Elrond-type elf: "Yeah, I may look like a 40-something to you, but I was around when they took down Sauron. You want to hear what really happened?"
Style
Explorer
Q: Why do elves have pointed ears?
A: Well, there has to be some point to elves...
Tolkien elves rock, though. The Silmarillion kills them in their droves - divine wrath, battle, poison, immersion in arctic ice, dragonfire, balrogs, treachery, evil dwarves, more balrogs - subjects them to all manner of awful tortures, turns family against family and then smashes all their kingdoms into little bits and sinks them beneath the sea.
Don't like the super-shiny, super-flawless D&D elves, though. Rather laughable, really, and not at all convincing as a racial group. In my main homebrew (the 18-year monster), elves were very much akin to those Gothmog described: conspiracy-laden xenophobes trying to keep humanity knuckled under in the mud, where they belong. Probably with good reason, but not very nice all the same.
I love the Dark Sun elves, though - a really innovative twist on a fantasy trope. The "standard" elves left on Athas in Sylvandretta all of a sudden are much more resonant.
The next incarnation of my big homebrew does not feature any of the PHB races apart from humans, and they have been tweaked and altered a fair bit as well. These days it just seems to me like elves are somebody else's idea, and an old one at that.
A: Well, there has to be some point to elves...
Tolkien elves rock, though. The Silmarillion kills them in their droves - divine wrath, battle, poison, immersion in arctic ice, dragonfire, balrogs, treachery, evil dwarves, more balrogs - subjects them to all manner of awful tortures, turns family against family and then smashes all their kingdoms into little bits and sinks them beneath the sea.
Don't like the super-shiny, super-flawless D&D elves, though. Rather laughable, really, and not at all convincing as a racial group. In my main homebrew (the 18-year monster), elves were very much akin to those Gothmog described: conspiracy-laden xenophobes trying to keep humanity knuckled under in the mud, where they belong. Probably with good reason, but not very nice all the same.
I love the Dark Sun elves, though - a really innovative twist on a fantasy trope. The "standard" elves left on Athas in Sylvandretta all of a sudden are much more resonant.
The next incarnation of my big homebrew does not feature any of the PHB races apart from humans, and they have been tweaked and altered a fair bit as well. These days it just seems to me like elves are somebody else's idea, and an old one at that.
had my fill of the pointy ears
not elves (at least not D&D elves) just the pointy ears
but apart from that, i don't like elves very much, nor any other race, except humans (NOT in the real world) that does not mean there are only humans in my game world, but it does mean that every PC i create is a human (spell caster)
and on the subject of elves, i find it very desturbing that in most fairy tales elves and goblins are the same thing, what we call today goblins.
it makes me think: is that the reason the goblins in harry potter are called elves? (house elves)
not elves (at least not D&D elves) just the pointy ears
but apart from that, i don't like elves very much, nor any other race, except humans (NOT in the real world) that does not mean there are only humans in my game world, but it does mean that every PC i create is a human (spell caster)
and on the subject of elves, i find it very desturbing that in most fairy tales elves and goblins are the same thing, what we call today goblins.
it makes me think: is that the reason the goblins in harry potter are called elves? (house elves)
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