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

 

[Charlaquin]

I think the Spock call-out is much more to their written culture in the upcoming books, not the abilities they have. They aren't just Spock, and you shouldn't have the expectation that Spock = Astral Elves, just that there is connective tissue to explore a similar idea. After all, how could Spock ever be an entire player race, and how could his race be the same in D&D when D&D has magic and Star Trek doesn't?

I think high elf already makes a perfectly serviceable Spock for a space-D&D setting.

Well, half-elf for Spock. High-elf makes a fine Vulcan though; these racial traits just make them seem less Vulcan-like.

 

[Weiley31]

I think high elf already makes a perfectly serviceable Spock for a space-D&D setting.

Well, half-elf for Spock. High-elf makes a fine Vulcan though; these racial traits just make them seem less Vulcan-like.

The 5E Astral Elves are pretty much the Tolkien Elves, but in space.

 

[Charlaquin]

The 5E Astral Elves are pretty much the Tolkien Elves, but in space.

Are they? I don’t remember Legolas ever teleporting or making orcs burst into flame.

 

[Micah Sweet]

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.

So you don't want your design "more simple than possible"? What does that mean?

 

[Yaarel]

It said “astral elves get access to some divine cantrips that are typically reserved for clerics, sacred flame being chief among them.” Sounds like still a choice between a few options with Sacred Flame called out as “chief among them” because it’s the only combat one. It’s possible Dancing Lights could have been swapped out for something else though, since it’s not a Cleric cantrip.

So a choice of "some" Cleric cantrips might mean:
• Guidance (good for fate aspect of elf)
• Light (luminous sunlight)
• Sacred Flame (sunlight)
• Resistance (possibly fate flavor in the sense of surviving an attack)
• Spare the Dying (fate flavor of surviving)
• Thaumaturgy (drama, might not work if unemotional and stoic)

 

[Yaarel]

So you don't want your design "more simple than possible"? What does that mean?

The D&D traditions and reallife folkbeliefs have very different kinds of elves. I dont think there can be a single elf race that can satisfactorily represent all of them. But three elf races that are saliently different from each other can represent most or all of them.

 

[Micah Sweet]

What can I say, Elves are the X-Men Nightcrawlers of 5E. They just BAMF all over the place. Or you just flavour it as how Drizzt can "Misty Step"/Teleport around in the recent/newer Dark Alliance game.

They really liked the teleporting eladrin they invented in 4e, were annoyed they had to back-burner them in 5e, and are now trying to force them back in. Hardly the first time recently they've done that with a 4th ed-ism.

 

[Shardstone]

I think high elf already makes a perfectly serviceable Spock for a space-D&D setting.

Well, half-elf for Spock. High-elf makes a fine Vulcan though; these racial traits just make them seem less Vulcan-like.

I think you're trying too hard to find exact comparisons to other media, which is not the intention behind the statement Perkins made nor the design of the elf.

 

[Yaarel]

I like elf Misty Step. It hints how they are actually immaterial spirits.

 

[Havrik Stoneskimmer]

I'm OK with these elves, and I think 5e has been doing some interesting stuff with the cosmology of elves (at least until they send Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes into the memory hole).

I agree that thematically they shouldn't have darkvision but I doubt they will remove it since that is a core elf trait in the PHB, and even though they moved away from subclasses in favor of full writeups for each race, I think they will want to maintain continuity with the core race, at least until the new PHB in 2024.