Dragon 382 - Winning Races: Dusk Elf

[Belphanior]

EDIT: NEs *MAY* shadowmeld out of combat.

By "get shadowmeld" I meant the cooldown pops up, not auto.

Ok yes, that's true. But I still don't see how that makes dusk elves able to "shadowmeld at night" like WoW night elves do, which is what ProfessorCirno said.

 

[Squizzle]

If this is based on--or at least somehow inspired by--Warcraft's night elves, I'm delighted to see D&D plundering pop culture for ideas, and I say that without any sarcasm intended. If Old Geezer at rpg.net is to be credited (and since he was part of Gary's original group [and responsible for the existences of half-elves and gelatinous cubes!], I think he is), the theft of fun pop culture for the enjoyment of players is nothing new, and in fact has a pedigree extending back to its earliest days. And I endorse the practice, because it's fun for the participants. Something doesn't need to be wholly original to be enjoyable, especially in gaming, which is well more a social activity (i.e., let's get together and have fun as friends) than it is a narrative one (i.e., here is my literary magnum opus with d20s). I request a shifter artifact based on the Sword of Omens, next.

 

[vagabundo]

Why do I keep thinking Mystara when reading this? Is there something similar there?

 

[JPL]

I like both the article and the possibility that we will see more "subraces" handled in this manner. More of a "reskinning" than a whole new race . . . makes a lot of sense.

I'd like to see the half-eladrin handled in the same manner, actually --- a variant half-elf with a new feat chain and some good cultural fluff.

 

[Shroomy]

The Dusk Elf Stealth feat lacks the "can't take this feat if you have the [X] Elf [X] feat" that the FR feats had.

The FR feats were trying to emulate a racial division that didn't exist anymore in 4e, while the dusk elves are more of a cultural/religious division (despite the default differences in physical appearance), so it makes sense to me to not have that kind of restriction on the feat. Also, there are no other actual subraces outside of FR.

 

[Dragonhelm]

This is an example of one of those issues where the proper response to complaints is:

"If you don't like it, don't play it. Not everything in D&D was put there specifically for you. Some people like these things, and its not ruining the game if someone other than you has fun. On a certain level there has to be a degree of live and let live, or a big tent game can't function."

There's the old phrase Lincoln coined about not pleasing all of the people all of the time. Certainly, WotC encounters this quite a bit with D&D.

What we have to remember here is that these are all options. The ORC Squad is not going to bust into your house and force you to use dusk elves, drow, eladrin, or what have you. If you want just an elf, then play just an elf. If you want to expand on that and have several elven cultures, then you've got material to work with. If you want an all-dwarf campaign, go for it.

Rulebooks are tools. Use the tools you want, ignore the rest.

 

[Bluenose]

Why do I keep thinking Mystara when reading this? Is there something similar there?

You may be thinking of the Shadow Elves. Split off from the main elven groups, forsaken by their gods, rather more Neutral than the others. They aren't exactly like this, but there are similarities.

 

[ExploderWizard]

They sound like a cheap WAL-Mart brand of Night elf.

I'm Mr. T and I'm a Dusk elf mohawk!



.......nope, not grabbing me.

 

[renau1g]

I like the idea of subraces, but don't like this required feat that adds nothing to my PC. I need to burn a feat to get access to the really interesting ones. At least the ones in FRPG gives you some benefit.

 

[fuzzlewump]

I'd prefer some kind of wacky "cosmos" elf, that goes through various cycles. Like, phases of the moon, day/night cycles, eclipses, constellations, gargoyles, psychics!!

Combine with the similarly flavored Cosmo sorceror for the fun to begin.