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<blockquote data-quote="Remathilis" data-source="post: 9286360" data-attributes="member: 7635">Being Smart and Fraile is not, as you put it &quot; in terms of being graceful, beautiful, agile, etc.&quot; Raistin was Smart and Fraile and definitely not an elf.But that's the problem, isn't it? No description of elves could encompass the vast multitude of elves in D&amp;D alone. Wood elves were xenophobic and the opposite of graceful (in the diplomatic sense), shadar-kai are wizened and old, sun elves aren't particularly agile. D&amp;D defeats every attempt D&amp;D makes to define elf.The solution, of course, was already presented in Monsters of the Multiverse. We were given three elves, each with their own unique racial traits, that had a simple line &quot;You are also considered an elf for any prerequisite or effect that requires you to be an elf.&quot;. That's it, that's what makes an elf an elf. Oh sure, there was lore and shared elements (darkvision, fey ancestry, trance, keen senses) but none of those things define an elf; plenty of races share one or more of those traits. (Hobgoblins share the exact same ones as half-elves). You want a graceful elf? Put an ASI in Cha. Agile? Put it in Dex. Each collection of traits is a tailored to that particular type of elf. You want to teleport? Swim? Fly? Pick the elf that fits. There is no need to cram all a particular type of elves abilities into a set of free-spells. EACH ELF TYPE IS UNIQUE.But no, people want as few choices as possible so they will somehow want both deep lore about specific niche cultures of elves on Krynn and at the same time want all elves to reflect the high-elf stats in the PHB. Even WotC can't seem to get this one right because the solution was RIGHT THERE and then fumbled high, wood and drow elves into one singular elf race where their unique abilities boil down to &quot;pick a list of free spells&quot;. And I'm sure they'll boil the eladrin, shadar-kai, astral, sea, and any other elf into a collection of spells when the time comes too.And we'll keep arguing that elves with 8 Dexterities aren't elfy enough...</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Remathilis, post: 9286360, member: 7635"] Being Smart and Fraile is not, as you put it " in terms of being graceful, beautiful, agile, etc." Raistin was Smart and Fraile and definitely not an elf. But that's the problem, isn't it? No description of elves could encompass the vast multitude of elves in D&D alone. Wood elves were xenophobic and the opposite of graceful (in the diplomatic sense), shadar-kai are wizened and old, sun elves aren't particularly agile. D&D defeats every attempt D&D makes to define elf. The solution, of course, was already presented in Monsters of the Multiverse. We were given three elves, each with their own unique racial traits, that had a simple line "You are also considered an elf for any prerequisite or effect that requires you to be an elf.". That's it, that's what makes an elf an elf. Oh sure, there was lore and shared elements (darkvision, fey ancestry, trance, keen senses) but none of those things define an elf; plenty of races share one or more of those traits. (Hobgoblins share the exact same ones as half-elves). You want a graceful elf? Put an ASI in Cha. Agile? Put it in Dex. Each collection of traits is a tailored to that particular type of elf. You want to teleport? Swim? Fly? Pick the elf that fits. There is no need to cram all a particular type of elves abilities into a set of free-spells. EACH ELF TYPE IS UNIQUE. But no, people want as few choices as possible so they will somehow want both deep lore about specific niche cultures of elves on Krynn and at the same time want all elves to reflect the high-elf stats in the PHB. Even WotC can't seem to get this one right because the solution was RIGHT THERE and then fumbled high, wood and drow elves into one singular elf race where their unique abilities boil down to "pick a list of free spells". And I'm sure they'll boil the eladrin, shadar-kai, astral, sea, and any other elf into a collection of spells when the time comes too. And we'll keep arguing that elves with 8 Dexterities aren't elfy enough... [/QUOTE]

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