D&D 5E Elves As the Ancient Evil?

[Quartz]

Thoughts? Basic idea is the elves eliminated themselves and the PCs have to rediscover the Drow assuming I use them.

This is also in Dragonlance, only it was the ogres who eliminated themselves, devolving into cruder forms, with the remaining good ones (the Irda) fleeing to a hidden isle.

But I too dig the Valheru. You could perhaps have them as warlock patrons, as Ashen-Shugar was to Tomas.

 

[Bill Zebub]

Maybe after the Tolkien copyrights expire we will get some quality fiction, such as the story told from the point of view of a sympathy-inducing orc.

 

[Shadowdweller00]

Just my 2 coppers, but... IMO if you want the fact of elves being villains to have some sort of dramatic subversion effect, you kind of need to keep some population of them around. And/or strongly consider letting PCs make elven or part-elven characters. So you can slowly add trickles of horrific and disturbing information about them and force the PCs to confront these revelations. Or at least there needs to be some sort of innocuous or respected elven presence - some concept of "elvenness" to subvert (but be very careful if the PCs do not have a personal connection - it's a common DM conceit to presume that players care significantly about the details of your game world). Otherwise they might as well be demons or space-dragons or any other villain race - because the PCs have no personal connection to them, no image to distort, no investiture in what was formerly thought to have been elven identity.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

When I saw the Omecs of Defiance, my thoughts were not just of Drow but also elves. A race of great civilization, and the bogeymen for all around them.

Omecs

The Omecs were the indigenous inhabitants of the planet Omec in the Votanis System, but they were later conquered by the Volge, a warlike species from another part of the galaxy. Omecs evolved from a quadrupedal carnivore called Zekbatsin. They became bipedal, but also kept certain physical...

defiance.fandom.com

I agree with @Shadowdweller00 that for dramatic purpose, some should still be around (like the Omecs)…but not as a playable race. Dial them up a notch or twelve. Your Asu should be terrifying…assuming they know their true nature.

Absent living Asu, perhaps their culture left behind powerful servitors. They need not necess be hostile, but they should be formidable if challenged or provoked.

Ruk

Ruk was an android built on Exo III half a million years before the 23rd century by the Old Ones. Ruk was tall, broad and immensely strong, capable of lifting a Human male easily with one hand. Despite his size, he could move silently and gracefully, making him an extremely dangerous physical...

memory-alpha.fandom.com

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Evil elves has been done to death. Gnomes are the real ancient evil.

 

[fnordland]

In Ptolus, it is suggested that Elves were on the side of Ancient Evil/Chaos but over time they switched to the side of Good.

 

[Ancalagon]

A very interesting - and usable! - take on evil elves:

OSR: The Drow, Part 1

Drow: The “Black Elves,” or drow, are only legend. They purportedly dwell deep beneath the surface in a strange subterranean realm. The d...

coinsandscrolls.blogspot.com

OSR: The Drow, Part 2

Continued from Part 1 . (On watching a Komodo dragon eat a live chicken). The three of us were sitting ashen faced as if we had just wi...

coinsandscrolls.blogspot.com