Elves - Love em or Hate em?

[Truth Seeker]

Hmmm... I find the problem is not cliches, but that people play them like pretty anemic And that 3e makes them not too appealing, mechanically.

What mechanics...no need for stinkin' mechanics

 

[iwatt]

Going just by mechancis I think 3e makes most races unappealing

I wanted to disagree with this statement. Then I realized it has a lot to do with personal choice. Some people can't handle the -2 to con of elves. Some people can't handle the 20' speed of dwarves. For others the free weapon proficiencies and skill bonuses are more than enough to balance the con penalty. Or the darkvision, penlaty to a non combat abilty, and drinking prowess are enough to balance the slow speed.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

I suppose "Don't Care", but truely its most accurate to say for me "Depends on my mood" and the setting.

 

[Crothian]

I wanted to disagree with this statement. Then I realized it has a lot to do with personal choice. Some people can't handle the -2 to con of elves. Some people can't handle the 20' speed of dwarves. For others the free weapon proficiencies and skill bonuses are more than enough to balance the con penalty. Or the darkvision, penlaty to a non combat abilty, and drinking prowess are enough to balance the slow speed.

For me it has nothing to do with any of that. Mechancis are boring. I don't get excited becasue a character gets a con bonus or can see in the dark. I like characters with personalityy and backgrounds, that is always more important then the mechancs part of it.

 

[SilverFoxKnows]

I've always liked them

but I wouldn't call myself a fanboy. In my homebrew world I have about as many kinds of Elves as I do Dwarves. And they (the Elves) all get the same stat modifiers, +2 Dex, -2 Con. But I have more Human kingdoms than the Elves and Dwarves put together. I read Tolkein late in life so my Elves aren't very Tolkeinesque.

 

[Brakkart]

Never used to be that keen on elves. After reading Evermeet and the first couple books of the Last Mythal trilogy I'm a lot fonder of them than I was, especially all the bickering and infighting that goes on between the various elven suraces, how they just don't seem to understand each others mindset all that well, but still regard each branch of the race (except drow) as kin.

As far as Drow go, I'm actually a lot fonder of Eberrons jungle dwelling savages than Faerun's spider worshippers (and yes I know there are other FR drow gods than Lloth, none of them really appeal to me all that much either).

 

[iwatt]

For me it has nothing to do with any of that. Mechancis are boring. I don't get excited becasue a character gets a con bonus or can see in the dark. I like characters with personalityy and backgrounds, that is always more important then the mechancs part of it.

I agree. I choose the archetype I want to play. Then I decide what race it's gonna be.

But the decision is not based on mechanics. If it was, I'd only play humans, since I'm a sucker for skill points and feats.

Getting back on track, I dislike elves because I got turned of them by fanboy DMs. Sionce i started coming to ENWorld though I've seen a lot of people who've homebrewed their elves xenophobic and arrogant savages. I'd be interested to play an elf in those worlds.

 

[Desdichado]

It will be consider rude, and unsportman like behavior, in spoiling someone else's...fun.

D&D isn't a sport...

I'm mostly disinterested in elves--although as stated above, Eberron has made them somewhat interesting again.

EDIT: As has Iron Kingdoms for that matter...

 

[sniffles]

Most elves I see played are simply Human++. Immortal, more beautiful, better at magic, etc, etc. It's the sort of blatantly obvious wish-fulfillment that really gets in the way of telling a good story.

I love elves, but I agree with the above. This is probably the reason that they are rather dull in many games, that and the fact that so many people tend to play them as either arrogant snobs or flighty airheads.

I actually think elves who live among humans would tend to be quite melancholy; like Angel or Duncan Macleod, they see their friends die and yet their own lives go on. I can imagine a lot of other ways to play them, though.

I really can't see why anyone should hate an entire PC race. If you do dislike them it I assume it must either be because you can't imagine how to play them, or because you experienced someone else playing that race in a really annoying way.

[Edit: Just to clarify, I mean a generic 'you' here, not specifically Kunimatyu. ]

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

Interestingly, although I'm almost always annoyed by elves in fiction, I'm quite fond of them in RPGs. I don't play them very often, but I often use them as NPCs.