Green-eyed elves only others eye colors need not apply?

[der_kluge]

Crap! I have to completely redo my entire character now.

Seriously, that is REALLY, REALLY bizarre. But, I have to ask - WHY? What the heck difference does it make? You know there's got to be some rules lawyer out there complaining to people who play blue-eyed elves that their characters are all wrong.

 

[Aeolius]

Actually, I could have sworn that 1e elves had grey eyes.

From the 1e MM:
"Gray elves have either silver hair and amber eyes, or pale golden hair and violet eyes."

"Wood elves...their hair is yellow to coppery red and their eyes are light brown, light green, or hazel."

Now my eyes hurt, from reading that itty-bitty 1e MM that I keep hidden in my desk at work

 

[coyote6]

But the PH description is of high elves, not grey or wood elves. What does the MM 1e say about regular old high elves?

 

[wolff96]

...Elves in D&D can't go on a family vacation for 2 weeks without coming back as a subrace, so who knows?

Can I yoink that for a .sig quote? It made me laugh out loud.

 

[Moe Ronalds]

"but i have grey eyes!"

- elf guy from that Deadalewives mp3 (you know the one about the cheetohs and casting magic missile to attack the darkness, which apparently summons 'ogres all around you')

That part always bugged me. I figured they must have houseruled it.

 

[BiggusGeekus@Work]

Can I yoink that for a .sig quote? It made me laugh out loud.

Naturally!

 

[Aeolius]

But the PH description is of high elves, not grey or wood elves. What does the MM 1e say about regular old high elves?

"Their hair is dark and their eyes are green."

 

[Dakkareth]

I never saw that. Simply assumed, players had the right to make their characters look like they wanted. Oh well, apparently they can't without violating WotC's copyright ...

 

[wolff96]

Thanks.

Why is it that elves -- who are apparently normally identical, apparently -- fragment so quickly into sub-races? Few other races get this treatment in most settings... so why elves?

 

[orbitalfreak]

Thanks.

Why is it that elves -- who are apparently normally identical, apparently -- fragment so quickly into sub-races? Few other races get this treatment in most settings... so why elves?

It's sorta like beholders. If you don't look exactly like mommy-beholder, then you are an abberation of the species and should be culled from the line.

Elves are similar. If you aren't exactly like mommy-and-daddy-elf, then you aren't a true elf, by their arrogant standards. However, all of these various elves of different colors congregate and decide that they're the true elves, and declare their parents to be of another subrace. Repeat ad-nauseum, and you have a dozen "sub-races" of elves all claiming to be the one true form of elf, and that all others are pale immitations of the real thing.