Holiday Present - The Elf PHB entry
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Asmor
First Post
Wow. I've been excited for 4th edition since the beginning, though recently my interest has waned a bit... and this totally excited me!
Not just the fact that the writeup of Elves is awesome, and I'd totally play one (I could never bring myself to play a 3.X elf due to the con penalty), but it gives me a lot of hope for the other races too.
The only thing which immediately jumped out at me was the oft-maligned perception aura. However, I think it's simple enough to just handwave and assume is always in effect.
I particularly like that the elves speed is listed as 7 squares. I prefer the squares convention to the feet convention, and I like the implication that different races will have different speeds.
I also really like the shorter lifespan. 200 years is still way longer than any human (which we, of course, all are), and so they seem very long lived to us, but it's not so long that it's practically a joke. Immortality (literal or practical) is cool on paper, but it just seems... I dunno, kind of dry in practice.
The only bit of the fluff that I don't really get is the whole thing about elves having short-lived passions. I don't think it meshes well with their longevity; I'd imagine a long-lived race would spend a long time on their passions. Think elven vintners spending a century cultivating their own personal brand of wine grapes or a legendary elven bowyer who spends decades working on each of his bows.
The not cutting down living trees is kind of silly as well, but for some reason that doesn't rub me the wrong way like their "passions" do. Go figure.
Oh, and one last thing regarding the "anorexia..." How can you even make that comparison? They're not human, they have an entirely different physiology. Heck, for all we know they have hollow bones like a bird. 130 pounds for 6 feet isn't outside of the realm of being reasonable, and so it's impossible to say that that would be an unhealthy weight for them. If it were something like 60 pounds, then you'd have a case for it being unrealistic... but 130 is totally doable.
Not just the fact that the writeup of Elves is awesome, and I'd totally play one (I could never bring myself to play a 3.X elf due to the con penalty), but it gives me a lot of hope for the other races too.
The only thing which immediately jumped out at me was the oft-maligned perception aura. However, I think it's simple enough to just handwave and assume is always in effect.
I particularly like that the elves speed is listed as 7 squares. I prefer the squares convention to the feet convention, and I like the implication that different races will have different speeds.
I also really like the shorter lifespan. 200 years is still way longer than any human (which we, of course, all are), and so they seem very long lived to us, but it's not so long that it's practically a joke. Immortality (literal or practical) is cool on paper, but it just seems... I dunno, kind of dry in practice.
The only bit of the fluff that I don't really get is the whole thing about elves having short-lived passions. I don't think it meshes well with their longevity; I'd imagine a long-lived race would spend a long time on their passions. Think elven vintners spending a century cultivating their own personal brand of wine grapes or a legendary elven bowyer who spends decades working on each of his bows.
The not cutting down living trees is kind of silly as well, but for some reason that doesn't rub me the wrong way like their "passions" do. Go figure.
Oh, and one last thing regarding the "anorexia..." How can you even make that comparison? They're not human, they have an entirely different physiology. Heck, for all we know they have hollow bones like a bird. 130 pounds for 6 feet isn't outside of the realm of being reasonable, and so it's impossible to say that that would be an unhealthy weight for them. If it were something like 60 pounds, then you'd have a case for it being unrealistic... but 130 is totally doable.
Zurai
First Post
Aloïsius said:Stop saying they are anorexiac. In 3e every character suffered from obesityRemember that in a fantasy setting, most people are not going to work in car, don't eat pizza while watching TV and don't drink more coke than water. Those are elves, not humans.
Thank you.
6' tall and 130 lbs is only slightly underweight according to Body Mass Index guides. 5'7" and 100 lbs is more underweight, but don't forget this is an entirely separate species with a different metabolism and different build, and the BMI system is intended for humans only. Would anyone call a 5' tall 150 pound dwarf "obese"? Because the BMI system does. Same thing in reverse for elves.
Yes, the BMI system is flawed in some ways, but it's a decent general guideline, which is all I'm using it for.
sidonunspa
First Post
At first I didint like the passive skill check thing
but after thinking about it, I like it alot.. just sucks for the people being snuck up on...
but after thinking about it, I like it alot.. just sucks for the people being snuck up on...
I don't know this, but I think it is to bring elves closer to what they are in faerie tales and the like (where elves = faery pretty much). They are more like slackers and jokers than the melancholic, focused elves of Tolkien (which is good too, but a bit overdone IMO).Asmor said:
sidonunspa
First Post
ainatan said:
90% shure.. pg 68.. R&C, right above the smaple power writeup
med stud said:
But to be honest that why people play D&D they are looking for that Tolken'esk feel... if you want diffrent take on elves I know a lot of 3rd party publishers have done there own take
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