Holiday Present - The Elf PHB entry

[Moon-Lancer]

I don't understand why people take such issue with the height/weight of elves. When I finished high school I was 6 foot tall and weighed 128 pounds. I was fit enough to run at least a mile every day, do farm work, play basketball fairly well, etc, etc. Yeah, I was skinny, but not OMG YOU'RE GONNA DIE skinny.

When I graduated college in 2003 I was up to 145 pounds, and honestly didn't look much different. I now weight 160 pounds but I blame that on lack of excerise and bad diet.

I know what you mean. I'm 5.11 and 140 pounds. Its almost as if the majority of gamers were fat.... AH HA, the popularity of dwarves makes perfect sense now.

 

[The_Fan]

I'd imagine it's like what it was in the PHB2. That book had a number of different example character traits you could apply to your character. They were just suggestions designed to get people to think about their character's personality a bit more.

In that book, there was no mechanical benefit for it. And I hope for the love of all that is good they don't tie any mechanics into the characteristics in the 4E PHB because then it'll take all of a half-second for those to turn from 'suggestions to flesh out a personality' into 'ways to squeeze the most juice out of certain builds'.

Probably right. It would lead to what you say, though the intention would be good. Maybe if it's highly situational or fully at DM discretion if you got the bonus or not?

But you're right, probably best left as a roleplaying suggestion.

 

[The_Fan]

I know what you mean. I'm 5.11 and 140 pounds. Its almost as if the majority of gamers were fat.... AH HA, the popularity of dwarves makes perfect sense now.

6'4", 170 lbs.

I've found gamers tend to be at the extremes. Very tall, very skinny, very short, or very fat. We're an odd looking bunch.

 

[Mr. Wilson]

6'4", 170 lbs.

I've found gamers tend to be at the extremes. Very tall, very skinny, very short, or very fat. We're an odd looking bunch.

It would be an interesting experiment to see if gamer's body type influenced what race they played in D&D.

 

[Spinachcat]

Group Awareness: You grant non-elf allies within 5 squares a +1 racial bonus to Perception checks.

If my dwarf is surrounded by 10 elf buddies, do I get a +10 bonus?

 

[Will]

Just a minor note to say that BMI is a horrible horrible thing, mainly because it's terribly inaccurate and at the same time misused rather widely by the medical community.

(BMI was originally developed as a statistical population tool in the 1800s.)

 

[Incenjucar]

I know what you mean. I'm 5.11 and 140 pounds. Its almost as if the majority of gamers were fat.... AH HA, the popularity of dwarves makes perfect sense now.

Muscular or simply bulky of form. You'd be amazed how much you can weigh with a 30" waist.

The main thing is that, with all the physical activity elves get involved in... outdoors no less... and often in trees... and this is their standard behavior...

But not that big a deal. Just makes them easier to pick up and throw.

 

[KarinsDad]

The range isn't too broad if the bonuses on the opposed Stealth role are of a similar value, which they should be if my understanding of the SWSE skill system is correct.

Not true.

If the enemies have +16 as well, then only the PC Elf has a real chance to notice them. The PCs will rarely notice them.

If the enemies have +6 so that all of the +1 to +6 PCs have some chance to notice them, then the PC Elf notices them nearly every time.

This isn't balance.

 

[The Little Raven]

Not true.

If the enemies have +16 as well, then only the PC Elf has a real chance to notice them. The PCs will rarely notice them.

If the enemies have +6 so that all of the +1 to +6 PCs have some chance to notice them, then the PC Elf notices them nearly every time.

This isn't balance.

But when it comes down to it, this isn't because he's an elf, it's because he's a character that is focused on Perception. As has been demonstrated, a human with an equal focus on Perception will have a score within 3 points of the elf.

 

[Stalker0]

Perhaps to even things a bit more at 1st level, +5 to each may only be the bonus at the Epic tier. At Heroic and Paragon tiers, perhaps the bonuses from Trained and Focus could be +3 and +4 - still a significant edge over untrained/unfocused characters, but not nearly as overwhelming.

I personally would love it if feats scaled like that in 4e. Flat bonuses that increase every so often. Not a crazy amount, just once in a blue moon, but it makes the feat competitive (but not over the top) at both low and high levels.

But really, perception is a big, big skill. (Like init is, if that is for some reason made a skill, like Saga). That surprise round can literally kill you. Throwing a feat into that is very worthwhile, since it comes up in some many encounters, particularly the potentially fatal ones.

Another assumption we have to take a closer look at. We know in 4e there will be less "save or suck spells", at least as far as save or dies. Further, combats are expected to take more rounds to accomplish. Therefore, it makes sense that the surprise round is less important than it once was. In that respect, initiative plays less of a role. So even if the elf goes on surprise round often, it likely will not make as big an impact as you would expect.