Holiday Present - The Elf PHB entry

[renevq]

I really liked the writeup. The racial fluff has elves looking more like this:

Which is so far my favorite elf fluff.

Regarding the Elven Accuracy power: This sounds like it could be really useful in conjunction with other powers. The racial power + the feat = Lightning Recovery from Bo9S, and I always found it really useful. When using a per encounter maneuver (e.g. Feral Death Blow), It really helps to reroll those misses, especially if you are counting on an effect of the maneuver. I know this the race was meant for rangers, rogues and clerics, but I'm wondering that elves will make kickass fighters. Also, has it been mentioned if per encounter powers will have recharges ala Bo9S maneuvers or SWSE force powers? This would make it even more interesting.

 

[EricNoah]

Pretty neat. I have to concur with those who have a problem with the perception aura thing -- I could see the elf granting a bonus if he himself succeeds on the check, but if the elf doesn't notice the (whatever), why would that make his nearby non-elf companions more likely to notice? If I were switching over, I might make it so that the elves in the party make the checks first, and if they succeed the rest of the party makes their checks at +1. Or I might just skip that ability entirely.

 

[sidonunspa]

So let me see if I got it right.
When you use a skills "passively" you consider it to be a defense, ranks+10.
If you use it "actively" you normally roll 1d20+ranks.

Are you shure about that?

From R&C

"Another idea that has been bandied about lately is converting some skills to passive "defense" values. Spot and Listen are good examples....."

Now we know they have perception, but we also keep hearing about spot and listen being skills...

So, my guess is that perception just may be an averaged value of spot and listen +10... Thus being a passive skill.

 

[Dausuul]

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

If you want Tolkienesque elves, play eladrin.

The short-lived passions thing makes a lot of sense to me, actually--if you live a really long time, you might well tend to live in the moment. Spending a lot of time brooding over the past or the future would just get depressing.

 

[Sir Brennen]

So let me see if I got it right.
When you use a skills "passively" you consider it to be a defense, ranks+10.
If you use it "actively" you normally roll 1d20+ranks.

Are you shure about that?

"Another idea that's been bandied about lately is converting some skills to passive "defense" values" - R&C, page 68. Note that the idea was not finalized as of that writing.

But it does address the problem of 1 sneaker vs. large group - you've got a much better chanced chance that at least one roll in the large group will be on the "high" end, but only "normal" chances for the sneaker to have a good roll.

Edit: sidonunspa keeps beating me to the punch.

 

[Wormwood]

Eew..there's a nasty email circulating about the 4E elf (elfth) details released today...

Okay, now I'm curious.

 

[Deverash]

I may be reading too much into it, but the racial feat has a prerequisite of both "Elf" and "Elven Accuracy racial Power". This strongly implies that all elves don't have the power as a default, but that it's an option you can choose when deciding your powers.

 

[Banshee16]

I am now thinking I need to create an adventure to investigate why the lifespan of elves has shorted from 2000 years to 200 over the past couple of decades. Clearly this is not a natural occurance and something needs to be done to reverse this terrifying trend.

Actually I like the shorter life span, it makes a huge difference in the homebrew setting I have been working on for a while. The longer life span of the elves made it difficult to have certain world-shaking events of the past be forgotten without making it a really, really long time ago.

Overall I'm liking the elf write up, but I will join with others in some concern about the "aura" bonuses we have seen a few of and the possible complexity of keeping track of them all.

Lifespan's one of the first things to Rule 0 for me. Not very Fey-like at all. I prefer my Fey long-lived....as in centuries or millenia. I'm not a huge fan of change for the sake of change, and roleplaying wise...most gamers I've played with haven't been good enough roleplayers in the first place for their lifespan to become an issue. But the change causes havoc with a whole bunch of other things in the game.....to say nothing of the fact that I just don't like it.

I'm also curious how the Group Awareness ability is supposed to work. Does having an elf standing next to you make your eyes work better? Or is it just supposed to be that the elf can see better, and he points things out to you that ordinarily you wouldn't see? Because if that's the case, it's generally done through roleplaying.

Banshee

 

[Kintara]

Pretty neat. I have to concur with those who have a problem with the perception aura thing -- I could see the elf granting a bonus if he himself succeeds on the check, but if the elf doesn't notice the (whatever), why would that make his nearby non-elf companions more likely to notice? If I were switching over, I might make it so that the elves in the party make the checks first, and if they succeed the rest of the party makes their checks at +1. Or I might just skip that ability entirely.

What if the elf is instinctually directing those nearby to focus on their surroundings in a more general sense, or coordinating the vision and hearing angles of the party?

 

[Scribble]

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.

To me, it's a good way to explain why the long lived races aren't more advanced, or capable then humans. They just don't have enough patience or drive concerning any one particular goal.