D&D 4E messy's 4e newbie questions thread

Eltab

Lord of the Hidden Layer
This a post testing for @messy 's page 17 concerns.
I do not block anybody (on purpose) and as far as I know nobody has blocked me.
I have page length = 20 posts, and I see your posts (#159,#160) at the bottom of Page 8.
I will have to look if this post appears as post #161 at the top of Page 9.

edit: yes, it did
 

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Tony Vargas

Legend
83. do 4e elves and eladrin correspond to 5e wood elves and high elves, respectively?
Yes.

4e elves and eladrin corresponded to AD&D wood elves and high elves (the Eladrin entry even said they were often called High Elves). Sorta. There were a lotta elves in the TSR era, and many got divided between the two (and Drow), plus the odd feat or background or something to be a more specific type, but I'm pretty sure some were left out in the cold, too.

Eladrin, though, was also a race of elf-like outsiders (immortals in 4e parlance) introduced in 3.5 (or 2e? I forget), and 4e Eladrin did also take some ideas from them.

5e even kept the racial mods that 4e introduced (Elves/Wood Elves are +2 DEX/WIS; Eladrin/High Elves are +2 DEX/INT) - prior to 4e, wood elves (which were a tad obscure) got a strength bonus, and high elves were the 'standard' elves, with just a dex bonus & con penalty, and favored class (3.x) or multi-class level limits(AD&D), rather than an INT bonus representing their facility with magic (though Drow & Grey elves got an INT bonus).
 

83. do 4e elves and eladrin correspond to 5e wood elves and high elves, respectively?

While I think [MENTION=996]Tony Vargas[/MENTION] has a decent answer, I think that 4e's elves and eladrin aren't PRECISELY like anything that came before.

Eladrin are more like 'Fey creatures', the 'shee' of Celtic myth in essence. They live in an otherworld, the Feywild, and often readily travel back and forth, entering the mortal world through 'Fey crossings' and such. They are inherently magical, being more loosely tied to time and space than mere mortals. Powerful Eladrin enter into the ranks of, and become indistinguishable from, the 'arch fey', a category of creatures somewhat analogous to things like demons and such.

Elves, I would say, more represent something that doesn't really exist in European folklore, and is much more closely aligned with Tolkien's depiction of 'Avari' or something like that. A race which has withdrawn from its more magical roots and become essentially mundane creatures, though still with some distant connections to their ancient fey origins.

There simply aren't exact parallels with AD&D elf types, all of which are more like 4e elves than eladrin, though if one were to try to equate, then Gygax's 'grey elves' might be most like the 4e Eladrin, though they still lack the otherworldly origins and connection.

I would say there is still a good bit of Tolkien in 4e's Elves & Eladrin, but the eladrin at least are also a good bit more like European elves were sometimes depicted. You could also spin Eladrin a bit and depict them much like the 'Eldar' of Moorcock's Eternal Champion and related cycles.
 

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