D&D (2024) No Dwarf, Halfling, and Orc suborgins, lineages, and legacies

[Remathilis]

Tangent: How exactly is Corellon chaotic good? He's cursed an entire species of his own creation multiple times just because he's having a fight with his ex; he hangs out with a demigod whose entire portfolio is genocide; and he's demolished a populated continent in the Forgotten Realms just to create some primo real estate for his buddies. I'm starting to think Gruumsh was the good guy in the mythical Corellon v. Gruumsh showdown.

To bring it back on topic: Why are the drow the only default elf lineage not under Corellon's thumb? I mean, is Corellon the only deity who can create elves? Multiple deities have created humans, after all. Why can't there be more lineages of elves who have no connection at all to Corellon and his crimes against nature shenanigans?

Deific alignment defies any sort of logic. See: Dragonlance.

It's a debate best left untouched.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

Deific alignment defies any sort of logic. See: Dragonlance.

It's a debate best left untouched.

It is simpler than that:
The alignment defies any sort of logic.

 

[tetrasodium]

To bring it back on topic: Why are the drow the only default elf lineage not under Corellon's thumb? I mean, is Corellon the only deity who can create elves? Multiple deities have created humans, after all. Why can't there be more lineages of elves who have no connection at all to Corellon and his crimes against nature shenanigans?

All eberron elves have no ties to him. Franky he's kind of a frustration because I've seen so many players try to loredump FR through "well Corellon ... So..." At newer players in my eberron darksun and nom-FR ravenloft games in ways that massively contradict eberron and darksun races

 

[Remathilis]

It is simpler than that:
The alignment defies any sort of logic.

Also true, but deities are the embodiment of an ideal which makes contradictions even more glaring.

 

[Vikingkingq]

so past being elf Aquaman what makes sea elves cool. hint nothing.

Is the question whether these things are cool or not or whether these are elements of culture vs. biology?

 

[Epic Meepo]

All eberron elves have no ties to him. Franky he's kind of a frustration because I've seen so many players try to loredump FR through "well Corellon ... So..." At newer players in my eberron darksun and nom-FR ravenloft games in ways that massively contradict eberron and darksun races

In fairness to the Forgotten Realms, Corellon isn't native to that setting. The first elves to arrive on Toril worshipped the gods of the Fey. They weren't even aware of Corellon's existence at the time. A population of Corellon's followers migrated to the Realms centuries later (after recklessly demolishing their original homeland in the Feywild) and mass-murdered their way to supremacy over an entire continent (which they then recklessly demolished).

 

[Remathilis]

All eberron elves have no ties to him. Franky he's kind of a frustration because I've seen so many players try to loredump FR through "well Corellon ... So..." At newer players in my eberron darksun and nom-FR ravenloft games in ways that massively contradict eberron and darksun races

This is why D&D supporting a bunch of different settings is bad. You either end up with a bunch of settings going "ackshullay..." To the default lore, or you end up with such bland default lore that is basically a paragraph saying elves are fey adjacent and have pointy ears but nothing else.

D&D should support one setting in depth, not a dozen an inch thin.

 

[TwoSix]

This is why D&D supporting a bunch of different settings is bad. You either end up with a bunch of settings going "ackshullay..." To the default lore, or you end up with such bland default lore that is basically a paragraph saying elves are fey adjacent and have pointy ears but nothing else.

D&D should support one setting in depth, not a dozen an inch thin.

I'll be honest, I'm pretty OK with the core game just providing bland aesthetics for races, and leaving deep lore and different takes to specific setting books.

For some of my games, I want exploration of the setting elements to a be primary focus. Other games, I just want setting to just be something in the background.

 

[Epic Meepo]

I'll be honest, I'm pretty OK with the core game just providing bland aesthetics for races, and leaving deep lore and different takes to specific setting books.

Can a setting book have a "different take" on a core species if the core book doesn't commit to any take on that species in the first place? Why print a Schrodinger's elf which has no lore instead of, say, a feat for humans that are statuesque and long-lived due to their mastery of magic and meditation? That feat to create a lore-free elf aesthetic would take up less page count than a full species write-up.

 

[Mind of tempest]

I'll be honest, I'm pretty OK with the core game just providing bland aesthetics for races, and leaving deep lore and different takes to specific setting books.

For some of my games, I want exploration of the setting elements to a be primary focus. Other games, I just want setting to just be something in the background.

the problem is more for non-original options we can argue what an elf is till cows master space flight but a Dragonborn is free to be defined by a setting.