Should there just be one sort of elf?

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

With the (apparent) ability for players to choose racial abilities or class abilities at every level, is there a reason to have 10,000 varieties of elves? Instead, couldn't/shouldn't WotC just put all the elf abilities into the racial ability list and just say that certain abilities are more common in some elf cultures/regions than others?

 

[Mouseferatu]

With the exception of drow, which are far too popular ever to get rid of, I'm all for it. But then, I've never liked the notion of races having 2,497 sub-races each.

 

[w_earle_wheeler]

I would hope so.

I would really rather see the abilities of subraces defined more my cultural factors than hardwired racial factors.

The drow might be an exception (as would the duergar for the dwarves), but for things like "grey elves" and "mountain dwarves" the differences should just be folded into one governing set of rules with different cultural options.

 

[thundershot]

YES! ONE ELF IS FINE! I'm sorry... the core books won't go into the various HUMAN cultures, so the demi-humans don't need 'em either. Speaking of which, will the name "demi-human" return in 4E? It disappeared in 3E...



Chris

 

[Szatany]

Make some most popular subraces new races of their own (with ancestry derived from the original race in the fluff section). Otherwise scrap them and offer them as racial feats, etc.

For example, drow aren't dark elves anymore. They are drow. Fluff describes them as long lost brothers of elves, but that brings no mechanical effects.

 

[Ashrem Bayle]

[sarcasm] Wait... I thought elves evolved based on their time zone. No? [/sarcasm]

One elf race. That's all we need.

 

[Simplicity]

If 4e doesn't have sandwich elves, then I won't buy it!

You can take the sandwich out of my elves,
but you can't take the elves out of my sandwich.

 

[Szatany]

[sarcasm] Wait... I thought elves evolved based on their time zone. No? [/sarcasm]

One elf race. That's all we need.

Indeed. Wanna play atypical elf, apply a template.

 

[Nifft]

- Moon*
- Sun**
- Deep***
- Wood****
- Steamed
- Boiled

Elves for every taste.
Cheers, -- N

*) sushi
**) dried
***) fried
****) hickory smoked

 

[Arkham]

Indeed there should.
There should also be templates you can add for cultural differences.
i.e. Jungle Born, for the Wood Elf, Jungle Dwarf, Arboreal Kobold, Jungle Humans, Rainforest Gnome ( damn, no gnomes. *weep* )