The winged elf

[Gez]

Re: Re: The winged elf

The sky elves in Quintessential Elf are +2 Str and Dex, -4 Int (and +2 ECL). I don't see much reason for their high strength and incredible stupidity.

IMHO, this is reasonnable. Why the big strength ? I dunno, but maybe, if you have to lift your nigh human weight with two wings, you would like to be much more muscular, at least with regard to your winged limbs, than you are. If you look at how a bird is built, you'll see their wing muscles in their chest are oversized compared to a walking animal. And since muscular strength grows with the square of your muscle width, while your weight grows with the cube of your size... If this weren't fantasy, avariels could not fly. They may be able to glide, but not lift.

As for the -4 Int... This can be explained quite easily.

First, +2 Str must be balanced by -4 to something else. -2/-2 could have been chosen instead, of course, but they need wisdom (awareness of own's surrounding, keenness of senses) and charisma (if you play an angel-looking elf, it's not to have the charisma of a shy, introverted, socially-impaired orc).

Then, birds have a bad reputation for their intellect. Feather-brained, bird-brain, etc. In my mothertongue, I know a good dozen sayings used to insult someone by comparing his intellectual capacities to a bird's ones.

Finally, to reduce their weight, half their skull is full of helium rather than grey matter. This has the side effect of making them popular in illithids revelry, where the flayers have fun by sucking a sky elf's brain and then speaking with squeaky acute voice that make them endlessly laugh. Even mind-flayers need to unwind from time to time.

 

[SylverFlame]

The strength thing shouldn't be there as very little muscle is used in flying (unless you have take an animal with 'stubby' wings which is a different story altogether).

First off, weight isn't really a problem for birds as they have hollow bones, no hard excrement (it's only liquid), and when not being used, the sexual organs decrease in size and become inactive. Essentially, when it's not mating season, most birds could be refered to as "it"-s.

All these things would reduce constitution and not increase strength if you ask me. The purely liquid excrement would increase the presence of chemicals like ammonia in the body which adversely affect the body (it's a poison, fun stuff huh?), and the shrinking of the sexual organs means the body is going through a massive change that puts stress on other systems. Hollow bones break VERY easy. Take a chicken bone from your KFC dinner some time and try to break it; it will shatter.

Also, the reduced sexual organs explains another thing: Elves have low reproductive rates. In the case of Avariels, it is because they can only have children for a few weeks and then it's back to neutered status. Also explains why male and female elves aren't as different looking as the genders of other species. The hormone differences in the body are such that chemical pressures aren't as divergent.

Sorry about the boringness of this post, I just wanted to get a little use out of my multiple years of paying for Biology and Chemistry courses. Now I can say the money wasn't wasted as it's been applied to a great cause! Haha! Justification!


EDIT: Oh yeah, lift is generated by wing size and shape as this will catch thermal drafts that lift a bird into the air. Strength has very little to do with it unless you have stub wings (like a pheasant) which are used for high maneuverability around trees and short flight times. Eagles and Albatross (large, heavy birds that fly great distances for long lengths of times) have a wing span AT LEAST twice their body length and wing width at its widest point is usually the length of the body (or slightly shorter). This causes the lift and forward motion is by wing angling, not flapping. Flapping is to raise the bird in the air or further aid wing angle in descent and maneuverability.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Re: Re: The winged elf

They were called the Avariel in 2E, the Winged Folk (Al Karak Elam) in 1E. There are winged elves in Mongoose's Quintessential Elf, called sky elves. But to be honest, I'm not wild about this version. The 2E Avariel were at -2 Con, +2 Dex. The sky elves in Quintessential Elf are +2 Str and Dex, -4 Int (and +2 ECL). I don't see much reason for their high strength and incredible stupidity.

Well, it's in a Quint book, what did you expect?

I met just one wingeld elf in my gaming life: Aerie, from Baldur's Gate II and it was enough to decide i really don't like them

Never judge a book by its cover. And she wasn't exactly winged: she was and unwinged winged elf, which was an excuse for being unable to support winged creatures with the engine without missing them. It was even worse with fallen-from-grace, the succubus in PS:T, who had her wings and wouldn't fly, too.

And if Aerie (you would think they had more imagination with that name..) would be a witch, she would surely have colorful clothes, would be good in herbalism, and would be considered by the other witches as a wet hen. And her surname would be Garlick

 

[Skullfyre]

Re: Re: Re: The winged elf

Finally, to reduce their weight, half their skull is full of helium rather than grey matter. This has the side effect of making them popular in illithids revelry, where the flayers have fun by sucking a sky elf's brain and then speaking with squeaky acute voice that make them endlessly laugh. Even mind-flayers need to unwind from time to time.

*cleaning computer monitor off since I spewed my soda all over it.*

TO funny

*claps hands*
Bravo! Bravo.
Encore!

 

[Korin Tempest]

the stats for avariels are supposed to be in Races of Faerun.... they just posted the contents on the news page yesterday or the day before

 

[Quip]

I remember seeing a conversion before, I believe it went something like this:

+4 Dex, -4 Con (light body and hollow bones)
bonus to spot checks while flying (+4 I think)
-2 penalty to saves vs fire (flamible feathers)
some other rules involving the wings (only customised light armors I think, no heavy load etc)

On a side note, I remember that most of the race was divided into two cultures, one that emphasized martial ability (fighters) and magical abilities (wizards), making an Int penalty rather inappropriate. That and they suffered from severe claustriphobia to the point where they might go mad if trapped underground.

Curious what an official conversion would look like...

 

[Gez]

I remember seeing a conversion before, I believe it went something like this:

That was probably Colin Chapman's conversion, he tried to get WotC to publish it as a web-enhancement (he also tried to make one with the werecats and the dancers of Sharess); of course he got nothing from WotC, but his work has been put on Dlarblahbrat (or a name like that):

http://myth-drannor.net/DlabraddathNet/z-Cormanthyr/Avarial.htm

3e stats are on the second page.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

I remember seeing a conversion before, I believe it went something like this:

+4 Dex, -4 Con (light body and hollow bones)
bonus to spot checks while flying (+4 I think)
-2 penalty to saves vs fire (flamible feathers)
some other rules involving the wings (only customised light armors I think, no heavy load etc)

On a side note, I remember that most of the race was divided into two cultures, one that emphasized martial ability (fighters) and magical abilities (wizards), making an Int penalty rather inappropriate. That and they suffered from severe claustriphobia to the point where they might go mad if trapped underground.

Curious what an official conversion would look like...

I think they will only be one version of avariel, and you won't have flammable feathers or claustrophobia: 3e did away with most of that stuff (like the XP penalties for Wood elf players who didn't play their characters like xenophobes, or get the creeps when seeing the sea or underground or soemthing; or the loss of abilities for drow elves and their gear when they go out into the sun).