D&D 5E Why Dont The Creators Add Snow Elves In D&D?

[Ketser]

Snow elves were in 3.5 Frostburn book. A fitting place for an arctic themed subrace.

 

[Sacrosanct]

What about elf on the shelf? I shall call him Kegel the elf. Shelf elves get bonuses to stealth and perception, and gain the alertness feat for free.


Always watching....

 

[I'm A Banana]

Snow elves were in 3.5 Frostburn book. A fitting place for an arctic themed subrace.

And what's weird is that mechanically, they're just an attempt to dodge the 3e elf's CON penalty (in this case, swapped for CHA to play off the "arrogant elf" stereotype).

This game has some under-supported races, but snow elves? They almost don't exist as a separate race! In 5e, there'd be little reason for them as a distinct subrace. Be a high elf, dump CHA, call it good!

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I have no issue with people adding races to their hearts content. And I can understand that there are a lot more recent players that like the special and unqiue snowflake experience of being part demon, or part dragon. But whatevs... these shouldn't be core player classes. Maybe I'm a little too Gygaxian at heart, but there should be a lot of humans, then a few of the races that humans would see and trade with. Maybe the occasional half orc. I get that. But it would seem to require a bit of a special campaign to norm a tiefling. Try explaining one of those (or a dragonborn) to the Villager of Hommlet.

Except that D&D now supports more than just Gygaxian settings. I like those settings, too, but there's no reason that people who want more than that shouldn't find those choices supported in the PHB.

Unless they want to play elves. Cut all elves from the PHB.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I have no issue with people adding races to their hearts content. And I can understand that there are a lot more recent players that like the special and unqiue snowflake experience of being part demon, or part dragon. But whatevs... these shouldn't be core player classes. Maybe I'm a little too Gygaxian at heart, but there should be a lot of humans, then a few of the races that humans would see and trade with. Maybe the occasional half orc. I get that. But it would seem to require a bit of a special campaign to norm a tiefling. Try explaining one of those (or a dragonborn) to the Villager of Hommlet.

Okay, now I'll go and roll my d20, both ways, uphill.

Well, if D&D campaign settings followed the trend of so many D&D campaigns, the normal human Villager of Hommlet would be so freakishly unusual she would stand out like a spotlight in the Underdark. Some campaigns make entire worlds look like the Mos Eisley Cantina.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

I have no issue with people adding races to their hearts content. And I can understand that there are a lot more recent players that like the special and unqiue snowflake experience of being part demon, or part dragon. But whatevs... these shouldn't be core player classes. Maybe I'm a little too Gygaxian at heart, but there should be a lot of humans, then a few of the races that humans would see and trade with. Maybe the occasional half orc. I get that. But it would seem to require a bit of a special campaign to norm a tiefling. Try explaining one of those (or a dragonborn) to the Villager of Hommlet.

Okay, now I'll go and roll my d20, both ways, uphill.

what about a world where 60% human was fine but the other 40% instead of being elves and dwarves being teiflings and dragonborn... I fail to see the difference. Maybe in that world it would be the elf looked at odd

 

[Ketser]

And what's weird is that mechanically, they're just an attempt to dodge the 3e elf's CON penalty (in this case, swapped for CHA to play off the "arrogant elf" stereotype).

This game has some under-supported races, but snow elves? They almost don't exist as a separate race! In 5e, there'd be little reason for them as a distinct subrace. Be a high elf, dump CHA, call it good!

Oh yes they were mechanically so bad and boring

5e has better tools of making subraces a bit more different from each other than 3.5 or earlier edition. I would actually welcome some 5e combined version of the Frostburn/Sandstorm/Stormwrack books that could offer some optional environment based subraces. Snow elves, sea dwarves, desert halflings... whatever you might want to add, as long as they can make them at least semi-interesting and different from other subraces.

 

[Scorpio616]

Well, they did exclude dragonborn as well. Kinda sad really, I liked Dragonborn. I thought they were cool. We need a scaley race.

I'd disagree but since I like Draconians I just made the 5E dragonnborn a subrace of that breed. Also i changed their appearance along with tieflings, Dragonborn heads look like various different Dragons, while tieflings vary WILDLY ala 2E tieflings.

I keep saying that the biggest problem I have is with the specific inclusion of Tieflings and Dragonborn in the core rules of 5e. Well, and to a lesser extent Drow.
But it would seem to require a bit of a special campaign to norm a tiefling. Try explaining one of those (or a dragonborn) to the Villager of Hommlet.

Drow are particularly optional, so disallowing them is no big deal. I flat out stated that the PC Half orcs and tieflings* are among the few that can pass for human. Dragonborn barely tend to get by because of the Efforts and Deeds of the Priesthood of Bahamut.

 

[Hussar]

Huh? Dragonborn are in the 5e PHB.

Er, Dragonborn are in the 5e PHB! page 32.

Gak. I have no idea what I was thinking. Durrr.

 

[jayoungr]

I don't care what book they were in, 2e had a ton of subraces for elf... 3e wasn't much better. When 4e split them off to be eladrin I was glad they weren't more elves...

Because making them exactly the same but calling them "eladrin" makes it so much better?