Elves
Size: Medium
Speed: 30 feet
Lifespan: Functionally infinite
Alignment: Elves love freedom, variety, and self-expression, so they lean strongly towards the gentler aspects of chaos. They value and protect others' freedom as well as their own, and are good more often than not.
Languages: Tanglish, Elvish
Note: Drow (Dark Elves) are treated as a separate race in this setting. See Drow for details.
Overview
TBD — DM
Physical Description
Elves are a magical people of otherworldly grace. They range from under 5 to over 6 feet tall and have slender builds. They are slender and graceful.
Most people know elves for living simply in forests or nomadically on the plains. They love nature and magic, art and artistry, music and poetry, and are often found in the midst of ancient forests or following the seasons across open grasslands.
Society and Customs
Elves are as much magical as biological. They exist in a unique state where their biology and magic are deeply intertwined, creating a people who are fundamentally different from humans in both their needs and their capabilities.
There are three distinct elven races in this setting: - High Elves: Wield arcane magic, live in extreme isolation - Wood Elves: Wield fae magic, live in forests - Plains Elves: Wield fae magic, adapted to open terrain
Wood and Plains elves maintain closer ties to the natural world and fae magic, while High Elves have isolated themselves from other cultures to such an extent that they are practically a myth to most people, their culture so insular that few people have ever encountered one.
Shared Elven Values
Despite their cultural differences, all three elven subraces share fundamental values: community and deep ties to their community. Whether living in a Forest village, a Plains tribe, or a High Elven city, elves value their community connections above almost all else. The elven word for one who leaves the tribe to seek life on their own is tauhanwe, which literally translates as "one who stirs shit up." This term reflects the elven view that leaving the community is disruptive and goes against the fundamental values of elven society. Those who choose this path are often viewed with concern, confusion, or even disapproval by their communities, as their departure represents a rejection of the communal bonds that are central to elven identity.
Magical Nature
Elves have very limited need for food and can technically subsist on mana alone. This magical sustenance goes even further—elves can use mana to replace breathing, allowing them to survive in environments where other races would suffocate. This magical nature means that while elves can eat and breathe normally, they are not strictly dependent on these functions in the way that other races are.
Metabolic Differences
Elves grow and heal commensurately with their lifespan. Where humans heal very quickly—a broken bone taking only weeks to recover—elves heal very slowly. The same broken bone that would heal in weeks for a human will take years to finish healing for an elf. This slow healing is reflected in dramatically reduced healing from rest, as an elf's body simply does not regenerate at the same rate as other races.
However, elves also possess improved senses and acrobatic agility that exceed those of other races, compensating in some ways for their physical fragility.
Population and Distribution
TBD — DM
Role in the World
TBD — DM
Ability Score Increase
Your Dexterity score increases by 2.
Racial Traits
Darkvision
Accustomed to twilit forests and the night sky, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Keen Senses and Grace
You have proficiency in the Perception and Acrobatics skills. Elves possess improved senses and acrobatic agility that exceed those of other races, reflecting their magical nature and physical grace.
Fey Ancestry
You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can't put you to sleep.
Deep Sleep
Elves do sleep, and they do so very deeply. They only need 4 hours of sleep per day, but when elves sleep, they enter a near-hypnotic trance that is hard to break. This deep, trance-like sleep is so profound that it can be difficult to rouse an elf from their rest. While in this state, elves process memories, practice mental exercises, and restore their magical and physical energies. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit a human would from 8 hours of sleep.
If you are awakened from this trance-like sleep, you may be disoriented for a moment. Others have disadvantage on checks made to wake you from this deep sleep state.
Slow Healing
Due to your metabolic differences, you heal much more slowly than other races. When you spend Hit Dice during a short rest, you regain only half the normal number of hit points (rounded down). During a long rest, you regain only half your hit points (rounded down) instead of all your hit points. This reflects the slow healing rate that accompanies your extended lifespan—injuries that would heal in weeks for humans take years for elves.
Subraces
Choose one of the following subraces:
High Elf
As a high elf, you have a keen mind and a mastery of at least the basics of magic. High elves wield arcane magic and generally avoid other cultures, viewing them as inferior. They live in such extreme isolation that they are practically a myth to most people—their culture is so insular that few people have ever encountered one.
High elves are haughty and reclusive, believing themselves to be superior to non-elves and even other elves. They maintain their distance from outside cultures and other races, focusing on their arcane studies and magical pursuits in their isolated communities.
High Elven Culture
High Elven culture is fundamentally different from that of their forest and plains cousins. Their entire society functions as an arcane meritocracy, where power and status are determined by magical achievement. High Elven Magisters are master mages whose elevation to political power typically arises as a result of arcane achievement rather than birth or other factors. This system rewards those who push the boundaries of magical knowledge and capability.
Their city, separated as it is from other cultures, is an arcane and technological marvel to the rare few who have the opportunity to see it. The High Elven arcane tradition has developed in fundamentally different ways from other cultures, unconstrained by the limitations and traditions that shape arcane magic elsewhere in the world.
Fashion and Aesthetics: High Elven fashion is eccentric, favoring glass and gold with elaborate robes and ornamentation. Frequently, High Elven garb cannot even maintain its structure or shape absent the enchantment supporting it—clothing that relies on magic not just for beauty but for basic functionality, creating a style that is both extravagant and impossible for non-elves to replicate.
Ability Score Increase: Your Intelligence score increases by 1.
Cantrip: You know one cantrip of your choice from the Wizard spell list. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for it.
Elf Weapon Training: You have proficiency with the longsword, scimitar, dagger, shortbow, longbow, wand, and staff.
Extra Language: You can read, speak, and write one additional language of your choice.
Wood Elf (Forest Elf)
As a wood elf, you have keen senses and intuition, and your fleet feet carry you quickly and stealthily through your native forests. Wood elves wield fae magic and maintain deep connections with nature and the fae realm.
Wood elves are the elven subrace that most people have regular interaction with. They are often reclusive and distrusting of non-elves, though less so than high elves. They prefer the wilderness and forests, where they can maintain their connection to nature and fae magic, living simply in harmony with the natural world.
Forest Elven Culture
Forest elves build their villages around sites of Fae power—dryad groves, pixie warrens, and other locations where fae energy is strong. These communities have strong ties with the Fae, and the relationship between forest elves and fae beings is one of mutual respect and cooperation.
Rejection of Arcane Magic: Forest elves willingly eschew arcane magic because they find it too easy. With an infinite lifespan, they recognize that they could build their arcane reservoirs to ridiculous proportions, accumulating vast magical power over centuries. However, both Forest and Plains elves find this practice abhorrent. They instead choose to live in balance with nature, rejecting the temptation of unlimited arcane power in favor of harmony with the natural world and fae magic.
Long View of Vocation: Forest elves take a very long view of vocation and life pursuits. A forest elf might spend a decade mastering a particular style of painting on a whim, or devote a century to perfecting a craft. They tend to accumulate esoteric skills and knowledge as a result, becoming masters of many arts and crafts over their long lives. Importantly, living simply with nature does not mean they themselves are simple or do not understand the arcane magical technology popping up in the world around them. They simply are choosing to live apart from it, maintaining their traditional ways.
Leadership and Community: Forest elf tribes are led by their Elders, and Elven Elders can be very old indeed. In a Forest tribe, the Elders are frequently thousands of years old, having accumulated vast wisdom and experience over their long lives. Both Forest and Plains cultures place an important emphasis on Shamans who commune with the Fae on behalf of the tribe, serving as intermediaries between the elves and their fae allies.
Dress and Appearance: Forest elves dress simply in leather, hide, and simple natural fabrics, often with dyed patterns that reflect their connection to nature and their tribe's traditions. Their clothing is practical, beautiful in its simplicity, and crafted with the care that comes from having unlimited time to perfect one's skills.
Ability Score Increase: Your Wisdom score increases by 1.
Elf Weapon Training: You have proficiency with the longsword, scimitar, dagger, shortbow, and longbow.
Fleet of Foot: Your base walking speed increases to 35 feet.
Mask of the Wild: You can attempt to hide even when you are only lightly obscured by foliage, heavy rain, falling snow, mist, and other natural phenomena.
Plains Elf
As a plains elf, you have adapted to the open grasslands and rolling plains. Like wood elves, plains elves wield fae magic and have adapted to life on the open terrain rather than deep forests.
Plains elves often lead nomadic or semi-nomadic lifestyles, moving with the seasons and herds. They are renowned for their horsemanship and hunting prowess, excelling at tracking and ranged combat across open terrain. They maintain strong connections to nature and fae magic, similar to their wood elf cousins.
Plains Elven Culture
Plains elf tribes are becoming rarer as frontiers to human civilization shrink. They predominantly can now be found roaming the Golden Sea, a dimensionally unstable plain in the center of the Tiraan frontier. This harsh, magical environment has become one of the last refuges for the nomadic plains elf way of life.
Living in the Moment: While Forest elf tribes take a long view of things, plains elves are forced to live more in the moment. They are truly nomadic, living off the land as they roam, moving with the seasons, herds, and the flow of fae energy across the plains. This lifestyle requires immediate action and decision-making, leaving less time for the decades-long pursuits that Forest elves enjoy.
Leadership and Community: Plains elf tribes are led by their Elders, but the harsher lives of Plains elves tend to lead to Elders being "merely" in their late hundreds rather than thousands of years old like their Forest cousins. Despite this shorter lifespan for Elders, the importance of their wisdom and guidance is no less. Like Forest elves, Plains cultures place an important emphasis on Shamans who commune with the Fae on behalf of the tribe.
Rejection of Arcane Magic: Like Forest elves, Plains elves willingly eschew arcane magic, finding the practice of accumulating vast arcane reservoirs abhorrent. They choose to live in balance with nature, relying on fae magic and their connection to the natural world.
Dress and Appearance: Plains elves dress simply in leather, hide, and simple natural fabrics, often with dyed patterns that reflect their nomadic lifestyle and connection to the open plains. Their clothing is designed for mobility and durability, suited to the rigors of constant travel.
Ability Score Increase: Your Wisdom score increases by 1.
Elf Weapon Training: You have proficiency with the longsword, scimitar, dagger, shortbow, longbow, handaxe, and battleaxe.
Fleet of Foot: Your base walking speed increases to 35 feet.
Plains Runner: You can attempt to hide even when you are only lightly obscured by tall grass, dust clouds, fog, or other natural phenomena common to open terrain. Additionally, you have advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks made to track creatures across open terrain.
Related: Races Index | Mechanics Index | Ability Scores