Elemental Elves
(Yes, more elves...)
Designer's Background:
When I updated my outer planar elves to the Planescape
setting, I got to thinking about another planar elf species that I saw
while wandering the web. I ran across an interesting page, Eric
Noah's Planescape Campaign Page, which featured wind elves.
According to Eric's page, wind elves are a race of elemental-kin that are
also apparently akin to elves.
This notion intruiged me. Elves who settled on the
inner planes might have mixed thier blood with that of other inner planar
creatures, essentially making them the elven equivalent of Genasi. Perhaps
in times ancient, elves allied with and occasionally cross-bred with some
manner of elemental kin, the prime candidates being sylphs and nymphs.
Over the years, perhaps the elves' habitation on the elemental planes and
further crossbreeding bred those traits into the species for the long term.
Why more elves?
You think that after introducing the outer planar elves
into my campaign, that would be enough. Well, I try to run my campaign
by three main principles (there's that rule of three again...): Demand,
logic, and background.
Starting with demand: more players in my campaign
play elves than dwarves or other demihumans. Some DMs try to fight this
trend. I, on the other hand, decided to go with the flow. In my Trinalia
Campaign, elves are one of the three major races--no reason to make
elves rare in the world if they are common in PC parties. I think it's
fairly safe to import that attitude into my Planescape campaign.
As far as logic goes, it makes sense that more elves
will have migrated to the various planes than dwarves (for example.) The
magical ability of elves lend them to having access to the planes more
easily than nonmagical dwarves. Further, with the low reproduction rates
of elves, it is a survival trait for elves to flee to new lands whenever
they are faced with a militarily superior foe; dwarves are hadier, somewhat
shorter lived and more fecund, and thus more likely to "stick it out" in
a bad military situation. Given the nature-oriented tendencies of elves,
I think it just as likely that some offshoots migrated to the inner planes
as the outer planes.
Finally is background. In my Trinalia
campaign, I modeled the Turanian culture loosely around Norse culture
(actually, more Norse with a tad of American Indian thrown in.) In Norse
mythology, magic was supposedly taught to mankind by an elf maiden named
Heid. Remaining consistant with that concept (and a general concept in
many AD&D games), I've always assumed that elves have been the forerunners
of mankind in the realms of magic and other areas of cultural development.
Accordingly, I think it is fairly safe to assume that elves would
migrate to the planes as soon as or sooner than humans.
The Gear (that's rules, for you primes)
Though I've not yet formally introduced elemental elves
into my game, I would entertain the thought if a player expressed intrest
in such. Here's how, assuming that you use the Skills & Powers rules
for Planescape characters per Dragon #235:
-
Water and Air ("Wind") elves are most likely, but earth and fire may be
allowed at the DMs discretion.
-
Water elves start out with the general abilities of aquatic elves; all
other elemental elves start with the basic statistics of high elves (you
might want to use Eric Noah's altered stat modifiers for wind elves: -1
str -1 con +2 dex. Water and fire elves would be the standard +1 dex/-1
con, and earth elves might have no modifiers: being in the plane of earth
doesn't lend one to rapid motion, but it does lend one to extreme hardiness.)
-
When choosing abilities, the player may choose either standard elf abilities
(per S&P or Dragon #235), or abilities from the appropriate element's
Genasi list in Dragon #235. Any abilities take from the Genasi list costs
5 extra points each. (This is because while Genasi are allowed 30 points
to buy these abilities, allowing elves 45 points to buy the same abilities
wouldn't quite be fair--the intention of this article is NOT to create
super Genasi.) Further, it is consistent with the half-elf "+5 point for
parental ability" rule in Dragon #235 for half-elves. No, elemental elves
aren't half-elves, but some of their abilities are assumed to come from
cross-breeding with elemental-kin. Finally, the surcharge helps ensure
that the elemental elves have some standard elven abilities, and thus are
somewhat elven in flavor, not just a different kind of Genasi.
-
Standard Abilities (Wind Elves): Elemental Powers, Major (20), Levitation
(10), Bow Bonus (5), Resistance (10).
-
Standard Abilities (Water Elves): Elemental Powers, Minor (15), Trident
Bonus (5), Secret Doors (5), Resistance (10), Confer Water Breathing (10).
As per aquatic elves in S&P, water elves automatically breathe water,
but can only be out of water for a number of days equal to their fitness
scores. If the elf buys "water breathing" off of the Genasi list, they
do not have this drawback and may simply breathe water OR air as the need
arises. Water breathing should be considered an exception to the 5-point
surcharge rule; it only costs the elf 10 points.
-
Earth and fire elves would be semi-unique beings (at best) and have no
standard abilities.
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