Elf

Elf

Str:-1 Dex:+2 Con:-1 Int:+1 Wis:+2 Cha:+2 Luc:--
Favoured Classes: Mage, Ranger
 
  The most secretive of the common races, elves are only very rarely seen in human settlements, and their lack of common presence lends to the race a mystique of nearly mythical proportions. Creatures of pure magic, some have called them, able to hear the heartbeat of the world. Many fairy tales feature of elven sorceror, sage or faerie lover, a being whose immortal grandeur and passions are matched only by his wisdom and goodness. Humanity is fascinated by the elves, their splendour and paegentry, but rarely sees what transpires in their shrouded courts. That's probably for the better, actually.
  Born of the breeding between faeries -- a race known for fine music, immortal passions and terrible cruelty -- and humanity, the elves are ever creatures of two worlds: one foot mired in mundane matters while the other drifts off into the callow abstractions of the Realm of Faerie, the domain of Queen Maeve. Wicked and selfish, Maeve holds the elven race in thrall to her as a result of ancient geasa and pacts, and the high elven lords maneuver within this bondage to do what they can to avoid harming the world and, hopefully, one day earn their race's freedom.
  Poets speak of elves as if they dwelled figuratively in a world of dreams, as well as literally -- and there is some truth in this. Elves are given to proud idealism and legendary romances, and often have a tremendous amount of trouble relating to the mundanities of the real world. Like sleepwalkers, they move through the world with only a vague understanding of its causes and details, seeking to complete drives even they do not fully understand. It is said that the motives of elves are known only to the elves, but this isn't really true; even the elves themselves often have no understanding of the overall design behind their goals and actions.
  Perhaps humanity is wise to be fearful, as well as fascinated, by these strange and ethereal beings.

 ELVEN RACIAL SKILLS
   The elves are a civilized peoples with great regard for culture and learning. Their innate grace also gives them certain aptitudes that humans do not possess. Their racial skills are Knowledge (Magic), Listen, Move Silently and Perform.

 ELVEN RACIAL TRAITS
   * +2 Dexterity -- Elves are inherently graceful in their motions, both as a result of superior physical motor control and through living in a culture that teaches elegance in movement as an essential part of social station. Elves excel at archery, fencing, dancing and stealth as a result.
   * +2 Charisma -- There is a certain indescribable element of faerie glamour to the elven peoples that makes them alluring to humanity, and to all the less magical races. It is not only beauty or refinement, though elves possess both of these in spades, but also a sense of fundamental, primevil mystery that surronds these creatures and makes them so very compelling to the mortal beings who interact with them.
   * +2 Wisdom, +1 Intelligence -- An elf who reaches adulthood is over a century in age, having accumulated the full experiences of a human lifetime in his youth. Many of the greatest elven heros have lived a full millenia before accomplishing their grandest deeds. Their wisdom truly is immortal, having seen the rise and fall of entire human kingdoms, and they have a human lifetime in which to pursue their early education.
   * -1 Strength, -1 Constitution -- Elves are frail of build, not being nearly as rugged, powerful or resilient as the heavier races like the humans, dwarves or lizardmen.
   * Racial Weapons -- All elves are familiar with the use of the long bow, short bow, long sword and rapier.
   * Magical Nature -- As inherently magical creatures with a far greater attunement to the tapestry of life than humans, elves receive an extra 5 mana points at the start of the game, and an extra point for every character level they achieve above 1st.
   * Manifestation -- By drawing her ancient magical essence to the surface of her being, an elf can manifest a tiny fragment of her race's true faerie grandeur in the corporeal world, becoming a beautiful and terrifying thing to behold. The elf's Charisma score gains an enhancement bonus of +4, her presence is so overwhelming that she gains a +2 awe bonus to Defense versus foes that are not blind or mindless, and she radiates light and warmth with an effect identical to the faerie fire spell. Most importantly, however, a manifest elf exists in all three worlds (corporeal, ethereal and astral) at once, and thus can strike (and be struck by) incorporeal creatures with full effect.
   Manifestation only lasts for a short time (1d4 rounds, plus one round per full three character levels), and it is also extremely tiring, costing the elf a full 5 Fatigue Points to use.
   * Wrought Iron -- Wrought Iron is an anathema to elves and their fae nature. Any wrought iron weapon that strikes an elf deals and additional 2d6 points of damage (which bypasses armour). Orcs are known to craft and carry wrought iron weapons.
   * Reverie -- Elves do not sleep as humans do; part of their pact with Maeve bars them forever from the realm of dreams. Instead, elves enter a meditative state they call reverie, allowing their bodies and minds to rest and recover in a small fraction of the time it takes humans to sleep -- a typical period of reverie lasts only an hour or two.
   In game terms, elf characters have a drastically reduced chance of random encounters when resting, and furthermore when they do suffer an encounter their foes do not get the same degree of surprise over them -- an elf in reverie is vaguely aware of the world around him, and can come to his senses nearly instantly.
   * Sharp Senses -- Elves have exceptionally acute senses, and receive a +2 insight bonus to all sensory-based skills (Search, Spot, and Listen) at 1st level, as well as a +20 foot range to the effective radius of their light for the purposes of detailed vision.
   Additionally, elves automatically make a Search check whenever they step within 10 feet of a secret door that has not already been searched for once before their last period of rest.
   * Lowlight Vision -- An extension of their sharpened senses, elves are able to see 20 feet (2 squares) further in total than a human could in torchlight or similar conditions.
   * Temprature Tolerance -- Elves are less affected by extremes of heat and cold than other humanoids, and enter play with two points each of Fire and Cold Resistance.
   * Tied to Life -- Elves are attuned to nature and to the cycles of life on a metaphysical level, and view these things as sacred and taboo in ways few others can understand -- even evil elves understand this bond. As a result of this tie, the same force that makes sylvan creatures instinctually trust elves renders them completely incapable of ever invoking the magics of Necromancy. They cannot learn any Necromancy spells, become specialists in the school of Necromancy, use necromatic magical items, command the undead or in any other way benefit from death magic.
   The one exception is that they can learn Necromancy/Abjuration spells such as protection from undead, which shield against necromantic powers rather than evoking them.
   In lieu of necromanctic practices, evil elven mages tend to become Enchanters of terrifying power and beauty, dominating all around them with charms and charisma and weaving terribly subtle plans whose completion may take centuries.
   * Starting Equipment -- Elves start with a medium backpack, elven waybread, a bow, a long sword or rapier, and torches. They begin play with a magical ring -- elves excel at the crafting of rings -- as well as equal chance of either a cloak or boots of elvenkind. Starting armour and weapons are assumed to be of Elven make and are thus ligher, faster and less restrictive than normal.
   Elves also start out worshipping Maeve unless their choice of class allows them to pick a god. If it does, then choosing a god other than Maeve causes Maeve to be angered at the start of the game.

 ELF SUBRACES (Unimplemented)
   Gray elves are reclusive and frail, physically weak but possessed of incredible mystical and intellectual potency. Not a true ethnicity, they are instead a metamorphosed form of normal elves, having survived for over a millenia and attained true immortality through spiritual kinship to the realm of Faerie. Gray elves are terribly wise creatures, but also filled with grief, for their race's bondage to Maeve strikes them more deeply than any other elves.
   Wood elves are the least civilized of the elven peoples, possessed of great strength, wild cunning and an affinity for sylvan creatures of all kinds. They tend to be xenophobic and conservative, scorning the ways of humanity and blaming mankind for the travails of their race.
   Twilight elves are born with more of Faerie in their veins than most, literally slipping in and out of the ethereal plane as a natural facet of their existance, but vulnerable to the light of the sun and given over to periods of irrational behaviour.