Elf
Climate/Terrain:
| Temperate to subtropical forest |
|
Frequency:
| Uncommon
|
Organization:
| Any
|
Intelligence:
| High to Supra- (14-20)
|
Diet:
| Omnivore
|
Treasure:
| Individual: N; G,S,T in lair
|
Alignment:
| Chaotic good
|
No. Appearing:
| 20-200
|
Armor Class:
| 5 (10)
|
Movement:
| 12
|
Hit Dice:
| 1+1
|
THAC0:
| 19 (18)
|
No. of Attacks:
| 1
|
Damage/Attack:
| 1-10
|
Special Attacks:
| + 1 to hit with bow or sword
|
Special Defenses:
| See below
|
Magic Resistance:
| 90% resistance to sleep and all charm-related spells
|
Size:
| M (5'+tall)
|
Morale:
| Elite (13)
|
XP Value:
| 420
|
Though their lives span several human generations, elves appear at first
glance to be frail when compared to man. However, elves have a number of special
talents that more than make up for their slightly weaker constitutions.
High elves, the most common type of elf, are somewhat shorter than men, never
growing much over than 5 feet tall. Male elves usually weigh between 90 and 120
pounds, and females weigh between 70 and 100 pounds. Most high elves are
dark-haired, and their eyes are a beautiful, deep shade of green. They posses
infravision up to 60 feet. The features of an elf are delicate and finely chiseled.
Elves have very pale complexions, which is odd because they spend a great deal
of time outdoors. They tend to be slim, almost fragile. Their pale complexion
and slight builds are the result of a constitution that is weaker than man's.
Elves, therefore, always subtract 1 point from their initial Constitution score.
Though they are not as sturdy as humans, elves are much more agile, and always
add 1 point to their initial Dexterity scores. Elven clothing tends to be
colorful, but not garish. They often wear pastel colors, especially blues and
greens. Because they dwell in forests, however, high elves often wear greenish grey
cloaks to afford them quick camouflage.
Elves have learned that it is very important to understand the creatures, both
good and evil, that share their forest home. Because of this, elves may speak
the tongues of goblins, orcs, hobgoblins, gnolls, gnomes, and halflings, in
addition to common and their own highly-developed language. They will always show
an interest in anything that will allow them to communicate with, and learn
from, their neighbors.
Combat: Elves are cautious fighters and
always use their strengths to advantage if
possible. One of their greatest strengths is the ability to pass through natural
surroundings, woods, or forests, silently and almost invisibly. By moving
quietly and blending into vegetation for cover, elves will often surprise a person or
party (opponents have a surprise modifier of -4). As long as they are not
attacking, the elves hiding in the forest can only be spotted by someone or
something with the ability to see invisible objects. The military value of this skill
is immense, and elven armies will always send scouts to spy on the enemy, since
such spies are rarely caught-or even seen.
Although their constitutions are weak, elves posses an extremely strong will,
such strong wills, in fact, that they have a 90% immunity to all
charm
and
sleep spells . And even if their natural resistance to these spells fails, they get
a normal saving throw-making it unlikely an elf will fall victim to these
spells very often.
Elves live in the wild, so weapons are used for everything from dealing with
the hostile creatures around their camps, to such mundane tasks as hunting for
dinner. The elves' rigorous training with bows and swords, in addition to their
great dexterity, gives them a natural bonus of +1 to hit when fighting with a
short or long sword, or when using a bow of any kind, other than a crossbow.
Elves are especially proficient in the use of the bow. Because of their agility,
elves can move, fire a bow, and move again, all in the same round. Their archers
are extremely mobile, and therefore dangerous.
Because of limitations of horses in forest combat, elves do not usually ride.
Elves prefer to fight as foot soldiers and are generally armed as such. Most
elves wear scale, ring, or chain mail, and almost all high elves carry shields.
Although elves have natural bonuses when they use bows and swords, their bands
carry a variety of weapons. The weapons composition of a band of elves is: spear
30%; sword 20%; sword and spear 20%; sword and bow 10%; bow 15%; two-handed
sword 5%.
Elven fighters and multi-class fighters have a 10% chance per level to possess
a magical item of use to his or her class. This percentage is cumulative and
can be applied to each major type of magical item that character would use-for
each class in the case of multi-class characters. (For example, a fighter/priest
of level 4 or 5 would have a 40% chance to have a magical item useful to
fighters and a 50% chance of having an item useful to priests.) In addition, if
above 4th level, elven mages gain the same percentage chance to gain items, but
gain 2-5 magical items useful to them if a successful roll is made.
For every 20 elves in a group, there will be one 2nd- or 3rd-level fighter
(50% chance of either). For every party of 40 elves, and in addition to the higher
level fighter, there will be a 1st- or 2nd-level mage (again, 50% chance of
either). If 100 or more elves are encountered, the following additional
characters will be present: two 4th-level fighter; one 8th-level mage; and a 4th-level
fighter/4th-level mage/4th-level thief. Finally, if over 160 elves are
encountered, they will be led by two 6th-level fighter/6th-level mage/6th-level thief.
These two extremely powerful leaders will have two retainers each-a 4th-level
fighter/5th-level mage, and a 3rd-level fighter/3rd-level mage/3rd-level thief.
All of these are in addition to the total number of elves in the band.
Elven women are the equal of their male counterparts in all aspects of
warfare. In fact, some bands of elves will contain units of female fighters, who will
be mounted on unicorns. This occurs rarely (5% chance), and only 10-30 elf
maidens will be encountered in such a unit. However, the legends of the destruction
wrought by these elven women are rampant among the enemies of the elves.
Habitat/Society: Elves value their
individual freedom highly and their social structure is
based on independent bands. These small groups, usually consisting of no more than
200, recognize the authority of a royal overlord, who in turn owes allegiance
to a king or queen. However, the laws and restraints set upon elven society are
very few compared to human society and practically negligible when compared to
dwarven society.
Elven camps are always well-hidden and protected. In addition to the large
number of observation posts and personnel traps set around a camp, high elves
typically set 2-12
giant eagles as guardians of their encampments
(65% of the time). For every 40 elves
encountered in a camp, there will be the following high level elves, as well as the
leaders noted above: a 4th-level fighter, a 4th-level cleric, and a 2nd-level
fighter/2nd-level mage/2nd-level thief. A 4th-level fighter/7th-level mage, a
5th-level fighter, a 6th-level fighter, and a 7th-level cleric will also be
present. Females found in a camp will equal 100%, children 50%, of the males
encountered.
Because elves live for several hundred years, their view of the world is
radically different from most other sentient beings. Elves do not place much
importance on short-term gains nor do they hurry to finish projects. Humans see this
attitude as frivolous; the elves simply find it hard to understand why everyone
else is always in such a rush.
Elves prefer to surround themselves with things that will bring them joy over
long periods of time-things like music and nature. The company of their own
kind is also very important to elves, since they find it hard to share their
experiences or their perspectives on the world with other races. This is one of the
main reasons elven families are so close. However, as friendship, too is
something to be valued, even friends of other races remain friends forever.
Though they are immune to a few specific spells, elves are captivated by
magic. Not specific spells, of course, but the very concept of magic. Cooperation is
far more likely to be had from an elf, by offering an obscure, even worthless,
(but interesting) magical item, than it is with two sacks of gold. Ultimately,
their radically different perspective separates the elves from the rest of
their world. Elves find dwarves too dour and their adherence to strict codes of
law unpleasant. However, elves do recognize dwarven craftsmanship as something to
be praised. Elves think a bit more highly of humans, though they see man's
race after wealth and fleeting power as sad. In the end, after a few hundred
years, all elves leave the world they share with dwarves and men, and journey to a
mysterious land where they live freely for the rest of their extremely long
lives.
Ecology: Elves produce fine clothes, beautiful
music, and brilliant poetry. It is for
these things that other cultures know the folk of the forest best. In their
world within the forest, however, elves hold in check the dark forces of evil, and
the creatures that would plunder the forest and then move on to plunder
another. For this reason alone, elves are irreplaceable.
Grey Elves (Faerie)
Grey elves have either silver hair and amber eyes, or pale golden hair and
violet eyes (the violet-eyed ones are known as faerie elves). They favor bright
garments of white, gold, silver, or yellow, and wear cloaks of deep blue or
purple. Grey elves are the rarest of elves, and they have little to do with the
world outside their forests. They value intelligence very highly, and, unlike other
elves, devote much time to study and contemplation. Their treatises on nature
are astounding.
Grey elves value their independence from what they see as the corrupting
influence of the outside world, and will fight fiercely to maintain their isolation.
All grey elves carry swords, and most wear chain mail and carry shields. For
mounts, grey elves will ride
hippogriffs (70%) or
griffons (30%).
Those that ride griffons will have 3-12 griffons for guards in their
camps, instead of giant eagles.
Wood Elves
Also called
sylvan elves, wood elves are the wild branch of the elf family.
They are slightly darker in
complexion than high elves, their hair ranges in color from yellow to
coppery-red, and their eyes are light brown, light green, or hazel. They wear clothes
of dark browns and greens, tans and russets, to blend in with their
surroundings. Wood elves are very independent and value strength over intelligence. They
will avoid contact with strangers 75% of the time.
In battle, wood elves wear studded leather or ring mail, and 50% of their band
will be equipped with bows. Only 20% of wood elves carry swords, and only 40%
use spears. Wood elves prefer to ambush their enemies, using their ability to
hide in the forest until their foes are close at hand. In most cases (70%), wood
elf camps are guarded by 2-8
giant owls (80% ) or
by 1-6
giant lynx (20%).
These elves speak only elf and the languages of some forest animals,
and the treant. Wood elves are more inclined toward neutrality than good, and
are not above killing people who stumble across their camps, in order to keep
their locations secret.
Half-Elves
Half-elves are of human stock, and have features of both the elf and human
parents. They are slightly taller than common elves, growing as tall as 5 ½ feet
and weighing up to 150 pounds. Though they do not gain the natural sword or bow
bonuses from their elven relatives, but they do have normal elven infravision.
A half-elf can travel freely between most elven and human settlements, though
occasionally prejudice will be a problem. The half-elf's life span is their
biggest source of grief, however. Since a half-elf lives more than 125 years, he
or she will outlive any human friends or relatives, but grow old too quickly to
be a real part of elven society. Many half-elves deal with this by traveling
frequently between the two societies, enjoying life as it comes; the best of both
worlds. Half-elves may speak common, elf, gnome, halfling, goblin, hobgoblin,
orc, and gnoll.