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View Full Version : How Tall do you Prefer your Elves?



GenericGuy
2011-01-06, 05:35 PM
While on the Dragon Age forms the debate about elf height came up. In the first game Elves were on average a head shorter than humans much like in D&D , but some people object to this instead wishing elves were more Tolkien and being on average human height if not taller. This reminds me of the epic “war of bearded Dwarf Women” between the “Tolkienites” and the “we want sexy dwarf girlsians,” so I was curious what everyone else’s feelings are on this obviously important issue:smalltongue:.

icastflare!
2011-01-06, 05:44 PM
I prefer my elves tall. I grew up under an impression that elves thought they were better than regular humans and the whole height advantage allowed them to look down at their noses at others quite literally.

BobVosh
2011-01-06, 05:54 PM
Taller than human, or shorter than dwarfs.
Basically I want the short ones to be quick, dexy people. The tall ones are fine with the Tolkien "I'm better than you. Period." type feel they seem to try for.

Smeggedoff
2011-01-06, 05:55 PM
Same. I've always had the impression (though I don't know where from) that elves should be taller and mroe graceful than humans. I surprised me quite a bit when someone pointed out the height comparison in the players handbook.

Melayl
2011-01-06, 06:03 PM
Short and riding wolves...

TalonDemonKing
2011-01-06, 06:04 PM
I like my girls shorter than me

Psyren
2011-01-06, 06:10 PM
Depends on subrace.

"High elves" (read: Grey, Sun, Star, Altmer, Eladrin, Calaquendi etc.) should be tall for maximum snootiness.

"Wood elves" (read: Wood/Copper, Wild, Laiquendi, 4e Elves, Bosmer etc.) should be the shortest, emphasizing spritely nature.

"Dark elves" (read: Drow, Dunmer, Moriquendi(?)) should be in between.

pwykersotz
2011-01-06, 06:12 PM
It depends on the elves. High elves I always thought were a head taller. Wood elves feel a head less tall than humans. Half-elves, obviously same height.

Edit: Bah! Beaten to the punch!

Lord Vampyre
2011-01-06, 06:44 PM
Typically I play grey elves at about 6' to 7' in height. I see them as being tall by human standards, with a fragile appearance.

Wood elves I've always played as being 5' to 6' in height. I've generally seen them to be about the same height as a human, only more agile.

The Keebler elves and the elves that work in Santa's workshop, I feel were actually gnomes that someone mistakenly attached the elven type to.

Elfin
2011-01-06, 06:48 PM
I like my elves tall - but then, I am something of a Tolkien fanatic.

Dr.Epic
2011-01-06, 06:49 PM
Slightly shorter than humans.

Coidzor
2011-01-06, 06:52 PM
On average taller, but having less individuals of extremely tall heights. So, despite the fact that most elves would be around 5'11" to 6'1" with less sexual dimorphism in terms of height whereas humans would cluster around 5'6" to 5'10" as the normal range, there would be more 6'6" humans than 6'6" elves, in the same way that there would be more 5'2" humans than 5'6" elves. Humans having more extremes and all.

This mostly applies to high elf types, with more woodsy/wild/subterranean types being closer to the medeivalish human norms or slightly shorter.

I've no idea where the "slightly shorter than humans" thing came from, as the only sources that seem like they'd be old enough and strong in the collective consciousness are santa elves which are very, very short and tolkien's elves which are "tall and graceful."

Gnorman
2011-01-06, 06:54 PM
I like them about a head shorter than everyone else...

Preferably done with a guillotine.

Jack_Simth
2011-01-06, 07:00 PM
They need to be tall enough to reach the ground.

Usually.

TheWhisper
2011-01-06, 07:06 PM
I don't like elves.

They're just "humans, but better"... no concept.

And worse yet, they're a watered down Tolkien version that prevents you from putting the real thing in your campaign.

You know, the Fair People. The Folk of the Air. The Tuatha de Danaan. The Sidhe. The Lords of the Hollow Hills.

Beautiful. Powerful. Dangerous. Capricious. Not entirely mortal, not entirely physical, not entirely sane, entirely not a PC race.

You give me my awesome antagonists, and keep your pansy "elves".

Coidzor
2011-01-06, 07:12 PM
yeah, the web series they did on fey rather disappointed me with its emphasis on sparkly rainbow beams fairies as well.

alchemyprime
2011-01-06, 07:17 PM
I like my elves like I like my coffee: Short, pale and sweet!

Wait. That's women. Woops.

Elves I had to refluff, but I like them as the exiled folks from an alternate Earth who cling to their old ways in a myriad of fashions. Aquatic elves and drow short, half-elves an half-drow normal, elves and avariel tall.

Szilard
2011-01-06, 07:27 PM
I've always imagined them as tall, but I when I make an elf character I usually roll a random height from the PHB, or just assume it's in the higher end of the elf-height spectrum.

dsmiles
2011-01-06, 07:33 PM
Short and riding wolves...

Ditto. My Elves are four-fingered wolf riders approximately the same height as a tall gnome.

Lifeson
2011-01-06, 07:35 PM
I've always imagined my High/Surface Elves to be taller than humans, and quite like the "noodle-people" that's seen in CLAMP anime.

Drow and the like are shorter because that allows them to hit their heads on the top of cavern ceilings less. Something like that.

Masaioh
2011-01-06, 07:46 PM
Shorter, because it fits their stats better. Taller people are less likely to have good Dex.

Piedmon_Sama
2011-01-06, 08:21 PM
I like my Elves tall--5' 10" - 6' 0" perhaps in a world of medieval humans averaging 5' 5" to 5' 7". Makes them more ethreal, more regal. The puckish elves conjure an entirely different mode that I think gnomes already have cornered as far as the "trickster people" niche goes.

Paseo H
2011-01-06, 08:23 PM
It varies.

Most recently, a new elf archmage 'friend' of another npc is about 4'5", in large part because I was inspired by Shiki from Black Cat.

Remmirath
2011-01-06, 08:31 PM
In D&D, I like elves to be short, because that's how I always think of them in terms of D&D. (I usually go with typical elves and wood elves averaging 5'2", grey elves averaging 5' and drow averaging 4'10".)

In MERP, I clearly prefer them to be tall.

In things that are neither D&D nor Middle-earth related, I don't much care so long as they're interesting. I have some slight preference towards them being tall, I suppose - but in Dragon Age, I'd prefer that they stay the same height that they were. I don't like things getting changed up.

The one thing that I don't like my elves to be is silly or any of the other traits commonly associated with gnomes (no, I don't like gnomes). I prefer them to be more on the majestic and/or dangerous side regardless of their height.

Laurellien
2011-01-06, 08:34 PM
Tall all the way.

Optimator
2011-01-06, 08:42 PM
I like the Elf height as the D&D height.

GenericGuy
2011-01-06, 09:57 PM
I just realized I never posted my preference. I like them shorter than humans, it makes more sense for me for them to be agile like Olympic gymnasts and therefore similar size, and I like the idea of elves being in some way different than the average humans physically besides just their ears.

Innis Cabal
2011-01-06, 09:59 PM
Shorter, because it fits their stats better. Taller people are less likely to have good Dex.

That makes literally no sense. What so ever. Basketball players are plenty dexterous...and they're all fairly tall.

Gensh
2011-01-06, 10:01 PM
Just a little bit shorter than human males, with no dimorphism. I was always big into fairy tales when I was a kid, so when I first read Tolkien and heard about tall, graceful elves, I had to stop and say lolwut. Of course, in D&D, my version of elves are apparently called gnomes, and my players expect the mass media version, so I give it to them. Still short; just not so much as before. Of course, I make up for how boring they are by playing up how lazy the god of elves is to the point that there are actually two separate races of dark elves because he didn't want to think of another curse.

Coidzor
2011-01-06, 10:21 PM
I just realized I never posted my preference. I like them shorter than humans, it makes more sense for me for them to be agile like Olympic gymnasts and therefore similar size, and I like the idea of elves being in some way different than the average humans physically besides just their ears.

Only those which would be exceptional anyway are that agile, it's not like they have that much of an advantage relative to others in 3.X. Now a +6 I could see being argued, maybe even a +4.


Of course, I make up for how boring they are by playing up how lazy the god of elves is to the point that there are actually two separate races of dark elves because he didn't want to think of another curse.

Well that's handy. It even helps explain why the 100+ year old elf is as competent as the 20+ year old human. :smallbiggrin:

Dienekes
2011-01-06, 10:26 PM
I like my elves shorter. They already live for centuries, are oh so much wiser, more graceful, and prettier than a human. The least we can ask for is height advantage. Besides, it makes it a little difficult for them to look down their noses at humans when they have to look up. They still find a way to pull it off though.

Erom
2011-01-06, 10:36 PM
Slightly shorter than humans. As a previous poster said, think "female Olympic gymnast" - thin, graceful, and attractive but somewhat androgynous.

Salbazier
2011-01-06, 10:37 PM
I don't like my elf short :/ it brings the image of Dobby to mind. To tall is also kinda meh, but less so than short and it's actually depend on the type of elves (Night elves and Elvaan, for example, are just fit to be significantly taller)

So, around human height or a bit more.

Thomo
2011-01-06, 10:50 PM
Definately taller - 6'2" - 6'4"

Dimers
2011-01-07, 09:50 AM
I like elves about six feet ... six feet under, that is. :smalltongue:

When I do use elves in my campaigns, they're generally of the "better than you" variety, and as another commenter noted, being able to literally look down your nose at someone helps with that. So, around 6'2" compared to a human's 5'8".

Talon Sky
2011-01-07, 11:10 AM
I think they're just like humans: it varies. Every Elven community should have taller and shorter Elves, and on one side of the continent (or world) Elves are probably taller/shorter due to survival reasons.

On average, though, I'd say a hair shorter than humans....not enough to be confused with a large Halfling, but jussssssst enough to be noticeable. Drow are about a head shorter by comparison, with the woman being a few inches or so taller then the men (from better nutrition, probably).

On that note, I kinda like my Halflings and Gnomes to be a bit taller. Just like Humans and Elves are a kin species (in my world, humans were Elves at one point until they pissed the Gods off by rebelling), Dwarves and Gnomes and Halflings are kin races. Gnomes are beardless Dwarves with less muscle, more brain, and Halflings are Dwarves that evolved to live on the plains instead of in mountains.

*shrugs* Sorry for the rant.

some guy
2011-01-07, 12:03 PM
I like my elves a good head shorter than humans. Also, my halflings are a wee bit taller than in the PHB and my gnomes are 3/4 of the length they are in the PHB.

Fhaolan
2011-01-07, 12:28 PM
Depends on what kind of 'elf' you mean. Santa's Elves? Tolkien Elves? Faery Tale Elves? Celtic Myth Elves? And so on. Each one being pretty independant of the others.

In my homebrew campaign there are two 'elves'. There are the people who *call* themselves elves, who are basically humans who have undergone an extensive Eugenics program several thousand years ago and have 'forgotten' this. These map to the D&D elves, being slight, dextrous, long-lived, 'better than you', etc.

Then there are the Fae who are something completely different. Truely inhuman these are pseudo-elemental-spirit-things that are a blend of Celtic, Greek, and Chinese nature spirits.

onthetown
2011-01-07, 12:37 PM
Tall, willowy, and graceful. I was actually shocked when I found out that elves in 3.5 D&D are shorter than humans, as I had always envisioned them as being taller, willowy-er, and graceful...er...

AtomicKitKat
2011-01-07, 01:21 PM
Average Human Height.

Short "elves" a la Santa/Keebler are properly called Brownies.:smallyuk:

Also, important reason for them to not be "too tall": Life among trees means that you should probably be a bit smaller, to avoid banging into low branches(but with longer arms, not as long as a gibbon's, or even an orang-utan's, but maybe 5-10% longer than a similar-height Human's).

Yukitsu
2011-01-07, 01:27 PM
I don't like elves.

They're just "humans, but better"... no concept.

And worse yet, they're a watered down Tolkien version that prevents you from putting the real thing in your campaign.

You know, the Fair People. The Folk of the Air. The Tuatha de Danaan. The Sidhe. The Lords of the Hollow Hills.

Beautiful. Powerful. Dangerous. Capricious. Not entirely mortal, not entirely physical, not entirely sane, entirely not a PC race.

You give me my awesome antagonists, and keep your pansy "elves".

Sidhe are statted seperately in the epic level handbook, and are quite a bit too powerful for most people to play. (entry is called LeShay)

I just go with the same as humans generally. I don't think there's much reason for them to be tremendously deviant from the range.

HunterOfJello
2011-01-07, 01:54 PM
Good question. I like elves that are generally shorter than the average male human, but still tall enough that they could be mistaken for a skinny human on occasion.

I was kind of annoyed at how short the elves were in NWN 2.

hamishspence
2011-01-07, 01:57 PM
That sounds odd- because Faerun is one of the few D&D settings that defaults to elves having human height.

The FRCS (and Player's Guide to Faerun) both have elves as similar height to humans- but thinner.

Maybe the game designers didn't know that?

grimbold
2011-01-07, 02:29 PM
I prefer my elves tall. I grew up under an impression that elves thought they were better than regular humans and the whole height advantage allowed them to look down at their noses at others quite literally.

for me it was always the same thing save that i only figured out the height of elves after i first read tolkien at the age of 7 and a half (it was the hobbit not the hardest read)

Tvtyrant
2011-01-07, 02:37 PM
Usually much taller; both them and orcs are about 7 feet tall on average for males (6 feet for females). The reason? Both of them have tiny populations of extremely dangerous soldiers (relatively). The reason Elves as PCs are weak is that they are in what amounts to the 12-14 range for humans (preteens to teens) with the adults being either none combat or godless killing machines. Orcs are more like Ogres in their strength, and have human level technology. An Orc chieftain is equivalent to an Elven Bodyguard (generals aren't usually combat based; they spend their time studying) due to the difference in size versus the skill level involved.

And yes, anything living 1,000 years is going to smoke a human; now beating 50 humans or 100 is a different story (humans have Wizards and crossbows afterall). So my Elves are tall and get exclusive access to ToB base classes (the prestige classes are open as an exception).

hamishspence
2011-01-07, 02:37 PM
Sidhe are statted seperately in the epic level handbook, and are quite a bit too powerful for most people to play. (entry is called LeShay)

Manual of the Planes suggests using half-fiend elves as "Unseelie" and half-celestial elves as "Seelie"- and both are "the sidhe" (pages 210-211)

LeShay are a bit different- and claim to be older than the present universe.

Yukitsu
2011-01-07, 02:53 PM
Manual of the Planes suggests using half-fiend elves as "Unseelie" and half-celestial elves as "Seelie"- and both are "the sidhe" (pages 210-211)

LeShay are a bit different- and claim to be older than the present universe.

I honestly don't like that measure, as it gives morality to the unseelie and seelie (which they shouldn't have) and it's honestly not much like I invision the sidhe either. The LeShay are more the manner in which I invision the courts.

TheWhisper
2011-01-07, 02:59 PM
Sidhe are statted seperately in the epic level handbook, and are quite a bit too powerful for most people to play. (entry is called LeShay)

Like I said, not a PC race.

But they don't fit well in a game that has elves... they occupy the same conceptual niche.

And who the hell came up with that name? Sounds like a bunch of people who cruise around Crenshaw Boulevard in a lowered Cadillac Escalade with Tyrone and Antawn and Shanequa...

hamishspence
2011-01-07, 03:01 PM
True. Dragon Compendium has "Seelie Court Fey" and "Unseelie Court Fey" templates- still a bit biased in favour of Seelie being good and Unseelie evil- but not quite as blatant as Half-fiend/Half Celestial.

I think that was more for mechanical purposes though- a Seelie will not be nearly as benevolent as a half-celestial, or an Unseelie could be much less malevolent than a half-fiend- but they're in that power range.

LeShay are a bit too powerful- they work better as elder beings, far older than either the Seelie or Unseelie Courts.

Mecharious
2011-01-07, 03:04 PM
High Elves: As PHB
Grey Elves: As humans, maybe an inch or so taller on average
Wood Elves: Slight shorter than humans, but more muscley
Drow: Slightly shorter than High Elves
Aquatic Elves: Short enough to fit in a fish bowl.

MammonAzrael
2011-01-07, 03:06 PM
I just saw this topic, and for some reason now I can't think of any elves but the ones from The Santa Clause (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111070/) movies. Which makes for some hilarious mental images.

Yukitsu
2011-01-07, 03:07 PM
Like I said, not a PC race.

But they don't fit well in a game that has elves... they occupy the same conceptual niche.

And who the hell came up with that name? Sounds like a bunch of people who cruise around Crenshaw Boulevard in a lowered Cadillac Escalade with Tyrone and Antawn and Shanequa...

Elves aren't really the ancient all powerful outsiders from beyond the veil. They're just an ancient civilization. The overlap is sort of there in some respects in that they're the fickle, arrogant, utterly alien creatures of antiquity, but that's what you should really see in a game with as many races and creatures as D&D. Honestly, you shouldn't think of elves in that respect, but rather the leshay who are too powerful to even exist in most campaigns.

I think the word is old Frankish for Sidhe. Not too sure though, all of Pre-medieval Germany looks the same to me.

TheWhisper
2011-01-07, 03:13 PM
Elves aren't really the ancient all powerful outsiders from beyond the veil. They're just an ancient civilization. The overlap is sort of there in some respects in that they're the fickle, arrogant, utterly alien creatures of antiquity, but that's what you should really see in a game with as many races and creatures as D&D. Honestly, you shouldn't think of elves in that respect, but rather the leshay who are too powerful to even exist in most campaigns.

I think the word is old Frankish for Sidhe. Not too sure though, all of Pre-medieval Germany looks the same to me.

Perhaps... but frankly, I prefer the Celtic flavoured notion of the Fair Folk. There's just such a rich cultural vein there to be mined for inspiration.

I like them as antagonists who are not precisely evil per se, but so arrogant and contemptuous of mortals that they might as well be.

Tvtyrant
2011-01-07, 03:17 PM
leshay is just how you pronouce sidhe. Its la-shaay.

hamishspence
2011-01-07, 03:18 PM
In Raymond Feist's Midkemia serious- there's elves and dark elves- but there's also an ancient, elflike, awesomely powerful race from the dawn of time- the Valheru, who rode dragons- ruled most of the universe, and were amoral and cruel, seeing all other races as insects next to their power (they created many of them).

These are closer to the LeShay in power- not something of "Seelie and Unseelie courts" but galaxy-ruling, race-creating tyrants.

Hence I'd do elves- (even "elves as sidhe") as much lower on the power scale than LeShay.

Yukitsu
2011-01-07, 03:26 PM
Sound like Eldar from WH40K back when the canon of WH and WH40K were linked. Though to that point, you need not be personally adept at combat as the LeShay to be a galaxy ruling, race creating, all powerful empire of dragon riders. I don't actually view the LeShay as written in that particular light.

Frozen_Feet
2011-01-07, 03:37 PM
I don't have preference either way. I mostly perceive elves as having as great variance in height as humans - as a species, they are neither shorter or taller. There are other traits I find much more important to my feeling of "elven" - smooth skin, pale colors (blond hair, marble skin etc.), extent of glowiness and transluminence in their eyes and body, androgyny and springy body structure. In general, I imagine elves sitting at the brink of Uncanny Valley, looking almost like humans but being a bit too perfect or bit too absent, so after a time the beauty of an elf goes from alluring to "OMG why are those soulless gemstone eyes following my every move? Keep it away! AWAY!"

hamishspence
2011-01-07, 03:40 PM
"LeShay are the mere remnant of a once great race whose origins are lost to history. They claim to predate the current multiverse and refer darkly to some catastrophe that not only wiped out most of their people but changed time so that their era never existed, even in the remotest past. Attempting to undo the catastrophe would apparently result in another disaster even more terrible- so the decimated survivors- less than gods but more than mortals- for the most par merely attempt to amuse themselves and stave off ennui as they work out their individual destinies"

Epic Handbook page 202.

A lot like Eldar- but immortal rather than merely very long lived.

Murdim
2011-01-07, 05:08 PM
My first contact with a classical D&D setting was through the Baldur's Gate games. As far as I'm concerned, D&D elves are smaller than humans. Also, their typical flaws are whimsicalness and apathy rather than arrogance.

D&D elves do not have that much in common with Tolkienian elves, actually, what with their long-lost legacy being fey rather than divine in nature.

hamishspence
2011-01-07, 05:11 PM
My first contact with a classical D&D setting was through the Baldur's Gate games. As far as I'm concerned, D&D elves are smaller than humans. Also, their typical flaws are whimsicalness and apathy rather than arrogance.

Baldur's Gate was 2nd ed-based (though the later games, while using the same system, may have overlapped with 3rd ed).

Arrogance is a more common problem for D&D Faerun Sun elves than Moon elves- especially ones of high rank.

dragongirl13
2011-01-07, 05:20 PM
Tall... as in, REALLY tall... but if the rulebook says they're short, I'll make my elves short. I'm Lawful Good, after all, so I go by the book. Unless the GM says that elves in their setting are tall. Or I'm GM, in which case I make them tall.

Nero24200
2011-01-07, 05:30 PM
I prefer my elves short. The reason being that I've read quite a few myths involving short elves, but the only peice of literiture i've read with tall elves was lord of the rings.

dsmiles
2011-01-07, 07:34 PM
I'm still sticking with Elfquest elves. I find tall elves disturbing.

Frozen_Feet
2011-01-07, 07:35 PM
That's because Tolkien's "elves" are really a whole different ballgame from mythological elves - traditional elves were more akin to things known as faeries or gnomes these days. It might be hard to grasp these days when Tolkien's heritage is so ubiquitous, but back in the day his elves were truly original creations - there weren't any real direct parallels to them.

Threeshades
2011-01-07, 07:37 PM
I dont really care how tall elves are in general. Though in RPGs I like them taller than humans, if the RPG wants to present humans as the average at everything race. Unless the game also presents another core race thats already taller than humans, then it really doesn't matter there either.

That's why I like Pathfinder RPG, where elves on average are actually taller than humans, meaning that humans are not the tallest of core races as they are in DnD (well in DnD humans go along with the two Half-humans in terms of height, but they are still on top of the height list).

Coidzor
2011-01-07, 07:57 PM
I'm still sticking with Elfquest elves. I find tall elves disturbing.

Aren't those the werewolf zoophiles? :smallconfused:

dsmiles
2011-01-07, 08:02 PM
Aren't those the werewolf zoophiles? :smallconfused:

FTFY. I don't recall any "werewolves" among them. I just like the idea of short, wolf-riding savage elves.

snikrept
2011-01-07, 08:05 PM
The tall ones are harder to fit in the crates.

Coidzor
2011-01-07, 08:06 PM
FTFY. I don't recall any "werewolves" among them. I just like the idea of short, wolf-riding savage elves.

Huh. So they don't turn into wolves, just have sex with them then?

dsmiles
2011-01-07, 08:09 PM
Huh. So they don't turn into wolves, just have sex with them then?

I'm pretty sure there was a cross-breed one, but I'd have to re-read the entire collection to be sure.

EDIT: I'm downloading it now. The whole collection. :smalleek:

Threeshades
2011-01-07, 08:15 PM
FTFY. I don't recall any "werewolves" among them. I just like the idea of short, wolf-riding savage elves.

Get your elf out of my goblin culture! :smallannoyed:

Tiki Snakes
2011-01-07, 10:17 PM
The tall ones are harder to fit in the crates.

I like the cut of your jib.

I also prefer shorter, gymnastic elves. It's pretty hard to conceptualise humans as big, dumb oafs and brutes when you are noticeably bigger. It just suits their basic concept better for them to be smaller and more slight, no matter how marginally, than Humans.

Psyren
2011-01-07, 11:34 PM
FTFY. I don't recall any "werewolves" among them. I just like the idea of short, wolf-riding savage elves.

I don't know about Elfquest, but D&D has werewolf-elves - the reclusive Lythari.

Dacia Brabant
2011-01-08, 02:09 AM
That's because Tolkien's "elves" are really a whole different ballgame from mythological elves - traditional elves were more akin to things known as faeries or gnomes these days. It might be hard to grasp these days when Tolkien's heritage is so ubiquitous, but back in the day his elves were truly original creations - there weren't any real direct parallels to them.

This is a common misconception, I think because there are mythological traditions mainly on the British Isles where elves are more like gnomes or brownies, but Tolkien was actually borrowing from the Alfar of Old Norse myth. The Alfar were a tall, beautiful humanlike people of divine ancestry--their king and progenitor was the Vanir god Ingve-Frey--who occasionally visited Earth, and on a few occasions reportedly interbred with humans. Tolkien made this explicit in The Silmarillion where the High King of all elves was the Vanyar lord Ingwe.

And yeah, it's for this reason that I prefer my elves tall, in keeping with the Nordic tradition. Maybe not Night Elf tall, but at least on par with humans.

dsmiles
2011-01-08, 08:12 AM
I don't know about Elfquest, but D&D has werewolf-elves - the reclusive Lythari.

Yeah, I remember them. Did they get converted to 3e/3.5?

Tetsubo 57
2011-01-08, 08:29 AM
I like my humans in the 5' 4" (female) & 5' 7" (male) range and my elves in the 5' 9" (female) & 6' (male) range.

Those human heights are two inches below the average for modern Americans.

Ferrin
2011-01-08, 12:24 PM
I'd say the same height as humans, with some elven races being taller or shorter. The more feral elves would be shorter, while the more arrogant ones would be taller. But that's just how I feel. :smalltongue:

Psyren
2011-01-08, 01:20 PM
Yeah, I remember them. Did they get converted to 3e/3.5?

They're in Monsters of Faerun. Stats are identical to regular werewolves except they are CG and have no hybrid form (i.e. they are wolf or elf without going in between.)

FMArthur
2011-01-08, 01:52 PM
Aasimar and sometimes Eladrin already fulfil the "Tolkien Elf" archetype quite well despite not quite being elves. As do a number of other very similar 'tall, graceful human' races. So I just feel like they lose their identity a bit if they aren't spritely and in-tune with nature.

Sine
2011-01-08, 02:18 PM
Of all the traits that may or may not define elfishness, minor differences in height are definitely not one of them. And because the only role I've ever seen height play in an rpg is "My toon is taller than yours!" competitions (or occasionally "My toon is shorter than yours!"), I don't much care how tall a book says elves are.

I'll describe my elf toon as taller than yours, or shorter than yours, depending on which is advantageous at the moment. :smallbiggrin:

@FMArthur: Tolkien elves actually ran the gamut from eladriny to [wood] elfy. The reason ya never see the woody ones in the books and movies is because they're the peasants of Middle Earth's elves. There was at least one dark elf in the Silmarillion too.

Tvtyrant
2011-01-08, 03:02 PM
Of all the traits that may or may not define elfishness, minor differences in height are definitely not one of them. And because the only role I've ever seen height play in an rpg is "My toon is taller than yours!" competitions (or occasionally "My toon is shorter than yours!"), I don't much care how tall a book says elves are.

I'll describe my elf toon as taller than yours, or shorter than yours, depending on which is advantageous at the moment. :smallbiggrin:

@FMArthur: Tolkien elves actually ran the gamut from eladriny to [wood] elfy. The reason ya never see the woody ones in the books and movies is because they're the peasants of Middle Earth's elves. There was at least one dark elf in the Silmarillion too.

Dark elf meant something completely different; technically all of the woods elves are dark elves. It was a term that meant that the elf or his ancestors had never crossed the ocean to live by the gods.

Scarlet-Devil
2011-01-08, 03:12 PM
I like them tall; Tolkienesque, though in general I also like a wide range of heights within races, like they gave humans and catfolk.

Ravens_cry
2011-01-08, 03:12 PM
I'm still sticking with Elfquest elves. I find tall elves disturbing.

There IS several tall elves even in Elfquest. How tall they are compared to humans is hard to say as they are rarely in the same frame, but they appear to be at least a bit taller then the average human.
Personally? I like my High Elf types to be taller on average human, while the Sylvan types are shorter. Not as short as halflings, a bit taller then dwarves in the 3.5 PHB.

ScionoftheVoid
2011-01-08, 04:20 PM
I'd say the same height as humans, with some elven races being taller or shorter. The more feral elves would be shorter, while the more arrogant ones would be taller. But that's just how I feel. :smalltongue:

I feel the same way.

the Riddler
2011-01-08, 04:24 PM
I don't like elves.

They're just "humans, but better"... no concept.

And worse yet, they're a watered down Tolkien version that prevents you from putting the real thing in your campaign.

You know, the Fair People. The Folk of the Air. The Tuatha de Danaan. The Sidhe. The Lords of the Hollow Hills.

Beautiful. Powerful. Dangerous. Capricious. Not entirely mortal, not entirely physical, not entirely sane, entirely not a PC race.

You give me my awesome antagonists, and keep your pansy "elves".


Yup. This.