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Ranting Fool
2013-12-19, 06:01 PM
Now to be fair my brother had just watched the new hobbit film and there is quite a bit of elves kicking butt in it.

He wants me to make Elves +1LA (with the option to buy off) and change their stats/abilities to reflect the fact that they are so much older and experienced then humans blah blah blah :smallbiggrin:

Any help with what to add to the standard elf to make them a +1LA without being overpowered.

Also need to do the same thing for Dwarves but that isn't needed till after the new year

Xerlith
2013-12-19, 06:04 PM
Give them a free feat, call it a day.

ngilop
2013-12-19, 06:15 PM
explain that the vast majority of elves SHOULD be a couple levels higher than humans due to thier longevity

so while most humans are level 1-3 for example. Elvels are in the level 3 to 5 range.

that also ya know shows how much more 'experienced' they are over humans in both sense of the word LOL PUNNY!!

Coidzor
2013-12-19, 06:21 PM
Partially you can model it by having Elves and Dwarves basically starting out as higher level characters since there's very few young elves or dwarves, if any exist at all in the Third Age.

That said, giving them the choice of a limited but still useful set of bonus feats might be one quick and dirty way combined with maybe bumping up their existing stuff a little bit. Stuff that's good for Fighter, Cleric, or Barbarian types for Dwarves and stuff that's good for Druid, Ranger, Wizard types for Elveses.

Assuming a 3.X or PF base, anyway.

Maybe give a couple of racial substitution levels for free instead of having to actually substitute things for another variant. Or take a look at Bloodlines (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/bloodlines.htm#creatingOtherBloodlines)/Racial Paragons (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/racialParagonClasses.htm) and incorporate some of those into the base race.

TuggyNE
2013-12-19, 06:57 PM
Now to be fair my brother had just watched the new hobbit film and there is quite a bit of elves kicking butt in it.

He wants me to make Elves +1LA (with the option to buy off) and change their stats/abilities to reflect the fact that they are so much older and experienced then humans blah blah blah :smallbiggrin:

Any help with what to add to the standard elf to make them a +1LA without being overpowered.

Remove the Con penalty. Switch all the innumerable 3.x elvish subraces to a mere 4: Vanyar, Noldor, Teleri, and Wood Elves; Vanyar and Teleri may or may not actually be playable in practice. Noldor should get crafting bonuses and probably +2 Int as well as +2 Dex; Vanyar might be +2 Wis instead of +2 Int; Teleri could be +4 Dex or something else. Potentially, all elves should get +2 Str and/or +2 Con, and should definitely receive +2 Cha.

Mind you, in such a case it might be good to go with something like Sil's system (http://www.amirrorclear.net/flowers/game/sil/Sil-111-Manual.pdf), and have the subraces be set up on the Noldorin houses, as well as having the Edain houses as LA +1 human subraces. If you're going to go Tolkien, you may as well go all the way. (Men of the Twilight, obviously, are not LA +1 and don't get all those juicy bonuses.)

Why no, I totally haven't read the Silmarillion three times, why do you ask?

Coidzor
2013-12-20, 12:00 AM
Wouldn't the Sindarin also constitute another group distinct from either Noldor or Woodelves?

TuggyNE
2013-12-20, 12:55 AM
Wouldn't the Sindarin also constitute another group distinct from either Noldor or Woodelves?

Derp. I knew I was leaving somebody out. :smallredface::smallsigh:

WbtE
2013-12-20, 01:18 AM
There's always Basic. :smallcool:

Or 2e. :smallfurious:

Ashtagon
2013-12-20, 03:05 AM
Now to be fair my brother had just watched the new hobbit film and there is quite a bit of elves kicking butt in it.

He wants me to make Elves +1LA (with the option to buy off) and change their stats/abilities to reflect the fact that they are so much older and experienced then humans blah blah blah :smallbiggrin:


Experienced. That's it right there. Most elves simply have more levels. By the time a human is thinking of retiring, an elf is just coming out of his "teens" (relatively speaking).

BWR
2013-12-20, 04:08 AM
Mystaran elves mature at about the same rate as humans until they hit 20 or so (no, they don't spend 20 years in diapers), then the slow aging kicks in and their 'teen-age' period lasts until they reach 100 or so.
And since they are so old and experienced, I rule they have lots of levels, far more on average than non-elves. But elves are, if not flighty, then easily bored. You do the same thing for 50 years and you get a bit tired of it and want to try something new. So they multiclass a lot. Start off your career as a ranger or fighter or something, 2 or 3 levels later, you decide to learn a little magic and become a wizard for another 2 or 3 levels. Maybe you like art so you dip into bard for a level or two. And maybe you decide to become a craftsman for a while, taking some expert levels, and they need people to grow food, so you are a commoner. Then maybe you have a religious period and pick up some levels of cleric. By the time an elf is 300 years old or so an average NPC elf will have more than 10 levels. And an average of ten levels for NPCs is pretty powerful. Granted, because of the multiclassing, they won't be as powerful as focused characters (which exist among elves too, just not the average NPC), but you'll have decent hp and ok saves and a wide variety of little tricks up your sleeve.

Perseus
2013-12-20, 03:50 PM
Take the 4e Elf racial ability and throw it on a 3.5 Elf. Get rid of that con penalty and put it over to charisma (they are high and mighty and off putting even if they are a beautiful race :p)

But seriously the 4e racial ability would be fantastic in 3.5...