johnbragg
2018-02-15, 08:15 AM
BLUF: I want my elves to be the glamor-ous, beautiful, terrifying, dreamscapish creatures of British Isles folklore, rooted in the Feywild. Or at least they used to be not too long ago, in the days of most NPCs' grandparents, much like in lazy American popular imagination all Germans are still Nazis and all Frenchmen are baguette-eating mimes dressed in black-and-white horizontal stripes. This seems really cool, but what I probably need is to be told, mechanically, why it's actually terrible.
In the British Isles (and likely elsewhere), Stone Age arrowheads (and axe-heads) were believed to be elf- or pixie-made arrowheads. I want to make that mechanically real in a 3X context. My elves don't use metal (cold iron myth, extended to steel), they are masters of High (magically enhanced) Neolithic stonecraft, making, polishing and mildly enchanting flint (or some magical super-flint) into elvenstone. Not using steel helps make Elves alien and different, but would cripple them mechanically if we don't put in a workaround. But fortunately, the same lore that says "cold iron blocks elves" also says "flint chips are elf arrowheads."
Mechanically, elvenstone items are masterwork, so they get a +1 to attack rolls. I figure this offsets being limited to spears, axes, bows, quarterstaffs and club-type weapons. (Detail: is Elvenstone strong enough to hold up to use as a battleaxe? EDIT: No.)
PFSRD has a Primitive Weapons section, including Stone. They are Fragile, which means that on a natural 1 they are Broken (-2 to attack & damage, destroyed on a natural 1). So that's all wonderful. PC elves are using elvenstone weapons--arrowheads, axeheads, spearpoints.
They Craft them from found flint, sing to them (perform check?), polish them with oils (alchemy?). I think that's unfair--I'm already slapping a Skill tax on elves (I may give them a bonus Skill point-per-level as a "tax refund.") Roll the eldritch singing and the crushing of the acorns to make honing oil and all that into the Craft (elvenstone) skill. But keep the fluff--the fluff is the whole point.
Masterwork items cost an extra 300 gp. Usual Craft rules apply (maybe ignore the base cost of the weapon). But the usual rules require 100gp worth of raw materials. That goes against the neo-Neolithic flavor. If there's enough of an elvenstone -based economy (in coin or in favors), the PC can probably diplomancy up some new weapons rather than having to craft their own.
What do we think of a separate Craft (elvenstone) check to find the proper flints and the right types of acorns for the oil? Use the same time-to-GP (time-to-SP, but that's just a matter of algebra) Masterwork tools wouldn't apply to this check. Environmental penalties and bonuses would apply, though.
I haven't decided whether "elves don't use cold iron/steel" is a mechanical penalty or a social and maybe magical one.
I could just slap a -2 to attack rolls on an elf using a steel weapon (or armor) and call it a day.
I could hardwire in a big social penalty. An elf using steel is a renegade, and regarded by other elves with horror, and even non-elves are going to wonder what else they're capable of.
EDIT: Mechanics.
An elvenstone warhead or set of 20 arrowheads is a masterwork flint item. Creating it requires two DC 20 Craft (elvenstone) checks, one to gather the materials and one to shape the stone, polish it and sing the sharpness into it.
After elvenstone is created, it must be activated. This requires singing to the stone and sharpening it and polishing it with special oils. Activation must be renewed regularly, as it fades after 1-6 days. An elf with the Craft (elvenstone) skill can keep a number of warheads activated equal to the bonus to his Craft (elvenstone) check. So a run-of-the-mill 1st level NPC elf would have 4 warheads active, while a 3rd level veteran with a 15 Intelligence might have 8 (3 ranks + 3 class bonus + 2 Intelligence) or more if she has other modifiers.
20 arrowheads count as one warhead.
In the British Isles (and likely elsewhere), Stone Age arrowheads (and axe-heads) were believed to be elf- or pixie-made arrowheads. I want to make that mechanically real in a 3X context. My elves don't use metal (cold iron myth, extended to steel), they are masters of High (magically enhanced) Neolithic stonecraft, making, polishing and mildly enchanting flint (or some magical super-flint) into elvenstone. Not using steel helps make Elves alien and different, but would cripple them mechanically if we don't put in a workaround. But fortunately, the same lore that says "cold iron blocks elves" also says "flint chips are elf arrowheads."
Mechanically, elvenstone items are masterwork, so they get a +1 to attack rolls. I figure this offsets being limited to spears, axes, bows, quarterstaffs and club-type weapons. (Detail: is Elvenstone strong enough to hold up to use as a battleaxe? EDIT: No.)
PFSRD has a Primitive Weapons section, including Stone. They are Fragile, which means that on a natural 1 they are Broken (-2 to attack & damage, destroyed on a natural 1). So that's all wonderful. PC elves are using elvenstone weapons--arrowheads, axeheads, spearpoints.
They Craft them from found flint, sing to them (perform check?), polish them with oils (alchemy?). I think that's unfair--I'm already slapping a Skill tax on elves (I may give them a bonus Skill point-per-level as a "tax refund.") Roll the eldritch singing and the crushing of the acorns to make honing oil and all that into the Craft (elvenstone) skill. But keep the fluff--the fluff is the whole point.
Masterwork items cost an extra 300 gp. Usual Craft rules apply (maybe ignore the base cost of the weapon). But the usual rules require 100gp worth of raw materials. That goes against the neo-Neolithic flavor. If there's enough of an elvenstone -based economy (in coin or in favors), the PC can probably diplomancy up some new weapons rather than having to craft their own.
What do we think of a separate Craft (elvenstone) check to find the proper flints and the right types of acorns for the oil? Use the same time-to-GP (time-to-SP, but that's just a matter of algebra) Masterwork tools wouldn't apply to this check. Environmental penalties and bonuses would apply, though.
I haven't decided whether "elves don't use cold iron/steel" is a mechanical penalty or a social and maybe magical one.
I could just slap a -2 to attack rolls on an elf using a steel weapon (or armor) and call it a day.
I could hardwire in a big social penalty. An elf using steel is a renegade, and regarded by other elves with horror, and even non-elves are going to wonder what else they're capable of.
EDIT: Mechanics.
An elvenstone warhead or set of 20 arrowheads is a masterwork flint item. Creating it requires two DC 20 Craft (elvenstone) checks, one to gather the materials and one to shape the stone, polish it and sing the sharpness into it.
After elvenstone is created, it must be activated. This requires singing to the stone and sharpening it and polishing it with special oils. Activation must be renewed regularly, as it fades after 1-6 days. An elf with the Craft (elvenstone) skill can keep a number of warheads activated equal to the bonus to his Craft (elvenstone) check. So a run-of-the-mill 1st level NPC elf would have 4 warheads active, while a 3rd level veteran with a 15 Intelligence might have 8 (3 ranks + 3 class bonus + 2 Intelligence) or more if she has other modifiers.
20 arrowheads count as one warhead.