Elves in the Shattered World

[WizardofOwls]

Elves: The elves of Oramis, like dwarves, are similar to, yet different from the elves of other worlds. They are a very secretive race, and seem always to be preoccupied with thoughts of other things. At an early age most elves experience a wanderlust which draws them out into the world at large. The length of time this lust may last varies from elf to elf. It can last only a few years or it could last indefinitely. Because of this lust, young elves are never let in on the secrets which occupy an elder’s thoughts. Once the lust ends, however, that quickly changes.
Oramian elves are not just long-lived, they are true immortals who never die unless slain by weapon or mischance. They also cannot be affected by aging attacks. In addition, they receive one other ability: the elven death rede. When an elf dies, any elf who has shared communion with him will receive a death rede. That is, when dying an elf can by some means project his or her final thoughts unto another elf. It is a traumatic blow unto the recipient, for elves are immortal, and for one to die means that a virtually unthinkable event has occurred to a loved one. A death rede is the final message of the dying elf, and it often contains visions as well as the elf's last words.
Elves of one of the royal houses have one other ability: Asperii have forged a special bond with those of royal lineage. If an elven royal whistles loudly with the intent to summon an asperii, one will arrive within 2 rounds. This is because asperii have one additional ability not common to those of other worlds: they somehow know weeks ahead of time when an elf will summon them, and will begin heading toward them as soon they become aware of this need. This foresight is so exact that the asperii will even know exactly how many asperii will be needed to outfit the royal's entire party and enough asperii will arrive to make sure that all elves in the party will have a mount.
While slightly haughty, they live in tree homes called “ekeles.” All elves have platinum white hair, ice blue eyes, and pale skin. They are taller than elves of other worlds, taller even than average human, standing around 6'0", though they are still very thin. They tend to dress in leathers while on duty, but for formal occasions dress in brightly colored almost gaudy robes decorated with feathers from their bond birds.
All elves begin play with a bond bird (treat as a Wizard familiar). The elf can see through the bird’s eyes, communicate telepathically with the bird, and knows health and location at all times. Bond birds are larger than normal birds of the same species.
Please note also that there are no drow in the Shattered World, only the fey - elves every bit as evil as the drow, but not restricted to darkness. (See also: Fey.)

Fey: There are no drow in the Shattered World, only the fey - elves every bit as evil as the drow, but not restricted to darkness. The fey have powerful necromancers, and seek to conquer the world. Fey elves do not have the black skin and white hair common among the drow of other worlds. A fey is distinguishable from other elves by their hair - a fey has charcoal black hair, as opposed to the platinum white of other elves. A fey is also marked by the perpetual sneer that twists the fey’s features and the “cold as ice” eyes which are the hallmark of the race.
Despite the obvious fact that the fey are brothers of the elves, elves will not tolerate anyone of any race remarking on the fact. Elves become angry, even violent, if the relationship is mentioned, even in a casual way. The fey are not even discussed amongst the elves themselves.
Also unlike the drow, the fey are not a separate race breeding only amongst themselves. They may come from any elven sub-race. All that is required for any elf to become fey is a change toward any evil alignment. Such a loss is mourned amongst the elves and is referred to only as “being lost to the darkness,” and the “lost” elf is mourned as though he had actually died. This means, however, that a fey may also repent of his evilness and become a normal elf. This rare event is referred to by the elves as being “brought over,” and is marked in elven society by great feasts.

Half-Elves: The half-elves of Oramis are identical to those of other worlds. They receive a +3 bonus to saves vs. attacks which cause aging.

[WizardofOwls]

I have made some alterations in elves as a result of reccomendations made at other sites. Here is the new and improved version of the Oramian elf.

Elves: The elves of Oramis, like dwarves, are similar to, yet different from the elves of other worlds. They are a very secretive race, and seem always to be preoccupied with thoughts of other things. At an early age most elves experience a wanderlust which draws them out into the world at large. The length of time this lust may last varies from elf to elf. It can last only a few years or it could last indefinitely. Because of this lust, young elves are never let in on the secrets which occupy an elder’s thoughts. Once the lust ends, however, that quickly changes.

Oramian elves are not just long-lived, they are true immortals who never die unless slain by weapon or mischance. They also cannot be affected by aging attacks. In addition, they receive one other ability: the elven death rede. When an elf dies, any elf who has shared communion with him will receive a death rede. That is, when dying an elf can by some means project his or her final thoughts unto another elf. It is a traumatic blow unto the recipient, for elves are immortal, and for one to die means that a virtually unthinkable event has occurred to a loved one. A death rede is the final message of the dying elf, and it often contains visions as well as the elf's last words.

Elves of one of the royal houses have one other ability: Asperii have forged a special bond with those of royal lineage. If an elven royal whistles loudly with the intent to summon an asperii, one will arrive within 2 rounds. This is because asperii have one additional ability not common to those of other worlds: they somehow know weeks ahead of time when an elf will summon them, and will begin heading toward them as soon they become aware of this need. This foresight is so exact that the asperii will even know exactly how many asperii will be needed to outfit the royal's entire party and enough asperii will arrive to make sure that all elves in the party will have a mount.

The slightly haughty elves live in tree homes. All elves have platinum white hair, ice blue eyes, and pale skin. They are taller than elves of other worlds, taller even than the average human, standing around 6'0", though they are still very thin. They tend to dress in leathers while on duty, but for formal occasions dress in brightly colored almost gaudy robes decorated with feathers from their bond birds.

All elves begin play with a bond bird (treat as a Wizard familiar). The elf can see through the bird’s eyes, communicate telepathically with the bird, and knows health and location at all times. Bond birds are larger than normal birds of the same species.

Please note also that there are no drow in the Shattered World, only the fey - elves every bit as evil as the drow, but not restricted to darkness. (See also: Fey.)

Fey: There are no drow in the Shattered World, only the fey - elves every bit as evil as the drow, but not restricted to darkness. The fey have powerful necromancers, and seek to conquer the world. Fey elves do not have the black skin and white hair common among the drow of other worlds. A fey is indistinguishable from other elves - at least by non-elven eyes. An elf can easily spot a fey.

Despite the obvious fact that the fey are brothers of the elves, elves will not tolerate anyone of any race remarking on the fact. Elves become angry, even violent, if the relationship is mentioned, even in a casual way. The fey are not even discussed amongst the elves themselves.

Also unlike the drow, the fey are not a separate race breeding only amongst themselves. All that is required for an elf to become fey is a change toward any evil alignment. Such a loss is mourned amongst the elves and is referred to only as “being lost to the darkness,” and the “lost” elf is mourned as though he had actually died. This means, however, that a fey may also repent of his evilness and become a normal elf. This rare event is referred to by the elves as being “brought over,” and is marked in elven society by great feasts.

Half-Elves: The half-elves of Oramis are identical to those of other worlds, though they tend toward fair hair and skin. They receive a +3 bonus to saves vs. attacks which cause aging.

[WizardofOwls]

Doesn't anyone have anything to say about my elves? :(

[Zeka]

I think it was definitely a good idea to to switch the fey to being indistiguishable from regular elves for non-elves. I don't know if I like the idea even of the elves themselves being able to tell automatically if one of their own has been 'lost,' but it would make for some interesting interactions with non-elves, with the elves constantly having to explain that the 'evil elves' others may have encountered aren't *really* elves.

Are these elves mechanically identical to PHB elves, aside from the differences you mentioned?

[Stadge]

Well I like them a lot, very characterful and quite different to the standard D&D elves, which, whilst it's just my opinion cannot be a bad thing.

One small question though: how, if at all will the bond bird effect the elves level ajustment mechanically, and what would be removed to balance it out if no level ajustment occured?

I'd also like to say that, although I havent commented on your other posts regarding this setting, it seems highly effective and creative. Well done.

Oh and just as a matter of interest, are you familiar with the work of Raymond E. Feist? It's just that your mentons of Dragon Lords (although different to his Valheru) seems to echo Midkemia slightly, as does the relationship between your elves and the fey.

When you get to run a campaign or two in this setting would you mind please leting me know how it turns out because the whole prospect of the Shattered World has intriuged me.

Finally let me bestow my best wishes in any further designs made for this setting.

Cheers.

[YPU]

I believe that a recent book (I believe complete mage) actually has a feat that grants a familiar. Thus balance wise it would balance out perfectly if you for instance remove the weapon proficiency and ad the familiar.
(those weapons arent extremely usefull to casters, and a familiar isnt al that usefull to a combatant)

[Yakk]

Elves of one of the royal houses have one other ability: Asperii have forged a special bond with those of royal lineage. If an elven royal whistles loudly with the intent to summon an asperii, one will arrive within 2 rounds. This is because asperii have one additional ability not common to those of other worlds: they somehow know weeks ahead of time when an elf will summon them, and will begin heading toward them as soon they become aware of this need. This foresight is so exact that the asperii will even know exactly how many asperii will be needed to outfit the royal's entire party and enough asperii will arrive to make sure that all elves in the party will have a mount.

Remove that from the core description: that looks like a racial feat or class more than anything else.

As an alternative, you could create "Bloodline" levels for each race and subrace, and make characters Bloodline/Class Gesalts.

That allows you to give out more powerful racial abilities, like asperii, without breaking the game.

Ideas:
Dwarves regenerate HP when touching the Earth, and gain DR slowly.

Elves gain various mystical abilities, possibly via a slow spell-casting progression.

Gnomes gain mechanical miracles, usable via a spell-like table. Gnomish mechanical miracles always have a chance of failure and require a focus (namely, mechanical devices that a Gnome brings with them). Mechanical miracle slots can be taken up with illusion spells instead.

Twyll gain luck rolls of various kinds. (rerolls, +1d6 to a d20 check, lose-a-turn to nullify an opponent's action, etc).

Humans gain skill points, feats, and maybe a free secondary class (gesalt-like)?

This lets you create races that have larger game impact.

Just an idea for a bit of crunch that would help make your world distinct. :)

[Matthew]

Interesting. Have you considered putting this into the usual D&D format? It would also be helpful to have a few 'example' NPC Elves.