Elf

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Elf

Our honor must outlive us.

Origins

Elves are a Fey race, one which is only loosely bound to the firm foundations of the Prime Material world. Most Fey races are not from the Prime Material, and indeed, it is widely believed that the Elves are not originally from the Prime Material Plane either. Elvish mythologies and deep history speak of a First World, an ancestral homeland far away, and lament that the many Houses, Clans, and Tribes of Elvenkind are mere Exiles, lost and alone far from home.

While this is a romantic notion, and there is some evidence that Elves are not tightly related to other races of the Prime Material, there is a persistent counter-current of opinion that the Elves were probably tossed out of their fabled homelands for being ridiculous snooty pests.

Regardless of their true origins, or the nobility (or pestiness) of their ancestors, Elves have been upon the Prime Material Plane for a very, very long time. Elves claim to be the First Race, which comes as no surprise to their detractors, and there is direct evidence of elven civilizations going back far, far into antiquity.

Elves are treated in all ways as natives of the Prime Material Plane, no matter their long-ago origins.

Culture

Elves don't have one culture, they have a lot of cultures. They claim that their erudition is too great to be contained by merely one method of living together. Their detractors claim that it's a miracle any two elves ever agree on anything at all, much less are able to get along well enough to form a culture.

Regardless of why, it is a fact that Elven culture is very fractured. Some elves live in forests and make houses out of trees and wear hides and ride beasts. Other elves live beneath the ground and hunt and prey upon others. Some elves build great fanciful cities that are beautiful and airy and sparsely populated. Yet other elves live in river boats, or inhabit tropical jungles, or live in distant eternally frozen glaciers carved in a billion shades of blue.

Regardless of the particulars, all Elven cultures share a few common traits. Elves tend to be extremely civilized, with many customs and rituals binding their behavior. Elves tend to have very small families(for reasons explained below) and are not very close to their families. Elves tend to be more than a bit detached, and are rarely if ever in a hurry to do anything. An elf may start a project (fixing a door) and not finish it for five years.

Elves tend to favor quality over quantity. An Elven meal might consist of three perfect flower petals basted in dire wasp honey that was made only from the nectar of a different flower and takes a century to age to crystalline perfection. Such a meal might be the highlight of an Elf's entire year, while most other races would barely taste the miniscule delicacy, much less gain sustenance from it.

Growing Up Elf

Elves are fairly unique in that it seems as if the race has only a fixed number of them which can be alive at any given time. Why this is so is intertwined somehow with their deep origins, and it isn't even certain that this is a true limitation, or a weird cultural thing.

What this means that if times are prosperous for Elvenkind, parents who want a child have to wait until another Elf dies. This can take a long tome, and by a long time, we mean a long time even by Elven standards. As a result, when times are flush, Elven parents are often seen petitioning older Elves to 'make a spot.'

When times are hard for Elves, births are much easier to arrange, which is why even though Elves are not plentiful, there's always about the same number of them around.

Elven children are rare in even the worst of times, and their childhood varies between almost ridiculous levels of spoilage to simply being ignored most of the time. Elf children are fully mature

Starting Height and Weight

Gender	Base Height	Height Modifier	Weight	Weight Modifier
Male	5 ft. 4 in.	+2d8 in. (5 ft 6 in. - 6 ft. 8 in.)	220 lbs.	+(2d10×5 lbs.) (230 - 320 lbs.)
Female	5 ft. 4 in.	+2d8 in. (5 ft. 6 in. - 6 ft. 8 in.)	125 lbs.	+(2d10×5 lbs.) (135 - 225 lbs.)

Starting Ages

Adulthood	Intuitive	Self-Taught	Trained
110 years	+4d6 years (114 - 134 years)	+6d6 years (116 - 146 years)	+10d6 years (120 - 170 years)

PC's

Standard Racial Traits

All Elves have the following Standard Racial Advantages:

• Attributes: Elves may choose to gain one of the following ability score bonus sets when creating their character. No ability score may ever be modified above a 20 or below a 7.
  • +2 to two different stats, -2 to one stat
  • +2 to one stat, +1 to three different stats, -2 to one stat
  • +4 to one stat, -2 to two different stats

• Size: Elves are Medium creatures and thus receive no bonuses or penalties due to their size.

• Type: Elves have the Humanoid type, with the Elf subtype.

• Base Speed: Elves have a base land speed of 30 feet.

• Languages: Elves begin play speaking Common and Elven. Elves with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Awnsheghlien, Cùirteil, Draconic, Gnoll, Gnome, Goblin, Orc, and Sylvan. See the Linguistics skill page for more information about these languages.

• Low-Light Vision: Elves can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.

• Elven Immunities: Elves are immune to magic sleep effects and gain a +2 racial saving throw bonus against enchantment spells and effects.

Major Racial Traits

Choose one of the following Major Racial Traits:

• Invasive Magic: Elves gain a +2 bonus to level checks made to overcome Spell Resistance. In addition, they gain a +2 bonus to Spellcraft, if they have it.

• Keen Insight: Elves begin play with the Skill Focus feat in either the Perception skill or the Sense Motive skill (choose one).

• Silent Killer: Elves suffer only a -5 penalty when moving at regular speed while in a stealth stance. Furthermore, they can run while maintaining a stealth stance, but suffer a -20 penalty.

• Fast Reactions: Elves gain a +2 bonus to initiative. This bonus increases by an additional +1 for every 4 character levels (drop fractions) the elf attains.

• Between Two Worlds: Once per day, the elf may teleport up to his speed as a move action.

Minor Racial Traits

Choose one of the following Minor Racial Traits:

• Forestkin: You can ignore rough terrain in a natural wooded environment.

• Weapon Familiarity: You begin play proficient with longbows (including composite longbows), longswords, rapiers, and shortbows (including composite shortbows), and treat any weapon with the word “elven” in its name as a martial weapon.

• Focus: Gain a +2 bonus to concentration checks made to combat cast.

• Elven Artistry: Gain the Craft skill as a class skill, and may add half their character level to any craft skill in which they have ranks.

• Careful Footwork: Once per round, the elf can treat one square of rough terrain as though it were normal terrain.