Showing posts with label elves. Show all posts
Showing posts with label elves. Show all posts

Sunday, August 25, 2024

The monographic entry about ELVES and how I run them (system neutral?)

 You found elves! number appearing? roll in this table:

1. Average elf (1HD, no armor, short bows, with the bow expertise feat granting an extra 1d6 on attacks) They can climb trees very fast.

2. two elves

3. three elves

4. druid (level=1d6, 1d3 spells, with heal and speak with plants being the most common. Speak with plants is the key to gather Sleep Powder from a specific flower: they carry 1d6-3 uses of it. Blowing onto the powder works as a sleep spell. Possible treasure to be found in elven lairs)

5. veteran hunter (no armor, level 1+1d6)

6. Roll twice. On a repeated result or another 6, raise the level of everyone by one

Elves make their lairs in deep forests, and whenever they are on that terrain, they always have advantage to surprise rolls. When on real combat, they will always try to shoot from the treetops: anyone trying to shoot them from below does it at -4 due to the height difference and concealment. Looking for a hidden elf in a tree works as looking for secret doors (5+ on a d6) with advantage if they make any noise, so is a good idea to trick them into talk even if just to locate their silhouettes.

This means that elves are pretty though encounters for their size. I've actually made them more OP each time I use them, because as a GM I enjoy monsters that are hard to kill but offer plenty space for retreat, negotiation, roleplay and using spells and other dirty tricks. As a side note, I am trying to reserve fair combat for "enraged" or "dumb" monsters like golems, but I hate when the PCs resolve and encounter with civilised humanoids and I find out a posteriori that I made them not use tactics at all.

An elven lair consists in sparse cozy shelters carefully hidden into the treetops, and the rest of the hex and the adjacent six (if suitable) are hunting grounds. Elven life revolves indefectivelly around hunting by means of their short bows, though they also carry daggers carved from horns and bones, which they call "fangs". They can prey on many things appearing on your random monster table for the area; including shit like tiger beetles or giant scolopendras. I don't imagine owlbears being edible but they are probably prized for their skins. But of course, it is a great idea to make space for the antelope and the boar, always present on b/x bestiary. Elves cook their food and make campfires to do so if they believe they won't attract too much attention (this is a good example of a good surprise roll against elves).

As opposed to Trow, whom are more proclive to hunt big game par force (that is, succintly, using dogs and coordinate tactics to pursue a catch until its tired and presents battle) elves use stealth. Trow use hunting parties as a social event, and a way to introduce young boys to the customs of riding and battle (I'd love to write an entry about that specific topic soon, cross fingers), while their elven counterparts often hunt alone, and rarely in groups bigger than three. They never use dogs (and rarely have pets that cannot fly or at least climb).

It's not just that they are hard to detect: Elves hardly ever talk, not even amongst them. When PCs arrive into elven territory, they might receive a silent warning in the shape of arrows shot in the ground before them, with the shooters well hidden in the foliage above. If that doesn't work (as always happens with PCs) they might shot a sack that can be pierced, or try to wound someone, to make the whole party turn their back (that's like their neutral reaction roll on their territory). They don't want their sacred groves profaned with bonfires and their buck deers flushed by the noisy trow. Or they are just appalled by the idea of two marching kobolds breaking the peace with constant jokes and laughters.

They do not understand why other races talk so much, like there was so many things to be said. Though they might seem serious and stupid, they do have sense of humor and keep normal relationships, but they somehow manage to do it talking much less and using a lot of implied acts, which are amplified by their surrounding lack of speech.

If required to, they will try to use a single word; two in case of need. Four consecutive words or more are considered a poem for them (and they do write four word poems. This is not an exageration); but they never use verbs in any form. For some metagamist reason, they are unable to use them or appreciate them and so, their speech sounds always precarious to trow and kobolds.



Elves are plant-like in apparence, and dress in pelts; as heavy and hooded as the climate requires. Their color is a greyish green and their hair looks like leafs. This has no more biological effects beyond that, though poison seems to affect them less virulently (bonus in saving throws vs poison) And, of course, there is the fact that a tree will grow from their corpse once they die. This trees are sacred and elves will protect them violently, with at most an awkward explanation. This tree is believed to hold the soul of the deceased for an indefinite time after his death, and the tribe's druids can partially communicate with them. Many times, elves who are about to die decide to wait for death right outside the limits of their forest; knowing that this will cause a subtle inertia for new groves to expand towards their gravetree.

Though elves are individualistic in nature, when a decision involves the whole tribe they tend to value the words of the elders: A veteran hunter that is now a potter by the river, or a venerable druid (clasically a woman). In addition, the opinion or the blessing of the departed elders, now in tree form, is also sought through the druid's abilities.

A silent elf sitting on a branch could be doing anything from sleeping, contemplating nature, listening for prey, thinking or practising meditation, all in the same unassuming position. By doing the latter, they believe that they weaken their illusory miconceptions and are innately guided to their place in the nature cycle, like the other animals do.

Elves are to be a playable race (though not used them as such yet). I've used ambiguous mechanical terms in this entry, but applied to my Trow Fortress rules, their dexterity must be high, so I will make it so they must allocate their best score onto it, and instead of getting regular HD increases as fighter, they can at certain levels increase their dexterity or magic by +1, no roll required. This will help them get into their presumed roles as veterans. As a side effect, some elves can max out dexterity and become elven monks (expertise: combat without weapons) and even have some magic buffs, related or unrelated to combat. But that is something to be written another day. I hope you liked my take on indian-dryads.





Wednesday, February 24, 2021

CLASS AS RACE II: Rangers, Druids and Clerics

 Part of a series on worldbuilding making whole races inspired directly by a class, each one having their own tactics to survive in a harsh world. In this entry we cover tribes which live a step further into the wilds.

3. RANGERS

When you play an elf, you get the ranger class, be it the ones from 5E, the playbook from Dungeon World, your homebrew or any else: adapt to it. These kind of elves are plant-based, and take elements from greek dryads and japanese kodama: just as Adventure Time huntress wizard, they have leaves for hair and their skin can be green and smooth like a stem or barky like a trunk when elves are older (or have leveled up enough).


Elves are greatly autosufficient in their forests and do not need for much outside them: they have a marked biorrhythm in which they are born, they form a family and they teach their kids to protect their sacred groves. Then they slowly become treants and then, one day they "die" and become sacred trees themselves. Normal trees are fond to grow around them, and this way the forest expands. As talk with trees is sometimes a ranger spell (when rangers are allowed spells), this means that elves can usually speak with their deceased elders providing they are still "awake" (When they cannot, they make use of druids: see below). Then the younglings protect their elder's slumber until their spirit finds some eternal rest or who knows when, and the cycle goes on.

from Stevesketches (twitter)


Until that moment, elves live according to their natural principles which consist in hunting and studying the Tao. All the things that Taoism and meditation suggest you are true for elves: they meditate, cultivate their spirits and try to flow with the path as much as they can. If you ever heard the thing about zen arrows, this is the secret of why they are so good shooters and fighters in general. They are contempt to live this way and to assume their place in the food chain. Sometimes young elves hire themselves as bodyguards or even assasins, which suits them perfectly.


4. DRUIDS

When forest people is in need of some religious or magical services, they recur to the Nymphs (Nixes, undines, sirens, etc). These aquatic ladies have magical powers and level up as druids (so depending in the rules you use, probably have a second shape and a good gang of animals to scout for them). They speak with trees when elves need to communicate with their elders; but they charge prices for that.

Nymphs are extremelly covetous and hoard treasure in their aquatic lairs. This treasure might be from gold to the most weird things: Corpses, weapons, mundane tools... etc. As people that don't like to abandon their rivers, lakes and shores, all signs of civilization hold some capacity of wonder. However, for the sake of making them playable, they can spend time outside of water providing they take baths in fresh water from time to time (its their equivalent of a long rest). 



It is mandatory for a good setting with Nymphs to have them play music, and if allowed by your version of class spells, they will try to charm listeners in order to find lovers or slaves. If Rangers and Druids are too similar in the rules you are using, you can always make Nymphs the Illusionist instead.

Level 1 nymphs are usually the males, which have not much magic and, because of that, are more prone to physical combat (AKA their role is cannon fodder for combat encounters). 

Level 6+ nymphs are renowned priestesses that offer spiritual services to all forest dwellers and are greatly respected. Which in that aspect makes them very similar, but not the same as our next guest class.


5. CLERICS

If you want to play a cleric, that is OK, but you have to be this:



That is a kirin, or quilin, a sort of chinese unicorn with divine power. They are not common, but really rare, as Gandalf's kin in LOTR. And as the istari, once they have leveled up a little they are gamechangers to any faction they decide to help. Luckily for you, you can assume human form! It would be hard to roleplay otherwise. In fact, you might have lost the ability to become a horse as part of the natural clerical training and might have to grind a little until you recover it.

Other races might have clerics in the sense that they have their priests and priestesses who carry their ritual endeavors, banish evil and maybe healing some diseases; but kirins are the only ones that progress beyond level 1. In fact, if another cleric does, it will be revealed that he has kirin blood or something, or be granted kirinhood. This manifests by assuming the shape in dreams first. It is the sign to continue developing your devotion (towards level 2 and beyond my friend).

I'm sure that a place in which all Kirins have a "village" of their own exists, which is probably designed for horses more than for people, but maybe its set in a mystic valley so otherwordly that it is in fact other plane of existance. Who knows. Its probably very extense as they love to run from one place to the other. But I do guess that is probably safe from monsters due to high level clerical spells: Blessing the perimeter regularly, a river used as a moat which they cross using Water Walk, or a forest filled with sticks that can turn to snakes if orc invaders set their foot on it.


This bitch is supposed to appear in naruto? I dont remember. I just googled "kirin human form"

Kirin that decide to develop their natural powers are blessed after a long career with powerful magics as reincarnation, raise dead, etc. Whatever your cleric rules allow to. But please no more stupid medieval monks with superpowers.

Part 3 soon.