Elves (Greyhawk)
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Sophisticated and refined yet passionate, fierce and proud, the elves are often seen as aloft. To their perspective, humans are but short-lived distractions. Elven rulers know their people's passionate nature and try to keep them out of conflict, as elves who do engage in the events of the world often live out their lives in a bright but brief burst.
Rules
Greyhawk elves are divided into several distinct subraces with different racial traits and attribute modifiers.
High Elves and Valley Elves
These elves use the standard racial writeup for elves in pathfinder. Possible alternate racial traits include arcane focus, envoy, eternal grudge, and urbanite.
Grey Elf (Eladrin)
Corresponding to 4E's eladrin, these are the elves that retreated to the feywild after the drow wars and recently began to return form exile.
Their attribute modifiers are +2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma and -2 Constitution.
Alternate racial traits include eternal grudge, fey step, lightbringer, and urbanite.
- Fey Step (Alternate Racial Trait) You learn lesser dimension door as a cantrip (level zero arcane spell). If you have a spellbook, add this to your spellbook. If you cast spontaneous spells you learn it as a known spell. You must be able to learn and cast arcane spells to use this ability. This replaces elven magic and keen senses.
Wood Elves, Wild Elves
Wood elves are rustic, with a stronger rapport with nature, but seen as less refined that high elves.
Their attribute modifiers are +2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom and -2 Constitution.
They replace the elven magic racial trait with woodcraft. Alternate racial traits include elven magic<ref name="EM">This replaces woodcraft rather than elven magic.</ref>, dreamspeaker, eternal grudge<ref name="EM"/>, fleet footed, and silent hunter<ref name="EM"/>.
Snow Elves
Pale, rare, and reclusive, snow elves live in the high peaks of the Crystalmist, Lortmil, Griff, and Korusk mountains, but surprisingly not in the Land of Black Ice or the polar regions.
Their attribute modifiers are +2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom and -2 Constitution.
The replace the normal elven immunities with elemental resistance to cold. Alternate racial traits include eternal grudge, fleet-footed, lightbringer, and silent hunter.
Other Subspecies
These are considered separate races in Pathfinder, and have their own racial profiles.
- Drow
- Aquatic Elves
- Avariel, or sky elves have no Pathfinder equivalent.
Cultural Traits
Aloft, Passionate, Clannish, Lazy, Tricky, Proud.
Real-World Models
Celts, Greeks.
Practices
Gender equality, Divorce, Promiscuity, Recreational sex.
Taboos
Birth control, Domination-submission, Prostitution.
Family
Monogamous but rare. Elves do not form families for procreation; the clan fully supports mother and children. When elves do marry, it is from passion, and such marriages can last for centuries. Elves do not expect or give fidelity in marriage.
Elves can only become pregnant when in strongly emotionally engaged - usually from love, happiness, or anger. This insures there are almost no unwanted pregnancies outside of war times. It also insures elven populations get a post-war surge - some times generations of elves are named for the war they were conceived in.
Among more barbarous elves, crises are almost constant, meaning they have a much faster rate of reproduction.
Deliberate preventives are seen as rejecting a potential gift.
Magic
Elves invented spell magic as it is known today and are still great practitioners of wizardry, doing so with a natural ease that beguiles and misleads others to think of them as sorcerers. Wood, Valley and Wild elves use less arcane magic and more druidism. Grey elves have magic as a natural gift and have many sorcerers. All elves revere their chosen gods and clerical magic is common, but religious elves do not submit to their goods, seeing them more as ideals and partners than patrons.
Pantheon
Corellon Larethian leads a pantheon of carefree immortals. Some might be his children and/or mates, others might be alternate manifestations, yet others are human gods adopted by the elves.
| Name | Rank | Alignment | Sphere | Domains | |
| Aerdrie Faenya | Lesser | CG (CN) | Air, Weather, Birds | Air, Animal, Luck | Elf |
| Celene | Lesser | LN | Companionship, Loyalty, Hope, Undeath, Shadowfell | Darkness (Moon), Liberation, Luck (Fate), Travel, Void (Stars) | Flan, Elf |
| Corellon Larethian | Greater | CG | Elves, Magic, Art, Music, War | Good, Liberation, Nobility, Void (Stars), War | Elf, Elder |
| Deep Sahelas | Intermediate | CG | Sea elves, Creation, Knowledge | Chaos, Good, Knowledge, Ocean, Water | Elf |
| Ehlenestra | Intermediate | NG | Forests, Flora and fauna, Fertility | Animal, Glory (Heroism), Good, Plant, Sun (Day) | Flan, Elf, Common |
| Erevan Ilesere | Lesser | CN | Mischief, Change, Thievery | Trickery, Celerity, Luck | Elf |
| Hanali Celanil | Lesser | CG | Romantic Love, Beauty | Charm, Good, Water, Lust | Elf |
| Labelas Enoreth | Lesser | CG | Longevity, Time | Time, Destruction, Oracle | Elf |
| Lolth | Greater | CE | Drow, Spiders, Evil, Darkness | Animal (Fur, but spiders only, and spiders are treated as animals to Lolth's clergy), Charm (Lust), Darkness (Normal or Loss), Nobility, War (Tactics) | Elf, Elder |
| Luna | Intermediate | CN | Moon, Change, Fate, Feywild | Darkness (Moon), Knowledge (Memory), Luck (Curse), Magic, Repose (Souls) | Flan, Elf |
| Sehanine Moonbow | Intermediate | CG (NG) | Mysticism, Dreams, Far Jorneys, Death, Full moon | Chaos (Protean), Community, Darkness (Moon), Madness, Magic (Arcane) | Elf |
| Solonor Thelandira | Lesser | CG | Archery, Hunting | Elf, Trickery, War | Elf |
| Ye'cind | Demigod | CG | Music, Magical songs | Chaos, Good, Knowledge, Magic | Elf |
Traits
Certain traits are only available to certain subraces of elf.
Arcane Dabbler (Racial: Grey Elf) Though your magical studies were decades ago, you still remember your favorite little trick. Choose a 0-level arcane spell. You may cast that spell at will. Your caster level is equal to your highest class level in a spellcasting class; if you have no caster level, it functions at CL 1st. The spell-like ability’s save DC is Intelligence- or Charisma-based (chosen when you select this trait). If you have both this and the fey step racial ability, you can combine them to cast fey step at will.
Beast Friend (Racial: Wild Elf) You use the Wild Empathy class ability with a bonus equal to your Wisdom modifier rather than your Charisma modifier. If you lack this class feature, you can use it as a druid but without a level modifier. Instead, your total bonus is equal to your Wisdom modifier.
Elf High Wizardry (Racial): This ability misleads many to think that elven wizards are in fact sorcerers. You do not use a spellbook or have a familiar. Instead your wizard spells are encoded in your bonded object (or an object that could be a bonded object for a wizard, if you lack the class ability). You add to or replace the spells recorded in your bonded object exactly like you would a spellbook, and can even make a spare bonded object that functions as a spare spellbook. It is not possible to use Spellcraft to decipher the spells in your bonded object, but read magic can read them normally.
Dilettante Artist (Racial) Art for you is a social gateway and you use it to influence and penetrate high society. You gain a +1 trait bonus to one category of Perform checks and a +1 trait bonus to Diplomacy checks. One of these skills (your choice) is always a class skill for you.
Forlorn (Racial): Having lived outside of traditional elf society for much or all of your life, you know the world can be cruel, dangerous, and unforgiving of the weak. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Fortitude saving throws.
High Elf War-Craft (Racial: High Elf): You gain a +2 trait bonus on Initiative checks.
Immortal Dilettante (Racial): You gain a +1 bonus on Perform checks, and Perform is a class skill for you.
Wood Elf Archery (Racial: Wood Elf): You are trained in woodland archery, and ignore concealment from leaves when firing a bow. Enemies can still use such concealment to sneak on you.
Youthful Mischief (Racial: Valley Elf) Though you gave up the life of a padfoot, scout, or minstrel decades before, you still know how to roll with the punches when things turn sour. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Reflex saves.
References
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External Links
- Elves at d20PFSRD.com
- Drow at d20PFSRD.com
- Aquatic Elves at d20PFSRD.com (3rd party)