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, Grey Elves, and Valley Elves
Corresponding more or less to 4E's eladrin, these elves use the standard racial writeup for elves in pathfinder. Possible alternate racial traits include arcane focus, envoy, eternal grudge, lightbringer, and urbanite.
Wood Elves, Wild Elves
Wood elves are rustic, seen as less refined that high elves and with a stronger rapport with nature.
Their attribute modifiers are +2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom and -2 Constitution.
They replace the elven magic racial trait with woodcraft. Alternate racial traits for them 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"/>.
Other Subspecies
These are considered separate rtaces in Pathfinder, and have their own racial profiles.
- Drow
- Aquatic Elves
- Avariel, or sky elves have no Pathfinder equivalent.
Cultural Traits
Aloft, Passionate, Clannish, Laid-back, 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 despair. This insures there are almost no unwanted pregnancies. 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. 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.
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
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.
Grey Elf Wizardry (Racial): You have studies wizardry with the grey elves. You do not use a spellbook or have a familiar. Instead your wizard spells are encoded in your bonded object. You add to or replace the spells recorded in your bonded object exactly like you would a spellbook. This ability misleads many to think that grey elven wizards are in fact sorcerers.
High Elf War-Craft (Racial): 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): You are trained in woodland archery, and ignore both concealment and total concealment when firing a bow. Enemies can still use such concealment to sneak on you.
References
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External Links
- Elves at d20PFSRD.com
- Drow at d20PFSRD.com
- Aquatic Elves at d20PFSRD.com (3rd party)