Talk:Races (5A)

Revised Elf

Elf Features

Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2.

Age. Although elves reach physical maturity at about the same age as humans, the elven understanding of adulthood goes beyond physical growth to encompass worldly experience and mastery of the elven trance. An elf typically claims adulthood and an adult name around the age of 100 and can live to be 750 years old.

Size. Elves range from 4 to over 5 feet tall and have slender builds, resembling adolescent humans. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision. Accustomed to twilit forests and the night sky, you have superior vision in dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light.

Fey Ancestry. You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can't put you to sleep.

Trance. Elves do not sleep. Instead they meditate deeply, remaining semi-conscious, for 4 hours a day. While meditating, you dream after a fashion; such dreams are actually mental exercises that have become reflexive after years of practice. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit a human would from 8 hours of sleep.

Keen Senses. You have proficiency in the Perception skill.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Elven.

Grey Elf

Sometimes called Sentry Elves, the Grey Elves are the original elves who lived in mountain fastnesses in what is today the Hellfurnaces. They preserve the curiosity and intellect that originally let them decipher the secrets of magic, but have not undergone the adaptations that other elves have. This may be why they are called grey, as opposed to the green (wood), light (high), brown (wild), or blue (sea) elves. They live in great citadel-cities in fairy, located in strategic locations to guard a planar boundary or to defend against some primordial evil. They come out of their cities to trade, explore, and mingle with high elves and occasionally other people. When seen in the mortal world, they live among and are often mistaken for High Elves. They royal family of Celene are grey elves.

They share the High Elves human skin tones, with eyes and sometimes hair of metallic colors; silver, gold, dark iron, or even metallic blues and greens.

• Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence score increases by 2.

Fey Elf

Eladrin (MToF) The unruly cousins of grey elves, fey are the rustic nobility of faerie. Unlike Grey Elves who isolate themselves in fortresses in fairy, fey elves are fully adopted to fairy and take part in its incessant changes. Fey elves see themselves as the nobility and law-keepers of fairy. To outsiders the laws they keep seem very much their own whims. Some have human colors, others have saturated hues from the wild places they live or change coloration as they change seasons.

Source: Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

Eladrin are elves native to the Feywild, a realm of beauty, unpredictable emotion, and boundless magic. An eladrin is associated with one of the four seasons and has coloration reminiscent of that season, which can also affect the eladrin's mood:

Autumn is the season of peace and goodwill, when summer's harvest is shared with all.

Winter is the season of contemplation and dolor, when the vibrant energy of the world slumbers.

Spring is the season of cheerfulness and celebration, marked by merriment as winter's sorrow passes.

Summer is the season of boldness and aggression, a time of unfettered energy.

Some eladrin remain associated with a particular season for their entire lives, whereas other eladrin transform, adopting characteristics of a new season.

When finishing a long rest, any eladrin can change their season. An eladrin might choose the season that is present in the world or perhaps the season that most closely matches the eladrin's current emotional state. For example, an eladrin might shift to autumn if filled with contentment, another eladrin could change to winter if plunged into sorrow, still another might be bursting with joy and become an eladrin of spring, and fury might cause an eladrin to change to summer.

• Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 1.
• Fey Step. As a bonus action, you can magically teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space you can see. You can use this ability a number of times equal to your Proficency Bonus, and regain all uses at the end of a long rest. When you reach 3rd level, your Fey Step gains an additional effect based on your season; if the effect requires a saving throw, the DC equals 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier. The effects are as follows:

• Autumn. Immediately after you use your Fey Step, up to two creatures of your choice that you can see within 10 feet of you must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or be charmed by you for 1 minute, or until you or your companions deal any damage to it.
• Winter. When you use your Fey Step, one creature of your choice that you can see within 5 feet of you before you teleport must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or be frightened of you until the end of your next turn.
• Spring. When you use your Fey Step, you can touch one willing creature within 5 feet of you. That creature then teleports instead of you, appearing in an unoccupied space of your choice that you can see within 30 feet of you.
• Summer. Immediately after you use your Fey Step, each creature of your choice that you can see within 5 feet of you takes fire damage equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of 1 damage).

High Elf

High Elves are the elite of elves in Greyhawk as far as most people know. Those who know of grey elves may think of them as elven royalty, while the high elves are elven nobility. Neither is really true. High elves often live as a kind of nobility among wood elves, but the gruach disdain them. Still, high elves are the most cosmopolitan of elves, and generally represent all elves in relations with other races.

• Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence score increases by 1.
• Cantrip. You know one cantrip of your choice from the Wizard spell list. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for it.
• Elf Weapon Training. You have proficiency with the rapier, shortsword, shortbow, and longbow.
• Extra Language. You can read, speak, and write one additional language of your choice.

Wood Elf

Wood Elves are the most common elves in the Flanaess. Like the name indicates, they live in sylvan areas and this colors their culture. The common image of elves as elusive archers clothed in green come from wood elves, and they excel as archers and in guerilla warfare.

• Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 1.
• Elf Weapon Training. You have proficiency with the scimitar, shortsword, shortbow, and longbow.
• Fleet of Foot. Your base walking speed increases to 35 feet.
• Mask of the Wild. You can attempt to hide even when you are only lightly obscured by foliage, heavy rain, falling snow, mist, and other natural phenomena.

Sea Elf

Sea Elf Sea elves withdrew further than most other elves, entering an entirely separate element. The increase in sea travel, along with the advances of undersea evil has ended this isolation. These days they are somewhat coming back into contact with both elves and other surface races. Devotees or Deep Sahelas, a god of uncertain origins or perhaps an ancient sea-elf leader, sea elves emulate their exemplar in his protective aspect, but also in tribalism.

Source: Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

Sea elves fell in love with the wild beauty of the ocean in the earliest days of the multiverse. While other elves traveled from realm to realm, the sea elves navigated the deepest currents and explored the waters across a hundred worlds. Today, they live in small, hidden communities in the ocean shallows and on the Elemental Plane of Water.

• Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1.
• Sea Elf Training. You have proficiency with the trident, light crossbow, and net. You can use the trident as if it had the finesse quality.
• Child of the Sea. You have a swimming speed of 30 feet, and you can breathe air and water.
• Friend of the Sea. Using gestures and sounds, you can communicate simple ideas with any beast that has an innate swimming speed. You can use Charisma (Animal Handling) when dealing with them.
• Languages. You can speak, read, and write Aquan.

Shadow Fey

Formerly exiled to the Shadowfell, where many of them still live, Shadow Fey, Shadow Elves, or Shadar-Kai lack the joy innate to most elves, instead being withdrawn or even morose. In the Shadowfell, Shadow Fey live much like the Grey Elves of Fairy, in castle-city-fortresses. Sworn to the service of Sehanine, the mysterious shadar-kai venture into the Material Plane from the Shadowfell to advance her will. Once they were fey like the rest of their elven kin, and now they exist in a strange state between life and death. Eladrin and shadar-kai are like reflections of each other: one bursting with emotion, the other nearly devoid of it.

Source: Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

• Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1.
• Necrotic Resistance. You have resistance to necrotic damage.
• Blessing of the Moon Queen. As a bonus action, you can magically teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space you can see. You can use this ability a number of times equal to your Proficency Bonus, and regain all uses at the end of a long rest. Starting at 3rd level, you also gain resistance to all damage when you teleport using this trait. The resistance lasts until the start of your next turn. During that time, you appear ghostly and translucent.

Sky Elf

Source: Unearthed Arcana 46 - Elf Subraces

The winged Avariel are extremely rare, living in the highest peaks of mountains and among the clouds.

• Flight. You have a flying speed of 30 feet. To use this speed, you can't be wearing medium or heavy armor.
• Languages. You can speak, read, and write Auran.

Wild Elf

Gruach, the wild elves of Greyhawk, and are considered barbarians by other elves. They live primitive lives accompanied by the animals that taught them to survive in harsh environments. Wild elves are ruddy or swarthy of complexion with wild hair with colors from the environment or from beasts. Many have the eyes, tails, ears, or other features of animals.

The grugach of the world of Greyhawk shun contact with other folk, preferring the solace of the deepest forests and the companionship of wild animals. Even other elves draw their suspicion.

The grugach tend toward chaos and neutrality. They feel no special duty to anyone beyond their own folk and the land that is their home. Troubles beyond their borders are best kept there. At the same time, they harbor little ambition beyond a peaceful coexistence with nature.

If anyone is fool enough to disturb a grugach realm, these elves take to arms and fight in earnest. Grugach master the basic weapons needed to hunt and forage in the wood. Every copse of trees becomes a sniper's nest, and each forest meadow is an ambush point. The grugach set pits filled with stakes, snares that leave an intruder helpless to grugach arrows, and other snares designed to kill rather than capture. The grugach fight to the death to preserve their realms.

• Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 1.
• Grugach Weapon Training. You have proficiency with the battle axe, spear, shortbow, and longbow.
• Cantrip. You know one cantrip of your choice from the Druid spell list. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for it.
• Languages. You speak, read, and write Sylvan. Player character gruach also speak Common, but this is rare among NPC Gruach.

Dark Elf

The dark elves or Drow worship lolth and rebelled against the Grey Elves at her command far back in history, alienating themselves from other elves. Forgotten and considered a legend, contact with the Drow resumed about 200 years ago, and small communities of Drow live as exiles or merchants among humans.

• Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 1.
• Superior Darkvision. Your darkvision has a range of 120 feet, instead of 60. You can give up this ability in order to avoid having Sunlight Sensitivity.
• Sunlight Sensitivity. You have disadvantage on attack rolls and Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight when you, the target of the attack, or whatever you are trying to perceive is in direct sunlight.
• Drow Magic. You know the Dancing Lights cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, learn the Faerie Fire and can cast spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. If you do not have a spellcasting attribute from your class, Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
• Drow Weapon Training. You have proficiency with scimitars, shortswords, and hand crossbows.

Exotic Elves

These variants of elves are often not recognized as elves at all, especially by other elves. Lacking the trance abilities, these variant elves can't center their experiences like elves can, and thus don't live much longer than humans.

• Aasimar—Celestial Elves.
• Genasi—Elemental Elves.
• Tiefling—Fiendish Elves.

Halfling

The comforts of home are the goals of most halflings' lives: a place to settle in peace and quiet, far from marauding monsters and clashing armies. Others form nomadic bands that travel constantly, lured by the open road and the wide horizon to discover the wonders of new lands and peoples. Halflings work readily with others, and they are loyal to their friends, whether halfling or otherwise. They can display remarkable ferocity when their friends, families, or communities are threatened.

Halflings assimilate easily into other cultures, generally taking farming, gardening, or servant roles. The servant role can expand into mayor domo, and potentially into administrative tasks, turning halflings into bankers and governors.

Some shipowners hire halfling crews, as they take up less space even if they eat almost as much.

Halfling Features

• Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2.
• Age. A halfling reaches adulthood at the age of 20 and generally lives into the middle of his or her second century.
• Size. Halflings average about 3 feet tall and weigh about 40 pounds. Your size is small.
• Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet.
• Lucky. When you roll a 1 on an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, you can reroll the die. You must use the new result, even if it is a 1.
• Brave. You have advantage on saving throws against being frightened.
• Nimble. You can move through the space of any creature that is of a size larger than yours.
• Surreptitious: You have proficiency in the Stealth skill.
• Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Halfling. Halfling is a mixture of Gnome and Common, hard to understand for those who speak either language unless the halfling takes an effort to speak clearly.

Lightfoot Halfling

The most common type of halfling, and the kind that gets along the best with other races, humans in particular. Source: Player's Handbook

• Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 1.
• Naturally Stealthy. You can attempt to hide even when you are only obscured by a creature that is at least one size larger than you. Moving through the space of other creatures does not cost you any extra movement.
• Ever Hospitable. Whenever you roll an ability check involving Brewer's Tools or Cook's Utensils, you have advantage.

Stout Halfling

Source: Player's Handbook Stout halflings are stockier than other halflings, weighing about 10 lbs more. They sometimes grow beards, and generally resemble their dwarven friends in both abilities and manners. They are gruffer than most halflings, respected but not as much liked as lightfoots.

• Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1.
• Stout Resilience. You have advantage on saving throws against poison, and you have resistance to poison damage.
• Darkvision. Accustomed to burrows and tunnels, you have superior vision in dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light.

Tallfellow

Tallfellows are slightly taller than other halflings but slender and in the same weight range. They get along well with elves, but other halflings and people in general may think they are otherworldly or easily distracted. They are fascinated by and get along with elves.

• Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence score increases by 1.
• Learned. Gain proficiency in one of the following skills: Arcana, History, Nature, Performance, Persuasion, Religion, or any one set of tools.
• Timberwalk. Ability checks made to track you are at disadvantage and you can move through difficult terrain made of non-magical plants and overgrowth without expending extra movement.