Elf
The following information is sourced from the Player's Handbook.
Elves are a magical people of otherworldly grace, living in places of ethereal beauty, in the midst of ancient forests or in silvery spires glittering with faerie light, where soft music drifts through the air and gentle fragrances waft on the breeze. Elves love nature and magic, art and artistry, music and poetry.
Descended from an earlier subrace of dark-skinned elves, the drow were banished from the surface world for following the goddess Lolth down the path to evil and corruption. Now they have built their own civilization in the depths of the Underdark, patterned after the Way of Lolth. Also called dark elves. The drow have black skin that resembles polished obsidian and stark white or pale yellow hair. They commonly have very pale eyes (so pale as to be mistaken for while) in shades of lilac, silver, pink, red, and blue. They lend to be smaller and thinner than most elves. Drow adventurers are rare, and the race does not exist in all worlds. Check with your Dungeon Master to see if you can play a drow character.
As a high elf, you have a keen mind and a mastery of at least the basics of magic. In many of the worlds of D&D, there are two kinds of high elves. One type (which includes the gray elves and valley elves of Greyhawk, the Silvanesti of Dragonlance, and the sun elves of the Forgotten Realms) is haughty and reclusive, believing themselves to be superior to non-elves and even other elves. The other type (including the high elves of Greyhawk. the Qualinesti of Dragonlance, and the moon elves of the Forgotten Realms) are more common and more friendly, and often encountered among humans and other races. The sun elves of Faerun (also called gold elves or sunrise elves) have bronze skin and hair of copper, black, or golden blood. Their eyes are golden, silver, or black. Moon elves (also called silver elves or gray elves) are much paler, with alabaster skin sometimes tinged with blue. They often have hair of silver-while, black, or blue, but various shades of blond, brown, and red are not uncommon. Their eyes are blue or green and flecked with gold.
As a wood elf, you have keen senses and intuition, and your fleet feet carry you quickly and stealthily through your native forests. This category includes the wild elves (grugach) of Greyhawk and the Kagonesti of Dragonlance, as well as the races called wood elves in Greyhawk and the Forgotten Realms. In Faerun, wood elves (also called wild elves. green elves, or forest elves) are reclusive and distrusting of non-elves. Wood elves' skin tends to be copperish in hue, sometimes with traces of green. Their hair tends toward browns and blacks, but it is occasionally blond or copper-colored. Their eyes are green, brown, or hazel.
Eladrin are elves of the Feywild, a realm of perilous beauty and boundless magic. Using that magic, eladrin can step from one place to another in the blink of an eye, and each eladrin resonates with emotions captured in the Feywild in the form of seasons — affinities that affect the eladrin’s mood and appearance. An eladrin’s season can change, though some remain in one season forever. Choose your season or roll on the Eladrin Seasons table. Your Trance trait lets you change your season.
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, sea elves navigated the currents and explored the waters of many worlds. Today these elves can be found wherever oceans exist, as well as in the Elemental Plane of Water
Shadar-kai are the elves of the Shadowfell, originally drawn to that dread realm by the Raven Queen. Over the centuries, some of them have continued to serve her, while others have ventured into the Material Plane to forge their own destinies. Once shadar-kai were Fey like the rest of their elven kin; now they exist in a state between life and death, thanks to being transformed by the Shadowfell’s grim energy. Shadar-kai have ashen skin tones, and while they’re in the Shadowfell, they also become wizened, reflecting the somber nature of that gloomy plane.
Changes to the Languages trait of Eladrin: Addition of Sylvan as a known language.
- Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2.
- Creature Type. Humanoid.
- 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. An elf typically claims adulthood and an adult name around the age of 100 and can live to be 750 years old.
- Alignment. Elves love freedom, variety, and self-expression, so they lean strongly towards the gentler aspects of chaos. They value and protect others' freedom as well as their own, and are good more often than not. Drow are an exception; their exile into the Underdark has made them vicious and dangerous. Drow are more often evil than not.
- Size. Elves range from under 5 to over 6 feet tall and have slender builds. 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 dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
- 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. The Common word for this meditation is "trance." 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 Elvish.
- Subrace: Elves are as varied as the multiverse. Choose a subrace from the options below:
Descended from an earlier subrace of dark-skinned elves, the drow were banished from the surface world for following the goddess Lolth down the path to evil and corruption. Now they have built their own civilization in the depths of the Underdark, patterned after the Way of Lolth. Also called dark elves. The drow have black skin that resembles polished obsidian and stark white or pale yellow hair. They commonly have very pale eyes (so pale as to be mistaken for while) in shades of lilac, silver, pink, red, and blue. They lend to be smaller and thinner than most elves. Drow adventurers are rare, and the race does not exist in all worlds. Check with your Dungeon Master to see if you can play a drow character.
- Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 1.
- Superior Darkvision. Your darkvision has a range of 120 feet, instead of 60.
- 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, you can cast the Faerie Fire spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the Darkness spell onceand regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
- Drow Weapon Training. You have proficiency with rapiers, shortswords, and hand crossbows.
As a high elf, you have a keen mind and a mastery of at least the basics of magic. In many of the worlds of D&D, there are two kinds of high elves. One type (which includes the gray elves and valley elves of Greyhawk, the Silvanesti of Dragonlance, and the sun elves of the Forgotten Realms) is haughty and reclusive, believing themselves to be superior to non-elves and even other elves. The other type (including the high elves of Greyhawk. the Qualinesti of Dragonlance, and the moon elves of the Forgotten Realms) are more common and more friendly, and often encountered among humans and other races. The sun elves of Faerun (also called gold elves or sunrise elves) have bronze skin and hair of copper, black, or golden blood. Their eyes are golden, silver, or black. Moon elves (also called silver elves or gray elves) are much paler, with alabaster skin sometimes tinged with blue. They often have hair of silver-while, black, or blue, but various shades of blond, brown, and red are not uncommon. Their eyes are blue or green and flecked with gold.
- 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 longsword, shortsword, shortbow, and longbow.
- Extra Language. You can read, speak, and write one additional language of your choice.
As a wood elf, you have keen senses and intuition, and your fleet feet carry you quickly and stealthily through your native forests. This category includes the wild elves (grugach) of Greyhawk and the Kagonesti of Dragonlance, as well as the races called wood elves in Greyhawk and the Forgotten Realms. In Faerun, wood elves (also called wild elves. green elves, or forest elves) are reclusive and distrusting of non-elves. Wood elves' skin tends to be copperish in hue, sometimes with traces of green. Their hair tends toward browns and blacks, but it is occasionally blond or copper-colored. Their eyes are green, brown, or hazel.
- Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 1.
- Elf Weapon Training. You have proficiency with the longsword, 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.
Eladrin are elves of the Feywild, a realm of perilous beauty and boundless magic. Using that magic, eladrin can step from one place to another in the blink of an eye, and each eladrin resonates with emotions captured in the Feywild in the form of seasons — affinities that affect the eladrin’s mood and appearance. An eladrin’s season can change, though some remain in one season forever. Choose your season or roll on the Eladrin Seasons table. Your Trance trait lets you change your season.
Eladrin Seasons
| d4 | Season |
|---|---|
| 1 | Autumn: peace and goodwill, when summer's harvest is shared with all |
| 2 | Winter: contemplation and dolor, when the vibrant energy of the world slumbers |
| 3 | Spring: cheerfulness and celebration, marked by merriment and hope as winter's sorrow passes |
| 4 | Summer: boldness and aggression, a time of unfettered energy and calls to action |
- 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 trait a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish 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 Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma modifier (choose when you select this race):
- 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 the creatures.
- 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 proficiency bonus.
- Languages. You can speak, read, and write Sylvan.
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, sea elves navigated the currents and explored the waters of many worlds. Today these elves can be found wherever oceans exist, as well as in the Elemental Plane of Water
- Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1.
- Child of the Sea. You can breathe air and water, and you have resistance to cold damage.
- Friend of the Sea. Aquatic animals have an extraordinary affinity with your people. You can communicate simple ideas to any Beast that has a swimming speed. It can understand your words, though you have no special ability to understand it in return.
- Languages. You can speak, read, and write Primordial (Aquan).
Shadar-kai are the elves of the Shadowfell, originally drawn to that dread realm by the Raven Queen. Over the centuries, some of them have continued to serve her, while others have ventured into the Material Plane to forge their own destinies. Once shadar-kai were Fey like the rest of their elven kin; now they exist in a state between life and death, thanks to being transformed by the Shadowfell’s grim energy. Shadar-kai have ashen skin tones, and while they’re in the Shadowfell, they also become wizened, reflecting the somber nature of that gloomy plane.
- Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1.
- Blessing of the Raven Queen. As a bonus action, you can magically teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space you can see. You can use this trait a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish 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.
- Necrotic Resistance. You have resistance to necrotic damage.
Changes to the Languages trait of Eladrin: Addition of Sylvan as a known language.
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