Elf

Elves are an ancient, almost timeless, race. They embody the grace and beauty of the natural world: as well as its strength and, at times, its unremitting wrath and fury. Elves live exceedingly long lives, giving them a degree of patience unknown to other races, affording them the opportunity to acquire a vast knowledge of the world and its history. This makes elves well informed and sage-like in their depth of knowledge and perspective. This, combined with their natural dexterity and lithe movement, makes them appear almost ethereal to those who behold them for the first time.
Description: Elves vary in size and coloration, depending on their nature. Elves range from dark to light skinned in color, although light green, or even a bluish tint skin hues are not unknown. At maturity they average 5 feet 6 inches in height, and weigh around 115 lb. Their “ethereal” nature lends them an unnatural grace and beauty. Elves have thin, sharp facial features with large, searching eyes that can vary widely in color. Their ears are long, tapering to a point at the ends, and they often wear their hair long and unrestrained.
Personality: Elves, being long-lived, possess tremendous patience. An overriding sense of near-immortality affects an elf’s every thought and action. Other races misinterpret this patience as indolence, laziness and an uncaring attitude, since other races cannot afford to wait decades to act on a matter. Elves know that they have time to act, for the centuries stretch before them where other races have mere decades. When pressed, however, elves are capable of quick deliberation and speedy action, though usually not as quick as their shorter-lived allies might prefer.
Elves relish beauty, both natural and crafted. Their farsighted vision allows them to see the shapes of things to come, and more, they can see the shapes of things that could be. Where others might see a young sapling that one day must grow into a great oak, an elf sees a sapling that, molded with care and patience, can grow into a tree of great trunk and arching branch that will lord over the forest. This sight grants them the patience to make a craft of their natural environment. They shape the rocks where they dwell and cultivate trees and gardens over many years, thus molding their surroundings to create a garden of beauty in the natural world. They apply this same care to shaping and drawing out the natural beauty in all things, from simple stones and gems to gardens, forests and hills. Likewise, the same attention is given to the crafting of weapons and armor, to spells, and even to the care of beasts. All things flourish under an elf’s care if given time and safety from the world’s interruptions.
An elf’s shaping of the world is accomplished with time. Time is the essential element in creating any item of beauty and time is something many elves have. The same applies to an elf’s use of magic. When magic is crafted by an elf, it is treated with the same care and patience that the elves apply to all things. Time is the forge upon which arcane forces are shaped and bent to perfection. Flawless and powerful magical spells and items are greatly valued and coveted by the other peoples of the world and by elves as well. When complete, elven magics are of divine perfection and immense power; but more than this, their beauty is beyond comparison and oft times, beauty is the source of its magical power.
This love for beauty and the desire to shape the world brings elves their greatest joy and greatest sorrow. Their timeless vision allows them to see both the beauty and the tragedy in all things, so that elves are filled with overflowing joy and limitless sorrow. Looking into their future, they see their lives and creations becoming marred and spoiled by others, be they dwarf, human, orc or even the ravages of time.
These qualities imbue most elves with a deep fatalism. Their near-immortality creates a peculiar unease with death for their attachment to the living world is more profound and deeply felt than that of most other races. Together, these conflicting notions of time create a burgeoning and even contradictory desire to control and even stop the advancement of time, the forge of their life’s creation and the crucible of their doom. In many ways, elves become mired in their history, and change little as the world changes around them. At times, this leads elves to avoid many situations that don’t directly threaten them, or that they feel would bring unnecessary harm to their creations. Racial Affinities: Most elves prefer the company of other elves. They associate well with halflings and gnomes, but generally do not live in close proximity to settlements of those races.
Humans present interesting dilemmas for elves to ponder, for humans combine the most noble and ignoble aspects of all creatures. As such, elves are very selective about their human associations and have a guarded approach to their interactions with humans. Dwarves are treated with an aloofness bordering on disdain, for elves find them nearly unfathomable save for one commonality, a dislike of all goblinoid races.
Environment: Elves prefer living in serene environments, far from turbulent, troubled lands. Often associated with forests and wilderness areas, elves will also live in open savannah or dense urban environments of their own making. Elvish cities are different from human settlements, having more in kin with dwarven settlements – both races tend to incorporate natural surroundings into both their architecture and living spaces in their communities.
RACIAL TRAITS AND ABILITIES
Enhanced Senses: Elvish physiology is blessed with enhanced vision and hearing. Elves can see farther than humans in just about every circumstance, including torchlight, and can see clearly enough to read a road sign or spot a shield device up to two miles distant when outside in the day. They can also hear very well, and receive a +2 bonus to all checks involving listening.
Twilight Vision: Even under starlight, moonlight or torchlight, elves have exceedingly good vision. They can distinguish color and detail under these conditions for up to one mile but only if they are outside.
Move Silently (Dexterity): This ability allows an elf to move silently in wilderness areas. The elf can move up to one-half normal speed at no penalty. At more than one-half, and up to the character’s full speed, the character suffers a -5 penalty to the check. It’s practically impossible (-20 penalty) to move silently while running or charging.
Spell Resistance: Elves are particularly resistant to spells and spell-like abilities that charm or unnaturally cause sleep. When making saving throws against these types of spells, an elf receives a +10 bonus. Elf spell resistance allows a saving throw against sleep, even though sleep normally does not have a saving throw.
Spot Hidden Doors (Wisdom): Elvish vision and keen senses allow them to spot secret, hidden and concealed doorways. An elf merely passing within 5 feet of a secret, hidden or concealed doorway is entitled to a wisdom check to spot the door, as if the elf were actively looking for it. When an elf actively searches for such doorways, the bonus to the wisdom check is +2.
Weapon Training: Elves are taught the ways of combat at a young age, and their long lives allow them to become skilled in weapons favored by their society. Elves begin play with a +1 bonus to hit with one of the following weapons: composite longbow, composite shortbow, longbow, shortbow, longsword or shortsword.
Languages: Common, Elf, Dwarf, Gnome, Goblin, Halfling, and Orc
Size: Medium
Movement: 30 Feet
Typical Classes: Fighter, Ranger, Rogue, Wizard, Druid, Knight, Bard
Attribute Modifiers: +1 Dexterity, -1 Constitution
Ability Modifier: +2 Listen, +2 Move Silent, +2 Find Traps