Elf

If you are looking for a character as complex as possible and as different as possible from humans and other races, choose an elf. No other race is so distinctive and shows itself so deeply in its behavior as the elf. To play such a character well, you must understand how elves think.

First of all, elves live almost forever (from a human point of view), which gives them plenty of time to reflect and search for themselves. This fact is closely interwoven with their lives and behavior, and we find it in every aspect of the elven character.

Individuality and community

Elves value their individuality greatly and never condemn others for their nature or character, as long as the other respects theirs. Every elf is raised from birth to be able to observe, ask the right questions and form their own opinion of the world.

On the other hand, they form an extraordinarily strong bond with their community (family, clan). With their kin they share all experiences of the first decades of life, and talk about their desires, dreams and plans. The whole elven community thus knows each other as a twin knows a twin (and even more). The bond between the individual members of the community is infinitely strong, which is also why the grief of all is unusually deep when they lose someone. Elves feel a less strong bond to other elves, but also to all other living beings, and from this comes their love of life and their rejection of evil and violence.

Birth and childhood

Elves do not usually have many children, because they do not take life lightly and try to provide the child with the utmost safety, upbringing and education. An elven woman has at most three children, more often two (twins are extremely rare).

From a certain point in the pregnancy, the mother begins to perceive the child and forms a perfect mental bond with it, through which she begins to raise and shape the child. At this time she gives it its first name.

The birth of an elven child is always a great event in the community, which everyone looks forward to as the holiest of events. A child is always born within its community, or at least among elves, never among another race.

From about 10 years of age the child begins to speak and is raised by the whole community. Games gradually turn into training, where it learns all the skills needed for life, from knowledge of nature to hunting or fighting.

Adolescence

From about 30 years of age an elf comes of age and their personality takes shape. During this time they are the least responsible and do things that an adult elf would never do. It is precisely in this period that they may leave their community and seek their life's goal.

Gradually they learn prudence and responsibility; youthful recklessness is replaced by elven deliberation and detachment.

Life's goal

During adolescence, every elf discovers that they have a certain mission or urge. It may be the desire to create a perfect work of art, the study of magic, or perhaps leadership. As soon as the elf realizes this, they become an adult. This may happen very early, but also after several hundred years.

Adulthood

Adult elves make up the vast majority of the population. The vast majority return to their clan, where they spend the rest of their lives. They naturally try to fulfill their life's goal, but they also take care of everyday needs, such as a livelihood, finding a partner and raising offspring.

The older elves are, the more they ponder life, contemplate and become more conservative. A truly old elf does nothing thoughtlessly or rashly. If they have lived too long, they gradually lose the will to live and decide to depart voluntarily; this happens after 1000 years at the earliest, sometimes much later.

Money, power, fame

Elves think differently than most peoples. The usual temptations of humans or dwarves are very distant to them, because money, power and fame mean little to them. Many elven communities have no money at all, often do not trade with anyone else, or use barter trade.

Nor is power anything real for them, since they care greatly about individuality and the good of the whole community. Their ruler is usually an elf who sees their life's goal in leading others, not in order to rule them, but because that way they can benefit everyone. Elves naturally submit to their commanders when they understand the necessity of doing so (during an invasion, a disaster or other danger). At other times the ruler has a rather symbolic or ceremonial role.

Nor does the third greatest temptation, fame, bring elves satisfaction. If they want recognition, then at most within their community or elven clan, and there few have any great ambitions. If an elf becomes an artist, they do not do it for the recognition of those around them, but to express their inner self.

Collecting valuables

Although elves have no attachment to wealth, their treasuries hold veritable fortunes. They admire beauty and perfection, and so they keep their precious works (and the works of other peoples) and delight in their beauty. You will not find greed in them, and it often happens that they give their treasure away to someone else.

Elven deliberation

Elves (especially the older ones) are very deliberate (other peoples call it tediousness and slowness). Everything takes them ten times longer than ordinary mortals. In the time it takes humans to build a medium-sized town and several villages around it, elves build two houses. Those, however, must be perfect, offering comfort and a perfect view of the sunset. Their experiences are much more intense, their grief deeper, their joy longer, and they change their opinion or stance only slowly.

Special abilities of elves

Eternal Youth

No elf ages, and an elf cannot die of old age. As time goes by they become ever more conservative and any decision takes them longer and longer.

Poisons and healing

Unlike mortals, the bodies of elves work differently. They heal more slowly, but on the other hand poisons and diseases affect them less.

Sharp sight and keen hearing

All elves excel in sharp sight and keen hearing, for which they get a +3 bonus to awareness.

Division of elves

Since whole generations of elves remain in the same place and the same environment, we divide elves into three basic groups according to the place where they live and which shapes them.

High elves

The first group consists of elves who live in beautiful cities, where they devote themselves to study, art and magic. They have the greatest inner desire to penetrate the nature of things and to bring order to the things around them. Their life's mission is most often to create a perfect piece of jewelry or weapon, to compose a perfect song or to create a work of art before which no one can hold back tears. Many of them seek the essence of magic or the Primal spell.

Thanks to this they have a +3 bonus to scholarship, sorcery (if they study it), art and negotiation.

Thanks to their studies they are even wiser, even among elves, and so they have a +2 bonus to intelligence.

Sea elves

Sea elves also live in beautiful cities, but unlike the high elves they build them on the shores of the sea. Of all the elven tribes they are the most reserved, and they are often found contemplating on the shore of a sea or lake. Their life's goal is usually to build a perfect ship, to find the perfect tone or to compose a song such as no one has ever heard.

They are excellent sailors and shipbuilders, for which they have a +3 bonus to seamanship and crafting. If they study magic, their path most often follows the path of water magic (+3 to nature magic, focusing on blue spells). They also like to practice art, to which they have a +3 bonus.

Sea elves are born swimmers, and so they have two free bonus feats in swimming (Movement skill). Thanks to this they also have a +2 bonus to dexterity.

Wood elves

Wood elves live in close harmony with nature. They build their cities and dwellings in the heart of deep forests among the trees or directly in their crowns, which then often look like a natural part of the forest. They are the most peaceful of all elves. Their mission may be finding the most beautiful tree, growing a flower the world does not know, perfect merging with nature or making a perfect bow.

Thanks to their harmony with nature they have a +3 bonus to woodcraft and nature magic.

They also move completely silently in the forest (and elsewhere), and so they have a +3 bonus to stealth. They also know forest herbs well (herbalism +3). Outside their homeland they are famous for their talent for archery. They thus have shooting opened for free with a +3 bonus and one bonus feat (in archery). Wood elves always have at least partial knowledge of the deep forest (from woodcraft).

Attribute base

When you determine your character's attributes, use these values as the base: