Rethinking Fantasy Races - Slaughtering Your Sacred Minotaurs
Being that I labelled them as the biggest offenders in the introduction, it's only fitting that we start with elves. Firstly, we have to decide what we do like about elves.
Step 1: Concept
I've always much preferred the woodsy aspect of elves to the masters of the arcane. Swift silent hunters stalking the treetops and putting arrows in places you probably don't want arrows to be put. Let's take that concept and run with it.
Step 2: Racial Qualities
TYPE - This is pretty well set for us. Changing away from Humanoid (elf) is kind of the exact opposite of what we want to do.
SIZE - While a case could be made for Small elves, we're going to keep them at Medium.
SPEED - Honestly, I haven't decided whether I want elves to be faster than other races, but I know I don't want them to be slower. Normal Speed it is.
ABILITIES - I'm going to try, whenever possible, to stick to the basic "+2 Physical, +2 Mental, -2 Whatever" formula of standard races.
Clearly, the +2 Dexterity is a choice we want to keep. It's the primary defining ability score of elves. The other modifiers, however, feel a bit strange to me.
The +2 Intelligence that elves get is both a way to facilitate arcane spellcasting and to represent their (potentially) hundreds of years of personal experience. Seeing as we're moving elves a bit away from arcane mastery and the fact that skill points are a better representation of experience than raw intelligence, I feel justified in dropping the +2 Int in favor of a +2 to Wisdom. Heal, Perception, Profession, Sense Motive, and Survival all feel appropriately elven. Later, we'll look into maybe adding some bonus skill points per level to represent the long life of elves.
The -2 Constitution has always bothered me as well. Just because a person is generally thin doesn't mean they get sick or break bones more easily. I've seen plenty of shows and read plenty of books where elves take some serious hits and keep going, and in a lot of properties elves simply don't get sick. Like ever. You know what I very rarely see elves doing, though? Punching the shit out of things, lifting heavy objects, and using two-handed weapons. In almost all properties, elves have ignored physical prowess in preference for their superior agility. It makes sense to me to apply their racial penalty to Strength, rather than Constitution.
This lands us at a final +2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, -2 Strength. Different, to be sure, but more suited to my tastes.
LANGUAGES - This is something that I'm kind of struggling with, to be honest. A part of me, the game balance part of me, wants to give elves the Standard language option (Common plus their racial language (if any), up to seven bonus languages). Another part, the story trumps balance part, wants to give them the Xenophobic language option (racial language only, up to four bonus languages, one of which must be Common). Either way, it carries the same Race Point cost, so I can figure out later whether I want them to be more insular or cosmopolitan.
Actually, no. Seeing as elves are an active part of society, even if they can be stuffy, I'll give them the Standard option and reserve the Xenophobic option for races that are generally not welcome in "polite society" like goblins and the like. Struggle resolved.
So we're looking at starting languages of Common and Elven. As far as bonus languages go, we can pick up to seven. Some of the core choices in Pathfinder are spot on (Sylvan) while I just can't wrap my head around some of them (Celestial? Is this another holdover from Tolkien where elves are basically a couple steps removed from the Ainur?)
So let's look at allies first.
Dwarves, Elves, and Humans make up the "big three" civilized races. We've already got Common and Elven covered, so let's add in Dwarven to round that out. In fact, these three languages will probably be on most of the races' lists.
These elves are bent strongly toward the natural aspect of things, so Sylvan is a great choice. And, just for fun, let's give them Treant as well. I like treants, and a long history of elven druids makes perfect sense. Plus, this fills the "tree hugging hippie" schtick that some elves get saddled with.
Even though we've slightly weakened their connection to the arcane, that doesn't mean that they're not still fascinated with it. Elves are ever delving into ancient tomes and the like. Draconic is a good choice here. Dragons have an inherent association with magic and their long lives mean that they possess a ton of knowledge that few elves would willingly pass up.
As far as enemies go, the big three for elves are goblins, orcs, and dark elves (I'm waffling on whether I want to call them drow or not).
Putting all of that together gives us Common and Elven as starting languages with Draconic, Dwarven, Goblin, Orc, Sylvan, Treant, and Undercommon as bonus language options.
Step 3: Racial Traits
Hoo boy. This is where things get interesting/irritating. Let's just start with what core elves get and work from there.
Elven Immunities (2 RP) - Fucking what? Why? Why are elves immune to sleep? More holdover from Tolkien's immortal elves, no doubt. Yeah, that's just not going to happen. Elves are mortal and mortal things need to sleep or they go insane. End of. I can be okay with the resistance to enchantments, though that's also a bit suspect. What is it about elves that makes them harder to charm? Their experience? Some biological factor? /shrug
Keen Senses (2 RP) - Yeah, sure. No problems here.
Elven Magic (3 RP) - I can maybe be okay with this as an alternate racial trait. I want the base traits of a race to have a benefit for any member of that race. This trait only helps casters.
Weapon Familiarity (2 RP) - I'm more comfortable with this one as a base trait, but it still has dubious efficacy for nonmartial characters. Sure, your elven wizard could swing around a longsword, but with half BAB and a Str penalty, what actual use is it? This and Elven Magic are pretty close in RP cost, so maybe these could just be interchangeable.
Low-Light Vision (1 RP) - Perfect. No complaints.
So...not a ton that I'm explicitly okay with. Let's take a look at a few of the Alternate Racial Traits I like.
Fleet-Footed (4 RP) - Way cool. Run as a bonus feat and a bonus to initiative feel great. The problem? The initiative bonus is only +2. At the cost of 4 RP, I could get Run and Improved Initiative as bonus feats and have an Initiative bonus 2 higher than this trait. Dropping the cost to 3 RP. and keeping it at +2.
Long-Limbed (2 RP) - Cool concept, but the standard 2 RP for a static feat is way too costly here. Instead, I'll go with just the Fast movement trait. +10' for 1 RP. Double the benefit for half the cost.
Silent Hunter (2 RP) - I like it. It's a bit of a weird one, cost-wise. It's a 2 RP trait that replaces a 3 RP trait while providing a broader benefit. Good job, Paizo.
Woodcraft (3 RP) - Way cool. A suitable replacement for Elven Magic.
Neat. Now, instead of giving elves bonus skill points to make up for losing the Int bonus, I thought it would be cool to give elves Breadth of Experience as a bonus feat. It fulfills the whole "I've been around the block" schtick in a really neat way that just feels great to me.
Okay, so let's put this all together.
ELF
Type - Humanoid (elf) 0 RP
Size - Medium 0 RP
Base Speed - Fast 1 RP
Ability Score Modifiers - Standard (+2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, -2 Strength)
Languages - Standard 0 RP
Racial Traits
Defense Racial Traits
-Enchantment Resistance 1 RP
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
-Silent Hunter 2 RP
-Skill Bonus (Perception) 2 RP
-Static Bonus Feat (Breadth of Experience) 2 RP
-Variable Skill Bonus (Knowledge (nature), Survival) 3 RP
Movement Racial Traits
-Fleet-Footed 3 RP
Offense Racial Traits
-Weapon Familiarity 2 RP
Senses Racial Traits
-Low-Light Vision 1 RP
That brings us to 17 RP, which is 2 higher than I wanted. Looking at it again, we can probably drop Silent Hunter as a base trait to hit the 15 that we're looking for. And we can even keep Elven Magic and Silent Hunter as alternate racial traits that you can swap out Weapon Familiarity for. I don't think the extra RP from Elven Magic is going to wobble the balance enough to matter.
Time to finalize this!
Elf Standard Racial Traits
Ability Score Racial Traits: Elves are nimble and aware, but have a hard time maintaining muscle mass. They gain +2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, and –2 Strength.
Size: Elves are Medium creatures and thus receive no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Type: Elves are Humanoids with the elf subtype.
Base Speed: Elves have a base speed of 40 feet.
Languages: Elves begin play speaking Common and Elven. Elves with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Draconic, Dwarven, Goblin, Orc, Sylvan, Treant, and Undercommon. See the Linguistics skill page for more information about these languages.
Defense Racial Traits
Enchantment Resistance: Elves gain a +2 racial saving throw bonus against enchantment spells and effects.
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
Breadth of Experience: Elves get a +2 bonus on all Knowledge and Profession skill checks, and can make checks with those skills untrained.
Keen Senses: Elves receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception checks.
Woodcraft: Elves gain a +1 racial bonus on Knowledge (nature) and Survival checks. In forest terrain, these bonuses improve to +2.
Movement Racial Traits
Fleet-Footed: Elves receive Run as a bonus feat and a +2 racial bonus on initiative checks.
Offense Racial Traits
Weapon Familiarity: Elves are proficient with longbows (including composite longbows), longswords, rapiers, and shortbows (including composite shortbows), and treat any weapon with the word “elven” in its name as a martial weapon.
Senses Racial Traits
Low-Light Vision: Elves can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.
Alternate Racial Traits
The following alternate racial traits may be selected in place of one or more of the standard racial traits above. Consult your GM before selecting any of these new options.
Elven Magic: Elves have a longstanding tradition of magical proficiency. Elves with this racial trait receive a +2 racial bonus on caster level checks made to overcome spell resistance. In addition, elves receive a +2 racial bonus on Spellcraft skill checks made to identify the properties of magic items. This racial trait replaces weapon familiarity.
Silent Hunter: Elves are renowned for their subtlety and skill. Elves with this racial trait reduce the penalty for using Stealth while moving by 5 and can make Stealth checks while running at a –20 penalty (this number includes the penalty reduction from this racial trait). This racial trait replaces weapon familiarity.
I think that looks pretty good. Let me know what you think.
Until next time.
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