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 Where have all the wood Elves gone
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Giant Snake
Acolyte

30 Posts

Posted - 08 Nov 2023 :  17:29:02  Show Profile Send Giant Snake a Private Message  Reply with Quote  Delete Topic
Are these rare for anyone else to have in their party? I feel like being a Wood Elf gives you a lot more freedom to be your own character without necessarily being a renegade. I think they’re a lot of fun. A good story with the hidden elf village as opposed to a hidden kingdom lends itself well to some more relatable wood elves. What do you think about them for your next character?

Lord Karsus
Great Reader

USA
3736 Posts

Posted - 09 Nov 2023 :  00:17:03  Show Profile Send Lord Karsus a Private Message  Reply with Quote
-Only game I played in the Forgotten Realms dealt with Tethyran loggers destroying Wood Elven territory. I generally prefer playing "high magic" Elves, but nothing wrong with woodsy Elves.

(A Tri-Partite Arcanist Who Has Forgotten More Than Most Will Ever Know)

Elves of Faerûn
Vol I- The Elves of Faerûn
Vol. III- Spells of the Elves
Vol. VI- Mechanical Compendium
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Giant Snake
Acolyte

30 Posts

Posted - 09 Nov 2023 :  06:07:59  Show Profile Send Giant Snake a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I think they’re capable of being heroic and ideal but they are also relatable because they’re a little more expressive. If I’m not mistaken, they’re not only deep in the forests but sometimes they live near settlements of Men too. It is sort of hard to imagine the more refined elves getting black out drunk every night (for all those who got started with Tolkien before moving on to FR).
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Zeromaru X
Great Reader

Colombia
2405 Posts

Posted - 09 Nov 2023 :  06:41:30  Show Profile Send Zeromaru X a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I haven't played one, but that's because I'm cursed to be an eternal DM. My brother, on the other hand, played a wood elf ranger once. He had a concept in mind (he wanted to play a Legolas-esque character).

Instead of seeking change, you prefer a void, merciless abyss of a world...
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Giant Snake
Acolyte

30 Posts

Posted - 09 Nov 2023 :  16:11:15  Show Profile Send Giant Snake a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I don’t know if you guys have used 5etools but it is so great for helping you balance the game. I have always been the kind to have character first, game second. So if you make a non-optimized character it doesn’t matter, because the tools site balances your encounters around what you have. You’re then challenging the players within the context of the encounter instead of what’s on the paper.

What I would like to see is the party sets out from the wood elf kingdom or village and the cities of Men are then presented in a new light. If doing a one-shot it could be something as simple as slaying a monster that has moved in to the woods.
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Irennan
Great Reader

Italy
3802 Posts

Posted - 09 Nov 2023 :  17:23:41  Show Profile Send Irennan a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Zeromaru X

I haven't played one, but that's because I'm cursed to be an eternal DM.



Same. If I ever got the chance to play (which is unlikely, since no one in my group seems to be even remotely interested in DM-ing), I'd make a witchy, woodsy elf kind of character. Well, I'd actually prefer to play as a dryad of sorts, but a wood elf would be close enough if dryads were off the table.

Mathematics is the art of giving the same name to different things.

Edited by - Irennan on 09 Nov 2023 17:34:09
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TBeholder
Great Reader

2349 Posts

Posted - 09 Nov 2023 :  17:23:59  Show Profile Send TBeholder a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Giant Snake

Where have all the wood Elves gone

In the woods.
quote:
I feel like being a Wood Elf gives you a lot more freedom to be your own character without necessarily being a renegade.

I suspect Wood Elves suffer the same problems as the original joke class and some other specialists. Such characters sound like a fine concept, but either they belong in the specific campaign (in a group with more than 1 ranger or druid, etc), or it risks to turn into a lose/lose/lose deal.
In the woods they are supposed to be too good, the character gets to run circles around everyone else.
Elsewhere, fish out of water. Which is apt to cause attention-grabbing even if not intended at all. If that's played up, the result will resemble that old /tg/ horror story about a player who first insisted on bringing druid character into city campaign, and then tried to walk around butt-nekkid. Elves are already widely disliked for being the most common choice for Speshul Snowflakes.
And if not played as mostly-savage, this will be a purely decorative attribute, which is both boring and looks like a failed attempt at attention-seeking.
quote:
Originally posted by Zeromaru X

I haven't played one, but that's because I'm cursed to be an eternal DM. My brother, on the other hand, played a wood elf ranger once. He had a concept in mind (he wanted to play a Legolas-esque character).

Also, this. In small and/or sane circles it may be amusing, but...
Drizzt clones get more infamy, sure, but every time a LOTR movie was released, the great and terrible Legolas clone factory spun up. The terrible stories are still told about the World of Warcraft expansion with blond elves, immediately followed by Legolas and Sephiroth clone infestation.

People never wonder How the world goes round -Helloween
And even I make no pretense Of having more than common sense -R.W.Wood
It's not good, Eric. It's a gazebo. -Ed Whitchurch
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Giant Snake
Acolyte

30 Posts

Posted - 09 Nov 2023 :  17:53:38  Show Profile Send Giant Snake a Private Message  Reply with Quote
There is no class to save a character from an unimaginative or edgy player. In that case it is even more of a good thing to have a derivative character who follows the archetype. Archetypes aren’t a bad thing. A good player can do well with the most plain backstory.
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sleyvas
Great Reader

USA
11609 Posts

Posted - 11 Nov 2023 :  15:07:58  Show Profile Send sleyvas a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Where have all the wood elves gone?

Well, they usually "go" behind a tree that has big broad leaves... but leaves that are suitable for wiping... though some have been successfully house trained.

Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

Phillip aka Sleyvas
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Azar
Master of Realmslore

1186 Posts

Posted - 01 Dec 2023 :  09:15:18  Show Profile Send Azar a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I was contemplating creating a Wood Elf priestess of Lady Goldheart. Hm...wasn't Aribeth part Wood Elf?

Stand with anybody that stands right. Stand with him while he is right and part with him when he goes wrong.

Earth names in the Realms are more common than you may think.
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Dalor Darden
Great Reader

USA
4194 Posts

Posted - 01 Dec 2023 :  22:54:58  Show Profile Send Dalor Darden a Private Message  Reply with Quote
When I think of Wood Elves I think of the elf Crow from the old movie Hawk the Slayer.

The Old Grey Box and AD&D for me!
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