[DF] Elves

David Johnston2 · 05-09-2018, 04:28 PM

The thought that struck me when I got a look at Dungeon Fantasy 3 is that the whole "elves are a dying race" thing doesn't really work given the amazing number of different elf races living in different environments. High elves may be a dying race but with all those offshoots the general category of "elf" is all over the place at least when it comes to places with low human population density. They've got high, wood, flying, sea, shadow, half, and mountain. What don't they have...so far?

Snow? I could see that. Pointy eared Elsas discouraging the northward homesteading with strategic blizzards...

Moon? Elves with pale skin and hair and good night vision

Sun? Desert Elves with dark skin and a gift for finding water...

Mark Skarr · 05-09-2018, 04:57 PM

Keebler? Excellent bakers, specializing in cookies. Halflings are very fond of them. Can create buff/debuff consumable foods.

Research? Find esoteric answers to questions you didn’t know were questions. Quite Interesting, really. Bonuses to figuring out what that is you’ve found. Not terribly stealthy as they tend to make loud noises when you’re obviously wrong about something.

Naked/Sexy? Highly sought after as models by artists, or as slaves by the less virtuous. Distractions abound and bullet-proof nudity.

Cobbler? Highly proficient at making shoes. Tend to help the elderly. Make the best shoes.

Toy-Making? Usually employed by elderly elves with a penchant for giving their products to virtuous children. Lone members can use their ability to create almost anything.

Neptunian? Four-armed servants of the evil Santa Robot.

(E) · 05-09-2018, 05:35 PM

Hmm
I have an elven centric campaign at the moment
- High elves (Law)
- Twilight elves (observers)
- Arctic elves (prisoners)
- Beast folk (elves that can alter their children)
- Desert elves (Surrender immortality to embrace life), Nictating membrane
- Eldar (ancient and lawful)
- Sidhe (ancient and chaotic)
- Forest elves (no metal, little fire)

Sub types
- Elven lords and ladies.
- Elven blood in place of half elves

Other variations I've used
- Plains elves
- War
- Extreme wood elves, part plant.
- Elemental combinations
- other races as elves, types of trolls
- Magic affinity as an axis as well

Humabout · 05-09-2018, 07:20 PM

Musical Elves: Some real party animals and consumate bards.

talonthehand · 05-10-2018, 02:46 PM

I had done a desert elf template a while back - it worked well in play.

http://forums.sjgames.com/showpost.p...58&postcount=4

AlexanderHowl · 05-10-2018, 05:30 PM

Elves could be evolving themselves into extinction through overspecialization. If each group of elves is a different species incapable of interbreeding with other elf groups (though inexplicably able to interbreed with humans), then each elf species risks extinction because they might only have an average of a few hundred thousand members. Or if they have low fertility within each subspecies and have difficulty growing in population unless they crossbreed outside their subspecies, then every elf lost in conflict might take decades or centuries to replace through normal breeding. In any case, it is fluff in DF.

(E) · 05-10-2018, 05:38 PM

Yeah, I removed Genetics as a reason why elves are different from one another in my Elf centric game.

Breed stability in animals requires something like 100,000 individuals.

edk926 · 05-10-2018, 05:51 PM

Myths have Elves living several hundreds of years. They also tend to be represented with human-esque sized families. This would indicate that they either have only a short reproductive window and/or long gaps in between periods of fertility ... or possibly have a panda-like general lack of reproduction drive.

Or maybe environmental issues can lead to fertility issues.

Mark Skarr · 05-10-2018, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

Elves could be evolving themselves into extinction through overspecialization. If each group of elves is a different species incapable of interbreeding with other elf groups (though inexplicably able to interbreed with humans), then each elf species risks extinction because they might only have an average of a few hundred thousand members. Or if they have low fertility within each subspecies and have difficulty growing in population unless they crossbreed outside their subspecies, then every elf lost in conflict might take decades or centuries to replace through normal breeding. In any case, it is fluff in DF.

Or, for a more conspiratorial touch, some of the ancient Elves have bred humans to be capable of interbreeding with Elves, because they saw this coming, and humans are a stop-gap method to correct the error. Through some magical process, they'll be able to have half-elves breed together to create full elves when the process is completed.

AlexanderHowl · 05-10-2018, 08:00 PM

Or you could have it that a half-elf that breeds with a elf possesses the fertility of humans but half of their children are half-elves and half of their children elves. That way, an elf would breed with a human and their half-elf children would breed with elves to create more half-elves and elves. In effect, the elf phenotype would be recessive genetic complex.

05-09-2018, 04:28 PM	#1
David Johnston2 Join Date: Dec 2007	[DF] Elves The thought that struck me when I got a look at Dungeon Fantasy 3 is that the whole "elves are a dying race" thing doesn't really work given the amazing number of different elf races living in different environments. High elves may be a dying race but with all those offshoots the general category of "elf" is all over the place at least when it comes to places with low human population density. They've got high, wood, flying, sea, shadow, half, and mountain. What don't they have...so far? Snow? I could see that. Pointy eared Elsas discouraging the northward homesteading with strategic blizzards... Moon? Elves with pale skin and hair and good night vision Sun? Desert Elves with dark skin and a gift for finding water...

05-09-2018, 04:57 PM	#2
Mark Skarr Forum Pervert (If you have to ask . . .) Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Somewhere high up.	Re: [DF] Elves Keebler? Excellent bakers, specializing in cookies. Halflings are very fond of them. Can create buff/debuff consumable foods. Research? Find esoteric answers to questions you didn’t know were questions. Quite Interesting, really. Bonuses to figuring out what that is you’ve found. Not terribly stealthy as they tend to make loud noises when you’re obviously wrong about something. Naked/Sexy? Highly sought after as models by artists, or as slaves by the less virtuous. Distractions abound and bullet-proof nudity. Cobbler? Highly proficient at making shoes. Tend to help the elderly. Make the best shoes. Toy-Making? Usually employed by elderly elves with a penchant for giving their products to virtuous children. Lone members can use their ability to create almost anything. Neptunian? Four-armed servants of the evil Santa Robot.

05-09-2018, 05:35 PM	#3
(E) Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: New Zealand.	Re: [DF] Elves Hmm I have an elven centric campaign at the moment - High elves (Law) - Twilight elves (observers) - Arctic elves (prisoners) - Beast folk (elves that can alter their children) - Desert elves (Surrender immortality to embrace life), Nictating membrane - Eldar (ancient and lawful) - Sidhe (ancient and chaotic) - Forest elves (no metal, little fire) Sub types - Elven lords and ladies. - Elven blood in place of half elves Other variations I've used - Plains elves - War - Extreme wood elves, part plant. - Elemental combinations - other races as elves, types of trolls - Magic affinity as an axis as well __________________ Waiting for inspiration to strike...... And spending too much time thinking about farming for RPGs Contributor to Citadel at Nordvörn

05-09-2018, 07:20 PM	#4
Humabout Join Date: Aug 2008	Re: [DF] Elves Musical Elves: Some real party animals and consumate bards. __________________ Buy My Stuff! *Free Stuff:* Dungeon Action! Totem Spirits My Blog: Above the Flatline.

05-10-2018, 02:46 PM	#5
talonthehand Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: LFK	Re: [DF] Elves I had done a desert elf template a while back - it worked well in play. http://forums.sjgames.com/showpost.p...58&postcount=4

05-10-2018, 05:30 PM	#6
AlexanderHowl Join Date: Feb 2016	Re: [DF] Elves Elves could be evolving themselves into extinction through overspecialization. If each group of elves is a different species incapable of interbreeding with other elf groups (though inexplicably able to interbreed with humans), then each elf species risks extinction because they might only have an average of a few hundred thousand members. Or if they have low fertility within each subspecies and have difficulty growing in population unless they crossbreed outside their subspecies, then every elf lost in conflict might take decades or centuries to replace through normal breeding. In any case, it is fluff in DF.

05-10-2018, 05:38 PM	#7
(E) Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: New Zealand.	Re: [DF] Elves Yeah, I removed Genetics as a reason why elves are different from one another in my Elf centric game. Breed stability in animals requires something like 100,000 individuals. __________________ Waiting for inspiration to strike...... And spending too much time thinking about farming for RPGs Contributor to Citadel at Nordvörn

05-10-2018, 05:51 PM	#8
edk926 Join Date: Jan 2017	Re: [DF] Elves Myths have Elves living several hundreds of years. They also tend to be represented with human-esque sized families. This would indicate that they either have only a short reproductive window and/or long gaps in between periods of fertility ... or possibly have a panda-like general lack of reproduction drive. Or maybe environmental issues can lead to fertility issues.

05-10-2018, 08:00 PM	#10
AlexanderHowl Join Date: Feb 2016	Re: [DF] Elves Or you could have it that a half-elf that breeds with a elf possesses the fertility of humans but half of their children are half-elves and half of their children elves. That way, an elf would breed with a human and their half-elf children would breed with elves to create more half-elves and elves. In effect, the elf phenotype would be recessive genetic complex.