View Single Post
Old 11-11-2020, 01:58 PM   #15
Polydamas
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Central Europe
Default Re: Elves as "closer to nature and lower-tech" - give them a revulsion to metal?

Quote:
Originally Posted by SolemnGolem View Post
TL;DR - If elves as a race have magical bonuses relating to Mother Nature, then how to explain their lower tech level? (As well as the fact that they presumably haven't just curbstomped all the lesser races already?)

I like the idea of a race that's more in tune with nature, and perhaps has a few freebie magical powers as a result. Many of the common tropes of elves have them, frankly, as overpowered - the D&D elf has night vision, a greatly extended lifespan, and a host of magical immunities. (So much so that a common question is "Okay, now we're building the game world and have to create a reason why they haven't conquered everything already.")
I think Poul Anderson toyed with that in "Three Hearts and Three Lions" (which is also the source of a lot of ideas in Basic and 1e AD&D: regenerating trolls, infravision, and a Law/Chaos dichotomy). He used it for fairies, and I like the idea of applying it to Tolkienesque elves.
__________________
"It is easier to banish a habit of thought than a piece of knowledge." H. Beam Piper

This forum got less aggravating when I started using the ignore feature
Polydamas is offline   Reply With Quote