Elves

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Revision as of 20:53, 21 September 2026 by Locutus (talk | contribs) (→‎Eldar: Added alternate traits for grey elves.)

Eledhel

Standard Racial Traits

  • Ability Score Racial Traits: Elves are nimble, both in body and mind, but their form is frail. They gain +2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, –2 Constitution.
  • Size: Elves are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
  • Type: Elves are humanoids with the elf subtype.
  • Normal Speed: Elves have a base speed of 30 feet.
  • Low-Light Vision: Elves can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.
  • Elven Immunities: Elves gain a +1 racial bonus to all saves.
  • Elven Skills: Elves select two skills for which their ability modifier is not negative. These selected skills are always class skills for the character.
  • Keen Senses: Elves receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception skill checks.
  • 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.
  • Languages: Elves begin play speaking Common and Elven. Elves with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Draconic, Dwarven, Gnoll, Goblin, Orcish, and Sylvan.

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.

  • Ageless Patience: Some families of elves have been strongly influenced by rigidly honorable non-elven cultures. This attitude, combined with elven longevity, produces elves of extraordinary patience, who can produce better results when taking their time than they could under time constraints. These elves gain a +2 racial bonus when taking 20 on skill checks. This racial trait replaces elven skills and keen senses.
  • Arcane Focus: Some elven families have such long traditions of producing wizards (and other arcane spellcasters) that they raise their children with the assumption each is destined to be a powerful magic-user, with little need for mundane concerns such as skill with weapons. Elves with this racial trait gain a +2 racial bonus on concentration checks made to cast arcane spells defensively. This racial trait replaces weapon familiarity.
  • Disinterested Observer: Elves who frequently interact with shorter-lived species often come to rely on their ability to wait out such impatient races. These elves gain a +1 racial bonus on attack rolls and skill checks made as part of readied actions in combat. This racial trait replaces the elven skills and weapon familiarity traits.
  • Dusksight: When making ranged attacks, characters with this trait can reroll the miss chance granted by cover to any target in dim light, and take the better of the two rolls. The miss chance for total concealment applies normally. Elves can take this trait in place of keen senses.
  • Elemental Resistance: Elves who dwell in the most extreme environments, from arctic wastelands to volcanic plains, can develop natural resistance to the dangers of their homelands over the course of a few generations. Elves with this racial trait gain elemental resistance 5 to acid, cold, electricity, or fire. This choice is made at character creation, and once made it cannot be changed. This racial trait replaces elven immunities.
  • Elven Magic: Elven schooling is suffused with magic, and some students choose to focus on its fundamentals. Elves with this 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 elven skills.
  • Enhanced Eyesight: Sometimes, an elf is born with extraordinary vision. Elves with this trait keep their low-light vision but also gain darkvision to a distance of 60 feet. This racial trait replaces keen senses.
  • Fleet-Footed: While all elves are naturally agile, some also are naturally speedy and have a strong desire to rush into situations rather than worrying about looking ahead. Elves with this racial trait receive Run as a bonus feat and a +2 racial bonus on initiative checks. This racial trait replaces keen senses and weapon familiarity.
  • Human-raised: Elves raised outside of elven communities—are accustomed to other races’ brevity of life. Although they lose the opportunity to train in traditional elven arts, these elves pick up a bit of their adoptive parents’ skills. They gain Skill Focus as a bonus feat. This racial trait replaces elven skills and weapon familiarity.
  • Keeper of Secrets: Some elves seek to protect younger races from dangerous lore. The save DCs of enchantment spells they cast against humanoids increase by 1 and they receive a +2 racial bonus on Bluff and Linguistics checks to omit or cover up facts. This racial trait replaces elven skills.
  • Loremaster: Some elves are steeped in lore older than most civilizations. They gain a +2 racial bonus on Knowledge (history), Knowledge (local), and Spellcraft checks. This racial trait replaces elven skills and keen senses.
  • Metaphysical Sight: Some elves with magic-users as both parents are born with an ability to see magic. These elves gain detect magic as an at-will spell-like ability, with a caster level equal to their character level. This racial trait replaces elven skills and keen senses.
  • Overwhelming Magic: Some elves obsess over the fundamentals of magic, training for decades to add layers of potent spellwork before they ever begin practicing true spells. This builds a foundation that makes their magic increasingly difficult to resist. These elves gain Spell Focus as a bonus feat. This racial trait replaces elven skills and weapon familiarity.
  • Perfect: The eerie beauty of some elves cannot be denied. Elves with this racial trait receive a +1 racial bonus on Bluff and Diplomacy checks against humanoids and a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against transmutation spells and spell-like effects. This racial trait replaces elven immunities.
  • Retreat Magic: Some elves specialize in magic that fools foes into misjudging elven numbers and locations. These elves gain a +1 racial bonus to their caster levels for the purpose of determining the range and duration of all conjuration and illusion spells that they cast. This racial trait replaces elven skills.
  • Sense Thoughts: Some elves are so closely attuned to each other and their environment that they seem able to read each other’s minds and their foes’ thoughts. Elves with this alternate racial trait can use read thoughts as a psi-like ability once per day, with a manifester level equal to their character level. This replaces elven immunities.
  • 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 elven skills.
  • Slender: Elves often appear rather thin by other races’ standards. Elves with this trait gain a +2 racial bonus on Escape Artist checks, on combat maneuver checks to escape a grapple, and to CMD against grapples. This racial trait replaces elven immunities.
  • Urbanite: Elves who live in cities for more than a century can grow to know the ebb and flow of social situations just as their forest-dwelling cousins know the rules of the wild. Elves with this racial trait gain a +2 racial bonus on Diplomacy checks made to gather information and Sense Motive checks made to get a hunch about a social situation. This racial trait replaces keen senses.
  • Wilderness Runner: Some elves thrive in the deepest wilds, forever roaming across undisturbed lands. Elves with this racial trait receive a +4 racial bonus on Constitution checks and Fortitude saves to avoid fatigue, exhaustion, or ill effects from running, forced marches, starvation, thirst, or hot or cold environments. This racial trait replaces elven skills.
  • Woodcraft: Elves often know the deep secrets of the wild like no others, especially secrets of the forests. Elves with this racial trait gain a +1 racial bonus on Knowledge (nature) and Survival checks. In forest terrain, these bonuses improve to +2. This racial trait replaces keen senses.

Eldar

These traits are in addition to the high elf traits.

Standard Racial Traits

  • Ability Score Racial Traits: +2 Charisma, –2 Strength.
  • Bonus Languages: Aquan, Auran, Drow Sign Language, Ignan, Terran.

Alternate Racial Traits

Grey elves may select from the same list of alternate traits as high elves. Consult your GM before selecting any of these new options.

Moredhel

Standard Racial Traits

  • Ability Score Racial Traits: Drow are nimble and canny. They gain +2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, and –2 Constitution.
  • Type: Drow are humanoids with the elf subtype.
  • Size: Drow are Medium creatures and thus receive no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
  • Normal Speed: Drow have a base speed of 30 feet.
  • Keen Senses: Like their elven brethren, drow receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception skill checks.
  • Elven Resistances: Drow gain a +1 racial bonus to all saves.
  • Spell Resistance: Drow possess spell resistance (SR) equal to 6 plus their total number of class levels.
  • Superior Darkvision: Drow have superior darkvision, allowing them to see perfectly in the dark up to 120 feet.
  • Naturally Psionic: Drow gain Wild Talent as a bonus feat at first level. If a drow takes levels in a psionic class, Wild Talent is automatically upgraded to Psionic Talent.
  • Psi-Like Abilities: Drow can use the following psi-like abilities once per day: control lightA, detect hostile intent, telepathic lashA. Manifester level is equal to Hit Dice (minimum 1st), and the drow's Wisdom is used to determine any save DCs. If the drow takes levels in a manifesting class, use the manifesting ability of that class or the drow's Wisdom, whichever is higher.
  • Psionic Aptitude: When a drow takes a level in a favored class, he can choose to gain an additional power point instead of a hit point or skill point.
  • Weapon Familiarity: Drow are proficient with all crossbows (including exotic crossbows), the sap, and treat any weapon with the word "elven" or "drow" in its name as a martial weapon.
  • Languages: Drow begin play speaking Elven and Common. Drow with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following languages: Aquan, Auran, Braille, Drow Sign Language, Dwarven, Ignan, Oricsh, and Terran.

Alternate Racial Traits

The following alternate racial traits may be selected in place of one or more of the standard racial traits above. In addition, any alternate traits available to high elves that replace a trait shared by the drow may be selected. Consult your GM before selecting any of these new options.

  • Ambitious Diplomat: Discussion is always an option for a drow, even for the martially inclined. Drow with this racial trait may choose either Bluff or Diplomacy as a class skill, and gain a +2 bonus on such skill checks. This racial trait replaces keen senses.
  • Light-Adapted: Some drow are born with vision closer to a regular elf's. Drow with this racial trait gain low-light vision, allowing them to see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light. This racial trait reduces the darkvision racial trait to 60 feet.
  • Subterranean Stalker: Drow in military or law enforcement professions often draw underground duty because of their darkvision. Drow with this racial trait may move through difficult terrain without penalty while underground. This racial trait replaces the keen senses racial trait.

Peredhel