JmOz Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 I have decided that my world will have 5 races of elves in it, but I am having trouble with one of them The basic Idea is that the original race of elves splintered into 5 races, one for each element (Water, Air, Earth, Fire) and a 5th one that is very similar to the original race (Called High). So far the first 3 were easy Water will be the aquatic humanoids, air will be winged, earth will be of the forests, and that brings us to Fire I know I want them to be bronzed skined and dark haired, but like the others I want them to be a bit more, not sure what I mean by this myself, any advice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OddHat Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 Re: Help with Fire Elves Why are they "fire" elves, particularly? Do they live in active volcanoes? In that case, you could make them amazing smiths, give them Life Support and some natural ED Armor, maybe lots of specialized fire magic. Are they desert nomads? If so, you could use a kind of Arabian Knights plus magic model for their culture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Monster Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 Re: Help with Fire Elves Fire elves.... there's fire above (the sun) and fire below (magma). Take either or both as your symbolic links. The former lends itself to Oddhat's desert-nomad idea, the latter offers the smiths - though you might not want to step on dwarves too much. Fire elves could be able to glow or cast light at will. Being linked to primal energy, they might have a transnormal quickness of action. Immunity or resistance to fire is a natural suggestion; perhaps their bodies simply don't burn, making funeral pyres impossible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sketchpad Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 Re: Help with Fire Elves How about something like: Fire Elves 3.....+1 DEX 3.....+3 CON 3.....+2 PRE 6.....+2 w/ Slings & Bows 2.....Survival (mountains) (INT) 2.....WF: Bows & Slings 3.....Firewalkers - LS: Safe in Fire/Heat 22....Heatseeker - Detect Heat 12- (Unusual Group), Sense, Targeting, .......Tracking Optional 25....Hot to the Touch - Energy Blast 2d6, Inherent (+1/4), Damage .......Shield (+1/2), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Persistent (+1/2), .......Continuous (+1); Always On (-1/2) 8.....Imbue Heat - Energy Blast 3d6, OAF: Weapon (-1) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killer Shrike Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 Re: Help with Fire Elves Why are they "fire" elves' date=' particularly? Do they live in active volcanoes? In that case, you could make them amazing smiths, give them Life Support and some natural ED Armor, maybe lots of specialized fire magic. Are they desert nomads? If so, you could use a kind of Arabian Knights plus magic model for their culture.[/quote'] Yeah, I had the same (exact) thoughts myself on reading the OP. Personally I would go with the Desert Elves approach as its more adaptable / flexible IMO. It also supports the classic Arabian Nights model of rural nomadic Desert Elves with an oasis culture (the country cousins) and effete / civilized urban Desert Elves with a few major Persian / Baghdad oriented cities (the city cousins). I'd split it into a race package for the basic "Fire Elf" shtick, probably incorporating LS: Extreme Heat and also maybe a 1 point custom LS for Extended Hydration (dehydrate one step down the time chart; instead of starting to dehydrate after 24 Hours, start to dehydrate after 1 week); and two culture packages for the nomadic and urban groups. I'd have to see the race packages for the other 4 races of Elves to see how "high fantasy" you are going with them before adding further themed abilities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Democracy Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 Re: Help with Fire Elves Hmm, decent suggestions so far but I can see why you shy away from actual fire elves - it seems a contradiction in terms. Unless you make the fire elves the corollory to the drow. Instead of evil darkness dwelling elves, these are the deranged elves who seek to destroy and defile rather than nurture and grow and fire is their weapon of choice... Just a thought. Doc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowsoul Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 Re: Help with Fire Elves You guys have this pretty well covered I think but I'll drop in a few thoughts. You may want to keep things simple but it is entirely possible that Elves capable of living in extreme heat would have found various homes, even tropical areas might suit them, after all slash-and-burn is a common farming technique for jungle dwellers. Elves who dwell in volcanic regions might well spend a lot of time underground tending volcanic forges and hunting for the bounties of the earth such as gems. Their relationship with Dwarves would be important, either as trading partners or bitter enemies fighting over resources. Fire Elves of any type are unlikely to get along with Wood Elves. Another way to make these guys distinctive is their religion or cultural hang-ups. They might need a lot of wood, coal etc for burning in religious ceremonies, not resources that are easy to find in volcanic or desert regions. As for their appearance. Eyes that seem to glow with inner fire? Heat resistant scales or hardened skin? Particularly slim and graceful as befits beings linked to flames and smoke? For that matter, perhaps their hair should be incredilby light and drift constantly through the air like a coil of smoke? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manic Typist Posted July 21, 2008 Report Share Posted July 21, 2008 Re: Help with Fire Elves There's no reason whatsoever for Fire elves to be "bad" or for fire to be "negative," at least simply stemming from the names alone. Fire's a great thing, and represents one of the key foundations of civilization. With that said- depending on how heavily you want to link them to the idea of "fire," you could have a lot of fun playing with their philosophy and even lifespan. Perhaps they choose to emulate fire in how they lives their lives, i.e. full of passion and vigor and desire for more. They could be extremely impatient (for elves or not), and could be rather shortlived (for elves or not). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curufea Posted July 21, 2008 Report Share Posted July 21, 2008 Re: Help with Fire Elves I have five breeds of Elves in my setting - but they represent Order, Chaos, Good, Evil and Balance. Mind you, I also associate elements with those - Earth, Air, Water, Fire and Spirit. http://www.curufea.com/hero/doku.php?id=ws:elves:culture#elven_religion To explain monocultures that recur in fantasy rpgs ad nauseum, for the elves I've associated them with being magical creatures. In my setting belief shapes magic - therefore ideology shapes race. Elves, as the best magic users, are modified the most by their beliefs - hence five sub-races and five monocultures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sketchpad Posted July 21, 2008 Report Share Posted July 21, 2008 Re: Help with Fire Elves You know ... I had a thought last night. Instead of making them a seperate race, what about making them a seperate culture that diversify by the element they use. The model I would suggest is something like Avatar: The Last Airbender. Really, they're the same race, but they use a different type of magic and worship different deities. They may have some mild differences in appearance, but statistically speaking, they're the same. It's the cultural packages that would be different ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JmOz Posted July 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2008 Re: Help with Fire Elves You know ... I had a thought last night. Instead of making them a seperate race' date=' what about making them a seperate culture that diversify by the element they use. The model I would suggest is something like [i']Avatar: The Last Airbender. Really, they're the same race, but they use a different type of magic and worship different deities. They may have some mild differences in appearance, but statistically speaking, they're the same. It's the cultural packages that would be different ... While a good idea, this will not work for what I intend, as things are right now The Water ones are amphibians, the Air ones are winged, these are kind of big changes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted July 21, 2008 Report Share Posted July 21, 2008 Re: Help with Fire Elves You could go all out and have the Fire Elves be elves that are on fire. They would have to live in caves, or the desert, or other non-combustible locations, and wear only metal or perhaps specially treated scaly hides. They would be aloof from other civilizations, almost out of necessity, but not necessarily evil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowsoul Posted July 21, 2008 Report Share Posted July 21, 2008 Re: Help with Fire Elves Could make life extremely awkward for them but perhaps they can only breathe smoke, clean air slowly chokes them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OddHat Posted July 21, 2008 Report Share Posted July 21, 2008 Re: Help with Fire Elves You could go all out and have the Fire Elves be elves that are on fire. But very briefly. Now that's a race to let your power gamers choose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curufea Posted July 22, 2008 Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 Re: Help with Fire Elves Could make life extremely awkward for them but perhaps they can only breathe smoke' date=' clean air slowly chokes them.[/quote'] They could perhaps be limited to living inside hollow volcanoes or near magma flows and hot springs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted July 22, 2008 Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 Re: Help with Fire Elves They could perhaps be limited to living inside hollow volcanoes or near magma flows and hot springs. This in fact is exactly what "fire elves" or "salmanders" as they are often called, do in my game: they live in fiery places and are actually on/of fire themselves. Put them out and they die. cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hierax Posted July 22, 2008 Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 Re: Help with Fire Elves You could go all out and have the Fire Elves be elves that are on fire. They would have to live in caves' date=' or the desert, or other non-combustible locations, and wear only metal or perhaps specially treated scaly hides. They would be aloof from other civilizations, almost out of necessity, but not necessarily evil.[/quote'] When I first read Fire Elves I thought of something literally involving fire like the old AD&D Azer (MMII) Fire-Dwarves who have a bronzey skin and flaming hair. Or for a more recent, if less RPG, example: the Elemental Flamekin and (for a dark fire elf race) Cinder races from Magic the Gathering. Even if you hate the game gives some great fire-elemental race pictures for inspiration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilFleischmann Posted July 25, 2008 Report Share Posted July 25, 2008 Re: Help with Fire Elves When they die, they are consumed by fire, and then they rise again from the ashes. They sense fire near them, maybe even use it for magical effects (clairsentience, for example - they can see you standing around your campfire.) They can transport themselves through puffs of smoke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.