Questions tagged [elf]
For questions primarily about the Elf as a species or race within tabletop role-playing games, typically those based on fantasy or folklore. (If your question relates to dark elves/drow in particular, you may want to use the [drow] tag in addition to or instead of this one.)
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I need advice on the ability of my subrace of Zantan Elves
This is my second homebrew race ever and while I’ve watched a myriad of YouTube videos about it, all of them seem unhelpful in racial trait creation. I’m questioning about a certain racial trait I ...
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Does an age of an elf equal that of a human?
I'm trying to make an elf barbarian and I'm having trouble figuring out her age, in human years she's 30 but I don't know if that would be the same in elven years (in the default 5e setting of the ...
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How to optimise an elven melee bard?
The challenge here is creating a bard character that has to be some flavor of pure blooded elf and utilises that to help in its melee abilities.
I was thinking Valor with maybe High Elf for booming ...
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How do elves, or other long lived races, act when confronted with much more potent members of the short-lived races? [closed]
Example situations:
An adventuring party at the 3rd tier, mostly made of humans in their 20s, and plenty of raw power at their disposal. The Elves are interacting with dangerous individuals several ...
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Is there any disadvantage to playing an adolescent elf?
According to the chapter on elves in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, as children, elves explore memories of previous lives during their trances, and as adolescents, these memories begin to appear during ...
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Long Rest interrupted AFTER 4 hour Trance
Now that there has been strict errata saying an Elf DOES indeed finish a Long Rest after 4 hours if they decide to meditate through Trance, I assume this also means they are forced to gain the ...
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If an elf is stable with 0 HP, do they regain all hit points after a long rest of 8 hours or 4?
In my most recent session, the entire party except one character was downed (reduced to 0 HP), but they were all stabilised by the cleric (the only member that was left standing). One of the downed ...
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Can dim light be used to activate the wood elf's Mask of the Wild trait?
Because of a dispute with our DM, I'd like to confirm the following.
The wood elf's Mask of the Wild trait says:
You can attempt to hide even when you are only lightly obscured by foliage, heavy rain,...
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Where are aquatic elves defined?
Aquatic elves are mentioned under the sahuagin entry in the Monster Manual, and also in Ghosts of Saltmarsh, but I don't see them defined anywhere. Is there a stat block or other description of them ...
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Should a high elf wizard use weapons instead of cantrips?
As a new DM I'm running my first adventure for my kids (Lost Mine of Phandelver). My daughter took the high elf wizard and she was wondering whether she should use weapons instead of her cantrips when ...
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Can elves, half-elves, warforged, and/or kalashtar be affected by Dream of the Blue Veil?
The Fey Ancestry racial trait shared by elves (Player’s Handbook, p. 23) and half-elves (p. 39) states “magic can’t put you to sleep.” Warforged’s Constructed Resilience trait is similar: “You don’t ...
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Why do hobgoblins hate elves?
The section of the Monster Manual on hobgoblins (page 185) says under the "Strategic Thinkers" section that hobgoblins:
hate elves and attack them first in battle over any other opponents, ...
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What is the origin of Faerûn's languages?
I'm not a D&D pro but I'm writing a thesis about how Tolkien created his languages and which was/is their following influence.
A friend of mine told me that the languages of Faerûn are inspired by ...
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Does the wood elf's Mask of the Wild trait allow them to basically "disappear" in front of their opponent if in an area lightly obscured by foliage?
The rules on hiding state, in part (PHB, p. 177):
You can't hide from a creature that can see you clearly, [...]
The description of the wood elf's Mask of the Wild trait says (PHB, p. 24):
You can ...
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What offspring would result from a high elf mother and a shadar-kai elf father?
I got into a debate with one of my players. They claimed that their character having a (full) high elf mother and a (full) shadar-kai elf father would be considered a high half-elf, and should use the ...
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What is the relationship between dwarves and elves in the Forgotten Realms?
It is common knowledge that elves and dwarves don't like each other. But I'm curious if there were historical events which forged their views on each other in the lore of Forgotten Realms, or any ...
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Wood elf initiative
I am playing a Wood Elf Monk. I have a 20 dex, so my initiative is +5. Do wood elves gain any other pluses to initiative?
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Is there any info on cavern elf names?
Are the cavern elves using normal elven names or did they take on the names of the other races from their new home like they took on the samurai profession? Is there any info on this?
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Is the offspring of an elf and a half-elf an elf or a half-elf?
If an elf and a half-elf (let's assume the elf and the half-elf's elven parent are of the same subrace, to exclude that complication) were to have a child, would the child be an elf or a half-elf?
I ...
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Is there any major mechanical advantage to playing a Drow Elf (full) rather than a Drow Half-Elf?
Looking at racial features, half-elf Drow seem to have all the "best" features of full drow, with none of the downsides.
Past the "Drow Weapon Training" trait, is there any major benefit to playing ...
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How do the Elven Sub-races work? [closed]
Though I have approached this in a few ways before, I am left confused on the sub-races elves have. Referencing The PHB (P.23/24), DndBeyond, SCAG (P.106) and an Unearthed Arcana from WotC (Knowing it'...
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Is Elven High Magic an official source of information, or a 3rd Party Unofficial idea?
I have been working on making Shadow Monk character who's clan specializes in improving the world's Ki from the shadows (via guarding key players, gathering incriminating evidence, or eliminating ...
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Do elves of Evermeet use money?
Evermeet was created as elven heaven. So, do they use money or gold there? If so, do they trade with other Arvandor or Feywild cities with money or something?
Where I can read about such things? ...
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How do the different seasons work for Eladrin?
In Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, the Eladrin race has Winter, Summer, Spring, and Fall seasons. I know it affects the Fey Step, but how?
Also, could you make an eladrin without choosing a season?
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What happens if an elf and a giant have a child? [closed]
I wonder what species would come out if an elf (any kind) and a giant would have a child. Which species would it belong to? What would be the appearance of it? Is it even possible in Dungeons & ...
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Can Elves move when they Trance?
Elves have the Trance trait:
Elves don’t need to sleep. Instead, they meditate deeply, remaining semiconscious, for 4 hours a day. (The Common word for such meditation is "trance.") While ...
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What happens to a Bladesinger reincarnated as a Human?
The Bladesinging subclass (Sword Coast Adventurer Guide, p. 141) of the Wizard class is restricted to Elves.
If a High-Elf with 4 levels in the Wizard (Bladesinging) class dies and is reincarnated in ...
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Can elves trance in armor without any downsides?
The optional rule on sleeping in armor from Xanathar's Guide to Everything (p. 77-78) states
Sleeping in light armor has no adverse effect on the wearer, but sleeping in medium or heavy armor makes ...
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Would there ever be a circumstance where a High Elf baby would be abandoned? [closed]
So, I'm helping out a new player create a character, and this character is a High Elf. However, the player has created an abandonment arc, and I wanted to know if this would even be remotely possible ...
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How do I build a character with multiple races?
I am new to character creation and interested in creating a half-elf half-dragonborn character (e.g. pointed ears and elf-like face with dragon-like horns).
Would I pick an elf or half-elf race and ...
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Elf (adjective) vs. Elvish vs. Elven
Are there rules on when to use elf (as an adjective) versus elvish versus elven in D&D?
For example, would any of the following sentences be more or less correct than the others?
"Many of them ...
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Are Valenar elves and Aereni elves different races of elves?
I have been a GM of D&D eberron for around 2 years, and there is something that I always ask myself:
Are Valenar elves and Aereni elves different races of elves in terms of gameplay?
As I don't ...
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How does the racial feature Mask of the Wild apply in practice (how is it beneficial?)
My interpretation of Mask of the Wild is that players with this feature are able to hide in situations that other players are unable to. For example, a wood elf can attempt a stealth roll in heavy ...
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Can an elf warlock trance?
Reading Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, I realized that the thing that makes elves trance and remember all the stuff they have experienced in the past is the fact that they all are still connected to ...
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Can elves maintain concentration in a trance?
Following the question Must 5e elves take a long rest? and LegendaryDude's suggestion, I wanted to further elaborate on the benefits elvish trance has while adventuring.
In the PHB 5e, there's a note ...
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What are Faerunian elven bonding (marriage) rites like?
Is there any Forgotten Realms lore (3e/3.5e era preferred, but 2e sources could work as well) that describes or shows the basic flow of an Elven bonding (marriage) rite, or provides clues as to what ...
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How does the Wood Elf's Mask of the Wild trait work, in terms of flavor?
Just a flavor question (with perhaps slight gameplay influence):
How does a wood elf use the Mask of the Wild trait to hide?
The wood elf's Mask of the Wild trait says:
You can attempt to hide ...
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Are eladrin celestial or fey?
This question was sparked by looking into the lore about eladrin after reading the comments under this question.
According to this wiki page,
Celestial eladrin [...] were fey celestials native ...
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Can there be two high elves in Dungeons & Dragons? [closed]
I'm trying to make my own character sheet but I'm lost. One of the main characters is already a high elf; does that mean I can't be one?
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Can an elf warlock with the Aspect of the Moon eldritch invocation still trance?
The Eldritch Invocation "Aspect of the Moon" from Xanathar's Guide to Everything (pg. 56) provides you with the benefit of no longer needing to sleep:
Aspect of the Moon
Prerequisite: Pact ...
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Can an elf be magically put to sleep using a Wish spell?
A defining characteristic of elves is that they cannot be put to sleep by magical means.
Fey Ancestry
You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put you to sleep.
(...
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Fey Ancestry says "Magic can't put you to sleep" and Brass Dragon has the ability to "exhales sleep gas". Does the breath weapon affect elves?
I always assumed that elves/half elves were just immune to sleep effects, but re-reading Fey Ancestry, it says "magic can't put you to sleep".
Brass Dragons and Kamadans (Tomb of Annihilation p225) ...
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Can an Elf grow a beard?
Can an Elf player character grow a beard?
I would love to plant a cursed Belt of Dwarvenkind in a campaign for an unsuspecting and unwitting Elf (or Half-Elf) PC to promote a memorable role-play ...
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Does having the "elf" subtype qualify you for character options which require you to be an elf?
Can any creature with the "elf" subtype (such as the third-party race Houri) qualify for character options which require the character to be an elf (such as the Breadth of Experience feat), or are ...
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How long is an Elvish generation?
I can't seem to find any good resources on this. How old is the typical elf when they first have children? How many generations would typically be alive at one time from a single family? Is it in the ...
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History and Lore of Elves
My son has recently started playing D&D 5e and he asked me to play. I played back in the early to mid 80's with the 1st edition.
I am really excited to play again but wanted to find out about ...
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Can Different Elf Subraces Produce Offspring? [duplicate]
We're playing a homebrew D&D 5e game in which the players will all be from an elven kingdom and I'm curious if different subraces of elf are capable of having children together.
For example: ...
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Are Shadar-Kai official in D&D 5e and which supplement can they be found in?
I saw this post which states that the Shadar-Kai are now an official elf subrace in 5e, but all the online references I could find were for previous editions, UA, or homebrew.
Can anyone tell me if ...
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Are Shadar-Kai and Shadow Elves the same?
Now that Shadar-Kai are officially elves in 5e D&D, is there an official source or even semi-official (WOTC tweets, Designer blogs / podcasts / videos, Unearthed Arcana, etc.) that links these ...
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Are these variant Sun Elf traits appropriately balanced?
My campaign setting currently requires a High Elf variant with three major caveats:
It cannot have darkvision (all permitted races must have human-level vision).
It lacks the flexibility to choose ...
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