Optional racial abilities and Eladrin
If you enjoy Eladrin flavor - Fey and Arcane - how would you apply the new optional racial abilities to the Eladrin?
Considerations
The PH1 defines Eladrin as an Intelligence-Dexterity race.
However, the MMs include Eladrin who are 'Archfey', like Bralani, Ghaele, and Coure, who are clearly a Charisma-Dexterity race (notably similar to Drow).
Since Racial Paragon Paths let player characters become Archfey, like the PH2 Shiere Knight, the Eladrin race itself seems to need the option to be a Charisma-Dexterity race, like the corresponding Archfey in the MMs.
A further consideration is the Archfey, Tulani, that in previous editions strongly emphasizes Intelligence-Charisma, and functions as the quintessential 'faerie lords', being intelligent and charismatic, the inherently-magical leaders of the plane.
Worth mentioning, is the Eberron 'Shrouded Sage' Eladrin, who is essentially an Intelligence-Charisma Tulani, but 'modified' to express Eberron Dream flavor instead of Core Feywild flavor.
Moreover, there is also the Archfey Firre from previous editions that seems to best resonate as a Charisma-Wisdom race, to intuit and express magical aesthetics, with Bard muse flavor. Notably, the Firre aggressively champion those who perform beautiful magic, as well as inspire it. Notably, the Shiere Knight Paragon Path features allow the player to use Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma, thus making Wisdom a significant ability for quintessential Eladrin flavor.
Just like D&D 4e split the Elf tradition into two separate races, Elf and Eladrin, the new Eladrin is already bursting into another split. Whats the best way to streamline these conflicting Eladrin flavors?
Some mechanical design possibilities ...
A future Players Handbook can let the player swap in Charisma instead of Intelligence. In other words, the Eladrin gains the following racial abilities: Dexterity and a choice of either Intelligence or Charisma. Thus Eladrin can be both a Dex-Int race and a Dex-Cha race. By extention, this race would cover all the 'Fey Knight' themes.
At the same time, this same PH can create a separate race called 'Archfey' (or whatever) that would cover all the 'Fey Lord' themes. This new race would gain the following racial abilities: Intelligence and a choice of either Charisma or Wisdom. This Int-Cha/Wis race would still qualify as Eladrin for feats and so on.
Alternatively ...
The future Players Handbook can give the Eladrin race the following racial abilities: choose two racial abilities from the following three: Dexterity, Intelligence, and Charisma. Thus the Eladrin can be an Int-Dex, Int-Cha, and Cha-Dex. (The possibility of a Cha-Wis Firre would remain unrealized.)
Alternatively ...
Leave the Eladrin race as is, as an Int-Dex race. But create a new 'Archfey' race that can be Cha-Int or Cha-Dex, but still qualifies for mechanics that require Eladrin.
What else? ...
If you are interested in Eladrin flavor, how would you ideally handle these official but variant racial abilities?
If you are less interested in Eladrin flavor, your comments may be less relevant to this thread. You may be less qualified to design the most sensitive way to express these themes for players who want them.
That's what Eladrin are. Tiefling monster stats are better in Dexterity. That doesn't mean that Tieflings should have a +2 to Dexterity.
Archfey are something different – they are the Kings and Queens of the Feywild, the leaders of the Court of the Stars, rather than the coutiers.
Court Eladrin are just nobles amongst the Eladrin race. Noblemen NPCs, whether they are Human, Eladrin, Tiefling, or something else, tend to focus on charismatic artes, since that's whats in their job description. It's not what's in their racial description.
Eladrin aren't necessarily charismatic. Beautiful ≠ Charismatic anymore, remember. Eladrin are cold, calculating, and callous. They are essentially the perilous Fair Folk of ancient myths, wrapped up with the idea of High Elves from Tolkien, which echoed that too. Galadriel was terrifying in the movie – not because she was evil, but because of what she could be.
For my sensibilities ... too much of the Eladrin fluff resonates Charisma. Eladrin are enchanting: charming (Diplomacy Cha), eerie, eldritch and unsettling (Intimidation Cha), aesthetic and *artistically* graceful, inherently and personally magically influencial, and so on ...
The monster stats, appropriately, make the 'Archfey' Eladrin explicitly, mechanically charismatic, making Charisma the highest ability, by far, and generally *dumping* Intelligence. The powers often resonate the flavor of personal command.
*Every* Archfey Eladrin reeks Charisma. Officially. They *never* resonate Intelligence flavor.
With regard to the 'Archfey'. In previous editions, the eladrin comprised entirely separate races that inhabited the Chaotic Good outer plane. These races paralleled the separate races of the prime material plane, such as elves, sprites, fairies, water nixies, etc. The 'Archfey' winged Coure were a radically different race from the acquatic 'Novierre'. Now the 4th edition drastically rethinks these outer planar races, fusing the CG plane with the Feywild, and using these races to steal the Wizardish Grey Elf flavor.
Even so, in light of the D&D tradition, it is easy to understand the 'Archfey' Ghaele as a different *race* from the Eladrin player race, especially when their mechanics and flavor diverge. The 4e Eladrin player race has Wizardish flavor, is quintessentially Intelligent, and of course *cant* fly. But the 4e 'Archfey' lack Wizardish flavor, lack any Intelligence flavor, and of course are quintessential fliers, with fast speed and even with hover. The Archfey are so Charismatically dominating, according to fluff of the Winterkin Eladrin, their very personal presence magically alters the fundamental nature of the region and creatures that they rule over.
It is easy to see these 4e Archfey as a separate race from the Eladrin player race. Arguably the Eladrin are even more different from the Archfey, than the Eladrin are from the Elf and Drow. (Drow seem like fallen Archfey.)
If anything, the Archfey seem more like a caste. A separate gene pool that expresses extreme Charisma. The rulers over the Fey realm tend to come from these special noble *families*. It is very difficult for player characters to achieve the extreme Charisma scores that are appropriate to the Archfey, even when taking the Paragon Paths that supposedly join their ranks.
And Archfey is not a term that should be thrown about lightly...they may be listening as you blaspheme and compare them to lesser beings.
Optional racial abilities and Eladrin
If you enjoy Eladrin flavor - Fey and Arcane - how would you apply the new optional racial abilities to the Eladrin?
What new optional racial abilities?
Optional racial abilities and Eladrin
If you enjoy Eladrin flavor - Fey and Arcane - how would you apply the new optional racial abilities to the Eladrin?
What new optional racial abilities?
The PH3 races have one fixed stat bonus and one 'pick one of these two' stat bonuses. There's rampant speculation that WotC is going to apply this retroactively to the previously released races, and as near as I can tell, he's curious what stat options other people would think appropriate for Eladrin.
Since I think of wizard as the big Eladrin class, I would make them +INT (fixed), then either +WIS or DEX for the major wizard builds.
Since I think of wizard as the big Eladrin class, I would make them +INT (fixed), then either +WIS or DEX for the major wizard builds.
Maybe, but Arcane Power also added CHA to Wizards (Orb of Deception). Also, adding CHA to eladrin would make them better Fey Pact Warlocks. CHA would also make eladrin Psions better at telepathy than telekinesis, which seems right me. It would make them better at classes like Ardent and builds like Inspiring Warlord, which might bother people that insist on the cold and aloof interpretation of eladrin, but that interpretation has often ssemed to me to beshallow and superficial. Eladrin have usualy strike me as a race of great passion, they're just typical more refined in how they choose express it. Certainly an eladrin of the winter court is cold, but those of the spring court can be down right giddy.
Comparatively, adding WIS would make eladrin better at divine and primal classes, neither of which really feel right to me as eladrin have never stuck me as being particularly spiritual.
So I'm gonna cast my vote for INT+DEX/CHA, not because I think charisma=beauty/grace, but because I think it offers the better thematic class support.
The PH3 races have one fixed stat bonus and one 'pick one of these two' stat bonuses. There's rampant speculation that WotC is going to apply this retroactively to the previously released races, and as near as I can tell, he's curious what stat options other people would think appropriate for Eladrin.
Since I think of wizard as the big Eladrin class, I would make them +INT (fixed), then either +WIS or DEX for the major wizard builds.
It's no longer just the PHB3. The Half-Elf article from last month had a feat allowing Half-Elves to use their Dilletante with Cha, Con, or Wis, which the author said was added by the editors (the Wis part). So people are saying that's further proof.
Also, the first Tiefling article introduced replacement feats that allows you to replace Infernal Wrath with a different encounter or daily, so he may be talking about something like that too.
Maybe, but Arcane Power also added CHA to Wizards (Orb of Deception). Also, adding CHA to eladrin would make them better Fey Pact Warlocks. CHA would also make eladrin Psions better at telepathy than telekinesis, which seems right me. It would make them better at classes like Ardent and builds like Inspiring Warlord, which might bother people that insist on the cold and aloof interpretation of eladrin, but that interpretation has often ssemed to me to beshallow and superficial. Eladrin have usualy strike me as a race of great passion, they're just typical more refined in how they choose express it. Certainly an eladrin of the winter court is cold, but those of the spring court can be down right giddy.
Comparatively, adding WIS would make eladrin better at divine and primal classes, neither of which really feel right to me as eladrin have never stuck me as being particularly spiritual.
So I'm gonna cast my vote for INT+DEX/CHA, not because I think charisma=beauty/grace, but because I think it offers the better thematic class support.
Yeah, I'm going to agree here. Int +Dex/Cha makes the most sense, because it would make the Eladrin better suited for all the Fey builds - Illusionists, Bards, Feylocks, and Telepathic Psions (which the book says flat out is related to the beguiling magic of the Fey).
The PH3 races have one fixed stat bonus and one 'pick one of these two' stat bonuses. There's rampant speculation that WotC is going to apply this retroactively to the previously released races, and as near as I can tell, he's curious what stat options other people would think appropriate for Eladrin.
Thanks
