Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 GrapplingRogueMonkey Jun 23, 2015 20:06:19	Ok, so I am sort of the resident D&D veteran of my current roleplaying group. Because of this I get asked a lot of questions about optimizing a character while also keeping them fun to play. One member of our group is brand spanking new to roleplaying and wants to play an elvish ranger. He asked me for some help making the character's personality unique and fun to play.    For some context, I have played 1 elf, ever. On the other hand, I have played at least 8 dwarves and a like number of humans who basically acted like stereotypical dwarves. I hate elves. I think they are either so childish and niave as to be practically unplayable or, even worse, the more experianced, slightly snobbish, strong silent type. I just can't play them. First. I need a character to be an adult, to have some sceptism and some serious goals and ambition. Second, I can't do the strong silent type either. They don't tend to do much in the social settings and frankly are too cautious to do the really stupid but really fun stunts that most players like to pull in combat.    Now I recognize that I am totally biased towards grumpy, stubborn, reckless acts of bravely based on my constant selection of dwarvish characters. So, I am appealing to the more experianced, longer lived, intellect of those that have played fun and interesting elves. What kind of traits or goals have you played that make an elf exciting?    Here is where I make your task a little bit harder. Try not to completely break the stereotype. Part of the reason I play dwarves...and the occasional halfling, is that the cultural stereotypes are fun. I like to target a few that I meet, because they are fun to play, and then target a few that I want to obliterate. My favorite character was a dwarf wizard, grumpy and stubborn, but also insisting on planning things out and avoiding conflict if possible.    My player has asked for something like this, only with an elf. How can he be ridiculed by his allies as fitting cultural steroetypes but at the same time seen as an oddity by his kin? Just so that you all know, he is going wood elf, ranger, hunter archetype, and archer. How steroetypical could he be?    Currently, my thoughts are something like; drunkeness, a hyper-competativeness routed in insecurities that he tries to hide, an insatiable curiousity for all things not elflike, and other strange traits underneath what appears to be a normal elven exterior.    However, as I have already mentioned, I am woefully inadequate at coming up with personalities for elves. I was hoping somebody would have a good example of thier favorite elf or tricks that you like to use repeatedly to guaruntee a fun character.
#2 FrogReaver Jun 23, 2015 21:56:56	GrapplingRogueMonkey wrote:
#3 Macv12 Jun 23, 2015 23:40:36	One idea by way of anecdote.   I wanted an elfy elf that was also not quite elfy enough for other elfs. First I made an unnecessarily long elfy name: Shenemnenmone. (I have seen one elf name longer than this, in Dragon Age Inquisition, but I can't find what it was.) I made sure I could pronounce it and spell it in two or three seconds flat, too. Shen for short. Shen was raised by humans. Butchers, specifically. But she always wanted to get in touch with her elven ancestry. After a few decades of drifting between occupations, she found an elf clan and joined it.   The parts of her that would stand out to humans are that she loves hanging out in nature, has a way with animals, respects dead animals and doesn't waste any part of their bodies, can be calm and wise, follows Elven gods (fervently), and is good at stealth and archery. She wants to be elfy. Her standout episode was encountering a griffon on a mountain, realizing midway through the fight that the griffon was actually defending its egg, trying to calm it down until being knocked unconscious, then later taking the egg and raising it, becoming a Beastmaster-type ranger (a subclass that didn't exist at that point in 5e).   The parts that stand out to elves are that she had low-class command of Elven language, uses a halberd as primary weapon, has no problem getting dirty in nature, gets angry a lot, gets in fistfights, and arm-wrestled a dwarf. This was played for laughs with the other elf in the group, who was very much the "high elf" stoic type, and would sort of shake his head when she did stuff like this. It was also problematic when we ended up in an elven country, suspected of crimes. Zero sympathy.   So, in short: an elf who wants to be the prototypical Elf, but was raised in the wrong culture. The player can turn up very elf-like traits and very not-elf-like traits at the same time, whichever ones are fun. I had a ton of fun playing this character.
#4 Nevvur Jun 24, 2015 19:04:51	Make him a beer snob. The elf stereotype is that they prefer wine. He can still be snooty about his drinks; he won't drink any swill, but he prefers a craft ale to grape juice. Another dietary anomaly, he may prefer meat to fruits/vegetables/whatever non-animal stuff comprise the main component of the typical elven diet.   He could keep his hair short. Elf dudes usually have long lovely locks, but that's a combat liability in his opinion.   Prefers to sleep instead of trance. Elves can sleep, they just normally choose not to.
#5 LordTwig Jun 25, 2015 9:48:59	Honestly I like playing within the stereotypes as well. Whats wrong with a gruff dwarf or a haughty elf? My favorite wizard wears robes with stars and planets on it and a tall pointy hat. You know how many other characters I have run across in my 30+ years of gaming that does that? None. So sometimes you can be so stereotypical that you are completely unique.   My favorite elf character is Del Nymphstalker. He had a life-changing encounter with a nymph when he was an adolescent and has become obsessed with them. He is an Elf Ranger and his first Favored Enemy is Fey, and this was back when Favored Enemy actually added to combat. When he is not on his solitary quest for the elusive nymphs he is either depressed and drowning his sorrows in alcohol at a tavern, or partying hard and swearing he is just going to find a nice woman to settle down with. By morning all of his resolutions and pledges are forgotten. He apologized to whatever woman he is with, giving her all kinds of compliments, but always ending with something like, "You are lovely, but not as lovely as a nymph." Which works about as well as you would expect.   Del tends to socialize with human woodsman and other males that can understand his obsession. Most elves find his singular obsession unhealthy (and it probably is) and think that he should enjoy beauty in all its forms.   Otherwise Del is a typical elf. He is an excellent archer, a natural woodsman, combines magic with his fighting, etc. He is also attractive, haughty, sometimes condescending, but generally good. He will help those in need and has aided many travelers in the woods.
#6 Mommy_was_an_Orc Jun 25, 2015 10:41:20	Does it really matter if a particular problem gets solved right now or could it be solved a decade from now when you're an elf? Now what's the reason the PC is willing to hurry up and why does it sometimes not apply in the middle of an adventure when appropriate. As an example, many problems don't need to be solved right here and now. So the elf can commit to solving them, but leave out that it is on his timeframe, not a shorter-lived time frame. But maybe the elf wants something so badly that when it shows up, he suddenly starts acting quickly. Gold, magic, knowledge, etc...so as an example, when he tells the party he'll go get the drinks, he's thinking in a week or so, but when someone else offers to pay, he gets right up and does it. etc...
#7 BRJN Jun 26, 2015 21:13:04	He can tell you everything you ever wanted to know about any creature that crosses his path, while in his Favored Habitat.  But go somewhere else, and he'll just give you a blank quizzical stare.   Really wants to taste-test vintage wines that are older than him.  This can create a problem in human societies, due to lack of availability.   Just barely remembers some ancient fallen realm from when he was "just a kid".  Collects memorabilia - Trinkets - from that nation / culture.  Has an excellent collection of no-longer-minted SP and CP.   Manages to attract an Animal Companion that belongs on the Endangered Species List.   Prefers the two-handed crossbow over the traditional longbow / shortbow (if he can get proficient in it).   Thinks untouched wilderness is a waste of valuable resources - wants all land to be under professional management to some purpose or other.
#8 FunkySpunk Jun 26, 2015 22:20:13	Great thread!   Like the OP, I usually favor Dwarves, and never have really gotten into Elves. But I am plan on on playing an Eladrin Sunday, so this really helps me a lot!!
#9 Mad_Jack Jun 30, 2015 14:34:18	Remember that he's a wood elf. Traditionally, they're more reclusive than other elves. But, since he's obviously out and about in the world, maybe he's fascinated by things he's never seen or people he's never met. As a wood elf, he knows everything there is to know about his forest, but once he's outside of it he's just another schmuck with a bow.  Although wood elves are xenophobic and traditionalist to the point of resembling some current politicians, regular elves are knowledge seekers - have him obsessed by something that doesn't occur in elf or wood elf culture. Or he could even be an elven anthropologist, studying other cultures. Of course, being an elf, and a wood elf at that, he often comes across as studying them like entomologists study a bug.