Editing Elf (section)

==PC Stats==
===OD&D/BECMI===
Back in the earliest days of D&D Elf was a class, not a race. That's how long they've been in the game.

The Basic D&D version of the Elf was a [[Gish]] class, combining elements of [[Fighter]] and [[Wizard|Magic-User]]. As such, they required a minimum [[Intelligence]] of 9 to qualify for the character, and needed high [[Strength]] and [[Intelligence]] to gain bonuses to XP gathering. They had a D6 hit dice, started play with the Set Spear vs Attack and Lance Attack fighter manuevers, were immune to the paralysis attack of [[ghoul]]s, and had a 1 in 3 chance to detect secret or hidden doors.

Technically maxing out at 10th level, they gained a fairly small selection of mostly low-level spells, maxing out at 3 spells for each level from 1st to 4th and 2 level 5 spells upon hitting 10th level. [[Companion Set]] relented, a bit: as with Dwarves and Halflings they could keep gaining experience after 10th level going to [[Fighter]] levels as "Attack Rank", by [[What|the alphabet]]. The ''Elves of Alfheim'' [[Known World Gazetteers|Gazetteer]]'s internal [[splatbook]] just overturned all that, declaring the ABC plan the '''Elf Lord''' option. A high-level elf could instead focus on enhancing their spellcasting abilities, becoming an '''Elf Mage'''.

For those who care, the Companion / Elf Lord maxed out at Attack Rank M. At Rank D, they gained the Fighter Combat Options and could make 2 attacks per round. At G, they halved all damage taken from breath weapons (quartering it if they passed their saving throw). At K, they could make 3 attacks per round.

The [[Hollow World]] subsetting, and the Champions of [[Mystara]] [[splatbook]], both introduced variant elf classes.

The Hollow World produced the Elf Warrior, an elf who, for whatever reasons, couldn't learn magic and so focused on their combat skills instead, complete with rules for "[[multiclassing]]" to "proper" Elf and gaining spellcasting at a later date. This works because the Hollow World setting has a unique trait where native PCs ''cannot'' become magic-users unless they have at least a 16 in [[Intelligence]]... which is almost twice the Intelligence required to qualify for the Elf race in the first place! So, Hollow World Elf PCs don't get to learn spells, but in a trade off, they advance faster - halving their XP costs up till level six, at which point their XP costs become a little over half. But, as the suppression of magic actually stems from an environmental factor in the Hollow World itself, warrior elves who find their way up to the surface can go on to learn elven magic; they do this by paying off the "missing" experience, and once they have as many "elfin wizard" levels as they do elfin warrior levels, they switch over to just using the normal elf XP levels. If these elves then return to the Hollow World, they retain their spellcasting ability; having learned how to cast in the first place, they are no longer affected by the thaumic "static" that saturates the inner world.

Champions of [[Mystara]] produced the variant racial class of Elf [[Shaman]], an elf who used [[cleric]] magic alongside [[wizard]] magic but who was less effective as a fighter as a result.

[[Known World Gazetteers|Dawn of the Emperors: Thyatis and Alphatia]] introduced the ''Forester'' class, a human trained by elves who thusly has learned to blend martial skills and magic the same way that they do. Mechanically, this functions identically to the Elf class, but loses the Immunity to [[Ghoul]] Paralysis and Infravision traits. This was, in a sense, a prototype of the [[Half-Elf]], which itself appeared in BECMI in issue #178 of [[Dragon Magazine]], as part of the serial [[The Voyage of the Princess Ark]].

Dragon issue #178 also introduced Elf variant classes for Elven [[Cleric]]s, [[Paladin]]s, [[Knight]]s and [[Avenger]]s.

[[Mystara]] does have its share of elven subraces, although mechanically these aren't as distinct as their AD&D counterparts. 
* '''Shadow Elves''' kind of fill the [[drow]] niche, being subterranean elves, but aren't as outright malevolent as drow and are albinos rather than photonegative-colored. They do have an evil counterpart in the '''Schattenalfen''', who have a [[vampire]]-like allergy to sunlight and culturally borrow from the worst traits of the [[Aztec]]s. See the [[Shadow Elf]] page for more.
* '''[[Aquatic Elf|Aquatic Elves]]''' inhabit the seas of Mystara and were made playable in PC3: The Sea Peoples.
* The [[Hollow World]] is home to three elven cultures that've gone extinct on the surface. '''Blacklore Elves''' are remnants of the technology-embracing elves of [[Blackmoor]], and live an existence of utterly meaningless luxury and ease doted upon by [[golem]]s in the shape of futuristic [[robot]]s, with absolutely nothing to do or strive for and trying to fill the hideous boredom of their existences. You can actually play these, but they are treated as Warrior-Elves who start with no useful weapons (their culture's only native weapon, the Torch, is a magical lighter that doubles as a heat ray-blaster and doesn't work outside of their native territory) and no armor proficiency, but in compensation completely ignore the ''Cultural Bias'' rule. The '''Gentle Folk''' are the ultra-passive and docile root-stock of elfdom; PCs of this race can begin play as either Warrior-Elves or Elves, but they have no starting armor proficiencies or weapon proficiency other than a staff - they can, however, freely take up arms and armor by adopting them from other cultures, representing how they are mutants who do have an aggressive streak or self-preservation instincts: this frees them from the experience penalties aspect of ''Cultural Bias'', but nothing else (overcoming the pacifism and docility is a roleplaying-only flaw). Finally, the '''Icevale Elves''' are the Mystaran equivalent of a [[Snow Elf]]; mechanically, these are just Warrior-Elves or Elves with a culture loosely based on Iron Age Icelanders.

===AD&D===
[[File:Elf MM 2e.png|thumb|250px]]
Elves in AD&D got codified as one of the better races offensively, with a useful +1 to hit with long swords, short swords, and bows of all kinds (but not crossbows). They are also 90% Resistant to Charm and Sleep effects, and have a chance to spot secret doors just by going near them. They gain +1 Dexterity, but suffer a -1 penalty to Constitution. Their biggest downside is that Elves ''cannot'' be Raised from the dead; to revive an Elf, a much more powerful magic (the Resurrection spell) is required. All in all, Elves were a decent character race.

AD&D would later go on to publish the ''[[Complete Book Series|Complete Book of Elves]]'', a hilariously bad book that achieved cult status amongst fa/tg/uys the world over due to how hilariously elf-supremacist the book is. While it's a stretch to say that it goes the [[Chakat]] route of establishing them as a race of [[Mary Sue]]s, it does go out of its way to establish them as brilliant, capable, and far beyond the ken of those pathetic lower races. Even the original author of the book treats the supplement like a complete joke and has gone on record mocking how terrible it is.

To its credit, the ''Complete Book of Elves'' does include a number of interesting ideas all its own, including interesting takes on Elven folklore and myths, explanations of why it is Elves find humans attractive (mostly human dynamism and flexibility), explains the animousity between Dwarves and Elves, and perhaps most interestingly, ways to make an elf-themed campaign, whether because elves are the biggest race in it, or whether they're almost extinct, offering lots of potential insight into how to design such a campaign. The few good inclusions, however, do not do anything to lessen just how ridiculous the book itself is, or its funniest offenses (for example, a story of how Elves singing at a funeral accidentally killed human guests present).

The basic issue with the ''Complete Book of Elves'' is that it struggles under the burden of TSR both trying to emulate the Celtic Mythology from which the elves are drawn AND to present them as a playable race, which just... doesn't work very well unless you're trying to use them in a [[Heroic Fantasy]] instead of the [[Sword & Sorcery]] setting that AD&D aimed for.

The CBoE included playable stats for High, Sylvan, Dark, Grey and Aquatic Elves, plus the first basic material for playing Averiel. Mechanically, these ranged in power from overpowered to absolute crap - take the Sylvan Elf, who is mechanically ''required'' to be more of a dick than either the [[drow]] or the gray elves, who are established in that same book as such hyper-arrogant elitist elf-supremacists they think they have a divine right to enslave the other elven races!

The CBoE was also the birthplace of the [[Bladesinger]], which was one of a wide array of [[kits]] that mostly were forgotten about in future material, such as the Spellfilcher (an elven mage/thief specialized in stealing magical grimoires and artifacts from non-elven [[wizard]]s) and the Collector (which is basically the Spellfilcher mixed with elven Indiana Jones).

===3rd Edition===
Elves are one of the core races of 3e. Like all the PHB races that weren't Human and Dwarf, Elves were really lame. They sacrificed constitution for dexterity, which is an awful deal for any class that doesn't like going splat (which is all of them). Their only other abilities were better-than-average visual acuity, proficiency with four weapons any class that should be using a weapon and isn't a Cleric (which they are poorly suited for) can use some/some of already, and immunity to magical sleep effects. In fact, they don't need to sleep at all, instead going into a meditative trance for four hours. Since everyone else needed to sleep and they could only regain spells after 8 hours of rest, even if they didn't need 8 hours of rest, the only use for this outside of all-elf groups was the elf was stuck with night watch duty. Also for some reason this was buried in their fluff (under "physical description", paragraph two. I checked), and never put in their stat block, so nobody actually remembers they have it. Since it wasn't in the stat block, it wasn't added to the SRD (though elves not sleeping remains in the description of the Dream and Nightmare spells), and therefore no OGL based system includes it either.

Unlike most of the PHB races, Elves didn't have to wait before they stopped being worthless. In the Monster Manual (still core) the subrace ''Gray Elf'' was briefly detailed. They get the normal elf traits, but +2 Intelligence and -2 Strength in addition to the standard elf traits. This gave them total adjustment of -2 str, +2 dex, -2 con, +2 int. These adjustments shoehorned them into one thing, [[Wizard]], which they did moderately well but it was ''something'' they were useful for without leaving core, which is more than most PHB races could claim. Unfortunately, only NPC elves could benefit from this, since the races in the Monster Manual didn't get level adjustments to make them playable until 3.5e (or the FRCS, in the case of Duergar, Drow, and svirfneflbibbles).

Eventually, because Third Edition was shitting out books at an average rate of one every month, sometimes even releasing two or three in a single month, the elves came to have at least 20 different subraces, including 3 underwater variants, a flying variant, and ''albino half-drow''. Surely at least one of them must have been good for something.

===Pathfinder===
Compared to 3.5, all elves got a +2 to intelligence, a bonus to spellcraft and a bonus to checks against spell resistance. Since it wasn't in the SRD, elves lost their trance ability. This was a bit weird since when [[Golarion]] was a 3.5 based setting there were references to elves going into a trance. Once again elves were pretty much locked into wizard if they didn't want to be useless. Like all core races they got to trade some of their racial traits out, but this mostly amounts to swapping the bonus weapons and other secondary traits for more caster goodies.

Despite not being particularly strong race they are still the third most played race in Pathfinder (after human and half-elf). This is mostly an anomaly due to a ''very'' high number of elf wizards (22% of wizards were elves), plus a good number of [[Alchemist]]s, Rogues and [[Arcanist]]s (the only classes their bonuses are suited for).
===Starfinder===

===4th Edition===
4th edition decided that the vast array of different elven subraces were, really, kind of silly. Plus, the basic divide between High Elf & Wood Elf was never really very clear - both races are simultaneously highly magical and highly enamored with nature, which itself doesn't make a lot of sense in D&D - there's a reason the [[wizard]] and the [[druid]] don't get along. So, they decided to twist things around.

Elves in 4e originate from the [[Feywild]]. Once, they were [[Eladrin]] clans who felt a deep affection for the nature, especially that present in the mortal world rather than their own faerie realm. Choosing to take [[Melora]] and the [[Primal Spirits]] as their patrons instead of [[Corellon]] and [[Sehanine]], they gave up the cities and pursued a tribal existence, venturing deep into the uncharted regions of the mortal world. When [[Lolth]] promoted her civil war, a side-effect was that the ties between the Eladrin clans were broken, and much like the renegades who followed Lolth into the [[Underdark]] ultimately transformed into [[Drow]], so did the mortal worlder eladrin mutate, losing some of their fey nature and becoming more tied to nature.  Despite the fact that [[D&D 4e|4th edition]] elves all descend from extraplanar eladrin outsiders, which fits the very definition of ''[[planetouched]]'', [[Wizards of the Coast|Wiztards of the Coast]] somehow entirely neglected to use the word ''planetouched'' when describing their elves-descended-from-extraplanar-outsiders.

Personality wise, elves are described as a simple and earthy people; eladrin may be reserved and scholarly, but an elf would rather tell jokes or go out and do some target shooting whilst sharing a drink with some buddies than sit around being gloomy all day. They're much darker-colored than their ancestors were - though more in the sense of brown/black hair and tanned skin than being full-on black-skinned - and lack the characteristic "one solid color" eyes that define an eladrin.

4e's elves favor martial, divine and primal classes over arcane ones; their initial ability score modifier was +2 Dexterity and +2 Wisdom, and it wasn't until later in the game that they got the ability to trade their Wisdom bonus for an Intelligence bonus. The [[Seeker]] was created as the iconic elf class, combining their cultural and mechanical predilictions for the [[Ranger]] and the [[Druid]].

A 4e elf's statblock goes like this:

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::+2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom OR +2 Intelligence
::Medium
::Speed: 7 squares
::Skill Bonuses: +2 Nature, +2 Perception
::Elven Weapon Proficiency: You are Proficient with the Longbow and the Shortbow.
::Fey Origin: You count as a Fey creature for effects that key off of origin.
::Group Awareness: Non-elf allies within 6 squares of you gain a +1 racial bonus to Perception checks.
::Wild Step: You ignore difficult terrain when you shift.
::Racial Power - Elven Accuracy: 1/encounter, you can reroll an attack roll, though you must use the second roll even if it is worse than the original.
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It bears mentioning that elves attracted a lot of flak for Elven Accuracy, simply because it's a single attack re-roll once per encounter (with a +2 bonus to the re-roll if you've got the Elven Precision racial feat). This isn't really as powerful as it seems, because A: 1 re-roll per fight sequence isn't going to guarantee every attack hits, and B: most of the Leader classes can hand out attack re-rolls like freaking candy anyway. Most anons on /tg/ either hadn't read any of 4e's actual combat mechanics, couldn't get over the idea of elves not having a [[Strength]] penalty (never mind that races like [[Orc]]s, [[Bugbear]]s and [[Goliath]]s still got Strength bonuses and so '''still''' had higher average bonus damage than elves did), or both.

[[Dragon Magazine]] #382 then introduced an elven subrace called the Dusk Elves, who are... different. These pale-colored elves (skin "like moonlight", fair hair, light blue or light violet eyes) are descendants from a 4th group of eladrin: during the great civil war between [[Corellon]] and [[Lolth]], their ancestors just wanted to stay out of it entirely, refusing to take part in the fighting on either side. This attempt at neutrality backfired on them when both the Corellon-loyalists ''and'' the proto-Drow turned on them; if it weren't for [[Sehanine]] taking pity on them, they probably would have been exterminated. As such, they've been forced into exile in hidden cities and enclaves throughout the mortal world, protected by complex layers of illusion magic. Described as furtive, haunted and suspicious by nature, they are very emotionally withdrawn and '''extremely''' touchy about the topic of loyalty. Unlike other elves, dusk elves have no particular loyalty to the [[Prime Material]]; they view it as being a prison, at best a gilded cage, and culturally yearn to return to the [[Feywild]] once more.

As with most early subraces in 4th edition, Dusk Elves are represented by taking an elf and buying the appropriate "bloodline feats". The core bloodline feat is ''Dusk Elf Stealth'', which grants a +1 racial bonus to Stealth to all allies within 6 squares who don't have this feat. It's... rather unimpressive, and the race rather relies on its other unique feats to stand out;'' Gathering Night'' lets you become invisible for a turn by taking a Total Defense action whilst concealed, ''Gloaming Ward'' grants you a turn of free concealment the first time you get bloodied, ''Sehanine's Boon'' means you gain extra HP from healing surges sent whilst concealed, and and ''Umbral Wind'' means you can use your second wind to gain concealment (or bump concealment to total concealment) for a turn instead of granting +2 all defenses for a turn. Oh, they also have ''Dusk Elf Weapon Training'', which is free proficiency with light blades and a small damage boost with them.

Dusk Elves have a unique racial [[Paragon Path]], called the Darkening Blade; a Dexterity-focused melee attacker who uses a combination of mobility, stealth, and swift but accurate strikes to prevail.

Similarly to the Eladrin, Elves also got a set of alternate racial traits in the ''Neverwinter Campaign Setting'' to portray the neglected wood and wild elves. Since the Eladrin were covering the High Elves, this enabled for elves to cover the more primal versions of the species. The unfortunate factor of this is that both variants replaced the racial power, where a good number of racial feats dedicated their existence to, though they did get some consolation prizes.

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'''Wild Elf Variant Traits'''
::Replace Elven Accuracy with Subtle Step (1/encounter ability to shift at full speed)
::Replace Group Awareness with Wild Elf Weapon Proficiency (Javelin, Spear, Longspear)

'''Wood Elf Variant Traits'''
::Replace Elven Accuracy with Sense Threat (Use Perception for Initiative, allies within 10 squares of you gain +2 to Initiative rolls if they scored below you)
::Replace Group Awareness with Wood Elf Reactive Stealth (Can use Stealth to hide when rolling Initiative)
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===5th Edition===

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::Ability Score: +2 Dexterity
::Typical Alignment: Favor Chaotic Good (Lawful Evil if Drow)
::Size: Medium. Ranges from under 5 to over 6 feet tall, with slender builds. Nothing's stopping you from making a fat elf, of course.
::Speed: 30 foot base walking speed.
::Darkvision 60 feet
::Keen Senses: Proficiency in Perception.
::Fey Ancestry: Advantage on saves against being charmed, and immune to magic that puts you to sleep.
::Trance: Trancing for 4 hours yields the same effect as an 8 hour sleep.
::Languages: Common and Elvish.

And, of course, there are the subraces. The High Elves, with the Sun Elves being the asshole, extra arrogant bastards we all think of, and the Moon Elves, who are more common and friendly (note: they both fall under the umbrella of High Elf, with the same bonuses). Then, there's the tree-hugging Wood Elves, and the edgy Drow.

'''High Elf'''
::Ability Score: +1 Intelligence
::Elf Weapon Training: Proficiency with Longsword, Shortsword, Shortbow, and Longbow.
::Cantrip: Free cantrip from the Wizard spell list. Uses Intelligence as it's Spellcasting Modifier.
::Extra Language: Free extra language.

'''Wood Elf'''
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Wisdom
::Elf Weapon Training: see above
::Fleet of Foot: Base walking speed now becomes 35 feet.
::Mask of the Wild: You can attempt to hide even when you are only lightly obscured by natural phenomena, such as foliage, heavy rain, falling snow, and mist.

'''[[Drow]]'''
::Ability Score: +1 Charisma
::Superior Darkvision (120 feet instead of 60)
::Sunlight Sensitivity: Disadvantage on attack rolls and Perception checks that rely on sight if you, your target, or whatever you're trying to perceive, is in direct sunlight.
::Drow Magic: Start with free Dancing Light cantrip, get free Faerie Fire at 3rd level, and free Darkness at 5th level. Both recharge on a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these.
::Drow Weapon Training: Proficiency with rapiers, shortswords, and hand crossbows.

Amazingly, if one doesn't count the [[Eladrin]] (who received a writeup in the [[Dungeon Master's Guide]] and then a tweak of that in [[Unearthed Arcana]]), it took until the November 2017 issue of [[Unearthed Arcana]] before the elves received some new subraces.

'''Avariel''' - Winged elves, and immediately a source of derision on /tg/ for getting absolutely nothing beyond their flight ability.
::Bonus Language: Auran ([[Elemental]] Air)
::Flight: Fly speed of 30 feet, but not available if wearing medium armor or heavy armor.

'''Grugach''' - Super-feral and territorial wood elves originally from [[Greyhawk|Oerth]]... in many ways a prototype of the Wood Elves of [[Warhammer Fantasy]]. Also really made no sense as a subrace when the PHB specifically lists them as an example of a Wood Elf.
::+1 Strength
::Xenophobic: Your default language is Sylvan instead of Common.
::Grugach Weapon Training: Spear, Shortbow, Longbow, Net.
::Druidic Cantrip: You know 1 cantrip of your choice from the [[Druid]] spell list, which uses Wisdom as its spellcasting ability score.

'''Sea Elves''' - The long-anticipated(?) oceanic elves of classic D&D lore.
::+1 Constitution
::Bonus Language: Aquan ([[Elemental]] Water)
::Sea Elf Weapon Training: Spear, Trident, Light Crossbow, Net.
::Child of the Sea: You have a Swim speed of 30 feet and can breathe both air and water.
::Friend of the Sea: You can communicate with Small or smaller animals that possess an innate swimming speed.

'''[[Shadar-kai]]''' - These basically attempt to crudely mash-up their lore from the past two editions by using 4e's lore, but making them descendants of elves rather than humans.
::+1 Charisma
:: Deathly Cantrip: You know a single cantrip chosen from a list of Chill Touch, Spare the Dying and Thaumaturgy. This cantrip can't be changed at a later date. Your spellcasting ability score for this cantrip is Charisma.
:: Blessed By The [[Raven Queen]]: You can use a bonus action to teleport to an unoccupied space within 15 feet. After teleporting, you gain resistance to all damage until the end of your next turn, during which time you appear translucent and ghostly. After using this ability, you must complete a short rest or a long rest to use it again.

''[[Eberron]]: Rising From the Last War'' made [[Dragonmark]]s subraces, which eans that the Mark of Shadows is technically an elf subrace.

'''Mark of Shadows'''
::+1 Charisma
:: Cunning Intuition. When you make a Charisma (Performance) or Dexterity (Stealth) check, you can roll a d4 and add the number rolled to the ability check.
:: Shape Shadows. You know the minor illusion cantrip. Starting at 3rd level, you can cast the invisibility spell once with this trait, and you regain the ability to cast it when you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
:: Spells of the Mark. If you have the Spellcasting or the Pact Magic class feature, the spells on the Mark of Shadow Spells table are added to the spell list of your spellcasting class.

Mark of Shadows Spells<br>
1st: disguise self, silent image<br>
2nd: darkness, pass without trace<br>
3rd: clairvoyance, major image<br>
4th: greater invisibility, hallucinatory terrain<br>
5th: mislead

Hovering between offical and unoffical is the '''Pallid Elf''' of [[Exandria]], from the Explorer's Guide to Wildemount. They're a newly emerged subrace and are essentially [[World of Warcraft|Lightforged]] [[Drow]], and thusly considered pretty overpowered.
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Wisdom
::Incisive: You have advantage on Investigation and Insight checks.
::Blessing of the Moon Weaver: You can cast the Light cantrip. At 3rd level, you can cast Sleep 1/day. At 5th level, you can cast Invisibility (Self) 1/day. As with all racial SLAs, you don't need components when using these trait-granted spells. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability score for all three.

Whereas in the lore the [[Elven Imperial Fleet]] of [[Spelljammer]] had been a united faction of elves largely made up of [[High Elf|High Elves]] and [[Gray Elf|Gray Elves]], 5e decided they needed to be their own unique elf race. Enter the '''Astral Elf''', descendants of elves who migrated to the [[Astral Plane]] and promptly mutated there, gaining a distinct "starry gleam" in their eyes. Mechanically, they're like a weird mix of the original, 4e-faithful [[Eladrin]] from the DMG and the [[Gith]].
::Astral Fire: You possess either Dancing Lights, Light or Sacred Flame as a racial cantrip. Choose at character creation if it keys off of Int, Wis or Cha.
::Darkvision 60 feet
::Fey Ancestry: You have Advantage on saves to avoid or end the Charmed condition.
::Keen Senses: You have Proficiency in Perception.
::Starlight Step: You can teleport 30 feet as a bonus action. You can do this (Proficiency Bonus) times per long rest.
::Astral Trance: You are immune to magical sleep, and can complete a long rest in 4 hours by spending it in a meditative, still-aware state called a "Trance". If you complete a trance, you can give yourself proficiency in one skill and in one weapon or tool of your choice, with these bonus proficiencies lasting until you next take a long rest.

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====3rd Party Settings====
;Arkadia
The [[Elves]] of the world of [[Arkadia]] are at once recognizable and unique, consisting of analogues to the standard High Elf/Wood Elf/Dark Elf trinity, but cast through their own set of unique history and racial mechanics. During the Age of Gods, Arkadian Elves ruled the world, but the passage of time and unique catastrophes have plunged most of them into decay, leaving a world littered with ancient elven ruins and the remnants of three elven races struggling to figure out what to do with themselves in this world where [[Arkadian|humanity]] now claims to be the dominant race, however tentatively.

The rarest of the elves in terms of total numbers are the '''Scyllaean Elves''', Arkadia's equivalent to High Elves. These once ruled from the island-nation of Scyllaea, Arkadia's equivalent to [[Atlantis]]... until, like Atlantis, it was dragged beneath the waves by a powerful Titan of the Oceans. The race was the master of arcane magic, and to this day they are still its greatest practitioners; it is said that it was the survivors of Scyllaea that passed on the secrets of the arcane to humanity. Scyllaean elves have fair skin, with eyes of blue and grey and green, as the sea. They have striking hair of black or gold, and typically wear it loose or in elaborate coiled braids. Most Scyllaean elves dwell in Ithea, the closest city to the shattered islands of their lost home, where they are highly valued for their innate skill in magic and love of the sea. Others live as hermits along Arkadia’s bluegreen shores or the broken island ruins of their lost kingdom, hearing in the waves the muffled whispers of their ancestors, never far from the sea.Wherever they stray, they are marked by tragedy, beauty, and mystery. The most famed among them is the Oracle, an ancient and powerful seer, sequestered in the high reaches of Mount Hyperium.

In contrast, Arkadia's Wild Elves, the '''Oreyan Elves''', are thriving in terms of numbers. Unlike their Scyllaean and Nyssian counterparts, they have never been city-builders, but instead have always chosen to pursue a nature-based existence as [[amazon]]ian warriors and huntresses. Like the dryads, many are fearful and curious of the world of men. Others walk freely among humans, their hatred of the titans making them natural allies to those who would protect Arkadia. Oreyan elves have tanned tawny or bronze skin with dark hair and eyes.Most wear their hair long and wild or bound in a thick plait, though some crop it short. Oreyan elves dwell primarily in Oreya’s Wood, a sacred forest stretching from Crixos to Ithea. Beset by the spreading blight from the south, many have been driven from their ancestral home. Others can be found throughout the wild places of Arkadia, ranging the mountains of Garagos in pursuit of [[Arkadian Orc|orc]] marauders or guiding a band of Krytan hoplites through dry [[manticore]]-infested hills.

Finally, the '''Nyssian Elves''' are Arkadia's [[Drow|Dark Elves]], with a distinctly [[Egypt]]ian cast. As their name suggests, they hail from the desert land of Nys, far across the sea from Arkadia, where crumbling stone pyramids mark the entrance to an underground of tunnels and crypts and buried cities, a labyrinth reputedly dug by the slain Titan known only as "The Great Worm". Their undying
priests tend to its whispering husk, preparing for its prophesied return. Their highest caste are the pharaohs, liches beholden to the dead Worm, their hearts sealed in canopic jars in pursuit of the true immortality that is the dark promise of their master. Nyssian elves, or drow, have dark skin that ranges from obsidian black to onyx grey. Their hair is white, though it is common for Nyssians to shave their hair or dye it with henna. Their eyes range from blood red to canid shades of orange and gold. Whilst their culture is thriving, Nyssian elves are rarely seen in Arkadia; in their esoteric culture, to leave their vast and sprawling underworld of buried ruins, stone tombs, and ancient tunnels is anathema. Once on the surface, touched by the sun, a drow’s caste is broken, and they can never return to the life they knew. These damned souls wander the blasted sands, and some lucky few are rescued by tomb-raiders from Crixos, which welcomes their skills in the arts of [[Necromancer|necromancy]], however begrudgingly, since the drow are the greatest allies they have found in their struggle against the undead plague.

Arkadian Elves use the D&D 5e [[Elf]] core racial statblock (albeit renaming "Fey Ancestry" to "Immortal Ancestry"), but have unique subraces.

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'''Oreyan Elf:'''
::Ability Score Increase: Your Wisdom score increases by 1.
::Huntress’ Accuracy: Whenever you make a ranged attack roll and roll a 1 you can reroll the die, but you must use the new roll even if it is another 1.
::Elven Weapon Aptitude: You have proficiency with the javelin, spear, war spear, simple bow, and recurve bow.
::Amazonian Stride: Your base walking speed is increased by 5 feet.

'''Scyllaean Elf:'''
::Ability Score Increase: Your Intelligence score increases by 1.
::Gift of Prophecy: When you trance during a long rest you are sometimes visited by prophetic dreams whose omens and portents may give you insight into the future.When you finish a long rest, roll 1d20. On a roll of 20 you can ask a single question concerning a specific goal, event, or activity to occur within 7 days. The GM offers a truthful reply. The reply might be a vision, a cryptic rhyme, or an omen.
::Thessa’s Trident: You learn the magic missile spell and can cast it once without expending a spell slot. You regain the ability to cast it in this way when you finish a long rest. At 3rd and 5th level the number of times you can cast the spell in this way without expending a spell slot is increased by one. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for this spell.
::Lost Knowledge: You are proficient in the History and Arcana skills.

'''Nyssian Elf:'''
::Ability Score Increase: Your Charisma score increases by 1.
::Darksight: While in bright light, you have disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight. While in nonmagical darkness, you have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.
::Whispers of the Worm: You learn the Command spell and can cast it at will, without expending a spell slot, but you may only target Undead creatures when it is cast in this way.
::Curse of Nys: You are immune to disease.
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;World of Farland
The [[World of Farland]] is home to several unique elf subraces. The Player's Guide contains the ''Galan'', or '''Glimmer Elves''', who are also found in the "War of the Immortals" historical expansion set, and the ''Ranarim'', or '''Sundered Elves'''. War of the Immortals is also home to the now-extinct ''Tellarim'', or '''Frontier Elves'''. All have their own unique subrace mechanics.

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'''Glimmer Elf:'''
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Wisdom OR +1 Charisma
::Elf Weapon Training: Proficiency with Longsword, Longbow, Shortsword and Shortbow.
::Touched by the Swan: You have Advantage on Wisdom and Charisma saving throws.
::Let The Power Shine Forth: Once per short rest, you can draw upon your holy ancestry to gain Advantage on a single Wisdom check or Charisma check of your choice.

'''Sundered Elf:'''
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Constitution
::Elf Weapon Training: Proficiency with Longsword, Longbow, Shortsword and Shortbow.
::Fade Away: Once per short rest, you can use your Reaction to being targeted by an attack to become invisible until either the end of your next turn or you take any action that would end an Invisibility spell.
::Forest Stealth: You have Proficiency in Stealth and apply double your Proficiency Bonus to Stealth checks made in forests and woodlands.

'''Frontier Elf:'''
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Constitution
::Frontier Elf Weapon Training: Proficiency with Longsword, Longbow, Shortsword and Shortbow. You also gain a bonus weapon proficiency based on your settlement of origin; frontier elves from Emerain gain the Lance and those from Palahan are proficient with Net and Trident.
::Tough: You ignore the first level of Exhaustion you incur in a 24 hour period.
::Talent of the City: A frontier elf from Emerain starts play with a riding horse and has Advantage on Wisdom (Handle Animal) checks made with horses. A frontier elf from Palahan has Proficiency with Navigator's Tools and Water Vehicles, is proficient in swimming, and gains advantage on Strength (Athletics) checks related to swimming.
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;Scarred Lands
Elves of the [[Scarred Lands]] are divided to three different subraces: the Drendali who are the drow-equivalent elves of the setting, the Ganjus are wood elves and the most common elves in [[Ghelspad]], and the Forsaken elves who are high elves cursed by the Titan they managed to kill. All of the elves replace the standard Darkvision with ''Tattoo Mystic'', proficiency with tattooist's supplies and the ability to use one magic tattoo one more time without completing a short or long rest.

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'''Drendali Elves:'''
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Charisma
::Darkivision 60 feet
::Drendali Combat Training: Proficiency with the light crossbow, rapier, shortbow, and shortsword.
::Drendali Magic: You know the Mage Hand and Minor Illusion cantrips.
::Languages: Drendali and one other language.

'''Forsaken Elves:'''
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Intelligence
::Darkvision 30 feet
::Elf Weapon Training: Proficiency with longsword, shortsword, shortbow, and longbow.
::[[Chern]]'s Curse: Advantage on saving throws against disease, but you're almost certainly infertile, and any child that's conceivied and survives the pregnancy is born with a birth defect.
::Languages: Elduran and two other languages

'''Ganjus Elves:'''
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Wisdom
::Darkvision 30 feet
::Ganjus Combat Training: Proficiency with longbow, quarterstaff, shortbow, and spear.
::Natural Stealth: Proficiency in Stealth, and you can hide even when only lightly obsucured by foliage and natural phenomena.
::Language: Elvish and one other language.
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;[[Midgard]]
Midgard elves are largely divided into two groups; River Elves, which fill the [[High Elf]] niche and use that subrace's statblock, and [[Shadow Fey]], the setting's [[Drow]] analogue. Both are found in the Midgard Heroes Handbook. Then Tome of Heroes added two new subraces; '''Dunewalker Elves''' are desert-dwelling nomads who get +1 Wisdom and the racial traits ''Desert Dweller'' (free Proficiency in Survival, ignore high temperature penalties, don't need extra water in high temperatures), ''Dunewalker Elf Training'' (proficiency with longbow, scimitar, shortbow and spear), ''Sand Spirit'' (ignore difficult terrain based on desert environments, such as high sand), and ''Desert Mirage'' (once per short rest, when outdoors in a sunny area with an ambient temperature above freezing, you can create a mirage that surrounds you and Proficiency Bonus or fewer allies within 10 feet for one minute; creatures shrouded by the mirage are Lightly Obscured and can Hide behind it, so long as any observer is at least 30 feet away). '''Frostfell Elves''' are basically the [[Snow Elf|Snow Elves]] of Midgard; rugged tribals who survive in high mountains and arctic regions. They get +1 Constitution and the racial traits ''Elf Weapon Training'' (Proficiency with longsword, shortsword, longbow, shortbow), ''Cold DWeller'' (Resistance: Cold), ''Snow Step'' (ignore Difficult Terrain based on ice or snow), and ''Ice Crafting'' (once per short rest, by touching water, ice or snow, you can shape it into an icy replica of any nonmagical object without moving parts that weighs 10 pounds or less - it's still made of ice, so it ''will'' melt depending on the temperature).

Two more elf subraces would be introduced in the [[splatbook]] "Book of Ebon Tides", which are closer to the [[Shadow Fey]] side of the family tree. '''Lunar Elves''' are a mutant strain of Shadow Fey who are always born under the light of the full moons, and who literally glow from within - this bioluminescence, combined with their luminous silver eyes and tendency to long, spiraled, pearlescent horns, is the only thing that visually distinguishes them from their pale-skinned Shadow Fey cousins. They often take up roles that keep them away from the hearts of shadow fey power. 
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Wisdom
::Luminous: You emit a 30ft radius of light - bright light in the 15 feet closest to you, dim light beyond that; you can extinguish this light, reduce it to 15ft dim light, or restore it to normal as a free action. If your light enters an area of darkness created by a spell level equal to or lower than your proficiency bonus, you dispel the darkness.
::Moon Child: When in darkness, dim light, or a shadow large enough to cover your body, you can cast Moonbeam (Wisdom as SAS). This can be done (Wisdom Modifier) times per day.
::Shadow Fey Weapon Training: You have Proficiency with Rapier, Shortsword, Shortbow, and Longbow.
::Sunlight Sensitivity

'''Sable Elves''', in contrast, represent a dying breed; whereas river elves chose to stand and fight and shadow fey to pact with the darkness when the elves fell into decline, sable elves just tried to run from their fate. As a result, both river elves and shadow fey look down on them, and sable elves are dwindling; only a single redoubt, and handfuls of wandering nomads, remain in the present. Sable elves are tall, willowy elves with silver skin, dark eyes and red or raven-black hair. Most carry an irrepressible aura of world-weariness. Luckily, they retain some of the lat vestiges of the now-lost elven high magics from when elves ruled over Midgard, which makes them natural survivors.
::Ability Score Modifiers: Your racial ASMs are +2 Intelligence and +1 Dexterity, instead of +2 Dexterity/+1 from subrace.
::Blood Affinity: Choose a single school of magic at character creation (Abjuration, Conjuration, Divination, Enchantment, Evocation, Illusion, Necromancy, Transmutation). You gain a cantrip of your choice, as well as a 1st level spell of your choice at 3rd level and a 2nd level spell of your choice at 5th level. All of these SLAs must be drawn from the school you chose, and the 1st level and 2nd level spells can be used 1/day.