Dark Elves: Compelling?

[jimmyjimjam]

Re: Dark Elves: Compelling?

 

Yep. It says "here is a stereotype, come revel in evil things being black".

 

Welcome to Western Civilization my friend. And to a different extent, Indian. And several others.

[Curufea]

Re: Dark Elves: Compelling?

 

Welcome to Western Civilization my friend. And to a different extent' date=' Indian. And several others.[/quote']

 

Thankyou, but I prefer the setting of the roleplaying game to be used when playing the roleplaying game.

[Zeropoint]

Re: Dark Elves: Compelling?

 

Well, here's how it goes in my world.

 

Way back when, in the First Days, when the world was young and full of power, and things had not yet reached their final form, there was only one type of Elf. They were put into the world by the Triple Goddess to tend plants. A powerful lich tried to slaughter/conquer the Elves, and a tribe of Elves skilled in magic was given a special project to work on, to come up with a counter to the lich's powerful death magic. After the war, well, accounts vary depending on who you talk to, but that tribe wound up fleeing to the desert. The harsh sun bleached their hair from blond to white, and burned their skins dark. They had learn how to do all kinds of distasteful things just to survive.

 

So that's where the Dark Elves came from. They're a nomadic culture roaming around the Great Desert, because even with their skill in plants, they can't grow enough in any one spot to settle down. They're a bit surly and generally pissed off, because they feel that they were betrayed way back when, and because there just aren't enough plants in the desert to meet their instinctive needs. They're good at magic, particularly death-related magic, because that was a special skill of their ancestors. They are a hard and pitiless people, because they were shaped by a time when they were barely surviving, and being soft could result in dozens of deaths. They view horses as constant companions and necessary to life, but they also drink the blood of their horses and eat them, because they came to accept that as normal when they had to do it to survive.

 

To the Pale Elves, they are aberrant and repulsive and an affront to the essential nature of the Elvish race. To the humans living in the borders of the Great Desert, they are roaming barbarians, not necessarily evil, but definitely best left alone. To the Formics, the fact that they voluntarily live on the surface, don't even WANT a society where everyone has an assigned role to play, and have their skeletons on the INSIDE is so bizzare that nothing else really registers as meaningful. Centaurs can relate to their past and sympathize, but don't find their society a particularly pleasant environment to live in . . . especially not when they smell cooking horseflesh.

 

So, if Drizz't still taints them, I guess all I can do is shrug my shoulders. Are they totally original? No. My world is a variant of the generic fantasy world, and I don't apologize for that. I wanted a place that would be unique enough to carry my own personal flavor, but yet still familiar to new players. I don't want my players to have to read a hundred-page encyclopedia to play in my world.

[jimmyjimjam]

Re: Dark Elves: Compelling?

 

Thankyou' date=' but I prefer the setting of the roleplaying game to be used when playing the roleplaying game.[/quote']

Are most RPGs based in western style settings?

[AmadanNaBriona]

Re: Dark Elves: Compelling?

 

The only Dark Elves I've liked in gaming are the ones in Warhammer. They not only have an interesting culture, they are actually pale skinned. The stupidity of dark skinned Dark Elves is a deal breaker.

 

I agree with you. I really like the culture they came up with for the WH Dark Elves, and I like the fact that they're pale.

 

I especially like the origins of the Scouts and Beast-masters as sort of the frontiersmen of the Naggaroth society, venturing to the dangerous western shores and beneath the mountains to seek out passages and nasty critters for various reasons.

[Checkmate]

Re: Dark Elves: Compelling?

 

Yep. It says "here is a stereotype, come revel in evil things being black".

 

Strangely enough, animals with fur don't have the same kinds of melanin in their skin as humans and humanoids do. Weird huh? I guess we should all expect humanoids to be coloured the same as rodents?

 

So basically, my Sea Elves and Wood Elves are dark skinned. The High Elves, and Dark Elves are pale skinned. I just have this thing about skin being some kind of protection of the organs from the sun - I'm weird that way.

 

I suppose, I could always choose not to create my own world setting, universe, mythology and decide how things work, how magic works in my world and how the races evolved. Yeah - why don't I copy someone else's ideas lock, stock and barrel? Just because of some reason or other (currently it escapes my reasoning as to why someone would want black Dark elves, just like everyone else has, but I'm sure there must be compelling reasons of some sort).

 

I could even put them in caves as well. That'd be original.

 

But to sum up - my Dark Elves aren't black because it's silly.

You want to create your own world, great have at it, but you don't have to slam someone else's ideas in the processes.

 

Yeah Elves with black skin is silly, but the concept of elves and magic itself is pretty realistic

[Tonio]

Re: Dark Elves: Compelling?

 

There's nothing silly about evil Dark Elves having dark, even black, skin. At least nothing more silly than evil Dark Elves having light, even pale, skin. Or good Dark Elves. Or whatever. It just that evil Dark Elves having black skin have been done so many times, used so much, and appeal to such a munchkiny crowd, that a lot of people harbor a lot of hostility towards the idea. Same reason why, ages ago, when the Dark Ages of Camelot MMORPG came out, Thanes were reviled in Midgard. There was nothing wrong with the class. But all munchkin, power-gaming, griefing artards picked Thane (ok, not all, but a LOT). So if you came across a Thane, odds are you were coming across someone around whom you'd rather not play. Ditto for Rogues in World of Warcraft. (Ok, so those actually were a little broken, hehe.)

 

Point is... don't slam a concept just because it appeals to the "wrong crowd".

[Thia Halmades]

Re: Dark Elves: Compelling?

 

You want to create your own world, great have at it, but you don't have to slam someone else's ideas in the processes.

 

Yeah Elves with black skin is silly, but the concept of elves and magic itself is pretty realistic

 

DUH. All Aelves use magic. Everyone knows that. Sheesh.

[Old Man]

Re: Dark Elves: Compelling?

 

I think that dark elves should have pale, greasy, pimply skin, long greasy hair, ugly patches of facial hair, anemic limbs, and sagging potbellies. That way it'll be easier for their players to get in character.

 

[Mr_Yuck]

Re: Dark Elves: Compelling?

 

I think that dark elves should have pale, greasy, pimply skin, long greasy hair, ugly patches of facial hair, anemic limbs, and sagging potbellies. That way it'll be easier for their players to get in character.

 

 

 

Hahahahah!!!

 

You forgot the smell of sweat akin to unwashed and oft used gymn socks.

 

Seriously! I walked into a local gaming store where they have open games you can host or join. I walked back to see if there was any HERO action going on and was nearly bowled over by the stink of BO and BBQ. (Someone was devouring some hot wings).

 

Peeeeeuuuuuwwwwwwwwww! (I vacated the establisment immediately)

 

Some RPGers just have no concept of hygiene... but they can easily discuss the mechanics of their preferred game down to the minutia!