Pseudo-elf race as monsters

[Ragnarok]

So, right now I'm kicking around a few ideas for a possible future dark, low fantasy game. The end result I expect is that I will GM it, but I want some more experience as a player before I decide to GM another game. In the meantime, I figure the prudent thing is to develop ideas that come to me as soon as possible when it's fresh.

 

One of the ideas I had for a campaign is to shake up the stereotypical trope of the elf. I've unsuccessfully (as of yet) been trying to come up with a better name than "elf," something less....universal. The goal is to break preconceptions of elves while still retaining some elvish characteristics. My "elves" will be dangerous, and downright terrifying when angry. Their campaign use would likely take the typical niche of orcs; a less developed but dangerous group that is a big frontier threat. I doubt they'll see use as PCs, unless a player gives me an awesome reason.

 

Elves rose to the top of the ecological food chain by mixing deadly predator attributes with group intelligence. Here is what I've got so far.

 

• Elves are rather scary when angry or during times of extreme duress. Their pupils widen an extraordinary amount, making their eyes appear jet black. This is to help let in more light, as they originally come from low-light environments. They also have naturally sharper teeth than humans due to their hunter-gatherer lifestyle. So, we have creepy black eyes and baring of sharp teeth. Sort of like sharks. So I figure this would be a significant bonus to PRE when angry/in extreme situations.
  
• Elves are top predators, so they're naturally quick and strong (+ to DEX and STR)
  
• Elves have sharp predator senses, namely sight and hearing, though I could definitely see smell as well. I *might* give them nightvision, but definitely a bonus to PER rolls. I could see the more experienced ones have Danger Sense.
  
• Centuries of natural selection through interacting with poisonous plants gives them Immunity to Poison.
  

 

These elves have a loose tribal-based society, though certain leaders are making steps toward small-scale unification. They have lower tech than humans, namely bronze weapons and instruments where as humans have iron (and are developing steel). Their armor consists mostly of leather, though sometimes they put bronze scales or plates over the leather. Their combat style is mostly stealthy guerilla warfare (I have to give them ghillie suits), though their conflict with humans has prompted them to use psychological guerilla warfare; unbalance and strike fear by attacking unexpectedly then once the enemy morale is broken, rush in and use their strength to finish the job. Since they have bronze, they favor thrusting and piercing weapons rather than slashing weapons, as bronze slashing weapons tend to bend. They do have something akin to the Mesoamerican macuahuitl: basically a cricket bat with obsidian blades embedded in the edges, more like a jagged club than a sword. They try to take down heavy armored troops by using a weighted net to immobilize them, then they can slip a spear into their neck at their leisure.

 

 

Any thoughts, comments, or suggestions? Or any cool name ideas?

 

Thanks

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Pseudo-elf race as monsters

 

It's worth remembering that in the folklore of Western European peoples, notably the Celts, "elves" were rarely the "good guys." They could sometimes be helpful but were always unpredictable and perilous to deal with, and many were downright deadly and malevolent.

 

Digital Hero #18 featured an article by Steve Long called "Out Of The British Isles," which describes many of the traditional Celtic faerie folk, which often depart radically from Tolkienesque elves. A free excerpt from that article can be viewed here: http://web.archive.org/web/20050102122011/www.herogames.com/digitalHero/Samples/d18faeries.jsp . Note that Steve wrote up quite a few of these creatures for the Bestiary section of Hero Games's excellent Celtic-flavored fantasy world sourcebook, Tuala Morn. (They'll also appear in the 6E Hero System Bestiary.)

 

The article provides names for many of these faeries, and I'm sure you'll find one that works for you. My personal favorite is "Unseelie."

 

Another article from DH #19, "Anime Martial Arts" by Michael Surbrook, featured three martial arts characters typical of Japanese anime. One is a "dark elf" who's an exceptionally skilled combatant, built on 300 pts., and could be a good template for the kind of ferocious elves you envision. Said character is also a free sample: http://web.archive.org/web/20050102122802/www.herogames.com/digitalHero/Samples/d19anime.jsp

[Ternaugh]

Re: Pseudo-elf race as monsters

 

If you haven't read it, I'd suggest Terry Pratchett's Lords and Ladies. The elves in it are utterly beautiful--and sociopathically cruel. A quote: "Elves are terrific. They inspire terror."

Another source I'd recommend would be the Castle Falkenstein setting, where there's a strong bit of conflict between the Seelie and Unseelie courts. A lot of their background information is based upon a book, A Field Guide to the Little People, http://www.amazon.com/Field-Guide-Little-People/dp/0809044501 which has quite a bit of nastiness lurking within its pages.

 

JoeG

[Killer Shrike]

Re: Pseudo-elf race as monsters

 

The Haelfinan of my San'Dora setting are not very nice, and pretty much universally hated by the "lesser races", with only a couple of exceptions.

[Escafarc]

Re: Pseudo-elf race as monsters

 

Why dont you ask Lydia the Fairy Scientist:D

 

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Pseudo-elf race as monsters

 

If you haven't read it' date=' I'd suggest Terry Pratchett's [i']Lords and Ladies[/i]. The elves in it are utterly beautiful--and sociopathically cruel. A quote: "Elves are terrific. They inspire terror."

 

Along similar lines, I recommend Poul Anderson's novel The Broken Sword. He depicts an invisible Faerie coexisting with the mundane world during Europe's Dark Ages, populated by amoral elves, trolls, giants, other folkloric creatures, and pagan gods. These faerie-folk are often more sophisticated than what it sounds like Ragnarok is going for, but they're definitely grim and ruthless spirits of a grim and ruthless era.

[Curufea]

Re: Pseudo-elf race as monsters

 

Dweomerkith?

 

I was going to suggest kin, but could be mistaken for a merkin

 

And of course, my rudimentary explorations into non-English equivalent names-http://www.curufea.com/hero/doku.php/ws:race_names

Which suggests "Alfar".

[Ragnarok]

Re: Pseudo-elf race as monsters

 

Funny you should mention Alfar, because that's the name of my current elven incarnation in my Norse game that's going on right now.

 

I suppose that I could reuse it, but I was shooting for something else, something that you wouldn't automatically connect to be "elf." i.e., avoid variations of the word elf.

 

Dweomerkin is neat though. It's growing on me I think.

 

Keep 'em coming.

[Shadowsoul]

Re: Pseudo-elf race as monsters

 

While they are a distinct form of Faerie with their own abilities, (namely the power to grow to giantsize), I think the term Spriggan fits this riff on elves quite nicely. The violent Powries might be a better fit although I don't think the name sounds as good. More Nordic terms for evil Elves are Dokkalfar and Svartelves, although these more closely resemble twisted Dwarves or Goblins than the beautiful and sophisticated Dark Elves of modern fantasy.

 

Another possible angle would be to, (in the minds of humans), link these predatory and sharktoothed elves of yours to blood-drinking demons or spirits of the dead such as Banshees, Strigoi, Lamia, Ghouls, Underworld-dwelling Fomori or the Sluagh which are described in the Digital Hero article that Lord Liaden referenced above.

[Curufea]

Re: Pseudo-elf race as monsters

 

Etymology-

elf

"race of powerful supernatural beings in Gmc. folklore," O.E. elf, ælf, from P.Gmc. *albiz, origin unknown, possibly from PIE *albho- "white." A popular component in Anglo-Saxon names, many of which survive as modern given names and surnames, cf. Ælfræd "Elf-counsel" (Alfred), Ælfwine "Elf-friend" (Alvin), Ælfric "Elf-ruler" (Eldridge), also women's names such as Ælfflæd "Elf-beauty." Elf Lock hair tangled, especially by Queen Mab, "which it was not fortunate to disentangle" [according to Robert Nares' glossary of Shakespeare] is from 1592.

[Spence]

Re: Pseudo-elf race as monsters

 

The goal is to break preconceptions of elves while still retaining some elvish characteristics. My "elves" will be dangerous' date=' and downright terrifying when angry. Their campaign use would likely take the typical niche of orcs; [/quote']

 

But the dandelion eaters have always been evil with a capitol E. Haven't they

[tkdguy]

Re: Pseudo-elf race as monsters

 

Here are some ideas I had a while ago.

[Alibear]

Re: Pseudo-elf race as monsters

 

I toyed with making elves as half man/ half monkey savage jungle types. Prehensile feet, very, very strong, quick & nimble attack in gangs from the trees, great swingers and climbers, etc. Still might.

[Ragnarok]

Re: Pseudo-elf race as monsters

 

But the dandelion eaters have always been evil with a capitol E. Haven't they

 

My elves differ from Orcs in one big sense; they're not needlessly destructive, and they aren't driven by hatred so much as necessity.

 

The way I see my "elves" is this: They're not particularly evil, they're just predatory. If there's a human caravan passing through their territory loaded with resources, and they see the benefit of taking the prey is worth the risk, they'll do it. They're not going to kill needlessly; that's a waste of energy and resources. There's not point in killing babies because they don't pose an immediate threat to you. The one thing I could see is that they might kill an heir of a powerful chieftain or something, if it is necessary in their long term goals.

[Curufea]

Re: Pseudo-elf race as monsters

 

Poison Elves?

Grunge Elves?

[Ragnarok]

Re: Pseudo-elf race as monsters

 

Another possible angle would be to' date=' (in the minds of humans), link these predatory and sharktoothed elves of yours to blood-drinking demons or spirits of the dead such as Banshees, Strigoi, Lamia, Ghouls, Underworld-dwelling Fomori or the Sluagh which are described in the Digital Hero article that Lord Liaden referenced above.[/quote']

 

I definitely like this. I can definitely see the humans of the setting seeing them that way and even attributing qualities to them that they don't necessarily have. After all, if you can't actually see them when they're killing you, you tend to assume they're ridiculously powerful shadow demons.

 

I'd rep you for this but unfortunately I'm out of rep juice for you at the moment. Such is the case for most of the rest of the posters, actually...

[Ragnarok]

Re: Pseudo-elf race as monsters

 

Poison Elves?

Grunge Elves?

 

They listen to the Smashing Pumpkins, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, haha...

 

I'll put those on the list though, thanks

[Ragnarok]

Re: Pseudo-elf race as monsters

 

I'm thinking that the name the humans would call them by would be one word, maybe taken from how they view them/what they do.

 

Like...."Oh no...it's the _______." Singular words...like the "wraith" race in Stargate Atlantis, or the "flood" or "covenant" of the Halo universe. But not any of those because I want something a tad more original than that. Something that's simple but effective.

 

*sigh* Such is the life of a picky GM...

[Escafarc]

Re: Pseudo-elf race as monsters

 

Poison Elves?

Grunge Elves?

 

What! No Bondage Faries?

[dmjalund]

Re: Pseudo-elf race as monsters

 

Kith?

[AmadanNaBriona]

Re: Pseudo-elf race as monsters

 

My FH cosmology goes thisaway, in short form...

(This was largely influenced by several authors' work, but I'd have to say the root came from the second Corum series by Moorcock, with a heavy dose of Paul Zimmer's Dark Border series)

 

The Sidhe are beings of Primal Order/Servants of the Light. Immortal and varying in power from Tolkien Elves all the way to Godlike beings. They are too "real" for normal things to interact with them well. The company of the Sidhe is perilous for mortals.

Their semi mortal offspring... hybrids, creations, servitors, etc, are the Fae. This blanket term covers all generally "good" nonhumans.

The Scailianna (Plural, Singular: Scail (Shadow) are their opposites, who embody Chaos, Darkness, and Entropy. They range, again, in power from "Dark Elf" to "Dark God".

Their more mortal counterparts are the Formori. This covers all the campaigns "monsters"

 

Pretty much everything is unique, tho there are common enough trends that there are "races" of Fae and Formor who share most common traits.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Pseudo-elf race as monsters

 

I'm thinking that the name the humans would call them by would be one word, maybe taken from how they view them/what they do.

 

Like...."Oh no...it's the _______." Singular words...like the "wraith" race in Stargate Atlantis, or the "flood" or "covenant" of the Halo universe. But not any of those because I want something a tad more original than that. Something that's simple but effective.

 

*sigh* Such is the life of a picky GM...

 

The Bain?

The Rath?

The Skurge?

[dmjalund]

Re: Pseudo-elf race as monsters

 

I'm thinking that the name the humans would call them by would be one word, maybe taken from how they view them/what they do.

 

Like...."Oh no...it's the _______." Singular words...like the "wraith" race in Stargate Atlantis, or the "flood" or "covenant" of the Halo universe. But not any of those because I want something a tad more original than that. Something that's simple but effective.

 

*sigh* Such is the life of a picky GM...

Spanish Inquisition

 

(Bet you weren't expecting that)

[austenandrews]

Re: Pseudo-elf race as monsters

 

The Rankin-Bass Hobbit cartoon was my first exposure to elves. "Monstrous" has always been a legitimate take on them in my mind, to the point that the thread title gave me cognitive dissonance.

[Lucius]

Re: Pseudo-elf race as monsters

 

The Rankin-Bass Hobbit cartoon was my first exposure to elves.

 

Not Christmas specials?

 

 

Or Keebler commercials?

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary thinks I should make a game world with Keebler Elves, and Jolly Green Giants, and....