Elves as a class

[Finarvyn]

The Elves in Holmes thread got me thinking about how to handle elves in OD&D. (I nearly added thoughts to that thread, but was afraid it would get lost in the "Holmes" section since not everyone reads stuff in there.)

OD&D states that elves can be either a fighter or magic user class in a given adventure (and later they add thief), but I think it's pretty vague on how to handle XP, hit dice, number needed to hit, and so on.

B/X, and later D&D rules sets created an "elf class" (recall that race equals class in those rules) and so they combine the abilites into a single table of XP, hit dice, number needed to hit, and so on.

When I did the S&W WhiteBox rules, I struggled with this very issue and ended up creating an optional elven fighter-MU table which, I confess, I'm not entirely happy with.

So ... how do you handle elves in your OD&D campaign? Do you make 'em switch back and forth, combine elves into a double classed combination (or triple class combination with thief as part of the solution), or maybe something I haven't thought of yet?

[Finarvyn]

Falconer posted some interesting thoughts on this here. :-)

[chgowiz]

Dec 30, 2009 9:15:51 GMT -6 Finarvyn said:

The Elves in Holmes thread got me thinking about how to handle elves in OD&D. (I nearly added thoughts to that thread, but was afraid it would get lost in the "Holmes" section since not everyone reads stuff in there.)

OD&D states that elves can be either a fighter or magic user class in a given adventure (and later they add thief), but I think it's pretty vague on how to handle XP, hit dice, number needed to hit, and so on.

B/X, and later D&D rules sets created an "elf class" (recall that race equals class in those rules) and so they combine the abilites into a single table of XP, hit dice, number needed to hit, and so on.

When I did the S&W WhiteBox rules, I struggled with this very issue and ended up creating an optional elven fighter-MU table which, I confess, I'm not entirely happy with.

So ... how do you handle elves in your OD&D campaign? Do you make 'em switch back and forth, combine elves into a double classed combination (or triple class combination with thief as part of the solution), or maybe something I haven't thought of yet?

I allow a switch back and forth: if an elf wanted to "specialize" for a few adventures, or multiclass for an adventure, I would allow either.

If they specialize in one class, the rolls, saves and XP all are against that particular class. If they multiclass, I split the XP and take the more favorable of rolls.

For hit points, if they were multiclassing, for initial hp, I have them roll against both MU and FM and take the better roll. When they hit next level for a given class, I have them roll the new HD and divide it in half to add to their hp.

If they are the switching, I like your advancement table from WB and would use that. Right now, in my OD&D/S&W world, nobody plays an elf.

[philotomy]

In my current game, I've eliminated the traditional demihuman PC races. Elves exist as monsters (dangerous and fey). Tolkien-style dwarves are re-skinned as monsters, too, and are wilder, less organized, and called "stone children" or "earth children." Hobbits exist only in legend.

I replace the traditional PC Elf with the "Changeling." I replace the traditional PC Dwarf with a re-skinned dwarf. I don't replace the Hobbit. Notably, both the changeling and the re-skinned dwarf have strong ties to humanity (one socially and one genetically), rather than being truly separate from humans. The changes I made are almost entirely flavor; the mechanics are the same as the original Elf and Dwarf.

Changelings

Changelings are Fey beings that have been raised by humans in a human society. As children, they typically appear to be a normal human, although they are often very beautiful or very ugly (but rarely plain). A changeling may be adopted by humans (who may or may not be aware of its true nature), or might be left as a look-alike replacement for a stolen human infant (in which case most parents remain ignorant of the kidnapping). As changelings grow older, their alien, dual nature becomes more and more apparent. Their appearance sometimes stays remains human-like, but often evidence of their Fey blood manifests at adolescence. Changelings possess two distinct natures, complete with different personalities and possibly even alignments. They can switch between these natures as they will (although not instantly).

Changelings player characters begin play as both Fighting-Man and Magic-User. For starting hit points, the Changeling rolls 1d6+1 (Fighting-Man) and 1d6 (Magic-User) hit dice, taking the higher of the two rolls. He tracks experience for each class separately. At the beginning of each adventure session (loosely defined as the start of an adventure until experience points are awarded in a safe place), the Changeling’s player declares whether he is adventuring as a Fighting-Man or as a Magic-User. During that session, the Changeling’s earned experience points go to the declared class, and he fights and saves as the declared class. Regardless of the declared class, the Changeling can use any weapon (including magic swords) and may cast spells if he is not wearing armor, or if he is wearing magic armor. The Changeling maintains a single hit point total. When advancing a level, he rolls the total hit dice for his new level (e.g. if he advanced to 4th level Fighting-Man, he rolls 4d6), and takes the greater of his roll or his current hit point total. When the difference between his levels is greater than one, the Changeling gains experience at half the normal rate. Changelings are limited to 4th level Fighting-Man and 8th level Magic-User.

Changelings possess darkvision (to 60 feet) in natural environments. They perceive the world differently from men, and enjoy an advantage (typically 1 in 6 better) when searching for hidden or secret doors. They enjoy a +1 “to hit” bonus against kobolds, goblins, hobgoblins, and orcs.

Dwarfs

Dwarfs are human offspring who are born different or marked by the touch of the Fey. Many human societies consider the birth of a dwarf to be good luck; such children are taken to certain hills or caves left there: “given to the dwarfs.” Dwarf children are then raised in isolated dwarfin communities in the wild. Little is known about dwarfin society, but dwarfs are believed to be associated with the Fey Lands, and possess great (possibly magical) skill in smithcraft and construction. They are also believed to possess second sight, and are sometimes sought out as seers and prophets.

All Dwarfin player characters are Fighting-Men, limited to 6th level. When rolling saving throws against magic, dwarfs add +4 to their level. They are good at spotting subtle engineering details, including slopes, shifting or moving construction (e.g. walls, floor, ceiling), new construction, et cetera. Dwarfs take half damage from large humanoids like ogres, trolls, and giants. They possess darkvision (to 60 feet) in natural environments.

Halflings

Halflings are legendary beings with Fey-like physical characteristics but distinctly human-like personality and society. Most sages agree that they do not exist, but rumors about the land of the halflings persist.

Should the referee lose his good judgment, a halfling player character might somehow enter play. The halfling player character would be limited to the Fighting-Man class, and could advance to a maximum of 4th level. He would enjoy a special +1 bonus “to hit” with slings and thrown weapons, and the special ability to hide in brush or woods, adjudicated by the referee as appropriate — perhaps twice the normal chance to surprise (e.g. 4 in 6 instead of 2 in 6).

Note on the Fey Lands

The Fey lands are said to exist in, with, and under normal reality, but no one knows exactly how this works. They Fey are mysterious and often dangerous, even when they are not actively hostile. Faeries of all sorts, noble fey, gnomes, goblin-kind, and troll-kind are all Fey kindred to one degree or another.

Note on Demi-Human Classes

As described, above, demi-human player characters must abide by class restrictions. This does not mean that all demi-humans follow these class rules. For example, players should not assume that all dwarfs in the campaign world are Fighters. The class rules, above, apply only to player characters.

[geordie]

I play one class per level and I reroll stats each time the Elf levels up, which usually influences what class I play for the next level. It gets weird. I stole this idea from the 70s !

[Morandir]

Initially, I had players with Elf characters decide whether they were adventuring as a Fighting-Man or MU at the beginning of each session, with all XP earned that session going to the appropriate class. I followed Philotomy's idea (posted in his musings) of re-rolling HP any time a level was gained, and keeping the new total if it was higher than the old.

However players really didn't like having to keep track of what was basically two separate characters, so I ended up creating an Elf class as in Basic. My Elf saves like a MU, fights like a Fighting-Man, is proficient in dagger, staff, longbow, and longsword, and can wear any armor but not shields. HD is as Cleric. For XP I added the MU and FM requirements together, then multiplied the result by .75, so Level 2 is 3375, Level 3 is 6750, and so forth.

Mor

[tombowings]

Elves in my campaign advance as both fighters and magic-users and can allocate XP gain from an adventure to either class. However, their spell advancement isn't quite as good as a magic-users and can only wear magic armor and can't use a shield while casting spells. I also reroll HP at every level gained, keeping the higher total. As for saving throws, they use the better of the fighter and magic-user in each area.

So far, its worked out well in my game. A little underpowered, but very versatile.

[delta]

Dec 30, 2009 9:15:51 GMT -6 Finarvyn said:

So ... how do you handle elves in your OD&D campaign? Do you make 'em switch back and forth, combine elves into a double classed combination (or triple class combination with thief as part of the solution), or maybe something I haven't thought of yet?

The way that I interpret that passage, for my game, is to make elves (or any multi-class character) switch what they're earning XP in. They get all the abilities of both classes, but at each game-start I ask & record which class they're training in, and all XP goes to that one class. Hit points are rolled & recorded for each class separately; whichever is greater is in effect at a given time (same as other multi-class "max" operations).

I find there's a bunch of advantages to this. One is that you can have PCs and NPCs with any mix-and-match combination of levels you like. I don't care for either Holmes or the Sup-I/AD&D "always split XP evenly" rule. I consider that one of Sup-I's many overreactions.

More here: deltasdnd.blogspot.com/2009/01/my-od-multiclassing.html

[waysoftheearth]

The concept of Elves "switching" between classes has never really worked for me.

In my recently concluded campaign, I allowed Elves to be either fighters, or magic-users, or warlocks -- a combined fighter/magic-user class which (more or less) had the following game statistics;

* Elves only (up to 9th level),
* Both dexterity and intelligence are prime requisites,
* Requires the greater of fighting-man and magic-user XP at each level,
* Uses cleric HD and FC,
* Uses spells per day of a magic-user one level lower,
* Uses the better of fighter and magic-user saving throws at each level,
* May use any armour, but can only cast spells of a spell-level up to the magical "+" value of any worn armour. I.e., cannot cast spells at all while wearing non-magical armour,
* Cannot use a shield,
* Can use bow, sword, staff, dagger.

Thus, the Elvish warlock looked like this;

Warlocks	HD	FC	XP	Saving Throws	Spells per Day
Jinx	1	Man	0	12 13 13 15 15	- - - - - -
Eidolon	2	Man +1	2,500	12 13 13 15 15	1 - - - - -
Clairvoyant	3	2 Men	5,000	12 13 13 15 15	2 - - - - -
Ecstatica	4	3 Men	10,000	10 11 12 13 14	3 1 - - - -
Mesmerist	4+1	3 Men +1	20,000	10 11 12 13 14	3 2 - - - -
Hex	5	Hero -1	35,000	10 11 11 13 12	3 2 1 - - -
Revenant	6	Hero	64,000	8 9 10 10 12	4 2 2 - - -
Tempest	7	Hero +1	120,000	8 9 10 10 12	4 3 2 1 - -
Warlock	7+1	Superhero -1	240,000	8 9 10 10 12	4 3 3 2 - -