The hardest thing about playing/GMing Elven characters in my 40 years of experience has been the different perspective that not really aging gives (inflicts?) on someone.
My old group solved it, for simplicity's sake, by ruling that only young Elves leave home to go out and see the world for a while, be it days or decades.
Otherwise, stuff like defending the homelands or getting food and creating art is pretty much human activities anyway.
Alternatively, one could also opt for the truly alien Elven perspective as with firstborn Eldar in Tolkien's work: "You mortals, thinking that the birth of your great-grandfather was a long time ago. What is time, really? I remember Cuiviénen under the stars, before the Sun rose for the first day."
Though that schtick gets tired real fast in a player-group.
A different set of priorities for the character is a great help, like a personal quest to try all the different kinds of teas/herbal brews that can be found throughout the lands and realms, or mastering to the point of absurdity some craft or art or something:
"Hey Malvori, you spellsinging son of an Elf! How about some support here, them Orcs are pouring out of the cave-mouth like Gunther spews ale after a night of binging!"
"Now now friend Orlok, you ought to remember by now that my sole purpose with this excursion among you primitives is to perfect the magic making crops bloom without robbing the soil of its life-force. Vulgar carnival-esque display of hedge-magicking like flinging about the elemental forces I leave to low-class trash like enchanters or . . . >theatrical shudder< sorcerors."
Cue the other players pelting the Elf-player with cushions.
Hey np, kind of my job as one of the ‘main fantasy guys’ hereon Substack (my entire stack is devoted to it and lit-criticism and history on top of fantasy webnovels modelled after Tolkien & Howard’s older world styles).
And honestly I love Elves and feel they’re too often shafted so for you to write about them in a Tolkienian manner where they’re not all blemished morally or subverted is a joy to read about.
There were a few ways of dealing with elves in my experience.
ONE: "We're on vacation." The motto and frequent refrain of one elven-led party. Go anywhere, do anything, specialize in unconventional solutions. The humans were kind of along for the ride, but they liked the ride. The elves magicked up Combat Ray-Bans to wear, just for flavor.
TWO: Lost Birds. Orphaned, captured, always survived by themselves in a human city. Elven, but their experience of elven culture etc. is limited. One orphan's major link to being elvish was being sent to ranger school. Growing into their elvish aspect becomes a blank canvas for the player. One set paired up and basically decided to adopt the descendants of their favorite human as their long-term project.
THREE: Young Guns. Out to see the world before coming home. The tension is do you come home, or do you use the party's adventures to start building long-term plans and infrastructure that ties you to the world? Elven merchants and financiers might be the scariest elves around. To the party it's just convenient ship transport. Next thing you know, the elf has added some dragons as silent partners and is starting Lloyd's of Lorien in a Coffee Shop.
The hardest thing about playing/GMing Elven characters in my 40 years of experience has been the different perspective that not really aging gives (inflicts?) on someone.
My old group solved it, for simplicity's sake, by ruling that only young Elves leave home to go out and see the world for a while, be it days or decades.
Otherwise, stuff like defending the homelands or getting food and creating art is pretty much human activities anyway.
Alternatively, one could also opt for the truly alien Elven perspective as with firstborn Eldar in Tolkien's work: "You mortals, thinking that the birth of your great-grandfather was a long time ago. What is time, really? I remember Cuiviénen under the stars, before the Sun rose for the first day."
Though that schtick gets tired real fast in a player-group.
A different set of priorities for the character is a great help, like a personal quest to try all the different kinds of teas/herbal brews that can be found throughout the lands and realms, or mastering to the point of absurdity some craft or art or something:
"Hey Malvori, you spellsinging son of an Elf! How about some support here, them Orcs are pouring out of the cave-mouth like Gunther spews ale after a night of binging!"
"Now now friend Orlok, you ought to remember by now that my sole purpose with this excursion among you primitives is to perfect the magic making crops bloom without robbing the soil of its life-force. Vulgar carnival-esque display of hedge-magicking like flinging about the elemental forces I leave to low-class trash like enchanters or . . . >theatrical shudder< sorcerors."
Cue the other players pelting the Elf-player with cushions.
Ah, memories!
I appreciate the focus on Tolkein style Eldar, as those are the ones that everyone wants to play.
Leave the Poul Anderson soulless, amoral, child stealers for monster encounters.
Well, there's always Elric, I suppose.
On the other hand, the original myths were much closer to the soulless, amoral, child stealers.
I love Fiction and write Fantasy so of course I'm happy to hear of your projects.
Will definitely support them. Do you mind if I write an essay or two promoting these projects of yours? Least I could do.
Absolutely! I'd love that - thank you.
Hey np, kind of my job as one of the ‘main fantasy guys’ hereon Substack (my entire stack is devoted to it and lit-criticism and history on top of fantasy webnovels modelled after Tolkien & Howard’s older world styles).
And honestly I love Elves and feel they’re too often shafted so for you to write about them in a Tolkienian manner where they’re not all blemished morally or subverted is a joy to read about.
There were a few ways of dealing with elves in my experience.
ONE: "We're on vacation." The motto and frequent refrain of one elven-led party. Go anywhere, do anything, specialize in unconventional solutions. The humans were kind of along for the ride, but they liked the ride. The elves magicked up Combat Ray-Bans to wear, just for flavor.
TWO: Lost Birds. Orphaned, captured, always survived by themselves in a human city. Elven, but their experience of elven culture etc. is limited. One orphan's major link to being elvish was being sent to ranger school. Growing into their elvish aspect becomes a blank canvas for the player. One set paired up and basically decided to adopt the descendants of their favorite human as their long-term project.
THREE: Young Guns. Out to see the world before coming home. The tension is do you come home, or do you use the party's adventures to start building long-term plans and infrastructure that ties you to the world? Elven merchants and financiers might be the scariest elves around. To the party it's just convenient ship transport. Next thing you know, the elf has added some dragons as silent partners and is starting Lloyd's of Lorien in a Coffee Shop.