Café de Nuit

Talking with JMatyr on FB.

His character should be a fun addition to your party.

Ewan, is my (notepad) character sheet OK?

As for background, as we've discussed: Fild's father knew and respected the parents and grantparents of some of the thief PCs. Fild's family has an important tradition when each member once reaching an appropriate age and training is given money from the rest of the family and sent out to the world, alone, to collect knowledge and experience for a minimum of 2 years or until he or she achieves something important enough.
So, having heard of some of the thief PCs by his family Fild sought them out and banded with them...


Fellow Players: Which of you are interested to have parents that associated with gnomes in the past?
Fild's father is not a thief or warrior but he had traveled and is currently owing a business (lead works)

Couple things about Tom that PCs related with him should know.

Tom's father is an elf that was married with Gertie's mother but wasn't a happy marriage so he took baby Tom and returned to live with the elves. When he died 6 years later Tom had nobody to take care of him so returned to his and Gertie's mother town even if she was married again with Gertie's father.

Fild may know Tom's elf father Thalanaer, he was an adventurer that travelled a lot and met many people.

Yeah, but being a family man, he wouldn't hold much respect for a man that finds it too hard and takes a baby from its mother because it's "inconvenient" to stay together for the few short decades till she dies.
On the other hand... Fild's father could know Tom's mother and step-father, which Fild would respect more for raising a kid that wasn't his even if it wasn't an award-winning guardianship (Tom turned up to be thief after all...)

I will let the player of the half-elf decide this question:


Are half elves sterile hybrids (as mules normally are) or can they engender children?

There is no wrong answer. I could go either way. But Van's call will decide for the setting.

I prefer them not to be sterile, and from half-elf and human get human, from half-elf and elf get elf and from 2 half-elves can get 25% elf, 25% human, 50% half-elf. It's plain biology genetics rule.

VAN wrote:I prefer them not to be sterile, and from half-elf and human get human, from half-elf and elf get elf and from 2 half-elves can get 25% elf, 25% human, 50% half-elf. It's plain biology genetics rule.

Okay, then they are not sterile. That will now be canonical.

The percentages stuff looks a bit finicky.
As we are not going with the ''mule'' approach, I prefer the PHB default rules. They are similar to your percentages idea, but simpler:
Anyone with both elf and human ancestry is either a half elf or a human.
More human ancestors= human.
Equal or greater number of elf ancestors= half-elf.



The in-game effect of the PHB rules may be that most elf cultures would discourage human and elf mixes. Mix too much, and you end up with a half-breed population that can never be biologically assimilated into the true elf population. Mix even more, and even the half-elves end up being swallowed by humanity after a few generations. Being most CG types, the elves deal with that problem by keeping some distance from humans, and not by harsher measures (these are not Birthright elves!).
Elves are not a dying race, but rather a fading race.

Fine by me ☺Makes sensed that way I just wrote Mendel's statistic rule for eredity.

VAN wrote:Fine by me ☺Makes sensed that way I just wrote Mendel's statistic rule for heredity.

Indeed.

I conceive of the elfishness of elves are being partly a biological difference from humans, but also a metaphysical difference.

Elves do not have souls. (Flat out stated in Deities and Demigods for First Edition, implied by certain spell notes in 2E).

Half-elves do, though. The human nature trumps the elf nature in this immaterial aspect of existence, it seems. I like that, especially as the PHB notes that half-elves tend to take after their elven parents in looks. It sets up a nice contrast.

AD&D assumes that the anima, that force which gives life and distinct existence to thinking beings, is one of two sorts: soul or spirit. Humans, dwarves, halflings, gnomes, and half-elves (those beings which can have a raise dead or resurrection spell cast on them) all have souls; all other beings that worship deities have spirits. This latter group includes (but is not limited to) elves, orcs, half-orcs, and the other creatures specifically mentioned in the NON-HUMANS’ DEITIES section of this work.

That's from Deities and Demigods.

2E softens things by allowing resurrection for elves but denying them the benefit of the lower level raise dead spell. (Unless one uses an optional rule for 'other creatures' as the book notes).

This is one area where I prefer to go old school.

Elves have spirits and not souls. Want to bring one back? Use a wish spell. Or reincarnate--that works.

Always knew those Keeblers where evil.

Zilfer wrote:Always knew those Keeblers where evil.

Maybe... but man can they make a mean cookie!

ewancummins wrote: Elves have spirits and not souls. Want to bring one back? Use a wish spell. Or reincarnate--that works.

Academically, it should be noted that Wish IIRC doesn't actually BRING the creature back from the dead, but changes reality so that he/she/it didn't die in the first place.

Reincarnate is ... just a spell I don't like and I think it's an oversight that it works on both dead elves and dead soul-people. Go with one, or go with the other I say.


BTW, does anyone of the common people know this? Is it accepted by the common folk that elves are different the way orcs are?

alhoon wrote:

ewancummins wrote: Elves have spirits and not souls. Want to bring one back? Use a wish spell. Or reincarnate--that works.

Academically, it should be noted that Wish IIRC doesn't actually BRING the creature back from the dead, but changes reality so that he/she/it didn't die in the first place.

Reincarnate is ... just a spell I don't like and I think it's an oversight that it works on both dead elves and dead soul-people. Go with one, or go with the other I say.


BTW, does anyone of the common people know this? Is it accepted by the common folk that elves are different the way orcs are?

Wish is sort of a retcon, true.

Reincarnate is weird, but I like it.

Common people likely have a vague understanding that elves are 'strange', but couldn't explain the metaphysics very well at all.

''Elves are just big fairies.''

''No, elves are ghosts made fleshy.''

''Elves are sort of like pretty gobbelins.Nice--but just don't make them angry.. Gobbelins are cursed elves.''

Zilfer wrote:Always knew those Keeblers where evil.

http://police-praetorian.netdna-ssl.com/keebler1.jpg