Date: Tue, 22 Nov 1994 17:30:29 +1030 (CST) From: npgrebne@teaching.cs.adelaide.edu.au (Traveller) Subject: NEW SPECIES: Elves. BY: Nick Grebneff (Traveller) npgrebne@teaching.cs.adelaide.edu.au DESCRIPTION: Species description for Elves. This Species was the result of introducing a player who is absolutely fanatical about Elves. It involves concepts taken from a variety of sources but mostly from a certian miniatures wargaming set of games which shall remain unamed, any of you who've played them will instantly recognise it. ELVES Attribute Dice: 12D Attributes: Minimum / Maximum DEXTERITY: 3D+1 / 6D KNOWLEDGE: 3D / 5D MECHANICAL: 1D / 3D PERCEPTION: 3D / 5D STRENGTH: 1D / 3D TECHNICAL: 2D / 4D+2 Move: 12 / 16 Height: 1.8m / 2.2m Special Abilities: Enhanced Senses: +2D to search due to highly acute senses, Nightvision - No penalties for poor light or moonlit night. Stealth: +2D to hide and Sneak. Resistance to Disease: difficulty to resist disease is reduced by two levels of difficulty. Force Relationship: The Elves seem to have a peculiar attachment to the Force, which they call the warp. The dark side of the force is known as chaos to the elves. For any force sensitive elf, roll D6 to determine the characters relationship with the force: 1-3 = Elven Solitaire. 4-5 = Elven Farseer. 6 = Elven Warlock. Elven solitaires: Learn control skills in 125% of normal time but for only 75% of the normal character point cost. Sense rules are same as normal. Alter difficulties increase by one level. They receive Control Pain and Resist stun in addition to 3 other powers when they get their first D in Control. Elven Farseers: Control difficulties are one level higher. Sense skills are learnt in 75% of the normal time for only 75% of the normal cost and they get +1D to make sense rolls. Alter difficulties are one level higher, skills require 125% of normal time and 125% of normal character points. Elven Warlocks: All rules are as normal. Story Factors: Honour Code: The elves have a kind of chivalrous code of honour, which is not too far removed from the Jedi code. Because of this, they may not start with the skills: Con, and Forgery. Sheltered Beginnings: The elves have only just recently started to move among the galactic community. Therefore they cannot begin with: Streetwise, Alien Species, Cultures, and Languages. Description: Elves are tall, slender, and gracefull beings. They have fair skin, pointed ears, and slanted eyes. Their hair may be blonde, grey, white, silvery, fiery red, or a dark mahogany colour. Their eyes are commonly blue or green, with some grey, little brown, and occasionally a blue-purple colour. The lifespan of an elf is immeasurably long, though they mature only slightly longer than humans do. Background: The Elves come from a remote system in the unknown regions, where they have shunned all outsiders, living in hidden cities. The few that have visited the planet were frightened away by hidden elves. The Empire came too but the elven farseers sensed their evil and the Empire's troops disappeared in the night. Those who had been to the planet and returned thought the place to be haunted and never spoke of it. Sensors have never registered any intelligent lifeforms on the planet and so it was left alone. All cities are protected by Shae'aela energy fields (prevents detection with the force) and cloaking shields to prevent detection through sensors and are hidden from view under the ground. Long ago the elves lived in grand towering spires, in complete harmony. But then a couple of elven Solitaires out hunting in the woods had a falling out. One of them, Agaris missed his prey, hitting Gilithian, in the left shoulder, who became filled with anger, and rushed at Agaris who was desperatly pleading for forgivance. Gilithian ignored his words and attacked him. Agaris would not be taken by surprise and quickly ducked out of the way, however, Gilithian whipped around quickly and grabbed his arm then snapped it back, dislocating the arm in the process and then pinned Agaris to the ground. Before he knew what he was doing, Gilithian found himself smashing Agaris' head into a rock, beating it to a pulp. He knew he could never return home and so he fled, far away. Some were sent out to find him, a young Farseer was the first to find him, some months after the incident. Gilithian had now become enraptured by chaos and he passed this on to the young Farseer. Gilithian's band grew, and they became to be known as the Drow. The Elves ordered the Drow to yield to justice or face persecution. Gilithian knew that they could not survive this and so he devised a way to use chaos to hide the Drow. Thus they managed to evade the Elves. Still the Drow grew in number, for the power of chaos was ever tempting, yet it was corrupting the Drow, their skins turning black. The drow began building fortresses into mountains, and prepared for war. When the battle began it was deadly, though the Drow were outnumbered, they were much better prepared and the Elves were decimated, and the remnants retreated into hiding. They needed some way to defend themselves from the Drow. Fortunatly the brilliant Elven engineer Shae'aela came up with an idea. It was an energy field, virtually identical in concept to the Leth Energy Cage which was to be devised many years later, in another part of the galaxy. Using this field, the Elves could hide their homes from the Drow's farseers. The elves started construction of large underground comlexes, and massive powerplants. Then they made their bold bid. They subtly allowed their base to be found and Gilithian ordered the Drow to attack despite some hazy warnings from a few Drow farseers. The Elves' plan was an absolute success, thousands of drow were capture in fields of energy from which they could not escape. Some were not caught in the energy fields and scattered into the surrounding mountains. Although these were hunted down by the Elves. The first outsiders arrived a year or two after this and this prompted the Elves to maintain well trained warriors, and thus led to the formation of the famed Elvish Wardancers. These warriors, are the only ones apart from Solitaires and Warlocks who are permitted use of the Plasma sword, and have exclusive use of Elven Holosuits. The Wardancers are chosen from the strongest and most agile Elves.