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Elves have been a staple not just forDungeons & Dragons, but the fantasy genre as a whole. These elegant humanoids who live incredibly long lives and ooze ethereal radiance.
But it’s not just appearances or vibes. The elves are powerful, have deep histories rooted in magic, and, depending on how you create your character, can be some of the most intelligent, wise, or charismatic members of a party. This guide is going to go over their lore, their species-specific feats, as well as how they have changed from the 2014 Player’s Handbook.
What Are Elves?
When it comes to the lore of the elves,they were created and then cursed by the god, Corellon. They used to be able to transform their appearance, but the curse took that ability away from them afterthey were caught conspiring withLolth, who drow fans will recognizeby name.
After this,theywandered to the Feywild, and then eventually decided to leave and explore other planes.For the drow, who were previously referred to as dark elves,they took up residence in the Underdark. Even those who have left their bleak home still carry the magic of that realm with them.
For the high elves, their magic and appearance areinfluenced by both the Feywild and the Material Plane. However, they are known by different names on different planes and in different worlds,such as sun and moon elves. One can hope that means we may see them, and the others listed, in future additions to the 2024 ruleset.
Then there are the wood elveswho aren’t assigned a particular planethat holds influence over them. They, instead,have made theirhome in primeval forests, holding within them the power of the nature around them.
Elf Traits
When it comes to their creature classification, size, and movement speed, elves arehumanoid, medium, and 30 feetrespectively.
Description
Darkvision
Elves have Darkvision of 60 feet, which allows you to see in dim light and darkness.
Fey Ancestry
You have advantage on saving throws that would prevent or break being charmed.
You choose a proficiency in Insight, Perception, or Survival.
Trance
You only need four hours to complete a long rest. You remain conscious during that time.
Then, when you choose to create an elf character, you also choose one of the lineages;drow, high elf, or wood elf. They each get different benefits and access to spellsimmediately, at third level, and then at fifth level.
When you pick your lineage,you also pick what spellcasting modiferyou use for these spells. While you can’t pick any of your six abilities,you can choose between Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. This lets you better synergize with your class and your stats.
With the spells in hand and the modifer of your choice, you can eithercast them with one of your spell slots or once withoutthe consumption of one of those precious (or non-existent) slots. You don’t get this ability back untilyou’ve completed a long rest.
Drow
One of the things that drows have as soon as you pick to play one is amuch moreimpressive Darkvision range. They can instead see for120 feet in both dim light and in darkness. Take that surface dwellers!
In addition, at level one, drow are able tolearn and cast the Dancing Lights cantrip. This is an illusion that allows you to either createfour light sourcesor combine them together intoone, medium-sized, light source.
At level three, you gain access tothe first level spell Faerie Fire. You cast this in a 20-foot cube and anything in that area, including creatures, isilluminated with dim light and can’t sneak away by turning invisible.
To be outlined by the light of a Faerie Fire casting, a creature must havefailed a Dexterity saving throw.
When you reach fifth level, you can cast, you guessed it,Darkness. What would a drow be without being able to cast Darkness? This is a15-foot, sphere-shaped area. Unless a character or creaturehas a way to peer through magical darkness, not even Darkvision can see inside.
High Elves
As a high elf,you start out knowing Prestidigitation, but you aren’t stuck with that spell. After each long rest, you canreplace it with a different spell. The only catch is thatit has to be a wizard cantrip.
Then, once you’ve hit third level,you gain Detect Magic. This allows you to, well, detect the magicthat is within 30 feet of you. If you do sense a magical force, you cantake the Magic action to outline it with an aurawhile also learningwhat school of magic it belongs to.
The next spellyou learn at fifth level is Misty Step. This can get you into and out of situations quickly asyou teleport up to 30 feet awayfrom your current position.You do have to see the spotbefore you teleport.
Wood Elf
Call these the speediest elves in the Wild West. Wood elves are immediately faster than their other elf kin,having 35 feet of movement instead of 30.
They also gain a cantrip, just as the others. Druidcraft allows you to use of the following:
If your increase in speed wasn’t enough to make you excited for combat,you then gain Longstrider at third level, allowing you to giveten feet of movement speed to a creature you touch.
Then, the beloved,Pass Without A Trace is learned when you’re fifth level. This is a rogue’s best friend. Well, any character that wants to be extra stealthy. When you cast this, any creature that stayswithin a 30-foot Emanation of you gains a +10 bonus to Stealth checks.
Emanation, in magic terms, means thatthe spell effect follows the castor or the creature or object a spell is placed on. If someone wanders outside the Emanation,they lose the effect of the spell, for better or worse.
Which Class Should You Consider?
While Wizards of the Coast have made strides in making the game fairer and less focused on picking the best class and species stats-wise, some classes willcertainly synergize well with the elvesof 2024.
Looking at the Fey Lineage allowing you to pick a spellcasting modifer of your choice makesa class that gains access to the arcanemuch more worth it.
Wizards already bank on usinghigh Intelligence to be an effective castor, so you could put all of your dragon eggs into that basket. Not to mention that with the spells you gain from your lineage,you’ll be filling up your spell book fasterthan, let’s say a human wizard.
Humans are just one of the species thatdon’t gain any cantrips or spells.
You could also go with one of the casting choices that focuses onCharisma as your spellcasting modifieras that leaves more options open to you.Bards, paladins, sorcerers,and warlocksall use this spellcasting ability instead. So, if you want to put one of your best stats into Charisma, all four of those are valid options.
In fact, choosing one of those classes that doesn’t gain access to wizard cantrips would makea high elf an excellent option to considersince they can at least choose and change their cantrip from that collection of at will spells.
If you prefer to go the wisdom route, which background-wise could make a lot of sense if you’re planning on playing a more mature elf in age, then go with eithera cleric or druid.
A drow or wood elf cleric will give youaccess to the most in terms of spellsas clerics don’t naturally learnany of the cantrips or spells that those two lineages do. As for druids, they do at leasthave the ability to cast Faerie Fire.
Differences In The 2024 Player’s Handbook
There are a handful of changes that these elves have received since the release of the 2014 Player’s Handbook. At the top of their feats in the older Player’s Handbook is thatthey don’t all gain an immediate two points to their Dexterity score.
However, Keen Sensesused to only give elves proficiency with their Perceptionskill. Nowyou can choose from three skills, customizing your character further.
A change across the board is that most feats or abilities thatallowed you to be immune to a condition instead gives you advantage against that condition. This is seen withthe Fey Ancestry trait, which used to prevent elves from being charmed.
Drow no longer haveSunlight Sensitivity! This is a major buff as Sunlight Sensitivity madeyour Perception checks halvedanytime you or what you were hoping to look at or forwas in direct sunlight. While some settings don’t have much light in them, most adventurers do plenty of things in the light.
Wood elves canno longer use Mask Of The Wild, which allowed them totry and hide in plain sightgiven there was some form of nature they could hide among. However,Pass Without A Trace at fifth leveldoes make up for it.
Beyond that, all three of these elvish optionsdon’t gain access to any special weapons training, as they had before. The same goes forability score increases and additional languages, but again, that’s a changefor every speciesin the 2024 Player’s Handbook.
