Elven Units

[Draxynnic]

I'm not sure if swordsman and archers should be wild or wood elves.

Statistically, most minmaxers I've come across in D20 use wood elves if they're available as an option - +2 to Strength is considered a better deal than avoiding a -2 to Con.

The real distinction is possibly one of fluff - wood elves are generally still fairly civilised despite their focus on living in forests, while wild elves tend to be more barbaric. So what I'd probably actually advise is having the wood elves be archers, while wild elves eschew sword-and-board tactics entirely for something, well, wilder - such as dual-wielding, hefting two-handed weapons, or even a tribal-hunter spear-and-shield setup.

[Troy_Costisick]

Interesting suggestions. I think we should break the elves into cultures before we move forward. So the question is which culture gets the first slot?

I think I lean toward Sylvan Elves myself.

I don't know if this has been decided yet, but I support it 101%. Based on the units you've conceptualized so far, it makes far more sense to call them Sylvan Elves (or wood elves) than just "Elves." This leaves you the option of adding a more sorcery and religious based High Elf race in a later expansion.

I really like the idea of the wood elves building animals as units. That's a really cool idea. One question though. What if one the backers who chose the GIANT level of funding wants to take elves in a different direction? What then? Is it too early to have these kinds of conversations on factions yet?

Peace,

-Troy

[Happerry]

With the general agreement in that the current elves should be Sylvan Elves, I got a trifle bored and inspired and decided to do yet another faction write up.. This time for a "High Elf Alternate Culture" with the general agreement that races will have more then one culture to choose from, eventually.

(And I suspect that is how GIANT backers will be handled, with their own alternate culture from the normal one.)

It's somewhat Greek based, somewhat DnD based, and somewhat Warhammer High Elf Based, with the normal elfy focus on low numbers of high quality units. In universe, they'd probably be an island/coastal located race, with one of the better navies.

Homesteaders : These brave elves are willing to leave their home cities and travel on to new islands and new shores in an attempt to bring elven civilization to new lands. While not trained fighters, they are willing to defend themselves against those who would try to put out the light of civilization.

Settlers! Normal, mostly, but they do have shortbows to shoot enemies with. Try to keep them out of combat anyway though, yes?

Surveyors : These trained experts are masters at reworking the land to better serve the elven people, and behind them sprout roads and fortress.

Yay engineers. Nothing special about these guys really.

Guardsmen : These brave elves carry short swords to defend the cities they live in from enemies. While not heroes from the legends, they are perfectly able to stick the pointy end in first.

Elven Warriors with short swords, shields, and medium armor. Nothing really special about them besides having better equipment then most militia variants. And costing more to make up for that, of course.

City Guard : These elite guardsmen are trained in two weapons to do their duties, and carry both a spear and a light crossbow to slay enemies with. Sadly, this leaves them without the spare hands to carry shields, but normally by the time an enemy makes it to melee they've already been shot a few times.

Elven Warriors (Maybe fighters?) with spears, light crossbows, and medium armor. Limited ammo, but can fire off a few volleys of crossbow bolts and then go melee with their spears. Lacking shields though, and splitting up feats between melee and range leaves them disadvantaged verses a specialist.

Flurries : Elite archers skilled with the longbow, they earned their names when one foreign guest commented that they fired their arrows so fast they blotted out the sun, just like a heavy flurry of snow. While not as accurate as their Sylvan cousins, they specialize in raw firing speed. And if melee threats should attack, they do have a longsword.

Elven Fighters with longbows, light armor, and longswords. Take feats that let them shoot more arrows, instead of better arrows. Elite ranged unit for the High Elves.

Outriders​ : These lesser nobles are mounted on swift moving steeds and armed with light bows and blades. While they are no match for the heavy armored lancers of man in a direct clash, they employ tactics of speed and their greater maneuverability to launch darting raid after raid on their enemies, filleting them with arrows over and over again before closing to finish them with the sword.

Elf fighters with composite shortbows, light armor, and longswords. The army's light cavalry/mounted archer unit. Somewhat a homage to the Nomad's horsebowman from MOM. Is ok at all ranged but is a master of none.

Elf Lords : Noble lords mounted on fine bred elven steeds with elven armor and great ancestral two handed swords, the Elf Lords are powerful heavy cavalry, able to target the weakest point of an enemies armor at full gallop and then strike with all the force their greatswords can bring to bear.. and then be gone again, before anyone can strike back.

Elf fighters on heavy warhorses with greatswords and medium armor. Uses the ride by attack line of feats, and has whatever has replaced Armor Piercing from MOM. A tribute to the old High Elf Elf Lord from MOM. The lists heavy cavalry unit, and top tier unit. (Not counting the airship, which comes later on in the tech tree but is more of a support unit then a max level murder machine)

Skyship : Great butterfly winged ships that float in the sky like clouds, the Skyships are the apex of elven engineering, combining a powerful ballista on the ships prow with enough cargo space to transport a whole army in comfort. And it flies, of course.

High Elf Max Tier unit, a flying transport that attacks with a ballista and can transport around the rest of its party with it's high amount of flying movement points.

Archmage : Elderly mages with the benefit of hundreds upon hundreds of years of magical practice, the Elven archmagi are some of the most powerful living spellcasters in existence, at least of the mortal races. At their rarified ages, even their elven blood is failing under time's unending pull, but that hasn't made them any less deadly.

High tier arcane casters. Elven wizards who've started taking archmage prestige class levels. Expesnive, but vastly powerful.

Sun Priest : The high priests of the elven temples have lived for what would be lifetimes for the shorted living races, and they put this vast experience to good use. While they may not be masters of the blade and bow, the undead should be well to fear them, for they are quite skilled at laying those evil bones to the final rest.

High elven divine casters, mid-high tier level with the ability to cast the Daylight spell to annoy undead and other dark loving creatures.

Repeating Ballista : These cunning bolt throwers are built as repeating crossbows are, only crafted on the scale of a ballista. While they have less power then their single shot cousins, they make up for that lack by showering hails of bolts upon the formations they are turned upon.

High Elf siege weapon, a weaker but faster firing ballista then the other elves have.

Spell Dancer: These brave fighters are living symbols of elven mastery of both blade and spell, and combine the two into one murderous whole. They are masters of channeling magic through the strike of their sword, and many have mastered strange reality warping sword tricks undergone by raw will and mystic potency. Woe to he who crosses blade with them.

Elven Magus from the pathfinder SRD with the Spell Dancer archetype, armed with a masterwork longsword and light armor. High level melee unit, combining close combat skills with a limited selection of arcane magic. Not as powerful as an Elven Lord, but both cheaper and lower on the tech tree. Earlier access to arcane magic then the Archmage as well.

Strengths :
Quality. The High Elven units tend to be well armed and armored for their roles, with better gear then you might expect from a unit in that slot.
Versatility. Many Many High elven units have both ranged and melee attacks, letting them fight in all stages of the battle.
Magic. Archemagi are powerful spell casters, and at lower level Spell Dancers can make up for the lack of a basic mage.
Transport. While an end game unit, the Skyship offers extreme strategic flexibility to the High Elves, allowing a wizard with a fully developed High Elf to transport armies wherever they are needed.

Weaknesses:
Cost. While high elf units are well trained and more equipped then normal for their tier and roll, this does not come cheap, in either construction or upkeep. This means they are often outnumbered.
Unfocused. While high elven units can often strike at both ranged and close combat, they suffer from trying to do two jobs at once. While they have many archers, only the Flurries can be said to be skilled archers, and the melee units dip into point blank shot is one less feat for melee combat.
Infrastructural. High elven buildings take a long time to build, with the elven focus on quality and long lasting construction sometimes working against them in times when it would be more important to get something done now.
Prideful. High Elves are infamous for their pride, and tend to be hard to work with. Wizards who lead other races can find them unrestful and resistant to outsider rule, and other races tend to find them snobbish and annoying to deal with.

Edit: Come to think of it, I probably should have done this in the elf thread in the faction forum.. oh well.
EditEdit: Huh, there is no Elf Thread in the Faction Forum... Oh well.

[devoncop]

Happerry,

I totally agree with your High Elf suggestions and the aloof and proud nature of this sub faction is very much my instinctive feeling towards how they should be represented. Some form of "Imperial Guard" foot unit with a more Elven focussed name may also be a useful addition given the focus on quality.

[Sillildur]

I agree with Asmodai, I would prefer Wolf riders as a goblin/orc unit. A Ent-like or a Nature's liege creature would fit much more with Elves.

[Happerry]

If you check the wiki, you'll find that Wolf Riders have been replaced by unicorns, as discussed in this thread.

[Troy_Costisick]

There's a wiki? Where is it?

[Happerry]

They reaaaally need to get a better, more noticeable, link to it set up somewhere, but the elven unit page is here.

Edit: Now give me more feedback on my High Elves! It is my royal demand!

[Rybon]

Homesteaders, sound like Ma and Pa Kettle are getting ready to go to the good life. Not High Elves looking to expand the empire.

Guardsmen and City Guard sound like human units.

Guardsmen = Protectors of the Path, Or Protectors of the Way, Guardians of Truth.

City Guard= Keepers of the Path, The Kings Lions.

Otherwise like it.

[devoncop]

I am thinking something along the lines of Elven elite foot units being Elven Immortals or Royal Protectors. I like idea of elite foot or elite cavalry units having a unit cap so they retain their special status and we don't see entire armies of elite units.