Eladrin, Wild Elf (4e Racial Trait Variant)

Wild Elf

By Aleksey Iromonik [1]

Racial Traits

Average Height: 5'3" - 6'7"

Average Weight: 165 - 250 lbs.

Ability Scores: +2 Strength; +2 Wisdom, +2 Dexterity

Size: Medium

Speed: 7 squares

Vision: Low-Light

Languages: Common, Elven

Skill Bonuses: +2 Arcana, +2 to Perception

Fey Origin: Your ancestors were native to the Feywild, so you are considered a fey creature for the purpose of effects that relate to creature origin.

Natural proclivity: You possess an unnatural knack for learning and gaining skills. You gain training in one additional skill selected from the skill list in Chapter 5.

Indominatable Will: You gain a +1 racial bonus to your Will defense.

Ancient Origins: For purposes of meeting prerequisites, you qualify as both an Elf and an Eladrin, such as for meeting feats or paragon paths.

Trance: Rather than sleep, wild elves enter a meditative state known as trance. You need to spend 4 hours in this state to gain the same benefits other races gain from taking a 6-hour extended rest. While in a trance, you are fully aware of your surroundings and notice approaching enemies and other events as normal.

Fey Step: You gain the encounter power Fey Step.

Fey Step	Eladrin Racial Power
With a step, you vanish from one place and appear in another.
Encounter  Teleportation, Move action
Move Action	Self
Effect: You teleport up to 5 squares.

Play an Wild Elf if you want...

• to be a member of a race that has a long and rich history with a mysterious past
• to be naturally adept at close quarters combat and a much more aggressive elf race
• to be a member of a once nearly extinct race
• To be a member of a race that favors melee, divine, and martial ranged classes.

Physical Qualities

Wild elves, sometimes referred to as Wood elves or Forest Eladrin, are a now nearly extinct subgroup of Eladrin, and largely considered to be an immediate precursor to the standard race of Elves known today (also known as Wood elves due to their direct lineage). Wild elves have the features of these particular Eladrin before the collapse of this unique Eladrin society, and were originally Elves which took to the woods and fought as ferocious yet wildly arcane tribes. As a result they share qualities of Elves and Eladrin, and appear like Eladrin with mild elf-like features. Like most of the Elves, the Wild Elves are close to the height of humans, but tend to be slightly taller, generally much more muscular and larger than ordinary elves. Wild elves lack the subtly and grace of most elf species, and are very large, strong, and fast, often covered in ornate Tribal tattoos and Tribal garb. While brimming with an air of intelligence and even arrogance, Wild Elves lived as Eladrin did before they took to the cities, and in many ways continued the tribal heritage that the Eladrin have largely lost. Wild elves typically have fair or pale skin and range of hair and eye colors similar to modern elves. Typically, there is a lot of green and red in their hair, eye and skin color, such as with green hair and red eyes, or red hair and green eyes, and their colors often match the forested areas from which they were raised, either as Camouflage or to match the current seasons. Eladrin and Elven hair often changes to match their environment, and can shift with the seasons or the new forested environment they are in, due to their uncontained Fey Energy. Wood elves ears are long and pointed, and their eyes are vibrant with an almost glowing hue. Male wild elves are generally larger than female elves, and the largest of wild elves exceed even humans in both physical strength and agility.

Wild Elves like ordinary elves mature at about the same rate as humans, but show few effects of age past adulthood. The first sign of an elves advancing age is typically a change in hair and skin color, usually darkening or fading in color, and becoming more vibrant. Wood elves live as long as typical Eladrin, often for nearly 300 years, and show little sign of aging until right before their death. This translates more to keen strength and physical fitness, as well as Endurance, over many typical elves. As wood elves as a species are an ancient race, they are representative of the elves within their species that almost became extinct and were nearly completely replaced by regular Elves or Eladrin. Unlike the Elves and Eladrin who's ancestors spread to the rest of the world, the Wood elves remained where they were, retaining the features of the proginating race, due to their lack of intermixing or specialization. Few wood elves still live today, most having offspring whom have changed over time in to the variety of elven species, however despite once being thought to be extinct, Wood elves still persist. Living wood elves often have bloodlines connected to hundreds of other elves, distant ancestors of a not-so-recent collapse of their prior civilization. Despite their long age, elves as a species tend to evolve rapidly among generations, which results in their broad global diversity and many different subraces. It is only their very unique circumstances that has lead to them staying the same, largely their gift of long life and unwillingness to give up their old ways.

Attitudes and Beliefs

Unlike typical Eladrin, Wild Elves are wild and unkempt, brimming with untapped and uncontrollable and chaotic fey energy, being a more natural precursor race to the Eladrin before they developed in to their modern civilizations. Keeping to their Tribal ways, Wild Elves are essentially Eladrin who never came out of the woods, and kept their warlike and aggressive nature. Like Eladrin they are smart, arrogant and haughty, and brim with confidence and vigor. Their naturally uncontained and chaotic energy clashes with that of the typical Eladrin, and they tend to love fighting, hunting and living in the woods, as opposed to the relatively clean, sterile and orderly nature of typical Eladrin. They are naturally quick learners, have long life spans and have a mastery over the fey powers of the world, but do so due to natural skill rather than relentless training. Although Wild Elves live the same long lifespans of Eladrin, many of them died in battle many centuries ago and few have made it to old age due to this. Some are still old enough to remember these dark times when the race was nearly wiped out. Most Eladrin are the surviving race of this catastrophe, and most common Elves are the direct offspring of the Forest Eladrin which were forced from their homeland to flee in to the woods. Wild Elves are therefore an intermediary race, a missing link between modern Elves and Eladrin, while also being a byproduct of their era, which were essentially strong warrior like Forest inhabiting Eladrin. As starvation set in rapidly, the elves which survived the collapse of the Wild Elf society were the fastest and most nimble, who could flee the furthest, and the most wirey and thin who did not require as much food, leading to most Woof Elf descendants to becoming the modern thin and wirey elves known today instead of the strong warrior elves they once were. Many also lost their connection to the Fey Energy brimming with their homeland, lacking the inherently Arcane powers of the Eladrin, such as the ability to Teleport.

Despite the completely different upbringing and outlook on life to regular Eladrin, and their general lack of elegance, Wood Elves got along well with the more sophisticated Eladrin, as long as they kept their distance. Both saw each other as an element of Eladrin life, and regular Eladrin quietly admired and approved of Wild Elves carrying on the ancient traditions of their ancestors, carrying the torch of how they once lived and being a living example of Eladrin history. It is this devotion to tradition, honor and society's rule that lead the Wild Elves to continue living as the ancients did in the woods, just as modern Eladrin revere their sophistication. This would ultimately be their downfall however, as their primitive ways would make them easy targets for invading forces that ultimately wiped out the majority of Wood elves or forced them to flee, which already had small and dwindling numbers. Further without fortress strongholds, being a nomadic, tribal and forest people, they ended up being forced to scatter or were displaced quickly. Other friendly Eladrin forces tried to protect them, but the decentralized nature of the Wild Elves made it hard to respond to attacks from outside invaders, in large part Orcs, and over many decades they were driven from their homeland. Wild Elves or their direct descendant lines sometimes find themselves within Eladrin culture, and many were hired as soldiers and guards in Eladrin society, respected for their large size and strength. One might presume a lack of respect was present for Wild Elves to some degree given their lack of grace and elegance, however the Eladrin saw them as a necessary continuation of their shared culture and history and as an opposite side of the coin to their more regal nature. And further still, few would like to speak ill of the dead, especially a race with such a tragic end. Eladrin sometimes audibly gasp when they see Wild Elves, believing most to be extinct, and often are quite attracted to Wild Elves and wish to be regaled about this lost history between them. Wild Elves often have a deep, seething hatred and resentment towards Orcs and various other creatures such as Trolls which wiped out their original villages. Some are still old enough to remember them burning and the butchering and devouring of their Eladrin kin. While Wild Elves are usually not racist per se, they tend to subconsciously look on at Orcs with disgust.

Wild Elf Feats

Wood elves can take on elven and eladrin feats in addition to their own exclusive feats.

Heroic Tier Racial Feats

Name	Description
Beauty of the Elves	You are wondrous and fair to look upon.
Elven Accuracy	You may replace a use of one of your racial encounter powers with the 'Elven Accuracy' power. In addition, you may take the highest of either result with this power.
Elven Marksmanship	You gain proficiency with all bows and crossbows, and a +1/2/3 scaling feat bonus to damage rolls when using them.
Thinblade Accuracy	You gain proficiency with the Elvin Thinblade and a bonus to damage when you use your "Elven accuracy" power.

Paragon Tier Racial Feats

Name	Description

Epic Tier Racial Feats

Name	Description

Heroic Tier Racial Feats

Name	Description
Beauty of the Elves	You are wondrous and fair to look upon.
Conflicting Origin	You put your effort into training your body more than your mind.
Elven Accuracy	You may replace a use of one of your racial encounter powers with the 'Elven Accuracy' power. In addition, you may take the highest of either result with this power.
Elven Marksmanship	You gain proficiency with all bows and crossbows, and a +1/2/3 scaling feat bonus to damage rolls when using them.

Paragon Tier Racial Feats

Name	Description
Lengthened Fey Step	You can fey step further.

Epic Tier Racial Feats

Name	Description

Wild Elf Utility Powers

When your wood elf character gains a class utility power after 1st level, you can forgo taking a power granted to you by your class. Instead you gain a wood elf utility power of the same level or lower.

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