Rich H wrote:Falenthal wrote:As said, not having any player with them, I've made just an approach at house ruling both.
I made slight changes to the Attribute scores (very minimum), raised the initial number for the common skills, but lowered the free points (from 14 to the usual 10). Also the initial weapon skills were focused: instead of three weapon with 2/1/1, I gave them two weapons with 2/2.
Barring your actual numbers for Common Skills and Attributes, I've done exactly the same with my rough notes on the subject! And, like you, I've not had reason to develop further on account of where my own campaign is currently at.
Foreword: I haven't played the High Elves or Ranger RAW, so I'm not trying to say my numbers work better or those in the RAW don't work. My House-rules are just a representation of how I do understand those cultures, which is not exactly the same as how the RAW presents them.
Just to compare in case you're interested, my changes to this have been:
*Wits reduced to 5-7 instead of 6-8. Probably just for symmetry, but also because I don't feel like breaking the limits of other cultures it's needed . With also a Body of 5-7, they already have two Attributes in the higher ranges. Powerful enough for me.
*Common skills: They start with 32 distributed points, instead of 29 as in the RAW. I think their raising is more disciplined, but also directed, than those of other races. Also, they get 10 free starting points instead of 14 as any other race.
The new skills are:
Awe 2, Athletics 2, Awareness 2,
Song 2, Craft 2, Inspire 0, Travel 0, Insight 1, Heal 1, Courtesy 2, Battle 2, Persuade 1, Stealth 1, Search 0, Hunting 0, Riddles 1, Lore 3
*Starting Weapons Skills:
(Spears) 2,
Long Sword 2, Dagger 1
Great Bow 2, (Swords) 2, Dagger 1
*Instead of the new mechanic to remove Shadow, High Elves have this hindrance:
Whenever a High Elf can reduce his Shadow score, he reduces half (rounding up) points.
Rich H wrote:
I've been mulling over a 'Fading of the Elves' mechanic but at the moment its just like another version of the Calling weaknesses/traits so it isn't something I'm enamoured with. You have a nice simple change here and it places focus on developing Song like you state, which I do like.
When I first read the consequences of gaining 4 Shadow flaws, I thought that it was brilliant to cover with just one rule the falling into darkness of mortal cultures AND the return to Valinor of elves. When, time later, I read the new rule for Shadow of the High Elves, the first thing I thought was "We don't need a new rule for that! It was already covered in the basic rules about Shadow!".
Just remember this from the basic rules:
Generally speaking, a character that succumbs is
likely to disappear quickly from the game, probably as a
consequence of one of the following events:
• Return to Valinor. When the burden of the Shadow
overpowers an Elf, he will seek to leave Middle-earth
as soon as possible, to sail for the Uttermost West and
be healed of the sadness and misery of this world.
Also, we know that Noldo elves and those in Rivendell not only like, but
need to Craft and Sing as much as anyone needs food or sleep. This, again, was wonderfully covered by the Heal Corruption Undertaking. But if we take this Undertaking from them, then we also lose the reason why they need it that bad: it's their only way of not succumbing to the Shadow. By halving the amount of SP healed (1/2/3 instead of 2/4/6) we get as a consequence that, probably, High Elves will take this Undertaking twice as much as other cultures (maybe even more due to their low Hope points). That's a good reason why non-elves might think that elves are obsessed with songs and crafting things of beauty.
Another option which I have considered, but dismissed because of the implications, is to disallow High Elves to take the Wanderer Calling, but to
add the Wandering-madness Degeneration tree to whichever else they've got due to their Calling. Thus, when gaining a Flaw, a High Elf would gain two Flaws. The Wandering-madness tree seems also very appropiate for an elf that gets tired of fighting the Shadow (1st flaw), joins the Wandering Companies avoiding to meddle in the affairs of mortals (2nd or 3rd flaws), and ends up sailing West (4th to 5th flaw).
But I didn't quite like the prohibition of choosing the Wanderer Calling, as much as I feel it has some flavour (Elves hiding in their Havens from the rest of the world, not wanting to know or be known by the common people or having any interest in the Folk-lore of non-elves).
