New Racial Shadow Weakness for Elves - Fading

[Robin Smallburrow]

Having thought about the problem of 'fading' of the elves, here is what Tolkien said:

"as ages passed this dominance of their fëar ever increased, ‘consuming’ their bodies (as has been noted.) The end of this process is their ‘fading,’ as Men have called it; for the body becomes at last, as it were, a mere memory held by the fëa, and that end has already been achieved in many regions of Middle Earth.” [Morgoth's Ring].

Tolkien later said that these “faded elves”, or “Lingerers” would seem to Men to be indistinguishable from bodiless spirits, like ghosts. In fact it’s said that, in the later Ages (Fourth Age & later), men said it was dangerous to communicate with elves at all, because they couldn’t tell which were harmless Lingerers, and which were malevolent spirits (when of course the true difference is that elves wanted nothing from Men, while spirits would usually try to manipulate them or steal their bodies).

So here is my idea, a new Racial Shadow Weakness:

Racial Shadow Weakness - Fading (Elves only, later Third Age & beyond):

As the long centuries have gone by, you have gradually lost interest in the affairs of Middle-earth, to the point where your physical form has faded to invisibility. You can now only affect the physical Middle-earth through the minds of others, and can no longer take the Straight Road across the Seas for the Undying Lands.

Forgetful
You have started to lose interest in current affairs and current concerns, being more interested in events in the distant past (which to you seem to have only happened yesterday). To others it seems that you 'tune out' for periods of time, as if you are in a trance. How long this occurs depends on the situation, but these occurrences will become more frequent and the 'trances' will go on for longer with each 'bout of madness'.

Prankster
The endless days, weeks & years have made you bored, to relieve your boredom you like to play pranks, especially on foolish mortals. These pranks are not malicious (usually don't cause death or injury), but can result in other types of loss (economic, Standing etc.). This particular weakness is why elves have a bad reputation with many races. Examples: 'The Emperor's New Clothes', 'Fool's Gold', etc.

Slowed
You have spent so long within your refuge (could be as large as Lothlorien or as small as a tree) that you find the real world speeds by too fast - within your refuge you are unaffected, but if you leave your refuge you act in slow motion (-5 to most actions OR everything is now a prolonged action for you). To others who enter your refuge time seems to slow down. Example: Rip Van Winkle's tale.

Fading
Your physical body is now starting to fade, becoming invisible to others unless they can see the Unseen World. Starting with your hands and feet, parts of your body will 'fade' in and out of visibility for varying times but gradually longer periods, seriously impacting on your ability to interact physically with the world. How this affects you in game terms depends on what has 'faded' - if your weapon hand has faded, for example, you can't pick up or use a normal weapon (although you could use a special weapon such as Anduril).

Robin S. Comments & ideas welcome!

[doctheweasel]

This is actually covered in Heart of the Wild as a sub-culture of Mirkwood Elves (pg 77). They are called Wayward Elves and have a different Cultural Virtue as well as a penalty when dealing with other Elves.