Playing an Elf?

[papertiger]

The main site has some sample backgrounds for elves, but most are NPC backgrounds. Does anyone have any they can make up right now or have one from the past they could share? They feel so open ended, I struggle to see how playing an elf is different than playing a human. This feels wrong.

I rarely get the chance to interact with elves. My experiences have been so limited, I would feel a little silly picking one up. I would just feel so disconnected and I dislike the idea of rping something in a crappy, uninformed way, even though I still do this with my human characters. (Noob perks) I think the insularity is intended - those sharps are creepy and gross ew. All of that. I can't help but feel playing an elf is a necessary sort of next step thing to expanding my interaction with the game world though. What are the key difference RPing an elf over a human? I have more interest in city elves than desert ones just because they have more chance of brushing up against more people. I get bored if I'm too isolated. Combat appeals very little to me. I've heard though that city elves get got pretty quick. Are elves necessarily highly combat oriented in comparison to humans?

I don't particulary have interest in playing dwarves, muls, or half-giants, mostly because I have the idea they're meant to be stunted somewhat either emotionally or mentally. Is this wrong? It may be that IC experience is translating *too* much to my OOC understanding.

Thanks <3 Come PK me,
Papertiger

[Gentleboy]

Nothing is better than a witty, arrogant, proud elf.

They know they are better but don't just say it, they show it.

An elf should we quick of mind as well as hand and gait.

The issue is that in the South, there are no elf clans. There is elf power (elf power now!!!!!). I feel for a lone foot.

You may want to go for a Northern elf just so you have a bit of a safer time to practice till you get a feel for it. In good faith, I cannot recommend a southern city elf. Seriously. Unless you want to make your own player clan of some kind, but-- as a first time sharp, maybe not a good idea.

I'd say combat as an elf is exhilarating. The back-and-forth with quick hits is just fun. We al know they are fragile, but, an elf with two-knives is damn scary. An elf with backstab is terrifying. And elf with sap is funny to think about-- till you get bonked on the head.

You cannot go wrong with any class combo with elves, because frankly, in the South, you will not survive for long without a gang. And that depends on if players are around there. Though, I'd say that the crafting classes should have a sneaky subclass or a combat. You really do need sneak in the South.

The North has a City elf clan. And that clan, sneak is not as important since well, you got a clan who has your back. But, I'm not a northern player. Who knows what goes on up there!!!! Rocks or something.

[Armaddict]

Shameless Plug

[LidlessEye]

One main difference between elven and human RP: Elves are very very VERY slow to trust. Even others of their own kind. An elf usually doesn't trust easily outside of their family/tribe.

One interesting thing is the 'loyalty test' concept. Elves will go out of the way to think of creative tests for others before entrusting them with anything.

For a non-com city elf, I would recommend the Akai Sjir in Tuluk. City based elves, and a good, (relatively)safe way to experience city elf RP in my opinion. They are primarily stone crafters (atleast that is how they present themselves to the public) , so you could be an artisan or crafter of some kind.

[Master Color]

Don't sweat it too much. I don't think the racial documentation is useful when it comes to ACTUALLY ROLEPLAYING any of the races. So if you're putting in just a little effort, you're already on the road to 3 karma.

I would suggest picking one (1) of the common traits and work that regularly into your roleplay. A good easy one is 'lack of trust'. Find ways to express that lack of trust through your roleplay in the environment and other characters. Find ways to express that distrust when other characters offer gifts or help. Find ways to express it when wheeling and dealing with pc's and npc's.

Once you've nailed that you honestly don't need to go any further. But you can sprinkle in other traits like 'tribe' and 'thievery' at your own leisure.

Just one warning with elves in particular. Players in the past have had extreme reactions to the existence of elves. Don't over react to the overreaction, that will probably just get your elf killed. Just ignore it and get staff involved if the bullying is too intense.

[LindseyBalboa]

(... This may be longer than I meant it to be. I included a few of my previous backgrounds as examples if they help.)

I learned more and more about elven theme in Armageddon by playing c-elves and c-elves and moving to d-elves gradually, and travelling between the two. I was lucky to start a c-elf when there was a huge group of them active - Sajak, Shabina, etc - and see the marks they left on the alleys as I returned with other characters. When I played the Vezeto of the Valuren at their launch, the c-elf lone foots in the alleys had cockroach tattoos in memory once removed at that point of the first c-elf I'd interacted with as a player.

That also meant that players were able to pass down oral histories, and that's something I've tried to do with my elves ever since realizing how amazing that is.

The point of all that is don't worry about your first elf, it's a gradual experience of learning a whole new theme and histories and mindset and viewpoint. All elves, however, do share a few qualities:

Pride: every elf has pride in who they are that's so innate and a part of them it is unable to be removed from who they are. every elf in the alleys knows, inside, deep-down, that they are the best race and they're meant to be on top of the food chain. that doesn't mean it always shows and it doesn't mean that they'll be 'above things' or 'too good' for anything. that elf kissing the ground and begging for a sid has that same pride inside.

Theft: every elf is a thief. full stop. that doesn't meant that every elf is a pick pocket or takes physical objects, it means that elves are natural predators that always have an angle. that angle doesn't even have to be negative for anyone else, it only has to be positive for the elf. to an elf it's not what's taken it's how good the story is going to sound later when they're telling it around a fire. that can mean a good merchant, it can mean a good story teller stealing time and coin from people for words, it can mean a raider, it could be an elf that's stealing reputation from other tribes by giving things away. it's all about the story.

Running: every elf runs. this is probably the biggest hurdle for some people to get over but it's a good example of something that is alien to a human but part of elf theme. an elf on armageddon runs and takes pride in using their legs. desert elf tribes will leave elves that cannot run anymore to die. you don't see legless c-elves begging for coin (usually). they look down on other races for having to use beasts to ride - they're pack beasts! why even have legs! and to settle a debate: elves can 100% run onto a wagon or argosy to raid or trade. there's a difference between selling wares inside the door of a wagon or running onto an argosy to garrote the pilot and stop it so it can be raided... and getting a ride on an argosy.

The "Right Now:" every elf dies, but elves are not known to die of old age. while elves will honor the fallen with stories and keep their legacies alive, the idea of 'building a personal legacy' is completely alien to an elf. what's important is your tribe. that leaves elves with wildly different priorities from a human, with more more emphasis placed on 'right now' than anything else. you already told the story of what you did last week, and the future is anyone's to grab. this lack of concern for personal mortality is an integral part in understanding why elves tend to smoke, party, drink, and party even more when there's downtime - and why elves will attempt the most ridiculously pointless, dangerous activities just to brag about them.


Background Examples!:

A Sun Runner who became a Sajahain during the Two Moon/Sun Runner conflicts:

For a Sun Runner Torin has a shadowy past, insofar that his mother
manifested as a Drovian a few years ago and his father was a former Dune
Stalker taken as Gavram by a Naza who perished during a hunt, which left his
father a full Sun Runner... until his death, as well.  Despite all this
Torin has been looked on favourably as his birth during Festival heralded a
closeness to the Bahak.  To Torin however turmoil is a daily struggle.
He's worried that his heritage will outweigh his birth and so he is even
more boisterous, even more prideful, even more aloof and quick to laugh than
most Sun Runners.  He dresses brighter than others nearby, and he fights
harder and quicker, if he can help it, and when it's all over he drinks and
smokes more than anyone else.  His vision quest was long, nearly two months
spent alone in the Waterless Lands, where he was finally sent back to camp
after surviving an attack by two Soh after witnessing an anakore being
eating by an errant rantarri.  Whether the vision was real or not, the
battle certainly was and he's come back to camp to fall into the category
of Naza that speak more loudly when defense of the Pah is needed.  He hates
Soh and he has an unhealthy obsession with round-ears, looking at them with
the same thrill a child might view a small anthill with or with the same
morbid curiousity a raptor might show when playing with a chalton. 

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A C-Elf that popped into the rinth around the time the Valuren were closed:

His father was a sand flea that came into the alleys a few too many
times, and never left.  Rumors were wild about what happened, but some deal
somewhere went wrong and someone else was mad about it.  That's all it
really takes.  His mother was important enough to some important people, as
well, but that didn't stop the Swift from getting a bright red alley smile
on her neck.  It's left him well-aware that life is cheap and ends quick in
the alleys, and he's bounced around from gang to gang because of it.  He's
had a few particularly bloody run-ins with the bands of yazah that will come
through on the east side and slaughter groups of elves, managing to survive
and add to his collection of scars.  He learned quickly that if one of them
showed gick signs, it was time to disappear, and that's colored his outlook
on mages pretty harshly.  Now that the Valuren crew seems to have
disappeared and things are shaking up in the alleys, this alley-strong sharp
has to decided if he wants to get out of dodge for a year and come back a
fresh face, or stick it out amongst all the corpses that are piling up...

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