what sort of spells are there that make good flavor for elven wizards? have any of your own? how about from published sources?

off the top of my head, it seems like spells having to do with the sun and stars, plants, animals, and fey would be elf-styled, as well as enchantment in general.

On RPGnet there was a thread concerning BD&D where one person decided to limit Elf magic to Illusionist and Druidic spells (I liked the idea enough that I'm swiping it for my C&C campaign).

The last fantasy campaign I ran using AD&D 2 ed rules, elf magic consisted, of illusion, enchantment, divination and druidic spells. I was going for a primal/elemental/mysterious tone for their magic, which was a reflection of what I thought their race was like .

Regards,
David R

Well, it does depend on what you want your elves to be like -- personally, I'd give mine draconic spells, but I don't see elves as strongly connected to nature.  They live in trees, yeah, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they *hug* the trees, too.  

But on topic -- if you want to give them a more standard "elven" feel, I think it would be fine to give them a selection of druidic spells, in exchange for some of the wizard spell list.  Necromancy could go, for one.  I think evocation should stay -- no matter how nature-based you make 'em, I still think they'd have fireballs at the ready.  You could swap the summon monster spells for summon nature's ally.  I think you could do it in a way that was relatively painless.

As for keeping it straight, with just the regular wizard spell list -- that I'm not really sure about.  I know that Magic of Faerun has at least some spells that would fit your motif, but I haven't looked at that in months, so I can't really tell you for sure.  Someone with the Spell Compendium should post -- they'd be the ones in the know.  

Quote from: CyberzombieWell, it does depend on what you want your elves to be like -- personally, I'd give mine draconic spells

When I read this, images of elves drawn by Brom lept into my mind. Very cool Mr. Cyberzombie

Regards,
David R

Quote from: David RWhen I read this, images of elves drawn by Brom lept into my mind. Very cool Mr. Cyberzombie

Regards,
David R

Thanks.  

One of my long-term (been in several campaigns) NPCs is an elven wizard who has a full-body red dragon tattoo.  His face is in the mouth of the dragon head, and his arms end in claws.  (Yes, he should be a dragonic sorcerer, and I might make him a Nutkinland sorcerer if I ever use him again.)  Brom would be the man to do his character portrait.  

I've in the past when I played fixed spell games often simply changed the flavor to suit the wizard--an Elf's magic missile may appear like a leaf fluttering through the air that slashes at somone. The Jump spell might summon the flickering glow of a Deer about them for bounding leaps. And their fly spell might summon shimmering wings of an insect..

You can turn virtually any spell into suitable "iconography" for a culture by deciding how it looks for that culture/as used--or even extend that to individual wizards.

The mechanical effect remain unchanged, but the appearance can shape the flavor of the game.

Quote from: tleilaxuwhat sort of spells are there that make good flavor for elven wizards?

Detect Cookie.


Cheers,
Roger