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Author Topic: Mordenkainen's Elves  (Read 6204 times)

HappyDaze

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Mordenkainen's Elves
« on: May 20, 2018, 02:06:40 PM »
Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes is out and I've read over the first two parts. The second of these is on elves. I don't really like much of what I'm reading. Too much of it seems like it is trying to make elves 1000x more special than any other race. We find out that Gruumsh penetrated Corellon and that all elves come from what dripped out of Corellon after that. The much-advertised multi/trans/non-sexual bit about the "primal" elves is here, and so too is an emo vibe that all elves (except Drow) are desperately seeking forgiveness from Corellon. Did I mention that the elves all go in for reincarnation with a stint of solitary confinement in their afterlife? I'm just not really seeing anything in the elf section that I want to add to my game. What's really funny is that the in-world voices try to patch together the takes on elves from all of the existing D&D worlds and then...come up with this stuff which doesn't really fit with any of them?

OTOH, the Blood War section was OK. Nothing really too original, but also not bad. I'd rather have them keep with the old than drop some "hawt newness" on familiar aspects of D&D.
« Last Edit: May 20, 2018, 02:09:21 PM by HappyDaze »

Gorilla_Zod

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Mordenkainen's Elves
« Reply #1 on: May 20, 2018, 03:27:19 PM »
#notallelves

To be serious for a moment, I can see me really leaning into the body-horror aspect of the new elven evolution. As much as I don't like it, it'll weaponise up nicely to deploy on my players.
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Armchair Gamer

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Mordenkainen's Elves
« Reply #2 on: May 20, 2018, 03:39:14 PM »
Quote from: HappyDaze;1039931
We find out that Gruumsh penetrated Corellon and that all elves come from what dripped out of Corellon after that. e

  Um...what words exactly do they use? The idea of Gruumsh wounding Corellon and elves being born from his blood goes back to 1E (I don't own D&DG, but Roger Moore's article on "The elven point of view", as reprinted in Best of Dragon III, makes reference to it).

Quote
Did I mention that the elves all go in for reincarnation with a stint of solitary confinement in their afterlife?

  Hmm...sounds like Tolkien, although the Professor's probably too conservative, monarchist/minarchist, gender-essentialist, and just plain Catholic for the WotC crowd these days :) Then again, it could also be part of pushing the elves in a more fey, less incarnate direction.

Quote
I'm just not really seeing anything in the elf section that I want to add to my game. What's really funny is that the in-world voices try to patch together the takes on elves from all of the existing D&D worlds and then...come up with this stuff which doesn't really fit with any of them?

  It's the Complete Book of Elves all over again! :)

crkrueger

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Mordenkainen's Elves
« Reply #3 on: May 20, 2018, 03:41:16 PM »
Penetrated Corellon?  Gruumsh stabbed Corellon in battle and Elves were born from Corellon's Blood.  If you're suggesting it's metaphorical, that would mean the Elves are born of Rape and I doubt we're getting that from WotC.

You should watch Jeremy Crawford's video about the Drow.  

"and so, some of them, they begin to respond to the call of the Light within themselves, and that often for me is one of the most interesting stories you can tell with the Drow.  The story of a person who is raised up in a totally corrupt culture, that proudly tramples the downtrodden, that enslaves other peoples - yet you are a person who stands up against it, who says "no more"." :D
« Last Edit: May 20, 2018, 03:55:05 PM by CRKrueger »
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ThatChrisGuy

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Mordenkainen's Elves
« Reply #4 on: May 20, 2018, 04:12:55 PM »
Quote from: CRKrueger;1039940
Penetrated Corellon?  Gruumsh stabbed Corellon in battle and Elves were born from Corellon's Blood.  If you're suggesting it's metaphorical, that would mean the Elves are born of Rape and I doubt we're getting that from WotC.

You should watch Jeremy Crawford's video about the Drow.  

"and so, some of them, they begin to respond to the call of the Light within themselves, and that often for me is one of the most interesting stories you can tell with the Drow.  The story of a person who is raised up in a totally corrupt culture, that proudly tramples the downtrodden, that enslaves other peoples - yet you are a person who stands up against it, who says "no more"." :D

Given how Drow culture is usually shown, they would say "no more" very briefly.
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HappyDaze

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Mordenkainen's Elves
« Reply #5 on: May 20, 2018, 04:40:28 PM »
Corellon was wounded by Gruumsh and made to bleed, with the blood shed from this becoming the primal elves. Note that Corellon "took pleasure from every encounter with the other divine beings of the multiverse" and as he was able to be anything from a breeze to a beam of light to a flame, he must have chosen to take a form that could bleed when he let Gruumsh get so close. The book also says that there are many ways the story was told, so I choose the most fucked up way since I find some amusement in Gruumsh being the 'baby-daddy' of the elves.:p

HappyDaze

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Mordenkainen's Elves
« Reply #6 on: May 20, 2018, 04:44:07 PM »
The elf chapter also takes a very convoluted way of explaining the Fey Ancestry trait since (most) elf lines are not from the Feywild but are instead from Arvandor which is a lot like the Feywild so some of them like the Feywild, but hey the Feywild actually causes them to hit their menopause early so maybe do go there, and there's always Evermeet so yeah...

Like I said, convoluted.

Warboss Squee

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Mordenkainen's Elves
« Reply #7 on: May 20, 2018, 05:45:06 PM »
Quote from: CRKrueger;1039940
Penetrated Corellon?  Gruumsh stabbed Corellon in battle and Elves were born from Corellon's Blood.  If you're suggesting it's metaphorical, that would mean the Elves are born of Rape and I doubt we're getting that from WotC.

You should watch Jeremy Crawford's video about the Drow.  

"and so, some of them, they begin to respond to the call of the Light within themselves, and that often for me is one of the most interesting stories you can tell with the Drow.  The story of a person who is raised up in a totally corrupt culture, that proudly tramples the downtrodden, that enslaves other peoples - yet you are a person who stands up against it, who says "no more"." :D

Now I'm envisioning Drow in hoodies swinging bike locks.

HappyDaze

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Mordenkainen's Elves
« Reply #8 on: May 20, 2018, 06:46:39 PM »
Quote from: Warboss Squee;1039955
Now I'm envisioning Drow in hoodies swinging bike locks.

Eberron did it.
Didn't they?

Thornhammer

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Mordenkainen's Elves
« Reply #9 on: May 20, 2018, 11:13:01 PM »
Quote from: Warboss Squee;1039955
Now I'm envisioning Drow in hoodies swinging bike locks.

Elf-tifa?

Just Another Snake Cult

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Mordenkainen's Elves
« Reply #10 on: May 20, 2018, 11:35:42 PM »
I really want to like this book but Jesus Fucking Christ it is so overwritten. The whole "Freelancers writing for a penny a word desperately trying to fill enough pages to justify a hardcover" style of mainstream RPG writing needs to end.

It easily could have been half the length.
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RandyB

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Mordenkainen's Elves
« Reply #11 on: May 21, 2018, 09:33:03 AM »
Quote from: Warboss Squee;1039955
Now I'm envisioning Drow in hoodies swinging bike locks.


Quote from: Thornhammer;1039976
Elf-tifa?


No, that would be the genderfluid elves going after the intolerant [strike]Nazi[/strike] Drow.

David Johansen

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Mordenkainen's Elves
« Reply #12 on: May 21, 2018, 09:44:32 AM »
Quote from: Warboss Squee;1039955
Now I'm envisioning Drow in hoodies swinging bike locks.


Which led me to envisioning them snapping their fingers in rhythm and starting to dance while the leader sings.  I expect the Drow would love Grease.
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KingCheops

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Mordenkainen's Elves
« Reply #13 on: May 21, 2018, 11:52:06 AM »
Quote from: Just Another Snake Cult;1039979
I really want to like this book but Jesus Fucking Christ it is so overwritten. The whole "Freelancers writing for a penny a word desperately trying to fill enough pages to justify a hardcover" style of mainstream RPG writing needs to end.

It easily could have been half the length.

The repetition in the Halfling and Gnome chapter was pretty bad.

Madprofessor

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Mordenkainen's Elves
« Reply #14 on: May 21, 2018, 12:58:19 PM »
Quote from: Just Another Snake Cult;1039979
I really want to like this book but Jesus Fucking Christ it is so overwritten. The whole "Freelancers writing for a penny a word desperately trying to fill enough pages to justify a hardcover" style of mainstream RPG writing needs to end.

It easily could have been half the length.

Amen! I can't stand the overwritten word bloat.  It has become near ubiquitous in the industry.  It's not only a waste of my time and shelf space, it crushes creativity.  The brilliance of a module like X1, B2, or settings like the original Greyhawk or Wilderlands was that it gave you just enough to fire the imagination without filling it.  I play RPGs to create my own worlds, characters and stories. Modern RPG products work too hard to fill in the blanks rather than provide tools or seeds for creativity.