ELVES - PART II - WOOD ELVES

[Previous post about elves here.]

Wood elves are not often seen in Furthermoor, as they generally keep to the deeps of the woods, their communities good eyes among swirling storms of chaos. Their cities are built upon trees with mighty branches and leveled shrubbery, ladders and bridges leading to and fro. The ancient wood elf city of Bonsai, may or may not have been the first city in Furthermoor, or Wild Earth for that matter. Early in Wild Earth history, this unknown fact caused much antagonism between a burgeoning Furthermoor City, and the supposed city of gold in the east, Fezco.

For while the Fez happened upon Bonsai and made friends with the wood elves, or so they thought, the humans knew nothing of them, and in contrast found themselves attacked by wood elves when attempting to establish a port in the swampland across the water from Furthermoor City. Though the Fez at that time divided their worship between that of the Sun and Set, it is quite clear they had great reverence and admiration for the wood elves, as many decorative Fezco reliefs show them greeting them as minor deities.

That Old Dream Green Man by Eric Whollem

One hundred and thirty seven years later Seven Moons appeared. In the far west of Wild Earth, the flickering of rainbow lightning could be seen off and on for a number of years, and during those years, chaos festered, finally spilling into the lands like no one had ever seen. After the great worms appeared, during the years of earthquakes, lawful beings in Furthermoor joined together to construct a wall, from the sea in the southwest, up to the northern icy reaches, just west of the Howling Moors. This division of Wild Earth took hundreds of years to complete and the lands west of the wall came to be known as Kush, land of Kushdar.

Eventually, wood elves found themselves fighting side-by-side with humans and other demi-humans, against evil forces such as orcs, goblins, undead, etc. It is also of note, that during the Fez Furthermoor War, the wood elves made no appearance for its entire seven year duration.

As elves, wood elves harbor the capacity for magic, however, not all of them tap into it. Holmes writes in his characters section, "some elves" have the advantage of "being able to work magical spells." Therefore, many wood elves don't know how to cast magic (90%), though they do have innate magical qualities.*

Appearance-wise, they're similar to high elves, though more rugged and wear foliage for dress, sometimes even wooden armor. A wood elf's skin is green, and as they age, they decline in height and size. The oldest known living wood elf, or elf in general, is the Old Elf/Man of Gold Mountain, said to be 4023 years old. In East Furthermoor, some of the Fez believe that the Old Man, along with a Spider and the Sun, created Wild Earth.

In woods, or near woods, wood elves are mostly invisible to the general eye and they gain surprise on 1-5 of 6, even against high, or half-elves. Also, within maelstroms of chaos, wood elves are able to bargain with ancient chaotic forces unlike lawful, neutral, or other chaotics. Though the lawful have never truly trusted wood elves, the chaotic fear them.

Magic fascinates elves, however, and if they have a weakness it lies in this desire. - AD&D DMG

These creatures are very reclusive and generally (75%) avoid all contact. Wood elves... are unusually strong for elves... but they are not quite as intelligent... They usually wear studded leather or ring mail (armor class 6) and fully 50% of any band is equipped with bows. Only 20% carry swords. 40% of wood elves use spears. - AD&D Monster Manual

When a group of 50 (or possibly fewer) is encountered, they will have a leader (fighter/magic-user) of 2-4 level/2-8 level ability. - Holmes, pg. 25

* There are times when a non-magic wood elf may do something magical effortlessly, without casting etc. More on this at another time, when perhaps wood elf PCs are an option.

HOLMENTZER BASIC

While DMing the last few years, I've seen myself spiral from simply using Moldvay Basic & Cook Expert (B/X), to falling down the OD&D rabbit hole (thanks OSR!) & having a stack of LBB/Supplement print-outs, Holmes, B/X, sometimes Labyrinth Lord, Swords & Wizardry White Box, various modules, AD&D books, OSR supplements, etc., basically whatever I grab before play @ my side, & when/if something comes up, I just choose which to refer to on-the-fly. While I have no probs w/ this approach, obviously, & it can be fun for me, esp. when I'm itching to use something I've recently read, as of late, I've been feeling the need to simplify.

In retrospect, I could never get into using the LBBs, only. While I dig the idea & openness of OD&D, which in many ways carries into Holmes Basic, it can be a pain in the ass when you're looking for anything specific in a timely manner, even just a monster stat (I've made lots of stuff up on the spot b/c of this (not sayin that's a bad thing, just sayin)). As for the retro-clones, though I've been inspired by them & enjoy looking @, & reading them, I find I always end up reaching for actual TSR stuff during play. So I got to thinking: while I'd settled on Holmes being a choice median between OD&D & Moldvay, what other book could I cross reference w/ Holmes that's 1) fairly well-organized, 2) adds a lot of the stuff I dig in Moldvay, & 3) can fit into Expert if I decide to go that route vs. AD&D as Holmes suggests? Recently reading through its "Procedures and rules" section, I found my answer: Mentzer Basic Dungeon Masters Rulebook.

HOLMENTZER BASIC SET

Holmes Blue Book & Mentzer DMR? At least until I change my mind again. I plan to blog about some of the stuff I come up against during reconciliation. Supposed to rev the Furthermoor Adventure Express back up next week, so I might be posting again more regularly. We'll see.

OLD SCHOOL MAPPING IN THE ONLINE AGE

Been thinking about mapping a lot as I began a G+ campaign using an old school module where the task of mapping is a lot of the challenge & though at first I felt some responsibility in aiding the players in finding an "online" mapping solution, I finally had to step away... Mapping should be the players' responsibility, not the DM's.

As the players started getting dazed & confused in the dungeon & mapping became of ultimate importance (we've been walkin past this same freakin doorway for three hours now, wait, is that the same door? is that the iron spike i left?), it became clear: if one provides instant mapping for players (reveal-as-you-move mapping, etc.), a key element of the game is being nixed. All of those old school dungeon tricks to confuse the mapper(s)? Out the window. You're now holding your players' hands through the dungeon.

You may be using reveal mapping if you do not consider this bit from Mike Carr to be sage advice:

"...allow them to draw their maps from your descriptions as they wish - but make certain that your verbal descriptions of the areas they explore are accurate... avoid the considerable temptation to correct their maps once they have drawn them. It will not be uncommon for players to show you their map (especially if they're confused) & ask you, 'Is this right?' In most such instances, you should avoid correcting any mistakes there, unless it would be obvious through the eyes of the adventuring characters. Encourage good mapping skills & an attention to detail rather than falling into the rut of continual player map questions."

P.S. We do use Twiddla, though not for actual mapping (was initially a disaster for the players). We use it for situations like battles, deeper explanations of a room, etc.

HOLMES vs. MOLDVAY (the major diffs)

In reply to Magus' query, here are the "big" differences, & when I say, "I may start using Holmes alone", I mainly mean in regard to stats, i.e. Monster stats, Treasure stats, etc.

vs.

1. In Holmes, a Halfling can be a fighter or a thief, an Elf can be a magic-user, etc. In Moldvay, you can be either a Halfling or a Thief, an Elf or a Magic-user. I/o/w, there is no race & class blending in later Basic.  Races ARE your class.  Only humans can be fighters, clerics, magic-users & thieves.  Take away?  Holmes is more tuned to AD&D w/ "character types," saying, "At the Dungeon Master's discretion a character can be anything his or her player wants him to be...  Thus, an expedition might include...  a centaur, a lawful werebear, & a Japanese Samurai fighting man."  Holmes' perception of the game is definitely DIY & appealing.  Make your own supplement!

2. In Holmes, the Magic-user spell list is bulkier (an additional 14 spells between 1st & 3rd level MU list than Moldvay & Cook) & the difference of spells are all spells that show in AD&D but not in subsequent Basic editions.  Moldvay sticks more to OD&D "basic" spells, trimming off many from the Holmes edition, for whatever reason.  Unfortunately, both have Magic Missile.*

3. In Holmes, there is no "initiative" as we know it.  Instead, the character w/ the highest Dexterity goes first in combat.  In Moldvay, each "side" makes an initiative roll before combat, or there is the "Pair Combat" option where opposing sides pair off & each pair rolls for initiative.  For me?  Going by dexterity every time seems unrealistic, & pairing off seems much too formal for true combat... Face it:  high DEX characters may not "always" get the jump (but they always get a modifier!), so rolling for initiative (each character individually per round) seems better when imagining combat.  Long aside aside, it was Moldvay's lead that got me here (throw in some intense Civil War games & perhaps Arkham Horror).

*Regarding Magic Missile, first of all it shouldnt be a 1st level spell, secondly it shouldnt be a spell @ all.  A magic-user should have to craftily work their magic not have a weak way to turn into a ranger.  The spell is a way to give magic-users an "attack" but the problem is that @ low lev they learn to just be like any other character @ the time of combat, which is sorta lame.