By Kevin Kulp

This is the 12^th in our series on non-human heroes in Swords of the Serpentine. Unlike the previous entries, which could easily fit into Eversink without fundamentally changing the nature of the city, this entry on Forest Elves is only recommended for use if you want to use the SotS rules to power a high fantasy game. Characters like Forest Elves don’t fit into most swords and sorcery settings, so make sure you want a higher-fantasy feel to your campaign before you use these.

Be sure to read the previously published rules on Non-Human Heroes [link] if you haven’t already.

Forest Elf

Ancestry abilities: Ancestry (Forest Elf), Forgotten Lore, Vigilance, Wilderness Mastery

• Ancestry (Forest Elf) represents your elven heritage and knowledge of forest elf culture, religion, and history. It gives you access to special elven-themed capabilities. No ranks means that others probably consider you more human than elf, while a high rank means you are practically iconic when humans think about elves.

• Forgotten Lore specifies how much non-elven history you remember from your life, since you will never die of old age. No ranks means you haven’t paid attention to mortal occurrences; a high rank means that others seek you out as a master lore-keeper.

• Vigilance reflects your unnaturally keen senses of sight, hearing, and scent. No ranks means that other forest elves might pity you for your inability to truly sense the world; a high rank means you can hear birds on the wind, smell scents almost like a hound, and see into the distance far beyond human capabilities.

• Wilderness Mastery lets you navigate trackless forests and treat the wilderness as a true home, far more so than any building. No ranks means that you were likely raised in a city; high ranks means that enemies would be a fool to enter your forest refuge.

You’re a forest elf, most at home in the deep and wild places of the world. 

Humans think they have always ruled this world. They have never been taught that you were here long and long and long before, one of the first people to come to this brand new land when it was clean and bright. They don’t realize that the forest elves were part of a colonization force from the realms of faerie and that far too many elves were abandoned in this world, left behind when the rest of the High Elf armies returned or retreated back to their legendary homeland.  Those abandoned soldiers survived and gradually became forest elves, adapting to what they saw as an alien and ugly world. 

Few forest elves talk about it, but your people remain resentful about their abandonment. Lullabies recount the betrayal to infants, aphorisms say things like “as inconstant as a high elf”, and old stories often start “Back in the days before we were abandoned…” It may have been millennia ago, but your people remember and the grudge remains. Now your once-glorious towers have crumbled, your tapestries have decayed, your roads are overgrown, and the forests you once planted have now become your sanctuary. 

Elven Heroes are more active (and proactive!) than many forest elves, who tend to watch today’s history instead of influencing it themselves. Elves have a lot to lose by throwing themselves into combat; forest elves are ageless for all intents and purposes, although injury and disease can still fell you. A low birth rate and a tendency for ancient elves to become lost in their own web of memories means that few forest elves still walk the world, and those that do are often considered foolhardy and brash by their fellows. Your people fade, your civilization turns in upon itself and wraps within memory. Will you fade with them, or will you build new legends for your people to recount? 

Play a forest elf if you want to play someone unspeakably old, if you want a huge chip on your shoulder, or if you want a Hero who feels like they walked out of Tolkien novel. 

Investigative ability: Ancestry (Forest Elf)

You’re an elf yourself or authority on forest elves, the ageless forest-dwelling fey who use their plant manipulation powers to turn whole forests into fortresses of deadly and unspeakable beauty that erode human morale. You have at least a passing knowledge of elven culture, behavior, history, politics, art, tactics, and traps.  You speak the elven language, an extreme dialect of the original fey speech. 

This Investigative ability points you towards leads and clues that are linked to forest elves as a people and society. You will need to rely on other Investigative abilities to gain leads from specific elves. 

Sample spend: Make an elven supporting character particularly like, trust, or accept you as one of their own. Navigate an elven forest. Focus your eyes to fully see in the dark for a scene. Know the secret of the elemental and primeval manipulation that forest elves practice on plants, animals, and rivers, which might allow you to raise rivers into a sudden flood or pass through tangled brambles without being slowed or scratched. Add an extra die of damage on a successful Warfare attack when using a bow.

Character Creation Advice

• Most forest elves are incredibly old. Play into that if it’s fun, or play one of the truly rare young elves if it isn’t. If you are old, consider assigning ranks of Forgotten Lore; it’s an unusual experience to know old lore by having lived it instead of having read about it.

• Forest elves are much less capable in cities, so consider a different choice if that’s where your campaign is based. 

• Forest elves aren’t intrinsically anti-social but their culture is slow to trust outsiders. If another player is playing a High Elf make sure you talk to the other players about whether in-character bickering is fun or not.

• Ancestry (Forest Elf) is a situational but versatile ability. Carry a bow and invest in Warfare so that you can use ability spends as effectively as possible in combat.

• This ancestry is particularly well suited for a ranged scout; take some ranks of Stealth if you like the idea of melting into the shadows while sniping.

Sample Hero – Forest Elf

Rithiel, elven hunter of human defilers

Independent, canny, vindictive, naïve, quick-witted

Drives (what is best in life?): The “THWIP” of an arrow, the suspense of the ambush, the terror of your prey

Defenses – Health: Health Threshold 4 to 7 (sword-shield), Armor 1 (elven leather), Health 10

Defenses – Morale: Morale Threshold 3, Grit 1 (disapproval), Morale 8

Offense – Sway: Sway 3: Damage Modifier +1 (distaste)

Offense – Warfare: Warfare 10: Damage Modifier +2 (longbow) or +1 (elven swords)

Investigative abilities: Charm 1, Nobility 1, Taunt 1; Ancestry (Forest Elf) 3, Forgotten Lore 1, Vigilance 3, Wilderness Mastery 1

Allegiances: Ally: Outlanders 2; Enemy: Mercanti 1

General abilities: Athletics 8 (Dodge), Preparedness 1, Stealth 8 (Where’d She Go?), Sway 3, Warfare 10 (Cleave)

Gear: Ancient elven blades (one used as a shield to block attacks) (Damage Modifier +1), a beautiful longbow you crafted yourself (Damage Modifier +2), a surprising quantity of arrows, leather armor the color of summer shadow (Armor 1), barely-contained disgust for humanity, vendettas to satisfy, astonishingly keen eyes, a longing for a worthy foe

Sample Adversary

Cassiel, forest elf stalker

Tenacious, vindictive, crafty

Defense — Health: Health Threshold 4, Armor 1, Health 10 per Hero

Defense — Morale: Morale Threshold 4, Grit 2 (distrustful), Morale 25

Offense — Warfare: +3 (impeccable archery (+1 if not using bow)); Damage Modifier +2 (longbow) or the Restrain Maneuver

Offense — Sway: +1; Damage Modifier +1 (hostility)

Abilities: Malus 20

Special Abilities: Armor-Piercing (cost 3), Extra Action (cost 3), Monstrous Ability (cost 3 – Wilderness mastery effects), Seize Initiative (cost 3)

Misc: Alertness Modifier +2, Stealth Modifier +2. Gains Dodge ability from Athletics

Refresh Tokens: 7

Description: Cassiel is a stalker, a forest elf who has spent so many centuries in the same large forest that they know its every nook and cranny. They use their Stealth and their Wilderness Mastery to discourage humans from invading. Cassiel prefers to never be seen, and so uses hit and run tactics to harry their enemies without remorse or pause. Their arrows are made from a blood-red wood that is faintly irritating to human skin.

Sample Allegiances

Establishing forest elves as a unique faction means that forest elves matter to the game’s politics, trade, and warfare. Forest elves likely control travel and trade in every large forest or wooded wilderness; their agents work to influence human politics so that elven-allied leaders are in charge, elven sages control the flow of hidden information, and their mercenary companies of archers are unparalleled in wilderness environments. If forest elves aren’t important enough or active enough to be considered a political force in their own right, keep them consolidated with Outlanders.

Having forest elves as Allies means that you have access to ancient historical knowledge that everyone else but elves has forgotten, and that you can learn information about the wilderness that is unavailable to city-dwellers. If you’re trying to find a medicinal herb in a lost and overgrown jungle city, or find a magical statue at the heart of a trackless desert, there’s likely a forest elf who has been there already or who remembers what it was like when new. 

Having forest elves as enemies means that your every trip into a forest is plagued by danger. Forest elves have long memories, and they often hold grudges. Their vigilance means that they’ll know when you stray into their territory, and you may find the very forest turning against you, even if you never see a single elf.  

Kevin Kulp (@kevinkulp) and Emily Dresner (@multiplexer) are the co-authors of Swords of the Serpentine, out now in hardback and PDF. Kevin previously helped create TimeWatch and Owl Hoot Trail for Pelgrane Press. When he’s not writing games he’s either smoking BBQ, watching dubious shark movies, or helping 24-hour companies with shiftwork, sleep, and alertness.