They are slender and physically weaker than humans, even somewhat fragile. To use a bow you need to be a very strong person, the greater the draw weight, the stronger the bow.
Edit: even the girls without muscle mass, like the official art for the Ranger. It's like a default weapon for them.
So Elves aren’t weaker than humans. While traditional D&D tropes have given them dexterity and humans a possible bonus to strength, they aren’t the things you are saying. Depending on the fantasy you are drawing from, a lot of the components for bows are found in forests where elves reside. Sinew, Bone, Wood, and then more importantly the animals with which to hunt(or the orcs to slay from their precious forest in some settings).
That being said, Elves are not frail. Graceful, elegant, fine features sure but definitely not frail like you might be suggesting.
The short answer: Because Elves use bows in Lord of the Rings, and D&D copied most of what they have about elves and dwarves and nearly all of what they have about halflings from LOTR.
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Elves are hunter-gatherers in tune with the natural world and invented bows to hunt with, then later adapted them as missile weapons for use in warfare.
Biowizard got the answer. It's mostly because of Legolas and the other Lord of the Rings elves. Not all elves in all campaign settings do so (notably the Tairnadal elves of Eberron with their double bladed scimitars), but the more "typical" D&D world (Greyhawk, FR, Dragonlance) do have elves using longbows.
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Shadaversity of youtube has an great video on this topic. The basic thought is that their muscles are denser then humans.
I have seen it, that's why I am here lol. Shad says that logically, they have to be with denser muscles, he doesn't says they are denser. If it was true, they would have been stronger than humans.
Lots of handwavium to explain this conundrum. On the matter of elf physical morphology compared to a human,, perhaps, there's "denser muscle", or elf muscle is more efficient than human muscle so elfin litheness has strength comporable to human hypertrophy. I mean their body composition generally seems to be an unattainable ideal in terms of human morphology, I don't think elves store body fat, and their metabolism and energy system that fuels their body may not need it. So "strength" works differently than what's dictated by human muscle mass.
Other possibility, elven bows maintain some sort of tree consciousness the elves relate to, so the bow is something like a symbiotic weapon and itself flexes to the needs of the elf in a way that human woods just don't with humans. I just made that up, but I wouldn't be surprised if that explains elf bowmanship.
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Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Lots of handwavium to explain this conundrum. On the matter of elf physical morphology compared to a human,, perhaps, there's "denser muscle", or elf muscle is more efficient than human muscle so elfin litheness has strength comporable to human hypertrophy. I mean their body composition generally seems to be an unattainable ideal in terms of human morphology, I don't think elves store body fat, and their metabolism and energy system that fuels their body may not need it. So "strength" works differently than what's dictated by human muscle mass.
Other possibility, elven bows maintain some sort of tree consciousness the elves relate to, so the bow is something like a symbiotic weapon and itself flexes to the needs of the elf in a way that human woods just don't with humans. I just made that up, but I wouldn't be surprised if that explains elf bowmanship.
They are a fantasy race. There is 'handwavium' by definition, simply as a normal aspect of the genre.
Yes, I wasn't trying to use handwavium as a perjorative. I was embracing the term and basically saying "there could be lots of reasons" for "why" in fantasy and different whys among players playing with the same ruleset.
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Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Biowizard got the answer. It's mostly because of Legolas and the other Lord of the Rings elves. Not all elves in all campaign settings do so (notably the Tairnadal elves of Eberron with their double bladed scimitars), but the more "typical" D&D world (Greyhawk, FR, Dragonlance) do have elves using longbows.
Even the Tamiresti elves on Dragonlance use short bows.
A lot of the Elf sub-races don't get Longbow proficiency. I'm thinking that is the one that would require strength if you were going to fire arrows out to max range. Realistically, you can get bows with lighter draws for shorter ranges, especially ones for hunting or lightly armored targets.
If you want send a hail of arrows into heavily armored targets, yeah, you probably need a high tension Longbow.
The short answer: Because Elves use bows in Lord of the Rings, and D&D copied most of what they have about elves and dwarves and nearly all of what they have about halflings from LOTR.
And just to elaborate on this, unlike Humans, Dwarves and Halflings, Elves were created in the Middle Earth equivalent of Heaven and were individually more powerful than humans.
This in combination with people who made RPGs "back in the day" didn't think about how much muscle power is actually needed to draw a war bow which mean that bows became the weapon of choice for less powerful characters.
1 Elves aren't lacking in physical strength in (most versions of )D&D. Generally, they are comparable to humans in strength. In several editions they have a lower Constitution average, but not usually Strength.
2 In several versions of the game, Elves gain a DEX bonus, which translates to a better chance to hit targets in missile combat.
3 Edition differences matter.
Elves in AD&D 1E/2E gain sword and bow bonuses, which become proficiencies in D&D 3E/D20. But in some other editions, there's nothing special about Elves and bows. In B/X, Elves are basically Fighter-Magic User types who can cast spells in armor. INT and STR are their most important scores under that edition's race-as-class rules.
In B/X games, I have seen plenty of Elf characters who invested in armor instead of a bow. Elf with chainmail and a battleax. Chop and cast.
AD&D encourages Elf archers with swords by its design.
Somebody who knows 4E could comment on it. I'm quite ignorant of that version of the game.
In 4e, the elves were categorized a bit differently.
The Eladrin race also covered High Elves, Llewyrr Elves, Moon Elves, and Sun Elves. These elves had their main stat increase being INT with a choice of increasing DEX or CHA. The base racial features gave them longsword proficiency but it could be switched out for short and long bow proficiency for the Llewyrr, Moon or Sun elf origins.
The Elf race covered Wild, Wood and Dusk Elves. These elves had their main stat increase as DEX. They got long bow and short bow proficiency off the bat.
Both the Drow and Shadar-kai were their own seperate races and both had DEX as their main stat increase and no bow proficiencies.
I'm weak and I can use a bow. You can get some bows that really need good strength, sure, but the average bow doesn't. If I can shoot it with it, anyone can.
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I'm weak and I can use a bow. You can get some bows that really need good strength, sure, but the average bow doesn't. If I can shoot it with it, anyone can.
SO that would be the equivalent of a shortbow then and not a 100+ war bow. Good for you.
They are slender and physically weaker than humans, even somewhat fragile. To use a bow you need to be a very strong person, the greater the draw weight, the stronger the bow.
Edit: even the girls without muscle mass, like the official art for the Ranger. It's like a default weapon for them.
So Elves aren’t weaker than humans. While traditional D&D tropes have given them dexterity and humans a possible bonus to strength, they aren’t the things you are saying. Depending on the fantasy you are drawing from, a lot of the components for bows are found in forests where elves reside. Sinew, Bone, Wood, and then more importantly the animals with which to hunt(or the orcs to slay from their precious forest in some settings).
That being said, Elves are not frail. Graceful, elegant, fine features sure but definitely not frail like you might be suggesting.
The short answer: Because Elves use bows in Lord of the Rings, and D&D copied most of what they have about elves and dwarves and nearly all of what they have about halflings from LOTR.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Elves are hunter-gatherers in tune with the natural world and invented bows to hunt with, then later adapted them as missile weapons for use in warfare.
Shadaversity of youtube has an great video on this topic. The basic thought is that their muscles are denser then humans.
Outside the Lines Fantasy – A collection of self published fiction stories.
Biowizard got the answer. It's mostly because of Legolas and the other Lord of the Rings elves. Not all elves in all campaign settings do so (notably the Tairnadal elves of Eberron with their double bladed scimitars), but the more "typical" D&D world (Greyhawk, FR, Dragonlance) do have elves using longbows.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
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Elfshot, perhaps?
Muh Anglo-Saxons.
But, yeah, more likely, it's a nod to Tolkien.
I have seen it, that's why I am here lol. Shad says that logically, they have to be with denser muscles, he doesn't says they are denser. If it was true, they would have been stronger than humans.
Lots of handwavium to explain this conundrum. On the matter of elf physical morphology compared to a human,, perhaps, there's "denser muscle", or elf muscle is more efficient than human muscle so elfin litheness has strength comporable to human hypertrophy. I mean their body composition generally seems to be an unattainable ideal in terms of human morphology, I don't think elves store body fat, and their metabolism and energy system that fuels their body may not need it. So "strength" works differently than what's dictated by human muscle mass.
Other possibility, elven bows maintain some sort of tree consciousness the elves relate to, so the bow is something like a symbiotic weapon and itself flexes to the needs of the elf in a way that human woods just don't with humans. I just made that up, but I wouldn't be surprised if that explains elf bowmanship.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Yes, I wasn't trying to use handwavium as a perjorative. I was embracing the term and basically saying "there could be lots of reasons" for "why" in fantasy and different whys among players playing with the same ruleset.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Even the Tamiresti elves on Dragonlance use short bows.
Alfgar. Elf arrow. My friend had a half-Elven Ranger with that name.
A lot of the Elf sub-races don't get Longbow proficiency. I'm thinking that is the one that would require strength if you were going to fire arrows out to max range. Realistically, you can get bows with lighter draws for shorter ranges, especially ones for hunting or lightly armored targets.
If you want send a hail of arrows into heavily armored targets, yeah, you probably need a high tension Longbow.
This in combination with people who made RPGs "back in the day" didn't think about how much muscle power is actually needed to draw a war bow which mean that bows became the weapon of choice for less powerful characters.
1 Elves aren't lacking in physical strength in (most versions of )D&D. Generally, they are comparable to humans in strength. In several editions they have a lower Constitution average, but not usually Strength.
2 In several versions of the game, Elves gain a DEX bonus, which translates to a better chance to hit targets in missile combat.
3 Edition differences matter.
Elves in AD&D 1E/2E gain sword and bow bonuses, which become proficiencies in D&D 3E/D20. But in some other editions, there's nothing special about Elves and bows. In B/X, Elves are basically Fighter-Magic User types who can cast spells in armor. INT and STR are their most important scores under that edition's race-as-class rules.
In B/X games, I have seen plenty of Elf characters who invested in armor instead of a bow. Elf with chainmail and a battleax. Chop and cast.
AD&D encourages Elf archers with swords by its design.
Somebody who knows 4E could comment on it. I'm quite ignorant of that version of the game.
Somebody who knows 4E could comment on it. I'm quite ignorant of that version of the game.
In 4e, the elves were categorized a bit differently.
The Eladrin race also covered High Elves, Llewyrr Elves, Moon Elves, and Sun Elves. These elves had their main stat increase being INT with a choice of increasing DEX or CHA. The base racial features gave them longsword proficiency but it could be switched out for short and long bow proficiency for the Llewyrr, Moon or Sun elf origins.
The Elf race covered Wild, Wood and Dusk Elves. These elves had their main stat increase as DEX. They got long bow and short bow proficiency off the bat.
Both the Drow and Shadar-kai were their own seperate races and both had DEX as their main stat increase and no bow proficiencies.
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I'm weak and I can use a bow. You can get some bows that really need good strength, sure, but the average bow doesn't. If I can shoot it with it, anyone can.
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond.
Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ this FAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
SO that would be the equivalent of a shortbow then and not a 100+ war bow. Good for you.
Or it could be a modern bow with all those pulleys that make it super easy to get a higher draw equivalent.
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