Homebrew Desert Elf Species Details
"We'll be safe here,” Arlin said softly. The day’s march had been difficult, but the reward at the end was the best they could have hoped for. The settlers stood on a high cliff over the harsh sands of the desert.
The settlers made a camp, turned into a village, then into a strong kingdom over the many years of living in the desert. Arlin's name went into the hall of heroes, the first on the wall. He had found a hopeful place for the desert elves to live, to be safe, and strong.
Desert Elves are a tough people of a painful world, living in the world but not entirely part of it. They live in places of arid climate, in the roughness of the mountains, but mostly in deserts. Desert Elves love strength and safety, art and artistry, music and poetry, and the tasteful things of the world.
Slender and Tough
With their unearthly toughness and fine features, desert elves appear hauntingly beautiful to humans and members of many other races. They are slightly taller than humans on average, most being slender and over 6 ft tall. They are more slender than humans, but heavier than traditional elves, weighing 115 to 160 pounds. Males are, on average, taller and heavier than females.
Desert Elves’ coloration is dark, darker than most surface races, hair of a desert sand color or black, and eyes like pools of liquid bronze or silver. Desert Elves have no facial and little body hair. They favor darker or desert colored clothing, but always enjoy jewelry.
A Timeless Perspective
Desert Elves can live well over 700 years, giving them a broad perspective on events that might trouble the shorter-lived races more deeply. They are more often amused than excited, and more likely to be curious than greedy. They tend to remain aloof and unfazed by petty happenstance. When pursuing a goal, however, whether adventuring on a mission or learning a new skill or art, elves can be focused and relentless. They are slow to make friends and enemies, and even slower to forget them. They reply to petty insults with disdain and to serious insults with vengeance.
Like the roughness of a boulder, desert elves are strong in the face of danger. They trust in strength and deceit to resolve differences before they escalate to violence. They have been known to lie to keep out of violence, they've been known to fight back fiercely if threatened too heavily. Rarely, will a desert elf flee, but when one does, they all do, running to get away from a problem unsolvable.
Sentiment and Station
Desert Elves take great sentiment in their own. They keep themselves defended, looking out for one another in a stationed area, making great defenses. Desert Elves love strength and defense.
Desert Elf Names
Desert Elves are considered children until they declare themselves adults, some time after the hundredth birthday, and before this period they are called by child names.
On declaring adulthood, an elf selects an adult name, although those who knew him or her as a youngster might continue to use the child name. Each elf’s adult name is a unique creation, though it might reflect the names of respected individuals or other family members. Little distinction exists between male names and female names; the groupings here reflect only general tendencies. In addition, every elf bears a family name, typically a combination of other Elvish words. Some elves traveling among humans translate their family names into Common, but others retain the Elvish version.
Child Names: Ara, Bryn, Del, Eryn, Faen, Innil, Lael, Mella, Naill, Naeris, Phann, Rael, Rinn, Sai, Syllin, Thia, Vall
Male Adult Names: Adran, Aelar, Aramil, Arannis, Aust, Beiro, Berrian, Carric, Enialis, Erdan, Erevan, Galinndan, Hadarai, Heian, Himo, Immeral, Ivellios, Laucian, Mindartis, Paelias, Peren, Quarion, Riardon, Rolen, Soveliss, Thamior, Tharivol, Theren, Varis
Female Adult Names: Adrie, Althaea, Anastrianna, Andraste, Antinua, Bethrynna, Birel, Caelynn, Drusilia, Enna, Felosial, Ielenia, Jelenneth, Keyleth, Leshanna, Lia, Meriele, Mialee, Naivara, Quelenna, Quillathe, Sariel, Shanairra, Shava, Silaqui, Theirastra, Thia, Vadania, Valanthe, Xanaphia
Family Names (Common Translations): Amakiir (Gemflower), Amastacia (Starflower), Galanodel (Moonwhisper), Holimion (Diamonddew), Ilphelkiir (Gemblossom), Liadon (Silverfrond), Meliamne (Oakenheel), Naïlo (Nightbreeze), Siannodel (Moonbrook), Xiloscient (Goldpetal)
Desert Elf Traits
Your elf character has a variety of natural abilities, the result of thousands of years of elven refinement.Ability Score Increase
Your Strength and Constitution score increases by 1 each.
Age
Although elves reach physical maturity at about the same age as humans, the elven understanding of adulthood goes beyond physical growth to encompass worldly experience. An elf typically claims adulthood and an adult name around the age of 100 and can live to be 750 years old.
Alignment
Desert Elves love freedom, defense, and solitude, so they lean strongly toward staying out of chaos. They value and protect their own freedom as well as their races, and they are more often good than not.
Size
Elves range from under 5 to over 6 feet tall and have slender builds. Your size is Medium.
Trance
Desert Elves don’t need to sleep. Instead, they meditate deeply, remaining semiconscious, for 4 hours a day. (The Common word for such meditation is “trance.”) While meditating, you can dream after a fashion; such dreams are actually mental exercises that have become reflexive through years of practice. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep.
Speed
Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision
Accustomed to long desert nights, the Desert Elves have developed darkvision akin to the original elves' vision.
Desert Elf Anxiety
You have proficiency in the Perception and Insight skills.
Strong Ancestry
You have advantage on saving throws against being frightened.
Languages
You can speak, read, and write Common and Elvish. Elvish is fluid, with subtle intonations and intricate grammar. Elven literature is rich and varied, and their songs and poems are famous among other races. Many bards learn their language so they can add Elvish ballads to their repertoires.