Elves and Half-Elves

Tall, graceful, reclusive, and beautiful, elves are the first documented demihuman race to appear and are among the most common. Many elves are incredibly arrogant and view themselves as superior to their human cousins, with some going as far to insist on the subjugation of humans and the "lesser" demihumans, but the current Illithid threat has kept most elves from acting on such urges for the time being. They are most often located far away from the ruins of old world cities, in their own settlements built somewhere out in what wilderness remain, but exiles, traveling merchants, and explorers aren't entirely uncommon.

Many first-generation elves have no recollection of their lives as humans. Those that do have trouble fitting into elven society and often leave to live among humans and other demihumans, but they often have to deal with distrust for obvious reasons.

## Base Elf Stats

**Ability Score Increase**: Your Dexterity score increases by 2.

**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.
**Size**: Elves range from under 5 to over 6 feet tall and have slender builds. Your size is Medium.

**Speed**: Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

**Darkvision**: Accustomed to twilit forests and the night sky,
you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim
light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness
as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only
shades of gray.

**Keen Senses**: You have proficiency in the Perception skill.

**Fey Ancestry**: You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put you to sleep.

**Trance**: 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.
**Languages**: You can speak, read, and write Common and Elvish.

## High Elves

The noble class of elves, and adepts in magic.

### Stats

**Ability Score Increase**: Your Intelligence score increases by 1.

**Elf Weapon Training**: You have proficiency with the longsword, shortsword, shortbow, and longbow.

**Cantrip**: You know one cantrip of your choice from the wizard spell list. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for it.

**Extra Language**: You can speak, read, and write one extra language of your choice.

## Wood Elves

Wood elves are the most populous subrace and make up the lower castes of elven society, serving as farmers, laborers, and soldiers. They typically have one or two bestial features, such as eyes resembling those of a cat, fanged teeth, talon-like nails, small antlers like those of very young deer, a forked tongue, and so on.

### Stats

**Ability Score Increase**: Wisdom +1.

**Elf Weapon Training**: You have proficiency with the longsword, shortsword, shortbow, and longbow.

**Fleet**: Your base walking speed increases to 35 feet.

**Hide in Natural Surroundings**: You can attempt to hide even when you are only lightly obscured by natural foliage, heavy rain, falling snow, mist, or other similar conditions.

## Dark Elves

Dark elves are the least common and make up the religious ruling class of elven society. Their minds serve as conduits for the whispers of natural spirits thought long dead. Some are driven mad by the constant mutterings of these spirits.

### Stats

**Ability Score Increase.** Your Charisma score increases by 1.

**Superior Darkvision.** Your darkvision has a radius of 120 feet.

**Sunlight Sensitivity.** You have disadvantage on attack rolls and on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight when you, the target of your attack, at whatever you are trying to perceive is in direct sunlight.

**Spirit Magic.** You know the Druidcraft cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the Speak with Animals spell once per day. When you reach 5th level, you can also cast the Augury spell once per day. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

**Dark Elf Weapon Training.** You have proficiency with rapiers, shortswords, and hand crossbows.

## Half-Elves

Sometimes, despite the elves' disdain for other races, humans and elves will sometimes intermingle and even have children. Half-elves do not exactly fit in with either of their parents' societies. Elves look down at half-elves as shameful mockeries of their own perfection and lower than even humans, and humans are often wary of trusting half-elves, worried that they may be spies. However, those that give half-elves a chance find that they are skilled workers with a natural silver tongue, and seem to combine the best traits of their parent races.

### Stats

**Ability Score Increase**: Your Charisma score increases by 2, and two other ability scores of your choice increase by 1.

**Age**: Half-elves mature at the same rate humans do and reach
adulthood around the age of 20. They live much longer than humans,
however, often exceeding 180 years.
**Alignment**: Half-elves share the chaotic bent of their elven
heritage. They value both personal freedom and creative expression,
demonstrating neither love of leaders nor desire for followers. They
chafe at rules, resent others’ demands, and sometimes prove unreliable,
or at least unpredictable.

**Size**: Half-elves are about the same size as humans, ranging from 5 to 6 feet tall. Your size is Medium.

**Speed**: Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

**Darkvision**: Thanks to your elf blood, you have superior vision
 in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of
you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light.
 You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

**Fey Ancestry**: You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put you to sleep.

**Skill Versatility**: You gain proficiency in two skills of your choice.

**Languages**: You can speak, read, and write Common, Elvish, and one extra language of your choice.