Christmas Elves (3.5e Race)

Author: Aelaris (talk) Date Created: 25 December 2010 Status: First Draft Editing: Clarity edits only please

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“	We wish you a merry Christmas!	”
—Ancient Christmas Elf saying, usually accompanied by gift-giving.

Christmas Elves

Made by a wizard long ago, these peaceful little elves have a great talent for crafting toys.

Personality

Christmas elves are nice and friendly, sometimes slightly mischevious, but never in a harmful way. They are naturally pacifistic, and most of them detest the thought of hurting other beings.

They also have a tendency to be slightly servile and are at their happiest when helping other people. Many christmas elves suffer a strange sense of abandonment and emptiness, dreaming of ages past when their race lived fulfilled lives. Most christmas elves do their best to fill this emptiness by dedicating themselves to helping someone or some cause.

Physical Description

Fully grown christmas elves grow the size of a ten year old human child, and appear to be half-elven in appearance. Unlike the slender elves, christmas elves are often chubby in a childish sort of way, though they never actually grow to be fat.

Relations

Christmas elves enjoy good relations with most all races. Some more cynical people say this is because they give tribute to every race they are in contact with, but the christmas elves themselves seem to enjoy giving things away, and see it as gift-giving, not tribute. Even races like orcs, who are generally bitter towards everyone (and especially elves), are at least at peace with the christmas elves (and actually tend to enjoy the gift of coal).

Alignment

Almost all christmas elves are naturally Good-aligned. Some are Lawful, some are Chaotic, and some don't lean either way, but pretty much all of them are Good.

Lands

Christmas elves, with their supernatural cold resistance, often find homes in icy, chilly places. Something about frozen icefields and layers of permafrost appeals to them - a sort of natural calling, perhaps.

Religion

Christmas elves might follow any religion that appeals to their sense of goodwill, giving and love. However, they often do not follow a religion directly, but rather consider themselves allied with a chosen religion. Such an alliance involves the christmas elf helping the religion grow and spread goodwill and good works.

Language

Christmas elves know Common and the tongue of their supposed cousins, Elven. They also have their own languages, Sámi, which has a few variants. The christmas elves consider Sámi to be their native tongue. It's the language they spoke in the ages past, when their race was new.

Mythic History

Christmas elves are not sure quite where they came from. The oldest of old stories seem to indicate that their entire race was once in the employ of a powerful, yet kind red wizard, possibly named Santa. Some christmas elves believe that they were created by the red wizard, but not all share this view. They also believe that they are natives to some other land, or plane. They consider themselves lost children, and believe that some day they might return to employ of the red wizard.

Their name for themselves, "christmas elves" comes from the legends of that time... ...of a factory full of Santa Engines, worked by christmas elves, where they were able to build and give gifts to everyone in the whole world. This massive distribution is believed to have been called "Christmas" and christmas elves call themselves such, as they believe that "Christmas" (and gift-giving in general) is what they were created to do.

Most other races call them "gift elves."

Racial Traits

• -2 Strength, -2 Constitution: While they are small, weak, and fragile, the christmas elves' other traits somewhat make up for their physical short-comings.
• Humanoid (Elf): Christmas elves are elves with humanoid shape.
• Small: As a Small creature, a christmas elf gains a +1 size bonus to Armor Class, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, and a +4 size bonus on Hide checks, but she uses smaller weapons than humans use, and her lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of a Medium character.
• Christmas elf base land speed is 20 feet.
• Christmas Cheer and Goodwill (Ex): All non-hostile NPCs and animals attitudes are one category improved upon first meeting a Christmas Elf (e.g. Creatures who are indifferent become friendly, etc.). Even hostile creatures consider hurting christmas elves a lower priority than other creatures they are hostile against. Future actions on the part of the christmas elf can change NPC attitudes.
• Wonderful Toys (Su): When crafting non-violent¹ objects with the Craft skill, all items are counted as only costing half as much as the listed value. This reduces the raw materials cost by half, and crafting time in half, as described in the Craft skill. Experience costs are also reduced by half. None of these reductions count for violent items, as the christmas elf lacks their quasi-magical inspiration when they apply themselves to such end. Weapons aren't toys, y'know.
• Superior Craftsmanship (Ex): The Craft skill is always a class skill, and 5 marks in any particular craft sub-skill gives a +2 bonus (as per synergy) in every other Craft sub-skill. This bonus does not count for violent items². Those aren't toys, after all.
• Non-violent Mentality (Ex): Whenever a christmas elf willfully causes harm to a creature (anything causing pain), the elf must make a Will save with a DC of 10 + the damage dealt + 1/2 the non-lethal damage dealt. If the elf fails the save, she takes one point of Wisdom damage, and is shaken for a number of rounds equal to her total amount of Wisdom damage. (Note that causing pain without damage is still DC 10).
• The Spirit of Giving (Su): Whenever a christmas elf freely gives away an item she has crafted, she may regain experience equal to the experience cost of crafting the item. If it is given back, the experience penalty is reapplied.
• Cold Resistance 5 (Su): Christmas elves possess a supernatural resistance to cold damage.
• Automatic Languages: Common, Elvish, Sámi.
• Bonus Languages: Any (other than secret languages, such as Druidic).
• Favored Class: Any
• Level Adjustment: +0
• Effective Character Level: 1

Notes:

1. Non-violent objects are any objects that, if used as intended, do not cause pain.
2. Violent items are any objects that, if used as intended, do cause pain.

Player Usage

Christmas elf PCs generally play to their strengths, crafting all manner of wonderful items. Gadgets often make PC's lives easier, can be used to endear the the locals to the PCs, can be used to provide non-harmful magical support (fogging, wands of illusion projection, etc.) in combat. Christmas elves really only make sense in setting where the glass is half-full, and are at their best in primarily social / environmental campaigns. Oh, and they are generally useful against mindless undead or constructs.

Christmas elf NPCs are the other main use of this class. They are found as assistants and builders for any good-aligned major NPCs - there might be an elf behind the wonders of a walking castle, or perhaps building items for various poor charities at no profit. They can be encouragement for the PCs to be good and doing good things, as they can acquire help from the elves if they are doing things to the benefit and happiness of people everywhere. They also make for a breath of fresh air, being helpful, friendly characters.

Vital Statistics

Table: Christmas Elves Random Starting Ages

Adulthood	Simple	Moderate	Complex
20 years	+2d4	+3d6	+4d6

Table: Christmas Elves Aging Effects

Middle Age1	Old2	Venerable3	Maximum Age
50 years	75 years	100 years	+5d20 years
At middle age, −1 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha. At old age, −2 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha. At venerable age, −3 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.

Table: Christmas Elves Random Height and Weight

Gender	Base Height	Height Modifier	Base Weight	Weight Modifier
Male	2’ 8”	+2d4	30 lb.	× (1) lb.
Female	2’ 6”	+2d4	25 lb.	× (1) lb.

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