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journeyman
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OP
journeyman
Joined: Mar 2020
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Larian has stated from the beginning that they want this game to be inclusive. They have features that are representative of our world so that people can play a character that looks like them. Who cares if their elves can appear to have Asian, European, or African features? Its not about being accurate to a fantasy world its about making sure everyone is represented. If you have an issue with that maybe you should reevaluate your life. Did you read my text or are you just playing ignorant? Obviously I want the game to be inclusive, so much so that I suggested adding Asian faces to human characters, which they should have done from the start. I know what you are trying to do, and that is very low. The only thing I want is for all non-human races to be represented correctly. Elves are not human with pointy ears, they shouldn't look like any ethnic group, whether they are European, Asian, African or whatever. They have to look like elves, and at the moment they look like colorful humans with pointed ears.
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member
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member
Joined: Oct 2020
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Hmm if I were to offer constructive criticism, the title of the thread sounds weird so to say, if possible ask to change to Elves to look more out worldly feedback. I admit that I entered the thread expecting some hot takes lol.
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journeyman
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OP
journeyman
Joined: Mar 2020
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Hmm if I were to offer constructive criticism, the title of the thread sounds weird so to say, if possible ask to change to Elves to look more out worldly feedback. I admit that I entered the thread expecting some hot takes lol. Maybe you are right. It wasn't my intention to trigger anybody. English isn't my first language, so i find difficult to express myself clearly sometimes. I will change the title.
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member
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member
Joined: Oct 2020
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Hmm if I were to offer constructive criticism, the title of the thread sounds weird so to say, if possible ask to change to Elves to look more out worldly feedback. I admit that I entered the thread expecting some hot takes lol. Maybe you are right. It wasn't my intention to trigger anybody. English isn't my first language, so i find difficult to express myself clearly sometimes. I will change the title. Its ok, after reading the thread I understood the intention in the feedback, so we can maximize the discussion and avoid people just reading the title and start ruining the thread z.z
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member
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member
Joined: Feb 2020
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Haha, there we go. Don't you just love it when we can get along nicely? <3
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journeyman
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OP
journeyman
Joined: Mar 2020
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I really hope that the design of the elves will change to something more alien and ethereal, but in the end Larian doesn't need to take those faces out of the options, but at least add faces with elven characteristics. Just like the image that Goldberry showed.
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apprentice
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apprentice
Joined: Oct 2020
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I really hope that the design of the elves will change to something more alien and ethereal, but in the end Larian doesn't need to take those faces out of the options, but at least add faces with elven characteristics. Just like the image that Goldberry showed. While I perfectly understand and agree that elves should look like elves (there was another thread that showed that some elven faces were so... rough?), I must say I also appreciate if I'd be able to find a face that COULD be me (southeast asian heritage) in elven form :P Must admit that I didn't pay much attention to elves in general before, though. I liked how Sebille in D:OS2 looked. But given the picture, her face was too wide/round. I've only done Human and Tiefling so far though, so didn't click through the faces yet.
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stranger
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stranger
Joined: Mar 2020
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Totally agree with OP. People forgot that Elves, Orcs, Aarakocras, Goblins, Giths and all other races are OTHER races. I totally agree if you want a Half-Orc, or Half-Elf with Caucasian/Asian/Negroid/Arab characteristics, since they ARE half humans... But bringing human features to other races, just destroy their characteristics...
Sorry for bad english
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member
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member
Joined: Oct 2020
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Totally agree with OP. People forgot that Elves, Orcs, Aarakocras, Goblins, Giths and all other races are OTHER races. I totally agree if you want a Half-Orc, or Half-Elf with Caucasian/Asian/Negroid/Arab characteristics, since they ARE half humans... But bringing human features to other races, just destroy their characteristics...
But you are using a certain human appearance to serve as a 'base' to build your races and their appearances from, and right now that equivalent is caucasian. I don't see a problem in using all other bases that exist on planet Earth, and yes while Toril is not Earth, you have all sorts of magical creatures and brain-eating tadpoles and for some reason elves that have features such as epicanthric folds cannot exist.
While I perfectly understand and agree that elves should look like elves (there was another thread that showed that some elven faces were so... rough?), I must say I also appreciate if I'd be able to find a face that COULD be me (southeast asian heritage) in elven form :P Must admit that I didn't pay much attention to elves in general before, though. I liked how Sebille in D:OS2 looked. But given the picture, her face was too wide/round.
I've only done Human and Tiefling so far though, so didn't click through the faces yet.
Precisely my point, if anything it will open up the races to more people who would like to play themselves but with pointy ears. Edit: I do want the elves to be more ethereal and magical, leaner than humans and half-elves, shorter Drow, alien eyes etc. I am way too used to the old drawings of Forgotten Realms elves. I am arguing for face diversity because I think there are ways that the art team can make it work by keeping distinctly diverse features but at the same time making them FR elves.
Last edited by Arideya; 13/10/20 08:42 PM.
"There are three things that are strength incarnate: there is love of life, there is fear of death, and there is family. A family that loves death would have a strong pull indeed." - Tamoko
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journeyman
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OP
journeyman
Joined: Mar 2020
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Totally agree with OP. People forgot that Elves, Orcs, Aarakocras, Goblins, Giths and all other races are OTHER races. I totally agree if you want a Half-Orc, or Half-Elf with Caucasian/Asian/Negroid/Arab characteristics, since they ARE half humans... But bringing human features to other races, just destroy their characteristics...
But you are using a certain human appearance to serve as a 'base' to build your races and their appearances from, and right now that equivalent is caucasian. I don't see a problem in using all other bases that exist on planet Earth, and yes while Toril is not Earth, you have all sorts of magical creatures and brain-eating tadpoles and for some reason elves that have features such as epicanthric folds cannot exist.
While I perfectly understand and agree that elves should look like elves (there was another thread that showed that some elven faces were so... rough?), I must say I also appreciate if I'd be able to find a face that COULD be me (southeast asian heritage) in elven form :P Must admit that I didn't pay much attention to elves in general before, though. I liked how Sebille in D:OS2 looked. But given the picture, her face was too wide/round.
I've only done Human and Tiefling so far though, so didn't click through the faces yet.
Precisely my point, if anything it will open up the races to more people who would like to play themselves but with pointy ears. Edit: I do want the elves to be more ethereal and magical, leaner than humans and half-elves, shorter Drow, alien eyes etc. I am way too used to the old drawings of Forgotten Realms elves. I am arguing for face diversity because I think there are ways that the art team can make it work by keeping distinctly diverse features but at the same time making them FR elves. Yeah, i would be cool with that. It would be much better than what de have now.
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veteran
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veteran
Joined: Jun 2014
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The idea of elves being ethereal is from Lord of the Rings. DnD elves are not godly beings but more like, fey. So rather than ethereal they should have a distinct alien feeling.
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journeyman
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OP
journeyman
Joined: Mar 2020
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The idea of elves being ethereal is from Lord of the Rings. DnD elves are not godly beings but more like, fey. So rather than ethereal they should have a distinct alien feeling. I think that this mostly depends on the subrace. High elves and all it's variations look pretty ethereal to me. But I agree that the main thing is that they should have this alien look.
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stranger
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stranger
Joined: Oct 2020
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Well the character creator is missing a lot of features I believe? From gameplay pov not being able to choose your starter equipment and neither the variant rules. And Aesthetics of missing faces.
As for the OP itself, me being an Asian fella, whats the issue of allowing me to do a character from other races that I could relate with? Faerun already have Kozakura that is basically Japan in Faerun. So having other races with other cultural takes is not far streching it. I understand the cultural root of the Folk being European, but thing change or it would be a constant copy pasta of Tolkien, changes like this for example allow you to be a European heavily armored knight to fight Onis and other Folk creatures that with a ultra conservative(in the sense of no changes not the political spectrum) wouldn't allow to. True, but the issue is, elves should neither have Asian, nor Caucasian faces... they should have elven faces. Besides, Badlur's Gate is quite a ways of Kara Tur, Shou Lung and all the other, east asian inspired kingdoms. Not really topic of the discussion, though. I know you dont want to discuss this right now to avoid derailment of the thread itself but given its high magic setting ,people can travel fairly easily from point to point. If it were a low magic setting I'd agree with the statement: How the hell you got here from bumfuck nowhere? Now returning to the thread itself appologies to OP, maybe I'm missing the visualization of elf the non human elf features. I can think of Kerillian in Warhammer Vermintide 2, she has almost alien features with her black sclera and face shape. FR is a high magic setting, but for a minority of people. Teleport magic and flying are really rare for the common folk. Mundane travel is the norm for most people. but this does not deny that ppl from far places can be in baldur's gate. even a main companion in the second game was from kara-tur and Minsc that comes from Rashemen, a country that is in the middle of the way between kara-tur and the sword coast, was adventuring in BG.
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member
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member
Joined: Aug 2016
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In Celtic Folklore, Elves were related to fairies and could shapeshift.
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veteran
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veteran
Joined: Sep 2017
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I do not know if it´s already said in the thread, but right now Larian is using the model and character design of the art of the books of D&D5e books. This suggestion would be best served in WoTC forums.
That said, there are lots of representations of elves, from Santa´s elves to almost-goblinoid Harry Potter´s books elves to fairy elves or anime elves. It would be great if they have a different meshes and tones in character creation, but right now the depiction of the elves seems like a valid representation on how elves are in D&D. Does not strike as weird.
Last edited by _Vic_; 13/10/20 10:50 PM.
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2020
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In Celtic Folklore, Elves were related to fairies and could shapeshift. The first part entered the Forgotten Realms somewhere around 4e, where Elves suddenly had an Eladrin ancestry, which are basically magical fairy people that life in a dimension called the Feywild. Since then, this connection has been deepened even further, with High Elves (Gold, Moon and Star Elves) actually being Eladrin... kind of. Shapeshifting elves are also a thing in FR, with the Lythari being natural born elven werewolves, and the Fey'ri, half-demon elves in disguise. ...enough nerding out from me, though. Sorry.
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journeyman
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OP
journeyman
Joined: Mar 2020
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I do not know if it´s already said in the thread, but right now Larian is using the model and character design of the art of the books of D&D5e books. This suggestion would be best served in WoTC forums.
That said, there are lots of representations of elves, from Santa´s elves to almost-goblinoid Harry Potter´s books elves to fairy elves or anime elves. It would be great if they have a different meshes and tones in character creation, but right now the depiction of the elves seems like a valid representation on how elves are in D&D. Does not strike as weird. The face options we have for elves now in the game just don't look like elves. Regardless of what D&D edition we're talking about. At the moment even the half-elves have more delicate features, and they are the ones who should have human characteristics. It just isn't right.
Last edited by Anung un Rama; 13/10/20 11:29 PM.
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apprentice
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apprentice
Joined: Jun 2019
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All elves come in a wide variety of skin tones like, but I do agree that elves should look a bit more distinct than looking like humans with pointy ears. Todd Lockwood's illustrations of elves (who was one of the primary art designers of 3rd edition D&D) are a really good model to use (which were already shown on pg. 1). They have a vaguely alien-look about them (that is to say, they don't really resemble any human ethnicity), which is fitting since they are technically aliens from another world (their race originated countless millennia ago from the plane of Faerie, known as the Feywild in 4e/5e), but at the same time they have sharp and angular features that are generally pleasing to the human eye.
Last edited by deserk; 13/10/20 11:23 PM.
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2020
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I'd like to see D&D elves get more of the elven features too, I don't much care about inclusivity with non humans, Humans should absolutely cover all our real world ethnicities, elves? They have their own very specific looks and have done in D&D for a long while now. Halflings tend to have much more human features so makes sense for them to probably mimic real world human ethnicities too. IMO dwarves probably shouldn't as again, their features are so strong with the wide noses, squad faces, bushy hair, broad chins etc.If Gnomes came in, they might have
Elven features should be more delicate than humans, have more of an androgynous appearance (take my avatar, its some art of an elf PC I play in pnp, a number of people have been confused over their gender for the full picture), their eyes should have a bit of a slant to them, being almond shaped. Their facial hair should tend toward fine as well, rather than bushy, with no beards etc (thats already correct though), more slender faces, more angular too. They simply shouldn't look human, but they should still look attractive in an inhuman way. If anything, the difference between wood/high and drow elves should perhaps be a bit larger, but i'd hesitate to use real world ethnicities across the different elf subraces either. Wood Elves should be more rugged, drow and high elves more elegant, classic drow art had males tend toward bushier eyebrows lol, both males and females tended to have very thick heads of hair.
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journeyman
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OP
journeyman
Joined: Mar 2020
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I'd like to see D&D elves get more of the elven features too, I don't much care about inclusivity with non humans, Humans should absolutely cover all our real world ethnicities, elves? They have their own very specific looks and have done in D&D for a long while now. Halflings tend to have much more human features so makes sense for them to probably mimic real world human ethnicities too. IMO dwarves probably shouldn't as again, their features are so strong with the wide noses, squad faces, bushy hair, broad chins etc.If Gnomes came in, they might have
Elven features should be more delicate than humans, have more of an androgynous appearance (take my avatar, its some art of an elf PC I play in pnp, a number of people have been confused over their gender for the full picture), their eyes should have a bit of a slant to them, being almond shaped. Their facial hair should tend toward fine as well, rather than bushy, with no beards etc (thats already correct though), more slender faces, more angular too. They simply shouldn't look human, but they should still look attractive in an inhuman way. If anything, the difference between wood/high and drow elves should perhaps be a bit larger, but i'd hesitate to use real world ethnicities across the different elf subraces either. Wood Elves should be more rugged, drow and high elves more elegant, classic drow art had males tend toward bushier eyebrows lol, both males and females tended to have very thick heads of hair. That sums up.
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