This one's about re-imagining elves as a human culture.
One of the issues I have with fantasyland, and oh there are many, is that humans are boring. The reason they're boring is because they've been blended and presented as this western European flavored monoculture. If you go to roll up a character in B/X or many of its literal or spiritual successors, and you don't feel like inhabiting a generic vaguely medieval European peasant, then your options are an elf, a dwarf, or a halfling. Sure, those are also generic monocultures based on our collective media touchstones, but those are your options. That is, unless the referee has put in some work and presents you with varied cultures.
I get that some people are wary about creating fictional cultures for their game worlds, lest they repeat the myopic blunders of a host of fantasy writers over the last century. But human cultures are what make us so damn interesting in the real world, and I think it's a lost opportunity not to include it at your table. Be aware of the stereotypes of the real world cultures your fictional ones are similar to, check in with your players, and check in with yourself. Asking yourself, "am I fucking this up?" is maybe the best advice I can give in general, and it's especially effective here. I think another key component is how other cultures in your game view one another—if they have opinions or misconceptions about one another, make them unique to your world.
In March of 2020, my friends and I started a game that I dubbed "Final & Fantasy" because I swapped the typical dee-and-dee non-humans for ones like ronso, moogle, and viera. Horses became chocobos. Crystals were sources of power. They eventually flew around on an airship piloted by someone named Cid. You get the idea. The campaign lasted two and a half years, and was the first long-term one we finished in all the time we've played together.
It was fun, but afterward I needed a tonal shift. I yearned for something more grounded, relatable. I wanted it to be humanocentric while still including the fantasyland touchstone my friends and I grew up with—elves, dwarves, and halflings. So naturally I thought, "well, what if they were human?"
Here's how I did it with elves.
What Is an Elf
Now to be clear, this is a worldbuilding post. You won't find anything about stat bonuses, spell tables, or being 16.7% more likely to find a secret door because a) I am firmly in the "mechanics are the least-interesting part about playing a non-human sentient being" camp and b) I originally did this for a never-finished PBtA hack I was working on.
With that out of the way, what the heck is an elf anyway? Elves in media tend to fall into two camps: Tolkien-esque and subversions of the standard J.R.R. set. For the purpose of this exercise, I went with the former because I wanted it to meet those classic expectations (and besides, the subversion was already there by saying, "they're actually just humans.")
The following could be said about a typical fantasyland elf:
-They have pointy ears.
-They have a long lifespan, which gives them an outlook on life some might describe as aloof.
-They live in forests, with a deep connection to nature.
-They don't have a large population compared to humans.
-They love poetry, music, and merriment.
-They possess an otherworldly beauty.
-They have a way with magic.
Now let's take it point-by-point.
The Ears
The simplest answer to "why would humans have pointy ears? " is body modification. In the real world, body modification has its roots in non-European cultures. And a bunch of people were, and still are, fucking weirdos about it. So the other cultures in my world don't have their heads up their asses over it.
It's something they do at the start of adulthood, which brings us to our next item.
Long-lived & Aloof
If elves are human, they live as long as humans do. So their lifespan then must be a cultural belief. In some media, elves live hundreds of years—in others, they never naturally die but can be killed. How would a cultural belief reflect this?
It starts with their names. The name is the elf, the person that carries it is adding to the history and legacy of the it. In addition to the ears, it's something they acquire in adulthood. Very rarely does someone carry a new name, because a name is only put to rest when the bearer is killed. If someone dies of natural causes, the elf sleeps until another person steps up to act as its vessel.
This isn't a "junior, the third, the fourth, etc" situation. Nor is it reincarnation. The elf remains the same even if the bearer is different. In writing and conversation they don't differentiate between different name-hosts, because it's something they understand through context. Thus, other cultures have developed a misconception about elves "living forever" because when reading about or speaking to an elf, they lack that cultural context. This is compounded by the fact that there are no elf children, making it that much easier for the ignorant to erroneously fill in the gaps.
They can seem aloof compared to other cultures because of the beliefs and practices surrounding their names. They study the history of their name, they know what the elf has experienced and endured up to this point. And barring a tragic end, they know the elf will outlive them. So their cultural norm takes a long view of history—they're concerned with events that define an entire generation instead of a day, a week, a month, or even a year.
Forests, Nature, and Population
I'm combining the next two items for brevity's sake.
The elves are only as healthy as the forests in which they reside. So no farms like the peoples of the fields, and no big cities either. Populations need food, water, and space (among other resources) to sustain themselves. Living in the forests, sustainably, means their populations are small compared to others. And the methods they have developed to live in such a way necessitates an understanding of flora, fauna, and best practices.
Clearly in the real-world, this describes many indigenous populations. If you go this route with one of your cultures, make sure you are aware of the stereotypes that go along with it and keep a 10' pole between them and your table.
Poetry, Music, and Merriment
The arts! There is a cultural emphasis on aural disciplines here (poetry can, and should, be recited). It also just so happens that a festive celebration is a perfect place to perform these. Experiencing joy is reason enough for an elf to throw a party, for what better way to fill thousands of days than music and laughter?
You'd be mistaken to think all their poetry and music is meant to capture or elicit positive emotions. When an elf feels deep sorrow, anger, etc there is no better way to mark such a monumental event than to put it to verse or song.
So it is only natural that poets and musicians are well-respected, playing vital roles in the daily lives of elven culture.
Otherworldly Beauty
This one is about how others view elves, so how did this come about? Elves aren't somehow better looking than other cultures or any of that wretched pseudoscience nonsense. What they do have is a cultural importance on fashion. Where other peoples might express visual arts through painting or sculpture, the elves do it with how they dress and present themselves. Clothing, makeup, hairstyles and the like are the avenues in which creative minds develop and push themselves and others to new heights. So when elves leave their forest, or are members of their diaspora, it's only natural others will think, 'holy shit, they look amazing."
A Way with Magic
As established above, self-expression is a cornerstone of elven culture. The mystic arts are encouraged and supported as much as the other art forms. Again, it's not some innate predisposition hogwash, but rather the cultural acceptance and celebration of the craft and the resources that come along with that. And just like with their poetry and music and fashion, when you have a community of artists they will find ways to delight and out-do one another. No wonder they have a reputation for their magical prowess!
Other Takeaways
What else can be built out from what I've established?
For starters history and writing. One is expected to know the history of the elf they carry. It would make a lot of sense to me if elves were the first culture to develop writing, as a way to record the events attached to their names. And in that way, they were also the first to keep written historical records. And if they've been doing it longer than anyone else, it stands to reason that the academic discipline was of elven origin, as their writings quickly moved from events of their own lives to the larger world around them.
And lastly, the call to adventure. Why would an elf PC set out to traverse the wilderness or crawl through a dungeon or get up to any of the shenanigans found in a dee-and-dee game? If an elf is a name that experiences life through a person, then your campaign will be an epochal time in that life. While being an adventurer may not be encouraged in the same way as an artist, it is a socially acceptable way to spend one's time. There is a risk of dying, the name being put to rest forever more, but all things must eventually come to an end—even an elf.
