New Feat

[Leland]

Elven Ancestry: Somewhere in your ancestral line someone was an elf. Though you aren't classified as a half-elf nor have half-elven abilities two advantages stem from your Ancestry. First, and this only applies to commoners, you may cast "true magic". Therefore as a commoner you are not limited to the Magician class. Secondly anyone with elven ancestry may use elf specific magic as though they were an elf.

[Lord Eldred]

I wouldn't favor a commoner being able to cast true magic without some sort of training. True they have a taint of blood in them that is Elven but it is more than that...Humans don't live the amount of years that Elves live to gain an understanding of the true magic. Maybe on a rare occasion there is someone smart enough who spends a great deal of time in training with the elves on the rare occasion that they take a human in. However, I would not support a great number of commoners being able to do this!

[Perhelion]

Eleven ancestry should not grant automatic ability to learn elven or indeed wizard spells IMHO. But perhaps it could make the character a bit more fey... More in the RP-value than rule modifications. And it should be exceedingly rare as the elf/human relations are difficult at best...

[Leland]

Orginally posted by Lord Eldred

I wouldn't favor a commoner being able to cast true magic without some sort of training. True they have a taint of blood in them that is Elven but it is more than that...Humans don't live the amount of years that Elves live to gain an understanding of the true magic. Maybe on a rare occasion there is someone smart enough who spends a great deal of time in training with the elves on the rare occasion that they take a human in. However, I would not support a great number of commoners being able to do this!
Ok without being overly critcal first let me say, this feat is a SUGGESTION. Next let me quote something from the players handbook about Sorcerors "Sorcerors create magic the way a poet creates poems, with inborn talent honed by practice. They have no books, no mentors, no theories- just raw power that they direct at will." The argument so far has been that elves have an intrinsic talent for magic and they are best suited for the sorceror class, not that they practice hundreds of years to become masters of magic. Elves are magical creatures by nature, therefore someone with their bloodline may be able to cast magic just as you may have the blue eyes of your great grandfather while everyone else in your family has brown eyes. This feat was also meant for Player Characters in games that involve everyone being a commoner. It doesn't mean every commoner should be able to do this, indeed I support DM restriction of this feat. It was an idea I had for a future game when I have a bunch of people unfamiliar with Birthright playing. I won't start them as scions simply because I want to start off simple yet maintain the feel of the game. This feat would prevent groans from players who had their hearts set on playing a sorceror or wizard. But I do advise and will only permit ONE player to have the feat.

Leland

[Leland]

Orginally posted by Perhelion

Eleven ancestry should not grant automatic ability to learn elven or indeed wizard spells IMHO. But perhaps it could make the character a bit more fey... More in the RP-value than rule modifications. And it should be exceedingly rare as the elf/human relations are difficult at best...
Honestly that doesn't sound like much of a FEAT. Okay so your character has "sparkly eyes". Thats a good waste of a feat. As I said this Feat was a suggestion for games that have all characters as commoners. And here is a different argument for you. If it is so wrong for someone with "elvish essence" in other words blood or ancestry to be able to cast true magic, why then would people who absorbed DIVINE esscence be suddenly able to cast true magic. The reason the elves were driven back was because of their lack of knowledge about divine magic. The reason the elves stood the chance they did was because of their understanding of true magic. So tell me why when a group of DIVINITIES release their energy are the humans "suddenly" cognizant of true magic yet elves who absorbed DIVINE essence still are unable to cast DIVINE spells? They obviously believe in Gods now because the ones at Deismaar witnessed them with their own two eyes. So not one elf out of all the elves at Deismaar are going to show reverence to Erik and gain his spells? Why is it like this? So we have this paradox of sorts. Elves who absorb divine essence and their ancestors can't cast divine spells. Humans and Humanoids who absorb divine essence AND their ancestors can now cast true magic. Elves who basically have a true magic essence cannot pass on this essence to their ancestors past a certain generation. Diseases and traits in most creatures can skip generations, why not the ablity to cast true magic?

Leland

[Lord Eldred]

Leland, you seem offended that I didn't totally agree with your SUGGESTION. I think your suggestion is a fine one but having blue eyes (mine are hazel by the way) is not the same as being able to cast magic. I would have to respectfully disagree with you by using your argument. "Sorcerors create magic the way a poet creates poems, with inborn talent honed by practice." Having the Elven blood gives you the inborn talent. The hundreds of years that elves live give them the ability to hone it by practice. I am just saying it would take another elf to recognize that this human had a special gift or connection with magic because of the elven blood within them. I am also saying that it would take another elf to help the human recognize it and teach them what to do with it. Sort of how Yoda brought out the force within Luke. In the other posting on yet another FEAT it is the fact that I think another Elf has to bring it out of the human that I think the other FEAT should be a prereq to this one. I like your SUGGESTION so that you can have commoners cast true magic and thus be able to ease them into the birthright world. Just don't get offended by my SUGGESTION that it shouldn't be so easy to do it. Please keep sharing your SUGGESTIONS Leland, they are good ones :)

[Temujin]

as Lord Eldred said, don't take things personal.

[Perhelion]

Sorry Leland if I seemed too critical. I guess I agree with Lord Eldred's appreciation. The feat would account for inborn potential to master magic...
You have to understand that in my view of Cerilia magic is exceedingly rare... as in the rules who state <100 True wizards, I consider even a low level magic user to be a wondrous exception... (Someday I'll post about what I think is the excessive appearance of wizards in the BR documentation). So I tend to try to limit access to magic to retain its rarity. I understand though that as far as the POWER of characters is concerned, 'wasting' a feat on a skill of doubtful use is a concern. But I tend to think more in terms of roleplaying.

[Leland]

Orginally posted by Lord Eldred

Leland, you seem offended that I didn't totally agree with your SUGGESTION. I think your suggestion is a fine one but having blue eyes (mine are hazel by the way) is not the same as being able to cast magic. I would have to respectfully disagree with you by using your argument. "Sorcerors create magic the way a poet creates poems, with inborn talent honed by practice." Having the Elven blood gives you the inborn talent. The hundreds of years that elves live give them the ability to hone it by practice. I am just saying it would take another elf to recognize that this human had a special gift or connection with magic because of the elven blood within them. I am also saying that it would take another elf to help the human recognize it and teach them what to do with it. Sort of how Yoda brought out the force within Luke. In the other posting on yet another FEAT it is the fact that I think another Elf has to bring it out of the human that I think the other FEAT should be a prereq to this one. I like your SUGGESTION so that you can have commoners cast true magic and thus be able to ease them into the birthright world. Just don't get offended by my SUGGESTION that it shouldn't be so easy to do it. Please keep sharing your SUGGESTIONS Leland, they are good ones :)

I do have a tendency to take things personally when it comes to my ideas. Sorry to all about my temper. Sometime after I wrote my replies I thought about the whole eye color analogy. That wasn't a good example. But I do indeed feel that magic (or the ability to use it) could lay dormant in an ancestral line until one day suddenly it blossoms forth from someone. We can agree to disagree about the Elves recognizing the talent, I think a magician or a scion mage or maybe even someone with Vorynn's bloodline may be able to recognize the talent coming from the individual. And I also feel that it would take either an elf or a blooded individual to train them in its use. I still disagree with it taking hundreds of years to master due to the fact that some human mages are more powerful than some elven mages and are just as skilled. But its pretty much a moot point anyway. I feel that it should ultimately be left up to the individual DM. Again sorry about my defensiveness.

Leland

[Lord Eldred]

Apology accepted Leland. It is not as if we are saying your idea sucked. We are just saying for our worlds it would need to be modified. I just appreciate the fact that you take the time to post your ideas.

[Lawgiver]

I'm not too keen on the whole idea of this feat. It seems inappropriate to given commoners full access to true magic simply because they have elven blood somewhere in their lineage. The ability to use elven magical items maybe... But the ability to use elven magic without being an elven mage not likely, especially not through the use of a single feat. The art of magic requires lengthy and repeated training. Once wouldn't simply learn elven magic without spending time in communion with the elves and being taught their ways.

The whole concept just doesn't fit my style, but that doesn't mean its a bad idea. :)