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In the original DnD game, Dark Elves were elven criminal outcasts branded with tatoos on their faces and bodies who have made dark magic pacts. So basically simply elves devoted to dark magic. Then they were replaced by the Drow of Forgotten Realms.

Thanks for the info (OD&D dark elves). I remember that (slightly).
My first RPG was the D&D red box (2 red books, white crayon & some blue dice) back in 1980.
I remember the Drow (somewhat) from the other supplements I obtained.
It was a long time ago.

I've seen dark elves (in most fantasy RPGs) described as dark skinned, with pale hair (unless you're playing WFRP - Warhammer Fantasy Role Play), which are pale skinned with jet black hair.

After reading the Bare Bones Core rule book last night, I saw mention of the wild dark elves in the jungles of Ravenreach/Raven Reach, but no stats/info on them.

The 'rough info' I supplied last night is the basic dark elf info I use for my own system and others (Myth & Magic, GORE, etc).

I must remember the tattoo part for the wild dark elves.
I'm not sure if DWD have 'official' rules for them yet (I've not come across any - yet).

Any other statements/info would be appreciated.

Sitting in car. Will try to post later.

Hey SMAY63,
Great write up.

Are dark elves magically inclined, meaning, is the entire race spellcasters, "can use all spells"?

For the spells, it would be helpful to list the level, see the Pixie on page 53 as an example;

• Magical - charm, dispel and illusion as rank 3 spellcaster (80%).

Are you writing descriptive text/fluff for these elves? For instance, do they travel by ship or are they bound to their land mass. Do they trade with other races? Are their hydra infestations on their south border? What is the big mountain on the map? lol

Larry: Thanks for the info, very helpful.
Please bare with me, as I've only had the system for a few days, and I've been busy with non-rpg things.
But, to answer your questions:
Magically inclined: I would like to say yes, but I'm sure other people would like to add their own house rules on this subject (which is fine by me).
Spell-caster level: I would say level 2-3,depending on the difficulty of the encounter. Perhaps level 4+ for boss type encounters?

Fluff: They do travel by ship, raiding the coastal areas (like Vikings), pillaging and taking slaves. They also raid inland.

As for trading with others, with my own system, I had a group of dark elves as refugees, who were tired of the ways of their people, and had escaped to set up a more non-oppressive life style like their elven brethren.
They trade with the humans, who had given them a deserted fort or similar structure (village perhaps).
As for Elves, Dwarves, and Halflings: I would guess they would not trade with the refugees for various reasons.

The Wild Dark Elves use poison on their bows, as well as a sleeping draught. The arrow tips are coated with one of these two draughts, depending on whether they wanted slaves or not.
Poison: duration of 2 turns. Resist: STR-10 (poison), Effect: 2D and poisoned - dazed & slowed.
Sleep: Resist: STR-10. If unsuccessful, Cannot take any actions for the duration of the encounter. Duration: 2 turns.
I was also thinking about Infravision & Resilience for them.

Hopefully today, I can give the rulebook a more thorough reading, and get a much better understanding of the system, etc.

Hope this helps.

Perhaps they should have a starting moral code of "cruel". The player chooses the severity.

Tattoos (as mentioned by Ascent):
I'd say that the Wild Dark Elves would have tattoos of some sort either on their faces or limbs, or both; but not all of them would be marked in such a way.
I think it would be a matter of preference, like today.
Not everybody today has tattoos, but quite a lot of people do.
Some are discreet, some are not.

So I'd like to think the same could be applied to the Wild Dark Elves.
I've described their skin & hair colour, also their armour and weapons.
Height: I'd say approximately 5' 11" to 6' 5" (males).
The females would be 5' 8" to 6' 2".

Moral code: cruel sounds good. As you say, the player/GM chooses the severity. Perhaps very or totally cruel.

If the refugee theme for the Wild Dark Elves is used, then the moral code should change (obviously). Perhaps 'somewhat focused', or 'somewhat kind'.

Choices, choices.

Over at rpg.net there was a thread asking for new races in which I posted the following:

Dark Elf

• +10 DEX
• Infravision - 12 spaces.
• Innate Spellcasting - can perform "low wizardry" aspect of a spellcaster even if unskilled.
• Natural Spellcaster - same ability as elf, but limited to chainmail or less
• Magic Resilience - +10 to resist magic spells targeting the dark elf specifically.
• Underground Dweller - considered fatigued if above ground in daylight hours.
• Move 9 spaces
• Speak dark elf only (spend DP to learn languages of other races)

Don't know if you'll find that useful

Thanks Bill, very helpful.

Now everyone can pick the information they want to make their own wild dark elves.
Haven't checked rpg.net for any Bare Bones resources/info.
Will have to give it a look at.

I don't think dark elves should be given any specific skin tone, especially since they're being associated with dark magic and cruelty. It might be counted as the codification of an existing unjust stereotype.

Standard fantasy is all about unjust sterotypes =P

I'm referring to a real life stereotype. As if black skin means a bad person.

That's a valid complaint, Ascent. I hope people understand that the popularity of "dark elf" as defined by the gaming industry and exemplified by the "drow" of the Forgotten Realms (and later adapted for use with other settings) is what people refer to when they make a dark elf have obsidian skin. I have never taken that as an insult against any real world nationality or race or anything, though I do understand some people have a particular sensitivity to that. Not sure what to say about this, since this type of fantasy oft embraces many stereotypical archetypes that aren't accurate (for instance, I could easily see similar complaints from little people arguing that dwarves and halflings are seen as exceedingly cantankerous or humorously cute).

I personally would make my deep elves pale white since they are cave dwellers. Or maybe bluish since Malekith the Accursed had half a blue face.

I think it's all in the eye of the beholder. If you think about it you never hear about black skinned people on death row because all of the serial killers and mass murders are usually quite white men. As long as the write-up isn't designed to specifically make a real life correlation and nobody at the gaming table is taking offense, what does it really matter? Dark Elves are a staple of fantasy gaming and are considered evil due to the unspeakable evil things that they do, not because of their skin tone. Given that little caveat I don't see how one could be offended.

My favorite Dark Elf description was from a friend's Holmes D&D campaign back in the Eighties-her description was, in her own words:

'This underdwelling race has shunned the sun so long that the Dark has left its mark on each and every one...to a man and maid, each Dark Elf possesses a hair of bleached bone, skin of milk and eyes as pale as moonsilver.Any hint of strong color in their offspring is considered a reminder of pre-Exodus days-some tribes sacrifice such young to the lightless undergound rivers, while others have them adopted by PriestSmiths or Warband leaders...'

AS I had written on 22/11/12 09:23 -
I had a group of dark elves as refugees, who were tired of the ways of their people, and had escaped to set up a more non-oppressive life style like their elven brethren.
They trade with the humans, who had given them a deserted fort or similar structure (village perhaps).
As for Elves, Dwarves, and Halflings: I would guess they would not trade with the refugees for various reasons.
So not ALL of these dark elves are bad, OK.

"I think" usually indicates an opinion just as your feelings about PC issues is an opinion. Take it as you will. If you don't want to discuss it in this thread, just say you don't want to discuss PC issues in this thread and put the discussion back on track by commenting about the original discussion. Really, the PC discussion had worn its way already and was ready to get back on track anyway. Instead, you have gone whole hog for the PC discussion by posting the longest post on the subject in this thread. Until your acidic tone, this was a friendly discussion. The opinion was mine and I posted all of 49 words about it in a mild tone. I'm sorry to have offended your sensibilities.

Acidic, whole hog: nah (it would have been ALL upper-case) ;-)

So far we have 3 types of wild dark elves:

1) Hair: bleached bone. Skin: milk colour. Eyes: moon silver.
2) Hair: jet black. Skin: pale white. Eyes: any eye colour.
3) Hair: yellow, gold, white, silver. Skin: light to dark brown with either a bluish or purplish tint/hue. Eyes: any colour: for example, red, purple, yellow, green, blue.
The stats as stated on 20/11/12 10:12 can be a guide.
The info added by Bill Logan (23/11/12, 05;04), and the other statements before that can also be added to make adversaries & NPCs, if the 'dark elf refugee' theme I suggested is used.
All in all, I think there's enough info/data (so far) to make a 'variety' of Wild Dark Elves.
Each to their choice so to speak. :-)

Just an idea here.
All 3 types could be incorporated into BBF.

Type 3 could be the most common type encountered.
Type 2 (jet black hair, pale skin) could be considered uncommon, but still encountered on a fairly/slightly regular basis.
Type 1 are the most recluse, as they spend all their time underground (hence their pale appearance: Hair: bleached bone. Skin: milk colour. Eyes: moon silver).