Elves:  Well, the oldest form of the myth I know of was some books Ceaser wrote about his campaings against the Celts.  There were these tall blond celts who fought like demons who were being compared to gods and ancetral heroes.  Tuatha De Dannan.<br/><br/>Mixes up with all kinds of legends over the next two thousand years.  The modern elf idea basically starts with Tolklien.  His were immortal and magical, but it seems like for most elves magic was kind of like artisanry.  An elf who'd been making ropes for a millennia could make ropes that sensed the will of their users and responded.  An elf that had been making cloth for a millennium could make cloaks that blended into the terrain.  When you had an elf who could stand up to a Nazgul or do some of the stuff wizards could do, you were usually talking about a great hero or a great noble.<br/><br/>Dungeons and Dragons started off in the first generation where Tolkien had shaped our myths.  Early D&D elves were very Tolkien like.  Second edition elves were very alien--needing a century to mature but not needing true sleep.  Ending their time in this world after 700 or 1,000 years but passing physically into the afterlife, therefore maintaining that elves are immortal.<br/><br/>In fourth and fifth edition especially, elves grew more mortal.  (Part of this is the growing pains D&D is currently experiencing trying to be inclusive to players of all ethnicities, genders, orientations, and nationalities, while still trying to make a demi human who isn't just a human with an exotic look.)<br/><br/>The biggest change in fifth edition was that--instead of needing 100 years to go from a baby to an adult--elves now grow up in the same 16-20 years it takes a human but enjoy another 80 years of their lives before taking on adult responsibilities.<br/><br/>Probably more than anyone wanted! :)<br/><br/>*  *  *<br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote"><a href="https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=348967.msg16403538#msg16403538">Quote from: Gadrai on 14-02-2023, 18:10:45</a></div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">Like Andronica said, you don't have to compare it one-to-one, to D&amp;D. For a druid it'd make sense that they'are able to shapeshift, as that's, for me at least, one of the attractive points about playing a druid. It's freeform, so you can write yourself out of a lot of things. Or rather, you can make things up so they fit your ideas. <br/><br/>That said, there is of course the strength/power balance to keep in mind. Like it's been mentioned earlier, there's no fun in having someone be all powerful. It makes for a boring character and a boring story, I find. <br/>Magga, for instance, is very strong. She has a great big bow that she is very good with and she's generally devastating with her axe, but she has NO knowledge about magic and no real defense against it. I'll expand on this in the lore, I think. But yeah! If you want D&amp;D comparisons, I think others are better able to answer your questions anyway, haha xD<br/></blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>I wasn't trying to compare characters one on one to D&D.  :)  I was surprised by how many people were doing that.  It was why I almost didn't join.  I can play D&D when I play D&D.  Freeform is a chance to flex my creativity in new ways.  However since people seemed to understand the basic conepts of D&D it was a way to ask how strong our characters should be.<br/><br/>Mandy's strongest supernatural ability should be pyrokinesis.  If she was the power of a sixth level character (5e) she might be able create bolts and arcs of flame with the strength of conventional weapons.  Then, 2-3 times a day, she might be able to create an explosion that destroys a dozen closely packed enemies--or damages them if they're really tough enemies.  (That's called a Fireball.)<br/><br/>If she's more like a 3rd level character she couldn't do that explosion (fireball) but she could breathe a little cone of fire 2-3 times a day that damage a few enemies at a time if they were close together.  (Burning Hands.)<br/><br/>Is she's more like a 15 level character she can do quite a few of those explosions, occasionally create a wall of fire that no one can pass without being burned, and jump into one bonfire and out of another dozens of miles away.  At this point when you push her to the limit, she can create a small fiery tornado, and then be too fatigued to do anything big for the rest of the day.