Copyright 2008 Wizards of the Coast

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I’ve already talked about eladrin in passing when discussing drow, and now I’m going to get into more detail on them. They’re present in both books, though they’re mixed into the general “Elf” entry on the Monster Vault.

“Eladrin” is one of those names that used to refer to something else entirely in previous editions. In this case, the name belonged to a set of Chaotic Good Outsiders from Arcadia, only some of whom resemble elves. Now it belonges to a playable race that has its roots in the Feywild.

While no D&D player expects elves to be Santa’s little helpers, there are several competing visions of what a “proper” elf should be. Woodsy archers who wear earth-toned cloaks and shoot bows really well, like Legolas? Ethereal fey wizards who live in resplendent silver cities, like Galadriel? Several of the game’s settings in previous editions made attempts to accommodate both concepts, and Eladrin are part of 4e’s own effort.

In short: Legolas is an elf, Galadriel is an eladrin.

The Lore

As we saw with drow, back in the dawn of time there was only a single “proto-elven” fey people, created by Corellon the god of magic and beauty. They lived in the Feywild, where they built fantastic empires powered by arcane magic.

Over time this ancient people underwent something of a diaspora, with part of them migrating to the world and adapting to its local conditions, becoming the elves we know today. Some of those would in turn convert to the worship of Lolth and get driven into the Underdark, becoming the drow.

Those who stayed in the Feywild are known today as the Eladrin. Are they still the same ancestral fey of legend, or have they undergone changes of their own? Only your GM can tell.

Eladrin and elves still look somewhat similar, but still have some obvious visual differences that make distinguishing the two easier. The most striking of those are the eyes, which are solid orbs of blue, green or violet. Eladrin hair also tends to be a brilliant white, or a metallic color like silver or gold. Their skin can be of any tone found in humans, but the lighter tones are more common. Less obviously, eladrin also tend to be a bit taller than elves, and they’re longer-lived.

Most eladrin live in those fabulous Feywild cities, which are usually built in places that touch the world with some frequency. Thus they’re a common enough sight in the world to justify their inclusion as a playable character option.

Your typical eladrin citizen has a somewhat detached view of the world, particularly since their cities weren’t affected by any of the bad stuff that took down Nerath. Still, that typical citizen is still pretty relatable all things considered.

The higher-up an eladrin is in their society, the more magically powerful and weird they tend to be. Eladrin nobles are fully involved with the Fey Courts, taking titles relating to the seasons or other abstract concepts. The most powerful among them are quite likely to have become true fae and be the sort of entity who makes pacts with warlocks.

The Numbers

The Monster Manual and Monster Vault give us four eladrin stat blocks each. Two of them (the Fey Knight and Twilight Incanter) appear in both books. The ones in the Monster Vault are clustered around the late-Heroic tier, but the ones in the MM start there and go all the way to epic. All the MM ones have an alignment of “Any”, while the MV ones are listed as unaligned. In either case this means they can be either enemies or allies depending on the specific individuals that appear in your stories.

All eladrin are Medium Fey Humanoids, and their most famous signature trait is Fey Step, an encounter power which allows them to teleport 5 squares as a move action. They also have low-light vision, and a +5 bonus to saves against charm effects.

Eladrin Bow Mage

The bow mage is Level 7 Minion Artillery. It has Speed 6, is trained in Perception and carries a magic bow that fires Force Arrows: Ranged 20 vs. AC, a hit does force damage and pushes 1 square. These wouldn’t be stealthy tree-climbing snipers, but rather battlefield archers that fire in formation. You’ll want to have then in a loose formation, though, to avoid those area-effect attacks.

Eladrin Fey Knight

This one exists in both books. It’s a Level 7 Soldier with 77 HP. It wears mail, and wields a light shield and a longsword. The MV version is clearly the best of the two, so let’s start with that.

The fey knight cuts a striking presence in the battlefield, projecting a Feywild Tactics aura in a 5-square radius that allows allies in range to score criticals on a roll of 19-20 rather than just on a natural 20. There are very few abilities in 4e that mess with critical range - IIRC this is the first one I’ve seen on this Let’s Read.

Beyond the basic longsword attack, the fey knight can also attack with a Stab of The Wild: Recharge 5-6, Melee 1 vs. AC, a hit does more damage than the basic attack and restrains the target for a turn with what I assume are entangling vines. As a minor action it can issue a Feywild Challenge to mark a target within a Close Burst 5. It’s kinda like a paladin mark, lasting until the end of the encounter or until the knight uses the challenge again, and dealing a bit of radiant damage to the target when it doesn’t attack the eladrin on its turn.

The fey knight can also protect its allies with Harvest’s Sorrow, an immediate interrupt that allows it to take half the damage of an attack directed at an ally within 5 squares. It of course also has Fey Step.

The MM version is similar but a bit clunkier aside from the damage bug. Stab of The Wild works the same but the knight can’t use its sword while a target is entangled. Feywild Challenge has a range of 10 but is an encounter power. Use the MV version if possible.

These are knights, so you can probably give them some sort of gallant fey steed if you need to. They’re the ones fighting at the front and protecting that unit of bow mages, and also make up the core of a noble’s guard detail.

Eladrin Twilight Incanter

This wizard is a Level 8 Controller with 82 HP, present in both books. It wields a spear in combat, and its strikes slow the target for a turn in addition to doing damage. Since the incanter is a Controller, its spear attack actually has decent accuracy and damage!

The incanter is also dangerous at range, with a suite of spells. Binding Bolt (Ranged 5 vs. Reflex) does force damage and immobilizes for a turn. On a miss, it instead slows for a turn. Teleporting Bolt (Ranged 5 vs. Reflex) does force damage and teleports the target 3 squares on a hit. On a miss it still teleports the target 1 square. Its final spell is Dazzling Blast (recharge 5-6, close blast 3 vs. Will), which does radiant damage and blinds for a turn on a hit.

The MM version has Range 10 on the bolt spells, and specifies that Teleporting Bolt can’t teleport someone to an unsafe square. That’s just no fun, so I see why it’s gone from the MV version. I suppose the teleport victim can still roll a save to throw itself at an adjacent safe square at the last minute, as standard for forced movement.

Eladrin Battle Dancer

This is a MV-only Level 9 Skirmisher. It has speed 6 despite wearing mail, and fights with a longsword. The basic sword attack, named Dancing Blade, causes the battle dancer to become invisible to the target for a turn! It also has a Battle Dance encounter power that allows it to shift its speed and perform a basic attack against any enemies it passes adjacent to.

It seems the Battle Dancer has also put some extra practice into its teleportation, for it replaces the usual Fey Step with a Surprise Fey Step. The range is the same, but it recharges on a 3-6 and grants the dancer combat advantage against every enemy it appears next to.

Bralani of Autumn Winds

The MM sends us right into the late Paragon tier! A bralani used to be a type of outsider in 3.x, but now it’s apparently a rank in the fey courts. This wind-themed noble is a Level 19 Controller with 180 HP. It has Resist 20 Radiant and is vulnerable to necrotic damage, which slows it for a turn. The bralani is surrounded by the Cloak of Autumn Winds, an aura 5 that makes its enclosing volume difficult terrain for enemies - even if they’re flying.

Its basic longsword attack does nothing special aside from the damage, but once per encounter the bralani can curse someone with Autumn Chill (Ranged 5 vs. Will), which weakens the target until the end of the encounter! It can also use an at-will Whirlwind Blast (Close Blast 5 vs. Fortitude). On a hit this does thunder damage and pushes targets 2 squares (3 on a critical). On a miss it still does half damage.

Ghaele of Winter

A bit higher up in the totel pole is the Ghaele of Winter, Level 21 Artillery with 134 HP. It has 25 cold and radiant resistance, and the same necrotic vulnerability described for the bralani. This ghaele is, well, an Elsa. Its basic attack is Winter’s Touch, which does cold damage. It can cast Freezing Rays (Ranged 12 vs. Reflex) that do cold damage and slow (save ends).

It can create bursts of Chilling Defiance (Close Burst 3) at will, which hit automatically, do a flat 10 cold damage and slow for a turn. For each target that takes damage from this, the ghaele regains 2 HP. It can also command someone to let it go with its Imperious Wrath (minor action, Close Burst 3 vs. Will), which dazes targets until the end of the encounter. This recharges whenever the ghaele regains 4 HP or more from a single casting of Chilling Defiance. Fey Step rounds out its abilities.

So yeah, this is an artillery monster you do not want to go near.

Sample Encounters and Final Impressions

There is one sample encounter here, but thematically, it’s a doozy: Level 21, 1 ghaele of winter and 4 wild hunt hounds. Yup, the Wild Hunt exists in this setting, and it’s run by and for the less friendly sort of epic-level eladrin.

As far as attempted solutions to Elf Overload go, I like eladrin a lot. Their name doesn’t include the word “elf” anywhere, making it a bit easier to remember which is which. They’re an entirely different race mechanically, which is a better solution than others I’ve seen that ended up loading up a single “elf” race with bonuses related to both concepts. They’re also really atmospheric on their own, of course, and allow players to portray genuine fae folk from level 1 if they so choose.