I don’t understand why the short creatures that work for Santa are called elves to begin with. Wouldn’t gnomes make more sense?
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Elves in D&D stand well over 5 feet in height. Check out pg. 12-13 of the 3E PHB. If the human male in the example is about 6 foot tall then the elf is about 5’6" or more.
The Dark Sun D&D setting had elves taller than humans. Of course it is your DMs world so I don’t see why he can’t have short elves if that’s what he really wants.
Marc
What about those elves that made shoes at night?
Marc
More accurately, they can stand over five feet in hight. The 3e PHB lists their height range as 4.5 to 5.5 feet tall.
Yeah, I’d forgotten about Dark Sun (odd, since it’s the first D&D setting I was exposed to). Much to my disappointment, however, Dark Sun is also on the list of things this guy doesn’t like (“Dude, they don’t even have any metal!”). And yeah, he’s the DM, so he gets the final word, but he’s not insisting on short Elves out of any emotional attachment to short Elves (or even any real preference at all); rather, he’s being a prick about it because he can get away with it. After all, this is the kind of guy who holds a grudge against players when his characters get hurt. For example, in one game two of the other players knocked out his mage, stripped him of his gear, burned his spellbook, and ditched him in the woods; the guy still gets pissy about it after TWO YEARS.
The movie Dungeons and Dragons not only has human-sized Elves, but human-sized dwarves!
Mercedes Lackey’s novels of elves, magic & motorcycles have human-height or taller elves.
The Borderlands short stories have tall elves; the line I remember was when a human girl walked into the bar and she “had features that would have been called elfin before we found out how damn big the elves were…”
Then I don’t know why you associate yourself with him as a fellow player or participate in any of his games. That’s another topic I guess.
Marc
Any of the Bordertown series, edited and compiled by Terri Windling. The main books, Elsewhere and Never Never were written by Will Shetterling, and Finder by Emma Bull.
Awesome series of books, BTW.
The one at the mall last year was awful close. And oh my God, was she hot . . . [horny emoticon]
Anyway, regarding the OP: perhaps it’s time for a new DM? Good luck to you and your elves.
I agree. If the guy’s not your friend, why spend time with him?
Aren’t the Elves in Raymond E. Feist’s works (Magician, Silverthorn, etc.)?
Aren’t elves in AD&D Forgotton Realms supposed to be slightly taller than humans? I’ve only played AD&D on PC lately so this may be different for PnP games.
Quoth Fibber McGee:
On the contrary; Santa’s elves are Tolkien elves. Am I the only person on the board who’s read The Father Christmas Letters?
But on the other hand: Can anyone give any evidence that Tolkien’s elves are, in fact, taller than the 5’ range in the D&D source books? Certainly, there are individuals who are taller, but the only cases where actual heights are mentioned seem to be those who are extraordinarily tall (Galadriel, for instance, is about 6’6", but it’s also stated that she’s the tallest of all Elf-women, and that even most male elves aren’t that tall). But just having a few extraordinarily tall individuals does not rule out the typical range being about 4’6" to 5’6".
Oh come on. They’re just humans with slightly pointy ears. And if anything, they are drawn short.
Yes, they are.
Sorry, I had that wrong. One of my game manuals says Elves are “4.5 to 5.5 feet tall” and another has “shorter than most humans.”
Oh, don’t get me wrong, he’s definitely still give my friend. He’s generally a pretty nice guy; he just has some . . . quirks when it comes to gaming.
As far as Realms Elves, I’ll have to check that one. I’ve never seen mention of any race of Faerunian elves being taller than humans. Really irks me, ‘cause there’s no way in Hell I’ll ever picture Drizzt Do’Urden as being 4’11’’ (apparently the height listed on his stat sheet).
I believe there was a movie on the Disney Channel in which some kids managed to get ahold of a snow machine. There were a couple of Santa’s elves in it, and they were very tall. Of course, that was more a sort of joke…“You’re elves? Aren’t you a little tall for that?” type of thing.
Slightly pointy, eh? Short, eh?
Nah, if Hylians are more human than elf, explain why they’re all blonde, they look best in green, and their warriors are skilled archers. 
Heh heh heh. Pratchett elves. Wouldn’t that be a nice little surprise to spring on the new adventuring party.
DM: “Okay, the Orcs who were attacking you suddenly break off and run away very very fast. Over the hill you see eight elves approaching.”
Players: “Oh, yay, we’re saved!”
DM: “Not exactly…”