Cool avatar pic.
I'd say adding the +2 Charisma to your stats would be just fine for an LA+1, otherwise it would be a rather weak LA+1.
You might add, perhaps, a +2 racial bonus on Hide checks in places with less illumination than torchlight? +4 might be a bit too much with the Charisma bonus already added.
Here are two of my versions of drow-variants, the dark elves of Rhunaria and the shadow elves of, err, an as-yet-unnamed fantasy world for my two-world Convergence setting I haven't finished enough of yet... Of course, these races are made for campaign settings with mildly stronger races in general (even humans get a few minor boosts in these settings of mine).
Rhunarian dark elves
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Description: Dark elves tend towards lawful evil alignment, as they were magically created from ancient elves and made to be loyal to the elven mage-king and his goals. This means that dark elves feel an inherant drive to cause pain to the non-elven races, and also feel a need to conquer and subjugate the other races to elven rule. They are quite loyal to eachother and their cause, but they do occasionally have conflicts with eachother over how to execute their racial directive. They have no animosity towards jungle elves or aquatic elves, and see them as merely wayward cousins who have forgotten the glory and ways of their former kingdom. They will only reluctantly harm fellow elves, but will not allow them to stand in the way of their goals. Very few dark elves are born without this inherant directive guiding them, so few dark elves are ever of good or chaotic alignment, though there are plenty who are of neutral evil, true neutral, or lawful neutral alignment. Dark elves have an orderly culture settled underground, slowly but inexorably spreading out from under the center of the continent. They live in grand structures of stone and metal, and are skilled in both stonemasonry and metalworking. Dark elves are masterful wizards and sorcerers, and magic literally runs through their veins. Their rulers are all powerful mages, going by titles such as bey, sha'ir, shah, sultan, and so on. Their families are individually ruled over by patriarchs and matriarchs, while most dark elves belong to large and powerful guilds as well. Their culture and architecture may be likened somewhat to the ancient Arabs and Persians of Earth, but they prefer to use dark stone and metal in their construction, such as obsidian and blackened iron, with large buildings capped in domes of silver or platinum.
Basic Stats: Medium Humanoid; Base Speed
(30 feet); -2 Strength, +2 Dexterity, -2 Constitution, +2 Intelligence
(Dark elves are quick, nimble, and dexterous, and are also quite cunning, but are somewhat frail and feeble.); Darkvision
(120 feet); Light Blindness
(sudden bright light blinds for 1 round, any bright light imposes -1 on all saves, checks, and attack rolls); +2 Alchemy, +2 Knowledge-arcana, +2 Listen, +2 Search, +2 Spellcraft, +2 Spot, +2 Use Magic Device
(whenever passing within 10 feet of a secret or concealed door, entitled to a Search check as though actively searching for it); -2 on all saving throws; Magic Affinity
(add +2 to save DC of spell or magic ability they use, add +2 on caster level checks to beat Spell Resistance with any spell or magical ability they use); Innate Spells
(may use the spell-like abilities of Chill Touch, Darkness, and Detect Magic, each once per day, as per a wizard of their character level, and each suffers arcane spell failure chances as though they were arcane spells, but must have an Intelligence score of at least 10 + the spell's level in order to use any given one of these); Automatic Language
(Elven); Intelligence Bonus Languages
(Draconic, Dwarven, Gilden, Goblin, Orcish, Rizan, Tashi, Terran, Tribal, Undercommon); Favored Class
(Fighter or Rogue or Sorcerer or Wizard).[/sblock]
Shadow elves
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Shadow Elves
Also known as night elves or deep elves, they typically worship the shadow spirit, or occasionally the thunder spirit or earth spirit, and also sometimes worship miscellaneous spirits as clerics.
+2 Strength, +2 Dexterity, -4 Intelligence, -4 Charisma: Shadow elves are a savage and primitive folk, anarchic and ill-tempered, so do not get along well with many other races. They are also the least-developed of elvenkind, with little to no culture whatsoever, living in small packs and tribes where the strongest rule, and they care nothing for knowledge or traditions, so few study magic at all, unlike other elves. However, shadow elves have grown strong, swift, and nimble because of their harsh, savage lifestyle, and show none of the physical weaknesses or frailties of the more civilized elves.
Medium-Size: Shadow elves are Medium-sized, and thus have no special benefits or penalties related to size.
Speed: Shadow elven base speed is 40 feet.
Darkvision: Shadow elves are well adapted to life underground and in the darkness, and have Darkvision to a range of 180 feet, allowing them to see fine in the dark, but not magical darkness. Darkvision is black and white only, but otherwise just like normal vision, and a shadow elf can function just fine with no light at all.
Severe Light Vulnerability: Blessed by the shadow spirit and shunned by the sun spirit, shadow elves cannot stand the pure light of the sun, and even artificial and magical light can harm them. A shadow elf suffers a -2 circumstance penalty on attack rolls, saving throws, and checks while operating in bright light, such as sunlight or the light of a Daylight spell. Sudden exposure to such bright light, such as when exiting a cave into the light of day, blinds a shadow elf for 1 round. Additionally, every 10 minutes a shadow elf spends exposed to the sunlight causes them 1 point of subdual damage, as the purity of true sunlight pains them and weakens them; artificial and magical light, such as from a Daylight spell, does not have this effect, lacking the purity of actual sunlight. Likewise, every hour a shadow elf spends exposed to true sunlight causes them 1 point of temporary Constitution damage, as the pure sunlight scorches their tainted soul; again, only natural sunlight causes this effect. A shadow elf who reaches 0 Constitution in this way dies. Constitution points lost in this manner are recovered at the rate of 2 for every day spent out of the sunlight, in addition to the normal healing rate for temporary ability damage and in addition to any other healing.
Keen Senses: Shadow elves gain a +2 racial bonus on all Listen, Spot, and Search checks, due to their keen eyes and ears. In addition, a shadow elf who merely passes within 5 feet of a concealed door, secret door, or trap is entitled to a Search check to notice it, as though they were actively searching, though the elf has no special ability to find traps of DC 20 or higher without levels in the appropriate class.
Skulk In The Shadows: Shadow elves are quite adept at sneaking about, and possess a magical boon from the shadow spirit that enhances their sneakiness. Shadow elves gain a +2 racial bonus on Hide and Move Silently checks, which increases by +1 for every five character levels they possess. Hide and Move Silently are always class skills for a shadow elf. Lastly, as a supernatural ability which they can suppress at any time, shadow elves may blend in with any shadows or darkness they are within to gain an additional +3 enhancement bonus to Hide checks. While using this supernatural ability, shadow elves are considered to always be taking 10 on Hide and Move Silently checks, regardless of the normal restrictions or penalties for doing so, except when they choose otherwise.
Tainted Soul: Shadow elves are touched by the shadow spirit and bear a tiny shard of its corruption, and their tainted soul causes them to suffer from certain penalties and restrictions, but also bestows a few minor benefits upon them. Shadow elves cannot be brought back to life by any good-aligned divine spellcaster, nor by any divine spellcaster whose patron deity is good-aligned. Shadow elves suffer a -2 racial penalty on saves versus spells and effects with the Good descriptor. Blessed weapons and those with the Holy special ability always react to a shadow elf as though they were evil, regardless of the shadow elf's alignment. Shadow elves suffer a -4 racial penalty on Diplomacy or Charisma checks to determine the initial reaction of a good-aligned Non-Player Character to them, and a -2 racial penalty on such checks to determine the initial reaction of a non-good, non-evil NPC to them. On the positive side, shadow elves receive a +2 racial bonus on saving throws versus spells and effects with the Evil or Death descriptor, and against fear spells and effects, and against spells and effects that utilize negative energy or material from the Plane of Shadow (such as various Illusion school spells). Shadow elves gain a +2 racial bonus on Intimidate checks, which increases by +1 for every five character levels. Shadow elves also gain a +1 racial bonus on saving throws versus poison and disease, which increases by +1 every four character levels. Lastly, weapons with the Unholy special ability always react to shadow elves as though they were evil.
Spell-Like Abilities: Shadow elves rarely study magic, but they do possess a small morsel of natural magical power, due to a blessing by the shadow spirit long ago, so they can harness a small amount of magic without any practice or study. Thus, shadow elves possess the spell-like abilities of
Daze,
Chill Touch, and
Darkness, as per the spells cast by a 4th-level sorcerer, and each is usable once per day. As these abilities are innate, a shadow elf does not need to meet the normal requisite Charisma score to cast them, and they do not need any components to cast them. Since most shadow elves are relatively dim-witted and primitive-minded, they tend to use these spells instinctively in combat with anything that seems tougher than themselves, and they tend to use their
Darkness ability to protect themselves from sunlight.
Automatic Languages: Common and Dire Elven.
Bonus Languages: Shadow elves may choose their bonus languages from among the following - Ancient Elven, Dwarven, Rock Goblin, and Undercommon.
Favored Class: A shadow elf's favored class is barbarian.[/sblock]
Shadow half-elves
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Shadow Half-Elves
+2 Dexterity, -2 Intelligence: Shadow half-elves, although rare, benefit from their human blood, gaining cunning and wit, at the expense of some muscle. However, they still retain much of the speed and agility of their elven parents, while their human parents gift them with increased intellect, charm, and empathy, mostly negating the intellectual and cultural shortcomings of their elven blood. Yet, shadow half-elves still bear some of the primitive, intellectual weaknesses of their elven parents, regardless.
Medium-Size: Shadow half-elves are Medium-sized, and thus have no special benefits or penalties related to size.
Speed: Shadow half-elven base speed is 30 feet.
Willpower: As they are usually shunned by most folk except shadow elves and other shadow half-elves, they develop strong wills to oppose those who try to control them or discriminate against them. Shadow half-elves gain a +1 bonus on Will saving throws, and another +1 per four character levels. This bonus also applies on checks to oppose Intimidate skill checks made against the shadow half-elf. Shadow half-elves also show a strange resistance to pain, and can stay conscious even after falling to negative hit points. However, as when at zero hit points, a shadow half-elf is disabled and takes 1 damage whenever they act while at negative hit points, and they still take damage every round from bleeding while at negative hit points. Additionally, on any round in which a shadow half-elf acts while at negative hit points, he cannot naturally stabilize on that round, and if he had naturally stabilized that round, he destabilizes again due to his action, unless the action healed him.
Darkvision: Shadow half-elves do not possess such keen eyesight and nightvision as their full-blooded elven kin, but are still quite superior to humans in the dark, and have Darkvision to a range of 90 feet, allowing them to see fine in the dark, but not magical darkness. Darkvision is black and white only, but otherwise just like normal vision, and a shadow half-elf can function just fine with no light at all.
Lesser Light Vulnerability: Because of their mixed blood, shadow-half elves do not suffer from quite the same weaknesses to light that their elven parents do, but they still suffer from some penalties in the light. A shadow half-elf suffers a -1 circumstance penalty on attack rolls, saving throws, and checks while operating in bright light, such as sunlight or the light of a Daylight spell. Sudden exposure to such bright light, such as when exiting a cave into the light of day, blinds a shadow half-elf for 1 round. Also, every hour a shadow half-elf spends exposed to true sunlight causes them 3 points of subdual damage, as the pure sunlight sears their partially-tainted soul; only natural sunlight causes this effect, however. Subdual damage inflicted in this manner does not heal naturally as long as the shadow half-elf is exposed to sunlight.
Keen Senses: Shadow half-elves gain a +1 racial bonus on all Listen, Spot, and Search checks, due to their keen eyes and ears, although they are not nearly as keen as a full-blooded elf's. As with many other half-elven breeds, shadow half-elves lack the ability to notice hidden or secret doors and traps without training.
Skulk In The Shadows: Shadow half-elves possess some of the sneaking prowess of their elven brethren, but not to the same degree, and they lack the shadow spirit's blessing of stealth. Thus, shadow half-elves gain a +1 racial bonus on Hide and Move Silently checks, which increases by +1 for every six character levels they possess. Hide and Move Silently are always class skills for a shadow half-elf, as well.
Lesser Tainted Soul: Shadow half-elves bear some of the taint in their souls which their elven parents possessed, so suffer from similar penalties and gain similar benefits. Shadow half-elves who are brought back to life by a non-evil divine spellcaster, or by a divine spellcaster whose patron deity is good-aligned, lose an additional 2 levels, even if the spell that would bring them back to life would not ordinarily cause level loss; as normal, if the shadow half-elf does not possess enough levels, then points of Constitution are lost instead of the excess level loss. Additionally, shadow half-elves brought back to life under the above circumstances lose 2 points each of Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma, which cannot be undone through magic, but instead the shadow half-elf regains 1 point of Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma each week, but only ability points lost because of Lesser Tainted Soul are restored by this. Spells forgotten because of the lowered Intelligence, Wisdom, and/or Charisma scores due to this effect return to the character's memory when the appropriate ability scores return to appropriate levels. Shadow half-elves suffer a -1 racial penalty on saves versus spells and effects with the Good descriptor. Shadow half-elves suffer a -2 racial penalty on Diplomacy checks to determine the initial reaction of a good-aligned Non-Player Character to them. In the way of positive benefits, shadow half-elves receive a +1 racial bonus on saving throws versus spells and effects with the Evil or Death descriptor, and against fear effects, and effects that utilize negative energy or material from the Plane of Shadow (such as various Illusion school spells). Shadow half-elves also gain a +2 racial bonus on Intimidate checks. Lastly, shadow half-elves also gain a +1 racial bonus on saving throws versus poison and disease for every five character levels they possess.
Extra Feats: Shadow half-elves, like humans and many other half-elves, each get a bonus feat for free at 1st-level, in addition to the standard feat that all characters gain at 1st-level. The shadow half-elf must still meet all the normal prerequisites for this bonus feat, however, but they can choose any feat that they qualify for. Also, at 11th-level, a shadow half-elf gains another free feat, chosen under the same guidelines.
Automatic Languages: Common and Dire Elven.
Bonus Languages: Shadow half-elves may choose their bonus languages from among the following - Ancient Elven, Dwarven, Rock Goblin, Undercommon, and the regional language for their home region, if applicable.
Favored Class: A shadow half-elf may choose either barbarian, rogue, or sorcerer as their favored class, as they possess some of their elven parent's affinity for savagery, but also possess some versatility from their human parent, although they usually end up as bandits or thieves since humans tend to scorn them.[/sblock]
