Scars, disfigurations, tattoos

[Tychina]

I have heard that elves do not scar, is this true? And if it is, what if someone wanted to have their elf "marked" in some way, would this be impossible then? Would tattoos work? Or is there some other way to achieve this?

[Isaldur]

It all depends on preferance. In 2e there was a wealth of information on elves that they never brought to 3e, including that elves "heal better" than most races. This doesn't mean they heal faster, or have regeneration, but they scar less etc.

As for tattoos, I'm pretty sure that's one thing wild elves do regularly. Of course I could be wrong with that.

[Andreas]

I've never found any evidence that elves heal faster or slower than other races. There is a brief mention of them having a higher resistance to extremes of heat and cold (I'll find the book and give quotes later - lunch is ready now!) but that doesn't mean they'd blithely stand up to the breath weapons of a red or white dragon.

Tattooing is VERY popular among Green and Silver elves. Green elves tend to cover their bodies with totemic symbols (Green elves are active practioners of Shamanism and Totemic worship). Silver elves tend to favour more decorative patterns but many also decorate their bodies with totemic symbols. Some tattoos are temporary (much like henna tattooing) and made with various dyes. Others are permanent and probably applied using traditional methods or through mystic ceremonies.

Gold elves are markedly different in this regard. They care for very little adorment (i.e. jewelry) and I haven't found any references to a tattooed Gold elf. This is probably linked to their belief that they are the only TRUE elves descended from Corellon and thus the perfect vessels created by that deity. To adorn themselves with tattoos might imply Corellon had created a less than perfect child race.

No mention of Aquatic elves being tattooed either. I imagine it would be difficult to do and probably not very good to destroy their natural camouflage colouration.

[Gwain]

Do elven teeth rot? Or are they as resilient as the elves themselves. Bone structure I know can be damaged because arms and legs and such can brake but will they wear down as teeth would in the mouths of other races?

[Twyrnea]

Chapter Three of 2nd edition Complete Book of Elves:

...for elves have a strong regenerative ability. Scars (not wounds) on their bodies heal more quickly than they do on other races, eventually dissapearing almost entirely. Such scars show up only under intense scrutiny or harsh lighting conditions. This ability works only on scars; elves do not recover hit points more rapidly than any other PC race.

Their regenerative ability does not extend to regrowing lost limbs or organs, although some contend that the elves are the original creators of the magicks that enable this.

Again, this is from second edition DnD, and since it is still what I play in tabletop and mostly follow, for all I know it could have been changed. But I've always gone by the belief that elves do scar far less than other species.

(I have been recently reading through the 'complete books' series that I have, by the by...I hope some of this information will help someone!)

edit: Gwain, I have always believed that elves health and hygiene were fairly resilient. I have read several times that elves are immune to most ilnesses and diseases (though there are rare elven diseases), and that combined with their regenerative ability makes me think they would have less tooth rot and similar issues than the other races.