Here, EcksianRaven of the GLoG server offers a class idea:
3. Elf
Because elves are cool and everyone always gets them wrong. People see elves as perfect and magical and good at archery, and so they make elf classes that are those things. But actually what’s most important about elves is them being old. I wanna make an elf class that’s good at being old. The only way to make a player feel like they’ve been around for ages is (i submit) to let them author parts of the worlds history.
Elves have some resource they can expend to have a Blades in the Dark style flashback that can go back a couple hundred years.
They only have a couple minutes in out of game time to achieve their goal, but they have all the abilities they do normally (more perhaps).
As they level up they retroactively become older (elves don’t follow linear time, that’s why they’re ok with being ruled by kings, if the king’s reign wasn’t going to be prosperous they could get rid of them before the coronation) and get more authorship over the flashbacks.
This class is basically that idea, played straight. You have a Flashback mechanic, but using it risks picking up Blades in the Dark style Traumas for doing so. Also, it has a flip template because I love flip templates.
Ancient Elf
Skills: see Elf-Ways
Starting Equipment: Cloak, plus six items from Elf-Ways
A. Elf-Lore, Elf-Ways
B. Elf-Friend // Elf-Foe
C. Elf-Witnessed
D. Elf-Wrought
Elf-Lore: You have lived for quite a long time and remember being present for and involved in events that most modern folk think of as historical. 25 years at Elf template A and add an extra zero on the end for every subsequent Elf template. You can always choose to take your turn at some point your personal past. You don't have to roll to do so, you simply say what happened during that particular six second window.
If your proposed past actions end up so incongruent with the general understanding of history in-universe that the GM needs longer than a minute to reconcile them, you automatically fail the above check.
Elf-Ways: The ways of Elves are not the ways of Men. You start with two Elfish skills and six Elfish items of an undefined nature. They are greatly superior to the human equivalent, but in an understated, cozy and practical sort of way. When using Elf-Lore, you may define one of your skills and one of your items from this feature, establishing them as either common or exceptional amongst your people.
Elf-Friend: On meeting a named character for the first time, you may use Elf-Lore to describe how they came to be a friend of the Elves. Unless something drastic has changed between now and then, they will continue to behave as a friend to your people. If they are now hostile, they will give an explanation as to why at the first reasonable opportunity. On using this ability flip over to the Elf-Foe template.
Elf-Foe: On meeting a named character for the first time, you may use Elf-Lore to describe how the two of you once fought. Make an attack roll: if it would hit, they roll on the Death and Dismemberment table. If it would miss, you roll on the table instead. Treat all results that would kill or permanently incapacitate the opponent as 'dramatic scar' instead. On using this ability flip over to the Elf-Friend template.
Elf-Witnessed: The first time that you would be called upon to make a Saving Throw against a particular trap, spell or technology, you may use your Elf-Lore to declare that you were present when the trap was first laid, the spell was first invented or the technology first discovered. You automatically pass your save.
Elf-Wrought: You may use Elf-Lore to make second-hand claims about events happening as far back as the Dawn of Time. Claims made about prehistory do not need to be historically consistent, but always inflict an Elf-Woe on you, regardless of what you would or would not have rolled on your Elf-Lore check.
