Is there a good book providing information on Elven (preferably Wood Elf) and Dwarven society? How do they age and mature, what size of communities do they live in, how do they raise their kids, what do they eat, what kind of music do they listen to, what are some common occupations, etc...

The armies books seem to be mostly concerned about military history (but no real surprise there). I figure there must be some old 2nd ed books on the subject, but I can't find them.

Warhammer Fantasy Battle books.

High Elves, Wood Elves and Dwarfs.

3 great books, with lots of fluff and info on elven and dwarven culture and history.

EDIT. woops, I just noticed, You already read those books

But they are good anyways.

I haven't really been able to find anything more on Elves aside from what has been mentioned already. There's the stuff in the Core of 1e and the Army Books, and that's really it. I don't think there's really a guide on the Elven day-to-day life and what their music is like, is there?

The best source for this kind of thing is still the first edition fan article 'Laurelorn Elves' which can be found here:

www.madalfred.darcore.net

There is also the White Dwarf article 'No Psychos Needed' on racial psychlogy, also for the first edition (it was reprinted in Apocrypha Now).

Another option is to read some Novels. For instance you could read Malekith. A tale of the Sundering. All about the high elves and dark elves.

The army books are still the main source for the elves and dwrves.

For Dwarves see if you can get a copy of Grudgelore.
There is also some dwarven details in the 3nd Ed karak azgal book.

For elves I would recommend the Defenders of Ulthuan novelfor a look at thinks from an Elven perspective (part 1 of a series - but no other parts out yet, so ends a bit odd).

Wood elves - check out Knight Erant(?) a novel about a bretonnian knight in the wood elf realms.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

I believe there is an old sourcebook for WHFRPG 1ed. called Dwarfs : Stone and Steel which you might find useful.

Wow, that "Stone and Steel" book was exactly what I was looking for. There was no equivalent released for any of the other races?

Stuntie said:

Although I haven't read them myself I do know about another Wood elves novel known as Guardians of the Forest.

Guardians of the Forest is pretty lame in terms of fluff (at least for Empire-centered games).

Books like Grudgelore & Stone & Steel haven't been released for other races.

However I'm surprised no-one mentioned the Apocrypha Now for first edition that introduced psychology and advices of roleplaying non-human races.

Besides everything else mentioned, you may want to read some of the Gotrek & Felix novels - they don't give too much in depth info on the various regions but rather they give you an idea of how life feels there. Plus it's a fun read anyway.

I know you've read the WFB books, but the 5th Edition Wood Elf book (the one with the yellowy cover) had more information on the Wood Elf kindreds than the current edition. Actually, older WFB books tended to include more non-military fluff than the more recent ones. I remember the very first High Elf army book (the first Army Book indeed) being very good in that regard.

What's more, because they're not much use for the game any more - old WFB army books should be really cheap to pick up.

Bertolac said:

I think Warhammer Armies was the first army book, actually. I forgot how much background info it had. Not a lot probably, but I can check if you like.

I've got Warhammer Armies - not very much info at all.

I was talking about High Elves being the first race specific Army Book.

- A tale of the Sundering serie in the collection Time of Legend (Malekith, Shadow King and Caledor) is a must for lore about elf (High Elves and Dark Elves):

http://www.blacklibrary.com/Time-of-Legends/Malekith.html

http://www.blacklibrary.com/Time-of-Legends/Shadow-King.html

http://www.blacklibrary.com/all-products/coming-soon/Caledor.html

- I recommend highly The Chronicles of Malus Darkblade vol.1 and 2 for a vivid immersion into the Dark Elves culture and mind setting. You cannot be wrong with this read. It's one of the best serie published by Black Library:

http://www.blacklibrary.com/Warhammer/Malus-Darkblade

- I didn't read yet Guardian of the Forest, but seeking for Wood Elves fluff, I would check at it, despite the criticism:

http://www.blacklibrary.com/Warhammer/Guardians-of-the-Forest.html

- Defender of Ulthuan is another title that come to my mind, but I haven't read it yet either, so I cannot speak for or against it:

http://www.blacklibrary.com/Warhammer/Defenders-of-Ulthuan.html

- Honourkeeper is a story evolving around the Dwarf and the Elves. You should check for this one. It recieved good review:

http://www.blacklibrary.com/Warhammer/Honourkeeper.html

- Concerning the Dwarf, there is also the background book Grudgelore, but it is not that great. Still, you can find some interesting information into it:

http://www.blacklibrary.com/all-products/Grudgelore.html

- Again about the Dwarf, Oathbreaker is a story set long before the Storm of Chaos about a Skaven strike against the dwarfs.

http://www.blacklibrary.com/Warhammer/Oathbreaker.html

- Grudge Bearer is another novel set around the Dwarf:

http://www.blacklibrary.com/all-products/Grudge-Bearer.html

I consider the novels published by Black Library as good source of fluff. After all, RPG's sourcebooks included as well short stories to elaborate background components.

Read till you bleed

Kyorou said:

And old sourcebook? I beiieve it's actually quite new. It wouldn't surprise me if it's less than 10 years old, and quite possibly the last 1st edition book ever released. The majority of 1st edition books are over 20 years old.

mcv said:

September 2002 to be precise.

Cheers

Sparrow