A Question About Elves

[Wounded_Lion]

How long does it take Half-Elves (specifically Half-Drow) to mature into adulthood?

 

I'm writing for Pai'Na NPC and would like to avoid 2000 angry letters from PnP enthusiasts.

 

aWL

[WizWom]

It used to be 135 years for full elves, but 40 years for 1/2 Elves. At least that's what my recollection is after not having book in hand for over 4 years.

[Guest erik]

According to Forgotten Realms: Cormanthyr: Empire of the Elves

 

Drow

Child: 1-30

Adolescent: 31-80

Adult: 81-175

 

Starting age: 60+5D6

 

Nothing about half-elves in there, I'll leave that for others to find...

[Guest EarthquakeDamage]

According to Forgotten Realms: Cormanthyr: Empire of the Elves

 

Drow

Child: 1-30

Adolescent: 31-80

Adult: 81-175

 

Starting age: 60+5D6

 

Nothing about half-elves in there, I'll leave that for others to find...

 

One thing that's always puzzled me: Do they physically mature at that rate or are they simply treated as children/etc at those ages?

 

On a slightly different note: If the latter (which has always been my guess), it's surprising that elves ever treat humans with any respect at all.

[Wounded_Lion]

some five versions of Basic D&D

+

AD&D

+

AD&D 2E

+

AD&D 2E Revised

+

D&D 3E

+

D&D 3.5

+

soon-to-be-released D&D 4

=

an astounding number of sourcebooks/information

 

I'm not enthusiastic about sifting through the massive amount of D&D information available on the Web to try and discover a consensus on half-Drow aging. Pen-'n-Paper D&D is a mere curiosity or casual reading material to me; on the whole I find it too restrictive and too rigid/unimaginative to be a viable game. I prefer flexible story/character-driven systems such as the old White Wolf books (the current WW line is crap; read classic Vampire: The Masquerade 2nd Edition, Werewolf: The Apocalypse 2nd Edition, and Mage: The Ascension 2nd Edition if interested).

 

I've located a number of sources via Google search that claim (without citations to indicate edition/sourcebook/etc, of course... *sigh*) that D&D half-Elves physically mature at roughly the same rate as humans. I'm currently writing with that premise in mind (which conveniently facilitates the story that I am crafting... *smile*). If you have information to the contrary, please share your knowledge (because I won't likely be wasting additional time/effort with this matter).

 

aWL

 

Edit: color!

[cirerrek]

This question pops up occasionally on the NWN2 boards because of their wacko timeline between the NWN1 and NWN2.

 

As I recall for elves. They are considered physically mature at a relatively young age (20?), but are not mentally mature as far as elven society considers one to be mature.

 

When raised by humans, they reach mental maturity at the same time as a human. So standard human adventuring ages would seem to apply.

 

I'm guessing the same would apply for half-elves raised by humans, but half-elves raised by elves would take longer to mature.

[Miloch]

According to Races of Faerun, "Half-drow use the same age categories as other half-elves." Elsewhere it says half-elves "reach adulthood at about age 20." The 2e PHB says they reach middle age at 62, old age at 83, and "venerable" at 125. So they are slightly longer-lived than humans (at 45, 60, 90) but not nearly as long as elves (175, 233, 350).

 

To look at it another way, the "starting age" for a human is 15+1d4, for a half-elf 15+1d6 and for an elf 100+5d6. The maximum age ranges are 90+2d20, 125+3d20 and 350+4d100, respectively. (Elves do not die on hitting their "maximum age" but feel "compelled to migrate" and depart the world of men.)

[Sorrow]

One thing that's always puzzled me: Do they physically mature at that rate or are they simply treated as children/etc at those ages?

Drow are corrupted and both live and mature shorter. Basically, they live shorter because of their special abilities.

 

As I recall for elves. They are considered physically mature at a relatively young age (20?), but are not mentally mature as far as elven society considers one to be mature.

 

When raised by humans, they reach mental maturity at the same time as a human. So standard human adventuring ages would seem to apply.

Elven children suffer a stat penanalty of -4 STR, -2 DEX, -4 INT and -4 WIS, so no, they are pre-adolescent children, both physically and mentally.

[Miloch]

Elven children suffer a stat penanalty of -4 STR, -2 DEX, -4 INT and -4 WIS, so no, they are pre-adolescent children, both physically and mentally.

Too bad your elven Bhaalspawn PC doesn't get this penalty, since s/he supposedly starts the game around age 20 or whatever it is.

[Sorrow]

Too bad there are hordes of high level characters and tons of magical weapons and armour in this absurd munchkinfest Baldur's Gate series.

 

As for the realistic ages...

I wonder what Imoen would be like if she was the older sister...

[Wounded_Lion]

Thanks!

 

I hadn't noticed your replies until today. I appreciate the solid info!

 

aWL

[Guest Zukn]

Reading the FR book Moonblade, (IE 2nd ed rules weren't important to a good story), it would appear that 1/2 elves age as humans untill their teen years, then age slowly, a 40 year old half elf is described as looking south of her 20th year(less than 20), but are treated by elves like children, (IE not old enough to enroll in the training acadamies without significant intervention). They really don't fit in in either society.