The Fountain of Youth

[ivocaliban]

For some time I've been curious about ways in which to have an older character appear younger permanently. In my current campaign there is a True Necromancer in her fifties who follows Wee Jas. As Wee Jas is the goddess of vanity (in addition to death and magic), her worshipper appears much younger than she actual is. The only problem is I don't have any way to justify this according to the rules...

Spells like Alter Self cannot be made permanent and would require daily spellcasting to keep active. The Disguise skill (and items like Hat of Disguise) creates a more cosmetic approach and that's not at all what I'm looking for. What I'm looking for is an Elixir of Youth, but I'm not exactly sure where to begin in creating such a thing.

Perhaps something of this nature exists in older material? I'd be grateful for any advice or direction regarding this sort of effect. I should also make it clear that I'm not looking for ways to circumvent aging penalties or death. I simply seek a way to create the appearance of youth.

 

[Crothian]

well, there used to be potions that actualyl made one youngher. There are spells, high level ones, that offer immortaliy. In the ELH there si a feat for expanding ones lifespan. I imagine one could use shapechyange or invent a variant of it to do this as well.

 

[Xen155]

From everything i've read in my books, the process of aging can be stopped, but when a char reaches the end of his time, he dies anyways. A monk stops aging after a certine level but still dies when his time is up. As for increasing said time.... WISH!

 

[ivocaliban]

I appreciate the advice so far, though outside of a Wish spell it's looking fairly difficult to get the result I want. I don't want to halt the aging process or actually make my True Necromancer young again...I just want her to look about half her age. As it's purely a matter of vanity I'll probably never need to justify why she looks so young, but I really would like to have some advice on creating an elixir that might produce this effect. How much would such a thing cost and what sort of spells might be involved in its creation? Or would the concept even work within the given rules?

Thanks again for all your help.

 

[Quickleaf]

My first response is: If you're the DM, just do it! You don't need to find rules to support a flavor decision like this. However, if you're a player, you might want to check out the Netbook of witches (Libre Mysterium). Besides being an well researched, entertaining flavor-rich supplement with tons of new spells, it also has a spell called "shattering the hourglass" or something like it that I think fits the bill for what you're looking for. Also, you might try the Netbook of Time, which I'm sure has something you could adapt.

 

[jaerdaph]

Hmmm. How about swapping out a class ability for another one in a class that has an ability similar to what you want to accomplish?

For example, Mongoose Publishing's Quintessential Witch has a Witch class ability called Timeless Body that might work. That's a 3.0e book, but a 3.5e version of Mongoose's Witch class with an updated description of Timeless Body can be found in Issue #3 of their Signs and Portents company magazine. Actually though, I think that just stops the witch from appearing to age any further, not reduce their apparent age, and they're still subject to death by natural aging. The Witch class in Green Ronin's The Witch's Handbook has a very similar class ability by the same name as well. Again, that's a 3.0e book, but a 3.5e conversion/update is available on their Web site for free.

Hmmm...

 

[Lord Pendragon]

I appreciate the advice so far, though outside of a Wish spell it's looking fairly difficult to get the result I want. I don't want to halt the aging process or actually make my True Necromancer young again...I just want her to look about half her age. As it's purely a matter of vanity I'll probably never need to justify why she looks so young, but I really would like to have some advice on creating an elixir that might produce this effect. How much would such a thing cost and what sort of spells might be involved in its creation? Or would the concept even work within the given rules?

I would allow Wish or Miracle to accomplish this. In fact, I'd allow Miracle to do it without an xp cost. So the simplest way to go about it would be to get your True Necromancer a scroll of Miracle.

 

[argo]

This is for an NPC right? If so then just handwave it and be done with it. Its a boon from her god or she discovered some dark ritual that only works once a century when the stars are right, whatever. As a DM you have more important things to worry about.

 

[ivocaliban]

Thanks again, everyone. Essentially, I did "handwave" it and normally I'd be content to leave it at that, but I just noticed the concept didn't seem to be represented in the system. I'll probably end up making it a gift of Wee Jas in the form of a miracle (spell or otherwise).

 

[PieAndDragon]

Just re-read initial post. Ignore