Elf lifespan, XP, level limit issues...

[BiggusGeekus]

[nerd]

I rule that the extended lifespans are due in part to regenerating brain tissue (humans don't do this so well in RL, neither do other mammals). So while the elves have a lot of time to learn things, they also constantly have to re-study the basics. Humans don't have to do that, but then they die a lot sooner.

[/nerd]

-BG

PS it's been brought to my attention that the science on that isn't 100%, but it shuts the players up.

 

[LostSoul]

In my game, all elves are at least 10th level because of all the challenges they've gone through over the years (and years).

Why don't they rule the world? Because they're elves, not humans. They don't think and act like humans do.

That's just my homebrew though.

 

[Shirt Guy John]

Lower constitution maybe? I mean, they might have a longer natural life span, but naturally, I would think that they would be much more suceptible to disease. A lesser plauge could wipe out a good sized comunity. Now dwarves, they could survive the red death and still try to take over the world. Hell, they've even got motive.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Elves spend too much of their days smoking mind-altering drugs and looking in the mirror and thinking of creative insults to disseminate to others to make an active study of classes.

Humans are more focused.

Dwarves spend too much of their days trying to figure out their gender, hitting metal with other metal, and generally being cranky to each other.

For the elves, a decent cold can kill them (or at least reduce them to whiny bastards for a week). For dwarves, they don't even much like their own kind, so they don't work well together (since after all, cousin Bifur did have that weird run-in with the halfling gent and those critters aren't totally on the up-and-up, eh what?).

 

[The_lone_gunman]

Think of it like this:

Long lifespan of the elves makes them real laid back when it comes to doing a lot of things. They have hundreds if not thousands of years to experience life, so they are naturally not in a great hurry to do so.

I give you an example from real life:

Have you ever had a long vacation time or something happened that allowed you a long time do get something finished. You put it off and put it off until finally you realized you had barely any time left, and then you hurried to get it done at the last minute. School papers/other assignments are some good examples of this. Or, for you married folk, "honey do" lists at the beginning of your week long vacation. People have a tendancy to put stuff off when they have lots of extra time.

Now take this example and apply it to elves. Not only do they have a long time to max out their levels, they have the equivelant of many many human lifetimes! The advancement rate, relative to age, would be the same as humans, unless you have an anomoly elf (one with a very power hungry desires, etc).

Thats how I understand it at least.

TLG

 

[gamecat]

Wouldn't an elven woman, having a lifespan 7 times longer, have 21 days of PMS a cycle? That scares me.

 

[Gez]

Everyone knows indeed that pregnancy, menstruation, childhood and sleep length are directly related to life expectancy. Yeah. That's why elves have invented trance, because their normal sleep period is not 8 hours, but 72 hours (for 16 hours of activity).

Now, if you consider that, that would loveably explains why elves don't do anything...


But, to turn my sarcasm on other things: the reasonning one could have with elves taking over the world because they're long lived, one could apply it also to, say, dragons, fiends, celestials, illithids elder brains...

Elves are chaotic good, so they don't want much autority, neither from other on them nor from them on others. Except in the Forgotten Realms were Chaotic Good is the elven way of saying Lawful Evil. They are interested by all things of beauty, spend their days and nights looking at the flight of hummingbirds and hearing the lovesong of nightingales. When they are not going rough-and-tumble with nymphs and satyrs and other guests. They also spend the greater party of day washing and perfuming themselves and brushing and combing their hair.

These activities give them neither the time nor the seriousness to exert autority on other races.

If there was a humanoid race to take over the world, it would be the dwarves. They are long-lived the same; but they are stern and serious, totally devoted to their clan and the ideal of work, and most of them are lawful good, the perfect alignment for just autority. (My theory is that a perfect society in D&D terms would have a LG government and CG citizens.)

 

[S'mon]

You can have a world ruled by elves, or dragons, or Melniboneans, if you want.

Personally, under 3e stats I think Orcs should rule the world - they breed fast, and even the average 1st level orc is vastly more deadly than a 1st level human, dwarf or elf - +3 ATT & d12+3 dmg/hit means they can easily kill foes several levels higher.

If orcs (or elves) don't rule your game world it's because of culture & GM fiat, not game rules.

 

[Gez]

If we go on strict game rules, shadows (or any other "contagious" undead, bodak, nightwing, etc.) would rule the world, as their population can grow exponentially.

 

[Zappo]

More in general, "ruling the world" isn't only a function of racial strength; it depends also (I'd say, mostly) on culture and economical/political conditions.