Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is LIVE! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition (A5E)
Level Up Playtest 1: Elves
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Haldrik" data-source="post: 8083966" data-attributes="member: 6694221"><p>So far, discussions involve "Elf physical descriptions" and "Elf origins". Now for "Elf immortality".</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>[SPOILER="Elf immortality"]... These long-lived people.</p><p></p><p>Elves do not merely “survive” in this world; they are among the world’s ancient masters. Elvish culture predates that of other cultures, except perhaps the cultures of dragons and giants. How elves respond to their near immortality is one of the most defining aspects of an elf’s personality.</p><p></p><p>... </p><p></p><p><strong><em>Age. </em></strong>Elf children mature at the same rate as human children, but elvish cultures do not consider them to be fully mentally developed (nor age of majority) until they acquire a century of life experience. Elves today can live to be 700 or older, and legends speak of elves who simply never die.</p><p>[/SPOILER]</p><p></p><p>I feel the Level Up playtest handles elven immortality perfectly.</p><p></p><p>The longevity of most elves is toward 700 years. But individuals are possible "who never die".</p><p></p><p>This sounds about right.</p><p></p><p>Since there is no real ceiling for life expectency, maybe maybe mention a lifespan of 600 years is "common", with immortality being "rare". Presumably there are eladrin elves who are archfey who are immortal. Perhaps their immortality allowed them enough time to achieve the high levels of archfey. Even someone like Corellon and Lolth are simply normal elves who have lived along time. They are honored because they are immortal ancestors who are still alive among their descendents. Here the family value of "honor thy parent" is quite literal. There is nothing "religious" about it per se.</p><p></p><p>Whether a lifespan is many centuries or forever, in either case there is a sense of "eternal youth". Most reach an apparent age of 20, and remain about 20 forever.</p><p></p><p>In any case, there is a sense that any elf might be one of the few who seem to live indefinitely. Most are finite. But some continue on. Perhaps the immortal feel survivors guilt? Perhaps the immortals feel a sense of responsibility as parents for the elven communities?</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The part of the playtest that really struck me is:</p><p></p><p>"How elves respond to their near immortality is one of the most defining aspects of an elf’s personality."</p><p></p><p>Immortality! Every elf is potentially immortal.</p><p></p><p>This is so important. And so central to the character concept. The player needs to wrap ones head around this, to roleplay an elf.</p><p></p><p>So far, in my experience, D&D seems to handwaive a millennium lifespan, by saying, "be aloof" and "dont sweat the small", or something like that.</p><p></p><p>But think about. If you knew you might be immortal. And you have met longlife family members and perhaps was at an elven court of an immortal elf. If that might be you one day, how would you feel? What would you do?</p><p></p><p>The answer to that question, is what makes an elf a character.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Haldrik, post: 8083966, member: 6694221"] So far, discussions involve "Elf physical descriptions" and "Elf origins". Now for "Elf immortality". [SPOILER="Elf immortality"]... These long-lived people. Elves do not merely “survive” in this world; they are among the world’s ancient masters. Elvish culture predates that of other cultures, except perhaps the cultures of dragons and giants. How elves respond to their near immortality is one of the most defining aspects of an elf’s personality. ... [B][I]Age. [/I][/B]Elf children mature at the same rate as human children, but elvish cultures do not consider them to be fully mentally developed (nor age of majority) until they acquire a century of life experience. Elves today can live to be 700 or older, and legends speak of elves who simply never die. [/SPOILER] I feel the Level Up playtest handles elven immortality perfectly. The longevity of most elves is toward 700 years. But individuals are possible "who never die". This sounds about right. Since there is no real ceiling for life expectency, maybe maybe mention a lifespan of 600 years is "common", with immortality being "rare". Presumably there are eladrin elves who are archfey who are immortal. Perhaps their immortality allowed them enough time to achieve the high levels of archfey. Even someone like Corellon and Lolth are simply normal elves who have lived along time. They are honored because they are immortal ancestors who are still alive among their descendents. Here the family value of "honor thy parent" is quite literal. There is nothing "religious" about it per se. Whether a lifespan is many centuries or forever, in either case there is a sense of "eternal youth". Most reach an apparent age of 20, and remain about 20 forever. In any case, there is a sense that any elf might be one of the few who seem to live indefinitely. Most are finite. But some continue on. Perhaps the immortal feel survivors guilt? Perhaps the immortals feel a sense of responsibility as parents for the elven communities? The part of the playtest that really struck me is: "How elves respond to their near immortality is one of the most defining aspects of an elf’s personality." Immortality! Every elf is potentially immortal. This is so important. And so central to the character concept. The player needs to wrap ones head around this, to roleplay an elf. So far, in my experience, D&D seems to handwaive a millennium lifespan, by saying, "be aloof" and "dont sweat the small", or something like that. But think about. If you knew you might be immortal. And you have met longlife family members and perhaps was at an elven court of an immortal elf. If that might be you one day, how would you feel? What would you do? The answer to that question, is what makes an elf a character. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition (A5E)
Level Up Playtest 1: Elves
Top