D&D General So how do Half-Elfs feel different to Elfs?

[W'rkncacnter]

Seriously? 5e half elves live 180 years and elves live to 750.

So let's take a set of half-siblings: human (Mike), half-elf(Hank) and elf (Evan) born in the year 1300AD. All the human parents are 25yro (born 1275AD) the elven parents are a roughly human equivalent (heq25) of 150yro (born 1150AD).

Spoiler

• 1320AD Mike (human) and Hank (half-elf) are adults with jobs. Evan (elf) is roughly fully grown but is effectively a "tween" who will live with relatives for another 80 years. Human parents (45yro) are getting to middle age, elven parents are effectively unchanged at heq27/170yro.
• 1330 Hank (heq25) may be watching Evan (heq13ish) and Mike's young kids. Mike (30) looks older than the heq28 elven aunts/uncles.
• 1350 Hank's human parent, as well as Mike's parents, are all geriatric (75+ yro). The elven parents (heq30) look younger than Hank (heq35) and Mike is 50. Evan (heq15ish) is still 50 years from his adult name, is likely caring for his human aunt/uncle along with an assortment of Hank and Mike's kids and possibly grandkids.
• 1380 The human parents are dead, Mike is elderly, Hank is middle age (heq50) but looks younger than some of Mike's kids, Evan is heq18 and his parents are heq33.

*1300 Mike probably didn't live this long. Hank (heq60) helps Mike's kids (<75yro) to their seats to watch Uncle Evan (heq20) at his Naming Ceremony. Evan's parents (heq35) look younger than some of Mike's great-grandchildren and there is likely one of Mike's great-great-grandkids. Hank has half-elven greatgrandkids in attendance. Evan has attended dozens of funerals for his extended human family.

• 1375 Evan(heq25) is expecting his first child. Hank (heq97) is holding on to see his elven niece/nephew. One of Mike's great-great-great-great-grandchildren might be present to witness the birth of their 8th cousin. Evan's parents (heq45) look about the same age as Hank's half-elven great-great-grandkids.
• 1900 Evan's parents, who were born in the age of Charlemagne, lived to see steam trains.
• 2026 Evan (heq98) is equivalent to where Hank was in 1375. He was born in the age of cannons, lived through the ages of steam, combustion, flight, nuclear power, and computers.

In summary

• Human Mike will spend his whole life watching a single generation of elves almost reach adulthood. He will see his half-elven relative seem a bit younger through middle age, but Mike will rapidly gray and die even as the half-elf is middle aged.
• half-elf Hank is barely likely to see the birth of elven relatives' offspring. He will see four generations of human relatives grow old and die.
• Elf Evan knows his half-elven relatives will see no more than 2 generations of elves when he could elven great- or great-great-grandchildren. Evan will see several dozen human generations. His lifespan will exceed most human empires. Even if he never leaves the village he was born, the human language he spoke at birth will likely be unintelligible to humans in the same village when he dies.

well that was the most horribly depressing elf-related text i've ever read.

 

[jmartkdr2]

I've never really liked this type this type of equivalency because if it takes an elf 80 years to mature mentally then nothing related to memory is going to have a human equivalency simply because if they could form memories like humans do, they wouldn't need 80 years to mature.

Also since sleep is intricately related to creating memories for humans, it's safe to say everything about memories is going to be vastly different for creatures who trance instead.

While I don't think it's official in any way I would posit that trancing is how elves create long term memories and therefore when they are children (<80) and haven't learnt how to trance yet they won't really be creating proper long term memories. So while an older elf can still remember things that happened centuries ago and therefore have a very different outlook because of it, they don't remember sitting around the dinner table with their parents, or a favourite childhood toy like a human might.

Having the long-term memory of a toddler for 80 years is certainly a take, though not really one I’ve seen in anything before.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

For me, it's fairly simple.

To be an elf (in this case, a "high elf" if you prefer that distinction) is to be the heir to an ancient legacy; to be carrying on traditions so old, human civilization didn't even have language when they were started; to be the gorgeous relic of another time, still as proud and graceful as ever, even though the greatest days are long, long gone now.

To be a half-elf is to be something in and of and unto yourself, yet with no anchor to hold you to something specific that came before; to have an innately mercurial worldview, not because you are volatile, but because you are a living demonstration of things melding together to create something greater than the sum of its parts; to be a bridge between alienation and unification, stumbling and hesitant and often taking steps back before you can take steps forward.

Or, if you prefer, elves are Roman, and then Rhomaioi (aka Byzantine), carrying on a thousand-year legacy of culture and power; half-elves are Anglo-Saxon verging into English, a melting-pot, a blend of a dozen cultures thousands of miles apart over the course of a thousand years.

 

[Yaarel]

I view the Elf as immortal, eternally youthful. They live on average for a thousand years, dying from causes besides old age. But potentially they never die. There are still Elves who are alive since the primordial creation.

The Elf reaches physical and cognitive maturity at the same rate as Human, at about 20 years of age, then remains forever young.

Becoming an "adult" at the age of a hundred, relates to exploring oneself and the worlds around. The Elf needs to understand who one is and who one is not, before deciding what to do for the rest of eternity.

The elven cultures make a point to encourage this centennial of youthful exploration. Afterward, to take on the commitments that are aspirationally forever, is a literal rite of passage, the great celebration of an initiation ceremony. In adulthood, the Elves take on cosmic responsibilities.