Pseudodragon Life Cycle/Span

[Tarlek Flamehai]

Do all dragon types use the age rules in Draconomicon, or just True Dragons? If the pseudo doesn't use those rules, what are it's age categories? The only other thing I can find is the 2nd edition "Ecology of" article. Since the pseudo has been horrendously nerfed since then I hesitate to use anything out of that article (which also calls them cold-blooded--another thing that changed in 3.X).

Thanks in Advance!

[Bronk]

Do all dragon types use the age rules in Draconomicon, or just True Dragons? If the pseudo doesn't use those rules, what are it's age categories? The only other thing I can find is the 2nd edition "Ecology of" article. Since the pseudo has been horrendously nerfed since then I hesitate to use anything out of that article (which also calls them cold-blooded--another thing that changed in 3.X).

Thanks in Advance!

The aging of most monsters is pretty nebulous. Usually you just see ages for player character races and the ages for the true dragons that appear in the Draconomicon, which I believe just lists the big five metallic and chromatics.

True dragons have their twelve age categories, however long they may be, and everything else that's mortal either has their own thing going on (like neogi) or just follow the regular aging rules that change your stats slightly at middle age, old and venerable.

I think the pseudodragon description is one of the few that actually lists a maximum age... It says that they live for 10-15 years, so I'd imagine that they'd be hitting venerable sometime after ten years.

[atemu1234]

The aging of most monsters is pretty nebulous. Usually you just see ages for player character races and the ages for the true dragons that appear in the Draconomicon, which I believe just lists the big five metallic and chromatics.

True dragons have their twelve age categories, however long they may be, and everything else that's mortal either has their own thing going on (like neogi) or just follow the regular aging rules that change your stats slightly at middle age, old and venerable.

I think the pseudodragon description is one of the few that actually lists a maximum age... It says that they live for 10-15 years, so I'd imagine that they'd be hitting venerable sometime after ten years.

Adulthood: 2 years, for next category maybe age seven, then ten, then +1d8?

Seem balanced?

[WhamBamSam]

You can impose definite age categories on a Pseudodragon by giving it the Dragonborn template. That'll cost it a lot of what makes it unique, but it's handy if you want to make absolutely certain that it can be Old so you can give it Epic feats or something.

Even if you just want aging for fluff reasons, the Dragonborn age table might be worth looking into, though that'd mean they'd live a long time. Perhaps longer than you'd like for a non-True dragon.

[Tarlek Flamehai]

*Reads Monster Manual* Oops, 10-15 years right there in black and white. That's what I get for just checking the SRD. Sigh, I even went back and looked at the old 2nd edition "Ecology of" article from Dragon, but I completely overlooked the MM.

On a side note, the Pdragon was way nastier in the old days.