Do outsiders die of old age?

[BilltheCynic]

Exactly what the title says. It would make sense, considering that it includes archons, fiends, genies, etc, but I haven't found any RAW support for it. So does the outsider type make you ageless?

[Jack_Simth]

Exactly what the title says. It would make sense, considering that it includes archons, fiends, genies, etc, but I haven't found any RAW support for it. So does the outsider type make you ageless?

Reply hazy, ask your DM.

Edit: On a slightly more serious note, like most creatures in the monster manuals, no ageing information is given. Elementals, Outsiders, Fey, undead, plant creatures, abberations, et cetera in general have no ageing tables at all. Races intended for PC use do. The True Dragons do. Everything else? Not so much (although I suppose there will be a few exceptions; there always are). It's a question about world-building (ageless creatures will have a different society than will those who whither and die with time; someone who will live until slain has a lot less motivation for having heirs than does someone who well knows death is inevitable). So you need to ask your DM.

Edit 2: Theoretically, because ageing tables do not specifically change with type, unless whatever source a person gets the outsider type from specifically changes ageing, the person continues to age exactly as they did before, so a human who turns into an outsider (such as from the Acolyte of the Skin PrC) still dies of old age despite the type change.

[Venger]

Exactly what the title says. It would make sense, considering that it includes archons, fiends, genies, etc, but I haven't found any RAW support for it. So does the outsider type make you ageless?

though many outsiders, such as devils and demons, are immortal, it's not a function of type itself, so no.

[kellbyb]

If anyone would know this, it's Afro.

[KillianHawkeye]

I'm pretty sure that native outsiders (those who are part mortal and native to the Prime Material Plane) at the very least all age and eventually die.

Races of Destiny and the Planar Handbook both contain age tables for tieflings and aasimar, while the Player's Guide to Faerun applies the same age limits to genasi. The Planar Handbook also includes 4 examples of non-native outsiders that still have a maximum age limit (the baraiur, mephling, shadowswyft, and wildren), so we can say definitively that not all outsiders are immortal.

Beyond that, unfortunately, it's hard to say without getting a specific answer for each different type of outsider. Demons and devils are typically considered to be immortal and they even reform when destroyed, so I'd expect more-or-less the same to be true of angels and possibly all the other main aligned outsiders.

[Jowgen]

I believe reading somewhere that native outsiders age. Vaguely recall there being a table for planetouched being hidden somewhere. In the book where lesser planetoucheds are described perhaps?

Arguably, the ability to age is a special benefit allowing a creature to increase it's mental ability scores for a price (i.e. physical ability scores). Creatures without an ageing table don't get that option by RAW, I believe.

On an interesting note here, Fey are generally described as/assumed to be immortal. Killoren from ROTW can get old, but don't age beyond that. The Fey-feature article describes the inns-and-outs of Fey ageing, saying that DMs should choose whether they age or not, but the assumption overall is that they're immortal. Like, there is a poison described in those article that serves no other purpose than to make an immortal creature mortal.

But yes, for this topic specifically, Afro is your guy.

EDIT: Ahhh, Swordsaged on the planetouched.

[Inevitability]

If anyone would know this, it's Afro.

*Starts preparing the summoning circle*

*Puts on a CD with faux latin chanting*

[afroakuma]

I am summoned

As I already said in my thread, the rules are neither clear nor consistent, mainly because (as noted above), the general rule of thumb is "PCs die, monsters live."

Native subtype is no guarantee of mortality; while aasimar and tieflings are both mortal (with average lifespans of about 120 years), rakshasas are immortal. Similarly, old 2E canon said that eladrin, despite long lifespans, are mortal and will eventually die. Mind you, they never have...

Anyway, moral of the story is: there's no hard-and-fast rule linked to the type itself that says having it makes you immortal.

[Bronk]

Similarly, old 2E canon said that eladrin, despite long lifespans, are mortal and will eventually die. Mind you, they never have...


I'm sure it helps that no one ever ages in the Court of Stars...

[Invader]

I'm sure this has been covered somewhere but if you polymorph into an immortal outsider, are you then essentially immortal (ageless) while in that form?

If after a thousand years you change back to your original race, are you the age when you first poly morphed?

[Bronk]

I'm sure this has been covered somewhere but if you polymorph into an immortal outsider, are you then essentially immortal (ageless) while in that form?

If after a thousand years you change back to your original race, are you the age when you first poly morphed?

The funny thing is that it isn't covered very well anywhere.

There are a number of crunch and fluff reasons you couldn't gain immortality this way.

Crunch: the Alter Self line doesn't include life span as a quality it gives to you, and the 'true seeing' spell specifies that the spell reveals your 'true form'.

Fluff: Dragons without the alternate form ability taking other forms and spawning half breeds, the quest for immortality by powerful wizards implying that a 'polymorph any object' can't do the job.

Your best bet is to use the rituals and 'wish' spell methods of permanently turning into a new creature.

[afroakuma]

I'm sure this has been covered somewhere but if you polymorph into an immortal outsider, are you then essentially immortal (ageless) while in that form?

No. Which is rather lucky, since if age was a transferred quality, an hour spent as a fruit fly (for argument's sake) would age you 19 days. A day as a dog would age you by a week. A dragon would be able to grow immense (hello, Empress of Blood) by slumming it as a human for a couple of years.