Elf Starting age

[Khrysaes]

So, I am trying to give my elf character a starting age, and I dont know how old to make him.

He is a half-drow raised by a deep gnome in the underdark, his mother having manage to flee as a slave, but wounded and died in child birth. (Wood elf mechanically).

The PHB says they come of age at 100 or so, and I considered having him be 95 or so, as the game is taking place in 1481. Blingdenstone was destroyed by the Drow in 1371, and recovered in 1440. So at his age his adoptive gnome father would have spent 30 or so years in the underdark, not in blingdent stone. He would know how to survive, and could plausibly teach it to my character.

So I was curious and looked up Drizzt.

Turns out he left Menzoberazzan around age 30, spent 10 years alone in the underdark, went to Blingdenstone, spent a few more years in the underdark, met Mooshie at age 34, went to Icewind Dale and met Cattie-Brie at 40, and helped reclaim Mithral Hall at 60. He didn't actually "come of age" until 12 years after the spell plague.

So I am curious what people think the appropriate age to play an elf at is, and how old I should make mine. I am leaning towards younger, in light of Drizzt's age when he set out. It would also lend more believability to the inexperience of a level 1 character.

[Lord Vukodlak]

Physically Elves mature only slightly slower then a human the Elf is a adult at one hundred is a societal thing not biological one. Drow society is much more brutal you grow up fast or you die. One of many things on the list for drow of "Or you die"

Given your characters backstory I'd use the drow societal line and be about thirty or possibly even younger. Then lie about your age

[Khrysaes]

Half-elves are pretty short lived. They start adulthood around 20 and go to about 180.

Re: elves, I start my drow at 80. I started playing in 2nd edition, and elves started adulthood between 80 (drow) and 120 (grey). I figure that 80 is close enough to "around the age of 100".

Mechanically my character is full wood elf, just half wood elf/half drow, which has occured before, especially through the surface drow of Vhaerun or Ellistrae.

I decided to start at 29 as the character was raised by a deep gnome, and in their society, maturity is the age of 25 or so.

[Tanarii]

5e Elves age like humans until 20, then slow down, living to 750. Like Dwarves and Gnomes, the 'adult' age appears to be a sociol thing, not a physical or mental thing.

There's no particular reason to prorate the aging from 20 to max age to compare to humans, since it's possible Elves stay physically in the equivalent of human 20s until in the 700s or something. But I like to IMC, with Max age of any race corresponding to a 100 year old human.

So Racial human equivalent age =20 +[(actual-20) * ([100-20]/[max-20])]. That makes a 100 year old elf the physical equivalent of a 29 year old human.

(By this method Dwarves are human equivalent 27 at actual 50. Gnomes are human equivalent of 25 at 40 actual if you assume 350 max and they just live to be ridiculously old, human equivalent of 136 at 500.)

If you want to reverse engineer that, figure out what human equivalent age you want to be, subtract 20, multiply by 730/80, and add 20.

I like kinda pointless math :smallbiggrin:

[Hopeless]

So say I'm planning on running a wood elf sorceress whose Sorceror mark meant she was born effectively disfigured because she looks human rather than a full blood wood elf is actually possible?

It's just that I'm using the Tal'Dorei setting and Xanathar's Guide and I'm wondering if I can get away with a 16 year old character?

The reasoning behind this is that her parents were Ashari and she was born on the day Thordak was banished.

The death and destruction was thought a bad omen for such a malformed child thus her paternal grandfather took her into exile as there was talk of killing her such was the reaction to her.

She secretly accompanied her grandfather back to her birthplace in time to witness Thordak's return but her grandfather died from injuries sustained in the cataclysmic battle and she is effectively orphaned and far from her home in the Aggarad Mountains in Marquet.

Would you allow a character who was 16 years old during the Cinder King's return?

[Unoriginal]

An elf looking like an human wouldn't be "disfigured", though.

I mean, the differences in appearance are not that notable.

[Hopeless]

An elf looking like an human wouldn't be "disfigured", though.

I mean, the differences in appearance are not that notable.

Unless you're an elf and aren't expecting the birth of a very human looking child and I do mean doesn't even look half elven at all!

[Unoriginal]

Unless you're an elf and aren't expecting the birth of a very human looking child and I do mean doesn't even look half elven at all!

That would be odd, but hardly disfiguring.

Elves can have wings, gills, gold-colored skin, be hermaphrodite, or a lot other things. Having a kid who's human-looking would just make them shrug and go "Corellon was having a giggle today, let's celebrate the brith."

[Hopeless]

Ok now thats an idea I can see happening!😉

[napoleon_in_rag]

An elf looking like an human wouldn't be "disfigured", though.

I mean, the differences in appearance are not that notable.

That would be a cultural thing. Perhaps in elven society, not having pointy ears is a disfigurement, like having a cleft palate. I can see elven mom's telling their kids "It's not polite to stare at his ears, Tinoviel. He can't help being born with such an ugly birth defect."

Perhaps other elves would see rounded ears as a sign of deafness or low intelligence or impotency.

[Whit]

Is he half drow and half gnome? Does that make him a drome?

[ProsecutorGodot]

That would be a cultural thing. Perhaps in elven society, not having pointy ears is a disfigurement, like having a cleft palate. I can see elven mom's telling their kids "It's not polite to stare at his ears, Tinoviel. He can't help being born with such an ugly birth defect."

Perhaps other elves would see rounded ears as a sign of deafness or low intelligence or impotency.

The setting also has a parallel with Dragonborns, being a Dragonborn without a tail means you're a slave underneath a Dragonborn with one.

Elves also have a dislike for Half Elves, who looks pretty similar to Elves so having a full blooded elf who could easily be mistaken for a human could potentially even affect their position in society for having birthed a "human" child.

[Hopeless]

I pictured them being unmarried and her child was born early so officially the child was stillborn her Grandfather went into exile to maintain that facade but the relationship between her parents ended dramatically such that Raishan used the ill feeling to gain his aid in freeing Thordak.

Still not sure about her being that young though!

[Sariel Vailo]

I dont know if this is useful but
Half-elves mature at the same rate humans do and reach adulthood around the age of 20. They live much longer than humans, however, often exceeding 180 years.
https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Half-Elf#content

[Luccan]

As others have said, by 5e default all the long-lived PHB races have pretty similar maturation rates, but culturally distinct areas of adulthood. Which kind of makes sense. We do that in the real world, different countries having different laws for adulthood privileges and responsibilities, when they're appropriate, and some places even separate those out over a number of years after entering adulthood. It's possible elves are legally adults long before their 100th birthday, but socially are not given certain privileges until certain ages. It could explain some adventurers of those races, leaving home young because the short-lived races treat them like full adults.

[Asmotherion]

The following is my personal take on it, and how things work in my personal world. Don't take it as cannon for some other world, rather a guidline for Elf RP.

Physical Maturity of Elves has nothing to do with Age. They Physically mature the same as other Humanoids till they reach 20. After that, they virtually age a single year for every 10 years. This extends to their mental maturity. After 20 years old, elves start mentally maturing at the same rate as their bodies, so a 50 year old Elf would act and mentally be as mature as a 23 year old human, and would look as young too.

So, all in all, wile you're technically an adult at age 95, you're viewed as a bit young.

Think of human society; A lot changes about how seriously you're taken, before and after 30. The same holds true for 25, to a lesser extend.