Genasi Age/Lifespan Question

[kiapet]

I had a question regarding the age of character I'm creating- she's an air genasi with an elven mortal parent. The genasi descriptions generally seem to assume the person is part human (saying they can "pass for human" when seen in silouette) but acknowledges the possibility of non-human born genasi who might have some associated features from that parent. My question comes from the text about Genasi age:

Genasi mature at about the same rate as humans and reach adulthood in their late teens. They live somewhat longer than humans do, up to 120 years.

This comes across to me as assuming that the genasi is of human descent- they maintain human aging but live longer due to their supernatural blood. But for an elf this lifespan is ridiculously short, even shorter than that of a half-elf. It doesn't make much sense to me that having elemental lineage would shorten someone's life to that extent, particularly when a genasi born to humans would actually live longer than their mortal parent. So I was wondering if it would make sense to use the elven aging rules for my genasi character, or if the aging rules for genasi are supposed to be the same across the board. I know it's ultimately up to me and the DM, but I'm interested in hearing other people's opinions.

[Civis Mundi]

Point #1, as you said, is that it's up to you and your DM. But if I were the DM in this situation, I'd have the character age as an elf. Theoretically, it seems like an elven Genasi would live somewhat longer than normal elves (though they wouldn't grow up any slower).

[Zevox]

Personally, I'd definitely rule that a Genasi that's based on some non-Human race lives at least as long as that race, possibly longer. Genasi lore definitely tends to assume they're Humans with some Genie in them, so it makes sense to modify parts like that if you're changing it to another base race I'd say.

[sandmote]

Probably worth listing the material that would allow for a genasi of elven heritage:


A given genasi might have some features reminiscent of the mortal parent (pointed ears from an elf, a stockier frame and thick hair from a dwarf, small hands and feet from a halfling, exceedingly large eyes from a gnome, and so on).

That said, I would treat a genasi as having a 20% extended lifespan, given the listed figure is explicitly compared to that of a human.