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View Full Version : 4e Tiefling lifespan/maturity



Ent
2008-08-31, 09:59 PM
I'm looking for any 4e mention of how long Tieflings live and when they reach maturity.

I'm guessing "comparable to humans" like most things are now.

ghost_warlock
2008-08-31, 10:36 PM
Good luck, I haven't found that sort of information for any of the races. If you find something, please share! :smalleek:

Winged One
2008-08-31, 10:48 PM
They're at the bottom of the Physical Qualities section for most races. Not tieflings, however. Considering their origins, it would be logical for them to have human lifespans.

Ent
2008-09-01, 12:07 AM
Yeah :smallfrown:

I'm piecing together a 4e campaign setting and trying to use some of the vague fluff, and I wanted an idea of the different races' notion of what a generation is. This is 4th's order in my eyes:

Eladrin, 350+, "suffer few of the infirmities of old age"
Elves, 200+, "vigorous almost till the end"
Dwarves, ~200, "vigorous well past 150"
Half-Elves, comparable to humans, "vigorous well into old age"
Humans, 75 years (pretty generous for a fantasy setting), some 90+
Halflings, comparable to humans
Dragonborn, comparable to humans

Tieflings ?

All races seem to have been changed to reach maturity about the same time as humans (which is nice for being able to relate to your party), except the Dragonborn which develop quickly and reach adulthood by 15.

Maybe Half-Elves should usually live closer to the maximum being part Elven, but Dragonborn? Maturing quickly could mean slightly shorter lives, but they're not part human. And Halfings? Who knows? What effect would the vague, undefined "infernal pacts" have on the Tieflings' years? If I was a devil, I'd work on shortening their lives to bring them "home" sooner.

Grynning
2008-09-01, 01:28 AM
Humans, 75 years (pretty generous for a fantasy setting), some 90+



Maybe for a realistic medieval setting, but not for a high-magic setting like D&D. Magic compensates pretty damn well for any lack of medical and/or agricultural technology (at least for people like adventurers who have access to it, who cares about anyone else :smalltongue:).

Kurald Galain
2008-09-01, 05:01 AM
I'm looking for any 4e mention of how long Tieflings live and when they reach maturity.

They don't, because that'd strip them of an excuse for being emo. :smalltongue:

Tempest Fennac
2008-09-01, 07:04 AM
Are there any mechanical penalties for getting older in the 4th Edition? I heard that there weren;t going to be any for some reason.

Mastikator
2008-09-01, 08:09 AM
Do outsiders get old in 4e? They might have decided that thieflings mature like humans and don't age like outsiders, considering their bloodline.

Mando Knight
2008-09-01, 12:27 PM
Mastikator, Tieflings are no longer blood relatives of devils. They're descendants of accursed humans who made deals with the devils, probably for arcane power.

Ent, I've always assumed that a "generation" meant the approximate time it took for the average member of the species to mature, mate, and give birth to a child, making a generation for humans roughly between 20-30 years (This would lower the generational time for Dragonborn to about 15-25, because of their earlier maturity). I'd give Tieflings approximately the same age ranges as humans.

Kurald Galain
2008-09-01, 01:02 PM
Ent, I've always assumed that a "generation" meant the approximate time it took for the average member of the species to mature, mate, and give birth to a child, making a generation for humans roughly between 20-30 years

More like 15 years, actually. While I'm not going to vouch for the maturity of the average 15-year-old, they are more than capable of mating and giving birth. And, you know, in (pseudo-) historical times people got married earlier.

Mastikator
2008-09-01, 01:11 PM
If we're talking about regular commoners then they should not be able to afford magic to treat disease, so they won't have a life expectancy above 40 anyway. Magic doesn't compensate unless you're high level, the vast majority isn't.
Not to mention fending off and compete with other hostile races like orcs and goblins.

Ent
2008-09-01, 02:17 PM
If we're talking about regular commoners then they should not be able to afford magic to treat disease, so they won't have a life expectancy above 40 anyway. Magic doesn't compensate unless you're high level, the vast majority isn't.
Not to mention fending off and compete with other hostile races like orcs and goblins.

And while my campaign won't be low low-magic, only heroes, villians, and the wealthy will have access to it normally.