Something that has always confused me about elves

[EvilElitest]

now here is something that has always bothered me. Elves live to be around 700 right? Thus three generations of elves would be around 2,100 years on average right? According to most D&D creation myths, elves came before humans



So why are they generally on the same middle age tech level? Look at humans and how much they advance in two thousand years (the entire C.E. period)

Now i have a few ideas

1) As they generations are very long lived, they are like normal generations in that they dislike accepting change.
2) Conservative and isolationist
3) Spend all of their time perfecting one particular thing or perfecting a single art
4) Humans are just fast movers

your ideas?
from
EE

[Drider]

Alot of people claim your number 4, that humans are fast and have the best diplomatic-ey stuff.

[TehJhu]

This is the issue with pretty much any fantasy story:

"TEN THOUSAND YEARS AGO VILE DEMONS WERE SEALED AWAY ECT ECT..."

If demons had been sealed away on earth 10,000 years ago, they'd be suprised as hell to awaken now.

Even saying magic makes people not learn tech isn't enough. Eventually you'd either learn a way to have everything we have via magic, or people really would just invent a microchip.

[neochaos]

My DM once joked about it, saying "This elven public official is doing his job for three hundred years, and is veteran....well, good luck with convincing this guy."

[Bag_of_Holding]

According to RotW, elves tend to live in the past more than it is healthy for a race. They are just... slow to take up new things and all that jazz, I think.

[MeanJoeSmith75]

A level of magic that precludes inventing technology to overcome inconveniences.
Not only are generations long lived, but childhood is extended. Maturity in most cases takes 100 or more years. That's a lot of time to get indoctrinated into your societal roll.
DnD and Tolkien elves are depicted as being very environmental, thus there development of technology is hampered by greater awareness and an unwillingness to harm nature.
Imagine the bureaucracies that have developed. Trying to get everyone on board with an idea would take several human generation just to get past committee.

[EvilElitest]

But if one group of elves became became industrialist for example, how much could they do in a few generations?
from
EE

[Nebo_]

According to RotW, elves tend to live in the past more than it is healthy for a race. They are just... slow to take up new things and all that jazz, I think.

Because D&D is generally in a medieval like setting and giving elves more technology would ruin the verisimilitude.

If you need to think of an in game reason why that is, then you could say just about anything.

[Kantolin]

You know, if there was a race that hit adulthood at 3, then became old and died somewhere around 20, I think most people would find it odd that they mature as quickly as they did and wonder how they managed to cram a growing up worth's of knowledge in 3 years.

Of your four options, now, I'd say 2 and 4. Humans just mature and grow ridiculously quickly - I'd assume that most modern-day elven sequences exist due to the necessity of having to keep up with the arms race, and otherwise they'd have continued at their normal pace.

[MeanJoeSmith75]

Again, dnd elves, even those that are not druids and rangers, tend to be more harmonized with nature. The sedate life style and the magical conveniences make for a less industrialized society.
When everyone can easily support yourselves, markets for needs become less industrialized. Quality reigns as you would need to buy several cheaper products over your lifetime.

[EvilElitest]

forgot about the maturity thing
from
EE

[MeanJoeSmith75]

Buying a single, well made item becomes more economical.

[Bag_of_Holding]

But if one group of elves became became industrialist for example, how much could they do in a few generations?
from
EE

Sure they live long, but humans breed fast! Given 400 years (3 generations of elves), humans would've gone through something like 20 generations, with their number multiplying exponentially.

Therefore, I don't think they'd achieve any more than a given human family could achieve with the same amount of time.


p.s. Oh sweet lord, while I was typing this it occured to me that to elves humans might look like bacterial growth...

[MeanJoeSmith75]

More like a cancer

[EvilElitest]

I can imagine a society of humans ruled by a single elven king for a few hundred years. Enlightened monarch
from
EE

[Bag_of_Holding]

More like a cancer

Ewww

I can imagine a society of humans ruled by a single elven king for a few hundred years. Enlightened monarch
from
EE

That'd be like 1984 the novel but with elves.

[Nohwl]

i always thought elves were just stupid when it came to technology.

[EvilElitest]

Ewww

or like this speedy thread
from
EE

[Demented]

Humans tend to be around in these settings for several thousand years, and still end up being in the same middle age tech level as well, despite the presence of magic.

Methinks it has something to do with the lack of rules for science and research. =P

Or possibly, it just takes forever to innovate, and when humans arrive they steal everyone else's technology, instantly leaping to the fore of technological superiority. The exception being those ancient obscure races, for whose technology nobody writes instruction manuals for, and the knowledge of which somehow happens to be lost even though elves were around during its creation.

...Maybe this suggests a tendency of elves to lose instruction manuals, thus never climbing very far up the technological level. There's apparently only so much you can teach someone in 700 years if you don't have reference books.

[TehJhu]

Sort of off topic but...

Why does EVERY race seem to live at least twice as long as humans? Dwarves? Gnomes? Halflings? Whats the deal?

[Bag_of_Holding]

i always thought elves were just stupid when it came to technology.

It is a poor sign when elves are doing stonemasonry.

Sort of off topic but...

Why does EVERY race seem to live at least twice as long as humans? Dwarves? Gnomes? Halflings? Whats the deal?

Nah, it's just that humans live about half as long as most other races.

[MeanJoeSmith75]

Orcs are shorter lived then humans

[EvilElitest]

Orcs are shorter lived then humans

I think that is half orcs actually, i think orcs live to be 150
from
EE

[Collin152]

When you can age your own wine a few decades for maximum flavor without wasting your life, you'll find yourself less occupied with trivial nonsense like industry.

See, the elves live long lives, and therefore have no fear of losing time.
Because of that, they put everytihng off.
It's a culutrual lethargy.

[Bag_of_Holding]

I think that is half orcs actually, i think orcs live to be 150
from
EE

REALLY? That was unexpected... 150 years...

[Demented]

Actually, the evil races (provided they aren't aberrations or off-shoots of the other races) always seem to be shorter-lived. Maybe it's so we have a reason for why they aren't using epic magicks to melt our faces off.

On the other hand, it could also imply that humans are a semi-evil race.

[EvilElitest]

REALLY? That was unexpected... 150 years...

i think so, because they were one of the creater races, but i'm not sure

Also demented, i think races like goblins less less because they are breed in massive numbers
from
EE

[3Power]

I have pondered this for a while, and I finally came up with an explanation I'm satisfied with: Elves are lazy.

Elves have all the time in the world, so there's no need for urgency most of the time. This means they procrastinate like heck. If a human wizard spends, I dunno, six hours studying per day, an elf spends 1. The other 19 hours he's awake, he's viewing the beautiful gardens of his elven city, watching elven opera, and taking part in a number of other enjoyable past-times. This means that beyond the arts, elves tend to accomplish very little when it comes to advancing their society, hence the reason elven wizards are as knowledgeable as human ones, and why they still use bows instead of having developed rifles by now.

[Collin152]

I have pondered this for a while, and I finally came up with an explanation I'm satisfied with: Elves are lazy.

Elves have all the time in the world, so there's no need for urgency most of the time. This means they procrastinate like heck. If a human wizard spends, I dunno, six hours studying per day, an elf spends 1. The other 19 hours he's awake, he's viewing the beautiful gardens of his elven city, watching elven opera, and taking part in a number of other enjoyable past-times. This means that beyond the arts, elves tend to accomplish very little when it comes to advancing their society, hence the reason elven wizards are as knowledgeable as human ones, and why they still use bows instead of having developed rifles by now.

Yes! Exactly!

They are the most ironic of the races. Despite living for years and only wasting two hours a night, they waste their time on fruitless pursuits. No wonder every elf has such skill in at least one art; what else are they to do with all that time?

[Worira]

The same reason it takes an elf 120-170 years to learn magic, and 17-27 for humans. Elves are stupid.