|
My group and I were having a discussion about the starting ages, and applicable experience of the various races. Here are the givens we used: All races learn at roughly the same rate: a human and another race will soak up information at the same speed. None of the races have a period of do nothing time. (all numbers taken from Pathfinder Core book 5th printing Pg. 169)
Race Adulthood
Human 15 +1-6 years during this time they learn the basics of living, their future trade/ class. Which means that the fastest maturing human is 16 years old. The oldest human will live naturally to be 110 years old.
Half-orc 14 +1-12 years during this time they learn the basics of living, their future trade/ class. Which means that the fastest maturing half-orc (15 years old) is 1 year ahead of the curve compared to a human. The oldest half-orc will live naturally to be 80 years old.
Half-elf 20 +1-18 years during this time they learn the basics of living, their future trade/ class. Which means that the fastest maturing half-elf (21 years old) is 6 years behind the curve compared to a human. The oldest half-elf will live naturally to be 185 years old.
Halfling 20 +2-24 years during this time they learn the basics of living, their future trade/ class. Which means that the fastest maturing halfling (22 years old) is 7 years behind the curve compared to a human. The oldest halfling will live naturally to be 200 years old.
Dwarf 40 +3-42 years during this time they learn the basics of living, their future trade/ class. Which means that the fastest maturing dwarf (43 years old) is 27 years behind the curve compared to a human. The oldest dwarf will live naturally to be 400 years old.
Gnome 40 +4-54 years during this time they learn the basics of living, their future trade/ class. Which means that the fastest maturing gnome (44 years old) is 28 years behind the curve compared to a human. The oldest gnome will live naturally to be 500 years old.
Elf 110 +4-60 years during this time they learn the basics of living, their future trade/ class. Which means that the fastest maturing elf (114 years old) is 98 years behind the curve compared to a human. The oldest elf will live naturally to be 750 yeas old.
So that means that a group of first level wizards, each who works under the same master, and each that learns at the fastest possible rate for their race will be the following ages at their graduation:
16 year old Half-Orc first level wizard (2 years)
17 year old Human first level wizard (2 years)
23 year old Half-Elf first level wizard (3 years)
24 year old Halfling first level wizard (4 years)
47 year old Dwarf first level wizard (7 years)
49 year old Gnome first level wizard (9 years)
120 year old Elf first level wizard (10 years)
Meaning that it will take an Elf, which by many are considered to be the masters of magic of the fantasy world, 8 years of additional study to become as proficient a wizard as a half-orc, the dumb ones of the fantasy world.
This is a typical example of age grouping used in a lot of RPG's. My problem is this: In the longer lived races what are the people learning in their MANY years of additional time of growth and study? I'm sure that their are valid fantasy and story reasons for the age gap. But even so, according to the rules, with 98 years of additional growth and training, a 114 year old elf fighter has no better skill or ability than a 16 year old human fighter? That just does not make sense, especily when you take into account elves are proficient with longbows, longswords, rapiers, and shortbows, and receive training in “elven” weapons no matter which class they go into.
Examine nature, the majority of species that have a life span of over 50 years, mature quickly, learn on the fly, and reach physical maturity within roughly 15-20 years. That applies to humans which can live to be around 110 years old, or to Antarctic sponge, some estimate the oldest known specimens are 1,550 years old.
I think the starting ages and the ages for learning a class need to be revamped.
Just my 1.9876944718329 (rounded up to 2) cents.
People have brought this up for quite some time.
I actually found that discussion while trying (and failing) to find the instance where this came up about a month ago. In the end, I think people just have to make of it what they will. Some people allow younger starting ages, some people are fine the way it is.
Personally, I can accept the idea. It is weird, but elves, especially Golarion elves, are kind of weird. I like the idea that elves grow up slowly, taking a decade to get out of the "terrible twos" and all that. It reinforces the difficulties they have interacting with non-elven societies, and makes the idea of the "forlorn" far more believable. Fitting in with pointy ears isn't that hard. Fitting in when all your friends age past you, over and over? Soul crushing.
Here are the two instances in which this came up recently:
What Levels are the Average Joes
Finally I gave my own analysis of racial aging/learning rates here:
NPC Level by Age Category
Note: Most of this falls squarely within the realm of how you want to flavor your campaign setting. After discussion, there seem to be about as many people who prefer that the long-lived non-human races age slowly as there are those who favor more human-like aging and treating the "starting ages" as when that race's culture recognizes an individual as an adult. My analysis works from the later principle.
You're right in that all races advance at the same rate. Your disconnect, I think, is that it's all relative. As mentioned earlier, Elves, being a much longer lived race, don't really get to things as quickly as other races. Their culture is a very rich one and it can often times take decades to create a friendship. Once made though, that's practically like having a brother. Elves of Golarion helps highlight this. However, considering that Elves have been back in Golarion for almost 2,000 years that's only 2 generations, roughly, and that's not even concrete since most Elves aren't viewed to die so no one really knows what their potential maximum age is. They take much more careful and prolonged study, preferring mastery and craftsmanship over quick advancement. The oddity here is that a level 1 character can reach level 20 in the same time span regardless of their race. That, to me, breaks the relative progression. Considering a similar maturation cycle to humans, imo, by 150 an Elf "should" have at least one class to level 20 considering how quickly it is possible to advance. This would literally break the game mechanically so it can't be done. But, if you want to keep things perfectly linear then yes this would work.