I had this thought pop in my mind when reading the thread about what people don't like about Golarion.
What if ... one gave long-maturing races an extra Profession/Craft skill rank for every, say, 20 extra years they have on humans? They'd still be limited to 1 rank per level, like everyone else, and it would reflect their background as having lots of years to learn things.
One might also toss in some other skills (some of the low-impact Knowledges, maybe?), or give the option for players to start younger by giving up some of the extra skill ranks.
Or they could just buy the Breadth of Experience Feat and know lots and be great at professions.
Not sure why they need extra freebies.
Or do the more sensical thing, and have all long-lived' races enter adolescence at about the same time. So, a human may finish puberty at, say, 14, an elf might do so at 16 or 17. Then the 'immortality factor' kicks in.
Seriously, a human becomes a level 1 wizard in 15 years. If it takes you a hundred years to accomplish the same thing, you've got a learning disability.
I'm with Zhayne here; adolescence should be about similar, then its the subsequent lifespan that differs.
Yeah... no.
Humans (in the animal kingdom) are already one of the worst in terms of rate of development. If it took 100 years to reach the mental age of a human 10 year old you'd have to question how the elves didn't end up extinct; dumber than monkeys for decades.
Yeah... no.
Humans (in the animal kingdom) are already one of the worst in terms of rate of development. If it took 100 years to reach the mental age of a human 10 year old you'd have to question how the elves didn't end up extinct; dumber than monkeys for decades.
This. So much this. Multiple decades of infant/toddler/childhood makes absolutely no sense ... and certainly holds no 'appeal' for anybody sane. Thirty years of potty training? No thanks.
Goblin comes close. And if that's what you want, enjoy.
Yeah... no.
Humans (in the animal kingdom) are already one of the worst in terms of rate of development. If it took 100 years to reach the mental age of a human 10 year old you'd have to question how the elves didn't end up extinct; dumber than monkeys for decades.
I don't care.
Magic. They came from another planet. Genetic manipulation after they became sentient and civilized. A necessary price for their long lives. Whatever.
And it is killing them. It's generally an elven trope that they're a dying race, essentially being outbred by lesser races.
Evolutionarily speaking the long lifespan is pretty useless as well. No need to keep them alive after they've bred and reared the next generation.
But, like I said, I don't care. It's a thing that distinguishes them from humans. What's the point of playing a long-lived character if you don't actually get to play him as older than the mayflies?
Then forget the chart (which is just a suggestion anyway), and make your character as old as you want. You want to play a retarded character, knock yourself out.
Hehehe , honestly , it is ALL a matter of culture + necessity.
In the middle ages when people would live much shorter life spams , people would never allow humans to spend 15/18 years pretty much studing and doing nothing because they were young and so on. Even today in many places it is this way.
You think someone was going to pet you head and say you were a kid if you had 12/13 years old? Hell no.
Kids from poor families may need to start working with 4/5 years old , and go from there doing what they need to survive.
This whole maturity thing is cute , but you cant say a human take 15 years to reach it and apply even to your world where "only" humans exist. heh , a "kid" that had to work since 5 to help put food on the table , and a kid from a rich family that spent their whole life studying and living it easy most likely wont have the same "maturity".
* raises a hand *
Um... Isn't the maturity mentioned in the ages PHYSICAL maturity? Not necessarily mental or emotional maturity?
I always just think of Drizzt. Off the top of my head he was WAY under minimum starting age for an elf when he dinged level 16.
But heroes are the exception right ;)
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My PCs always grabbed the 3.0 Faerun feat Spell Casting Prodigy to have an excuse to play a younger PC. I just gave them a penalty to STR and WIS and a bonus to DEX and CHA (cause kids are cuter, not more forceful of personality). (I think it was like -2, -2, +1, +1 ???)
Born 1297
3.0 Faerun book took place in 1372 wherein he was 75 years old. He was Level 16 (ECL 18, to match up to the level 18 Artimis). That's 35 years below starting age... but 110 he could easily be level 20!
But I agree that it's kind of lame starting as a 138 year old Elven rogue next to the 18 year old human wizard. It's like, "Crap, what have I done with my life?!?!?!?"
This. So much this. Multiple decades of infant/toddler/childhood makes absolutely no sense ... and certainly holds no 'appeal' for anybody sane. Thirty years of potty training? No thanks.Yeah... no.
Humans (in the animal kingdom) are already one of the worst in terms of rate of development. If it took 100 years to reach the mental age of a human 10 year old you'd have to question how the elves didn't end up extinct; dumber than monkeys for decades.
I agree with shifty and Zhayne. It's absolutely ridiculous to take 100 years to grow up. A species would have to be in a position of unparalleled luxury to be able to afford this.
Maybe that's the reason why in so many fantasy settings i've seen elves and dwarves are facing extinction or already extinct.
Another reason why it is preposterous is that maturing and the aging process afterward are not the same thing. One is the body "building" itself up, the other is the influence of the environment degrading it again. There's no reason they should be proportional.
That's something I loved aboutthe age categories for kobolds from 3.5's Races of the Dragon. They matured at about 5 years and then proceeded to live well into the several hundreds of years.