Stages of Life

Elves have the longest known lifespans in the known worlds. The length of their lives often surpasses even the ancient trees, although the elves typically leave the lands known to humans before reaching 600 years. Some have been known to stay for as long as 750 years, but very few remain after that time. The siren call of the unknown beckons to them, and they leave the world in the capable hands of their successors.

Elves live long enough to see the changes the world has to offer—to see things humans regard as permanent deteriorate into dust. One generation of elves can see the rise and fall of a mighty human empire, the birth and death of a forest, the gradual eroding of a mountain range. The face of the earth can change dramatically during the time an elf spends on the world. This gives them a far broader range of values than humans are usually capable of understanding.

Elves do not feel the effects of age as humans know them. After an elf has grown to maturity, her features cease to change or, at least, change very slowly. There is very little difference between the way a 100-year old elf and a 400-year old elf appear. The only way to tell between young and old is the degree of exuberance, spontaneity, and enthusiasm each exhibit. Only at venerable age do elves begin to show their years, yet they still appear younger than most humans do at age 50.

Older elves are less likely to charge off to do great deeds rashly, preferring instead to think the matter through a bit more. Younger elves, on the other hand, have not yet discovered the value of patience. They dash hither and yon in an effort to squeeze the most from life, realizing but not quite understanding that they have hundreds more years in which to do so.

Elves go through several stages of life, including childhood, adolescence, adulthood, middle age, old age, and venerable age. Once elves have tired of the world, usually by their 600th year, they pass on to a place called Arvanaith. Because this final rite of life is such an important part of the elven way, Chapter Seven is devoted entirely to Arvanaith and the passing on of elves.

Table 4 below shows the ages at which elf subraces fall into the stages of life categories described in this chapter. The table is also useful to calculate any changes to abilities due to the effects of age. Please note that this table varies slightly from Table 12: Aging Effects (found on page 24 of the Player's Handbook) in order to represent the variances between the elf subraces and other races. That table noted that the maximum ability scores an elf could have is 18. New maximums for each subrace are given in Chapter Ten; these are initial maximum ability scores and do not reflect the bonus age bestows on Intelligence and Wisdom. Because all elves live such long lives, they have the opportunity to increase these two attributes to 20, purely by observing life. This adjustment is regardless of subrace.

TABLE 4: ELF SUBRACES BY CATEGORIES OF AGE





Middle

Venerable
Maximum
Subrace
Childhood
Adolescence
Adulthood*
Age**
Old Age†
Age‡
Age
Aquatic
1–59
60–99
100–159
160–219
220–299
300+
300+3d100
Drow
1–49
50–79
80–139
140–189
190–224
225+
225+3d100
Grey
1–79
80–119
120–209
210–299
300–424
425+
425+5d100
High
1–74
75–109
110–174
175–249
250–349
350+
350+4d100
Sylvan
1–69
70–104
105–169
170–229
230–324
325+
325+4d100

* Full normal abilities

** –1 Str, –1 Con, +1 Int, +1 Wis

† –1 Str, –1 Con, +1 Wis

‡ –2 Str, –2 Dex, –2 Con; +2 Int, +2 Wis

Note: Modifiers to abilities are cumulative per age category. For example, the total ability adjustments to a grey elf of venerable age would be as follows: –4 Str, –2 Dex, –4 Con, +3 Int, and +4 Wis. However, elves' Intelligence and Wisdom abilities can never be increased beyond 20, except by magical means. Likewise, all their abilities can never deteriorate below certain minimums, again except by magical means. Minimum statistics for all elf subraces are as follows: Strength 3, Dexterity 6, Constitution 7, Intelligence 8, Wisdom 3, and Charisma 8.

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