Species Lifespans: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 12:08, 30 April 2025

Most races tend to finish maturing and reach adulthood at roughly the same age, despite vast differences in lifespan. For incredibly long-lived races such as firbolgs, elves, and gnomes they tend to mature quickly before having their bodies' aging slow down drastically when reaching adulthood.

Second Maturities[edit]

There are many species which have a concept of a 'second maturity'. For some this is a cultural phenomenon: Dwarves, for example, are largely proper adults at 18 as humans are. However, they are considered 'immature' or 'unlearned' until roughly the age of 50. Gnomes likewise are adults by 18/19, but culturally are encouraged to explore the world for several years to truly 'mature' upon becoming adults and bring their learned knowledge back to their homes.

For others this is tied to physical, biological, or magical changes in their body. Centaurs notably become mostly physically mature by a very young age, owing to their horselike physicality and fey origins. Their human upper body and their mentality take some time afterwards to properly mature and be regarded as 'true' adults. For Genasi and Tieflings, who are not obviously magical at birth, their 'first maturity' is when their transformation and magical nature becomes obvious.

For Genasi, the change usually happens over the course of days or weeks. Their 'second maturity' is thus regarded culturally as matching their original race (OR), although all Genasi are regarded as legally adults at 17 years of age within Imperial territory.

Tieflings change much later, over a longer time period. As the tiefling goes through their original race's version of puberty, their transformation progresses. As a result, it can take years - usually slightly longer than the rate of development of their original race (for example, an originally human Tiefling may begin changing at the age of 14, but unlike a human who would have most of their changes over by 16-17 a Tiefling's transformation could go on until 20). Tiefling's 'second maturity' is after they have come to terms with their change and chosen their 'new' name. For most tieflings, this happens roughly a year or two after their completed transformation.

Table of Lifespans and Maturities[edit]

Species	Maturity	'Second Maturity'	Average Lifespan
Aasimar	18		160
Dragonborn	14		50
Dwarf	18	50	350
Elf	20	100	750
Gnome	18	40	420
Goliath	18		80
Halfling	20		225
Human	18		80
Orc	13		75
Tiefling	OR	+1/2 years	90
Aarakocra	17		80
Air Genasi	3-6 months	OR	120
Centaur	11	30	120
Earth Genasi	6-8 months	OR	150
Eladrin	18	100	750
Firbolg	25		500
Fire Genasi	6-8 Months	OR	110
Goblin	11		40
Water Genasi	1-2 Months	OR	120
Frost Genasi	3-6 Months	OR	130
Kobold	15		140

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 Most races tend to finish maturing and reach adulthood at roughly the same age, despite vast differences in lifespan. For incredibly long-lived races such as firbolgs, elves, and gnomes they tend to mature quickly before having their bodies' aging slow down drastically when reaching adulthood.
-==Elven Immortality==
-Elves are the longest lived among the known races. However, their races former immortality as the original Sylvan, and the consequences of their losing that immortality has resulted in a large scale cultural 'dementia' or amnesia. Many Elves have great difficulty remembering events longer than three to four hundred years ago, appearing to be unable to differentiate between legends and actual history.
-This phenomenon does not seem to afflict other long-lived races such as Firbolg or gnomes. It is theorised to be a result of their origins beyond the [[Material Plane]]. Time in the [[Feywild]] is known to be fluid and unpredictable, which may have had an effect on elven long term memory. As a result, despite having the longest existing civilisation recorded upon Corporea, Elven history is largely forgotten.
 ==Second Maturities==