History for my Elf character [Archive] - Wizards Community

History for my Elf character [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Glust Ekem
07-02-04, 08:45 PM Alright so I'm making an elf wizard. You start off at 120+ years old. I'm creating 120 years of history. I've already got a decent start.. but I refuse to say that elves are retarded and stare at a tree for 120 years. I will be adding some things based on living through the histroy of my campaign world at the end.

->What does everyone else do?
-The fact that they start out so old means that they could easily start out both rich, and at a higher experience level (which I don't want to do - I find myself having to create reasons to not be a higher level, such as creating stuff).
-Even if they are at home they are doing things

Why wealthy? because they have and a lot of time to amass wealth and know that they will live a long time, so its best to amass wealth early.

Why at a higher experience level? well I'm personally finding it hard to describe 120 years of life without gaining experience. Ie. As a ships wizard's apprentice with the elvin fleet for 10 years... your going to get experience. That said I want to start my character at level 1.

Highlights:
-home bowmaking for magical enchantment (20-30)
-living in elvin city & attending mage school (30-50)
-? (51-100)
-ships 'navigator & wizards apprentice' with elvin fleet (101-110)
-vacation (living/frolicking) with nymph (111-120)
-starting adventuring for exitement (now)

yes I'm saying elvin mage school lasts 30 years..kind of makes you think everyone should fear elvin mages (although I don't know what sort of effect this should have in game, ->any ideas?).

And people wonder where elves get that resistance to charm.. lol.

I was thinking about puting some sort of wizard related business/profession (arg! prefession=Wisdom based, a wizards dump stat) in the 51-100 years old age area; but he can't have craft item until level 3. Which leaves me thinking up different types of wizard businesses. ->any ideas?

->I'm looking for history ideas too.
Thanx in advance!
W_Worthley
07-04-04, 03:24 AM With comming up with 120+ years of history for an elf you have to remember that what a year is to an elf may seem like a month relatively to a human. So the first 70 years about, an elf is still doing basic child thing, like playing with toys, learning the basics of life, and trying to accomplish the feat of not taking a dump in their pants. So, if you want to write 120 years of, so and so played tag, or learned to tie his shoes, go ahead, but I feel that your understanding of elfs is slightly off.
Glust Ekem
07-04-04, 02:49 PM Let me apologize in advance, cutting responses doesn't normally help; however, I want to get useful responses so I shall clear up the issues addressed by W_Worthley.

Originally posted by W_Worthley
With comming up with 120+ years of history for an elf you have to remember that what a year is to an elf may seem like a month relatively to a human.

As you can tell from my highlights, I'm going by decade - I'm not going to be that detailed.

So the first 70 years about, an elf is still doing basic child thing, like playing with toys, learning the basics of life, and trying to accomplish the feat of not taking a dump in their pants. So, if you want to write 120 years of, so and so played tag, or learned to tie his shoes

As I stated in my post, if they are at home they are still doing things, and I refuse to play them without a history - staring at trees for 120 years (an arguement that has been floating around these boards for a long time, they have the same intelligence as humans).

So...my elf not lacking a history (like everyone else's elves apparently due to my lack of response :D), they learn to do things like tying shoe laces by 20 (which is why I started my timeline after that).

I feel that your understanding of elfs is slightly off.

Per the complete book of elves you are already learning swordfighting, archery, and in my case magic before 75. From there to 110 or so we are in the adolescent area.

If you disagree with any of the above (don't bother posting a reply ;) ), just imagine that my PC (with an int of 20) isn't average, lol. As you know, some humans (or elves) do more than others and are rich &/or famous in there teenage years - imagine that my PC, is above average (I know thats a stretch, a PC not being average :rolleyes: ).

I am aiming for useful replies so let me restate what I am hoping to get:
->Ideas for rough history (if there are any real roleplayers here)?
->What effect would going to mage school for 30 years have?
->What type of wizardly business seems appropiate for my sun elf with an int of 20, before he gains the CWI feat at L3?
The_Yellow_Dart_Swinger
07-04-04, 04:02 PM Actully according to the 3.5 PHB on page 109, an elf is considered an adult at about age 110. So in elf years, your more or less considered to be in your very early 20's.

I have to agree with W_Worthley, that pretty much until your about 75, You'd have learned all the basics, like going to normal school. For about the next 25 years or so you'd be learning about magic. Elves are a culture built on patience and they take their time to do things. So while a human could learn about wizardry in about a decade, elves would take two or three times longer to teach someone.

Here's a suggestion, 50-100, apprentice, even if you are a genius, a good place is to learn and serve from another genius. After all you are level 1, and even with a 20 int, you don't know everything about magic. Notice it would be with a wizard, doesn't have to be connected with the fleet at all. This would be nice if your a school specialized wizard.

Just come up with a basic history with some plot hooks. Unless your DM likes em long. Something could be that others were jealous of your genius which could be nice future enemies. You could think of some magical goal (Want to build a golem, some magical weapon, best wizard in the land, etc) Would be a good hook also.

What effect would the mage school have. Well, I honestly don't know, are you going to try to play an arragont wizard who is the "I'm better than you are?" A kind wizard, a I don't care unless it deals with magic wizard? I don't think mage school would be super harsh, just requiring dedication.

And I'm just giving SUGESTIONS, you don't need to follow them, so don't flame me for them.

And titlt, I didn't catch the sun elf part, but you didn't need to flame me and basicly call me an idiot. If you want to cuss me out, PM me and we can have a private flame war.

EDITED POST
titlt
07-04-04, 11:59 PM Originally posted by The_Yellow_Dart_Swinger
Actully according to the 3.5 PHB on page 109, an elf is considered an adult at about age 110. So in elf years, your more or less considered to be in your very early 20's.

Also another thing I noticed is that you say your character has a 20 Int. Now unless your using an elf that is different than the standered PHB elf, it would be impossible to have a 20 int. Considering that your starting at level 1, you wouldn't have the money or the wealth for a headband of intellect, the best you could do would be an int of 18.

I have to agree with W_Worthley, that pretty much until your about 75, You'd have learned all the basics, like going to normal school. For about the next 25 years or so you'd be learning about magic. Elves are a culture built on patience and they take their time to do things. So while a human could learn about wizardry in about a decade, elves would take two or three times longer to teach someone.

I also want to say that I considered your last post rude to both W_Worthley and to the Character Development Community.

Oh try and read before you post anything, okay? "bleh bleh best you could do would be an int of 18" WRONG he said it's a sun elf, and yes sunelfs get 2+ int as a racial modifier, so there, its possible. And if it were an illegal character.. who gives?

EDIT: oh, and in elf years someone around 50 would be 10 and if you had 20 intelligence I bet you could get shoved in a mage school at a pretty young age
SoulLord
07-06-04, 05:52 PM How about this all elves are proficient with longsword and longbow.

So a good deal of time could be spent with all other elves of age learning no matter how much they dislike them.

Elven history even if he doesnt learn anithing in collegue teachers are still going to try to make him learn.

SoulLord
Glust Ekem
07-10-04, 11:38 PM Perhaps this line of thought will get me ideas...What would you do if you were an Elvin genus (Int20) with 100 (or more) years to spare? Here are some crazy ideas - I'm looking for history ideas, as I said, its too easy to end up rich or experienced (even tho I'm aiming for ideas for a level 1 character).

-Plant a forest - it would grow to 100 years old and could be named after you! it can have living plants & collecting more could be a hobby. Imagine:
Elf "Your tresspassing in my forest"
human druid "you can't own a forest!"
Elf "I'm xxx, I planted this forest 100 years ago, which is why its named after me"
human druid ..speechless.

-Ignoring living costs, basic use of the craft 4 skill (taking 10, with masterwork tools, and an int of 20), can earn 10.5gp/week, ~520 per year, or ~52,000gp for 100 years (L1 starting cash :)
OR
Start a wizard(ish) business, employ multiple (?) generations of humans with high wis & cha to run the store for ~1sp/day ea. sell 3L1 scrolls/day=~30gp/day! ~11,000/yr! (and very little time ignoring 1day min,75gp/1000*24hours=1.8hours work/day!) plus cantrip scrolls! & interest!

-Raise a dragon... what else has a long enough lifespawn to be an elvish mount? Otherwise it would seem like your horse dies of old age every 'elvish month'.

SoulLord, I like your history idea, my char has the history skill - I've just finished reading through a history of elves in the realms from -25,000DR to current period..yikes its long. I havent decided how exactly to work this into my character concept yet. but without further ado I present..

-Learn from elvish history in the realms; 25 millenia of elvish wars have thinned the race of elves to the point that they are now on the decline. Elves had their chance in the realms now is the time to help/stop the spread of humans...
titlt
07-13-04, 06:34 PM No, your character doesn't have the means or the know-how to plant a forest, sorry. And you don't see human "geniuses" planting forest's at the age of 6 and then going "yeah I own this forest" when they are 90 years old-- and it's ELVEN, not ELVISH nor ELVIN
dirtymc11
07-15-04, 07:47 AM The way I have always approached elven childhood is that they do not matue at the same race. Just like they live alot longer it takes them alot longer to gorw up.
Also when you live that long you might tend to take things at aslower pace because there is less of a sense of immediacy. When you are young you have probably seen that the Elders use coping mechanizms to prevent themselves from getting bored. Some of these may be not fully dedicating yourself to one task, but learning many different things at the same time thus taking longer to learn each one. You would also be able to explore tangential topics that other races might ignore because they don't have the time. This would give you a deeper undestanding of the topic and how it relates to the world around you. Perhaps an elven childhood is approached much like a bard approaches life. Explore every nook and cranny and learn a litle bit here and there.
I definitely see elven parents as encouraging their children to explore different ways of life that interest them but not letting them dedicate themselves to any one for fear that they may grow bored with it a few decades down the road. Sort of an encouraged ADD.
While an elf probably doesn't spend 120 years looking at a tree he may come to that tee each day on his way from helping out the blacksmith and observe the creatures that live in and aound it and ponder on how it affects the other trees and the creatures that call it home. He may sit for an hour or two and then go to the Scriptorium to learn the Art of Writing. Then spend a couple hours thinking about the day to day lives of the People he is writing about. Then later walk past the tree and watch the hawk who lives in it catch a mouse on the ground a few trees away and begin to develop an idea of the interconnectedness of life and think about how maybe that mouse's children will not survive because the Hawks children will.
So you might not need to come up with a history where he spent X amount of years doing this and X amount of yers doing that because he probably did them at the same time and threw in a few other useless explorations into the mix and took X xX amount of years to do it.
this is just my thoughts on the whole thing. Elves aren't growing up at 15 and then being treated like children for the next hundred years. They are growing up as children for 100 years.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Glust Ekem 07-02-04, 08:45 PM	Alright so I'm making an elf wizard. You start off at 120+ years old. I'm creating 120 years of history. I've already got a decent start.. but I refuse to say that elves are retarded and stare at a tree for 120 years. I will be adding some things based on living through the histroy of my campaign world at the end. ->What does everyone else do? -The fact that they start out so old means that they could easily start out both rich, and at a higher experience level (which I don't want to do - I find myself having to create reasons to not be a higher level, such as creating stuff). -Even if they are at home they are doing things Why wealthy? because they have and a lot of time to amass wealth and know that they will live a long time, so its best to amass wealth early. Why at a higher experience level? well I'm personally finding it hard to describe 120 years of life without gaining experience. Ie. As a ships wizard's apprentice with the elvin fleet for 10 years... your going to get experience. That said I want to start my character at level 1. Highlights: -home bowmaking for magical enchantment (20-30) -living in elvin city & attending mage school (30-50) -? (51-100) -ships 'navigator & wizards apprentice' with elvin fleet (101-110) -vacation (living/frolicking) with nymph (111-120) -starting adventuring for exitement (now) yes I'm saying elvin mage school lasts 30 years..kind of makes you think everyone should fear elvin mages (although I don't know what sort of effect this should have in game, ->any ideas?). And people wonder where elves get that resistance to charm.. lol. I was thinking about puting some sort of wizard related business/profession (arg! prefession=Wisdom based, a wizards dump stat) in the 51-100 years old age area; but he can't have craft item until level 3. Which leaves me thinking up different types of wizard businesses. ->any ideas? ->I'm looking for history ideas too. Thanx in advance!
W_Worthley 07-04-04, 03:24 AM	With comming up with 120+ years of history for an elf you have to remember that what a year is to an elf may seem like a month relatively to a human. So the first 70 years about, an elf is still doing basic child thing, like playing with toys, learning the basics of life, and trying to accomplish the feat of not taking a dump in their pants. So, if you want to write 120 years of, so and so played tag, or learned to tie his shoes, go ahead, but I feel that your understanding of elfs is slightly off.
Glust Ekem 07-04-04, 02:49 PM	Let me apologize in advance, cutting responses doesn't normally help; however, I want to get useful responses so I shall clear up the issues addressed by W_Worthley. Originally posted by W_Worthley With comming up with 120+ years of history for an elf you have to remember that what a year is to an elf may seem like a month relatively to a human. As you can tell from my highlights, I'm going by decade - I'm not going to be that detailed. So the first 70 years about, an elf is still doing basic child thing, like playing with toys, learning the basics of life, and trying to accomplish the feat of not taking a dump in their pants. So, if you want to write 120 years of, so and so played tag, or learned to tie his shoes As I stated in my post, if they are at home they are still doing things, and I refuse to play them without a history - staring at trees for 120 years (an arguement that has been floating around these boards for a long time, they have the same intelligence as humans). So...my elf not lacking a history (like everyone else's elves apparently due to my lack of response :D), they learn to do things like tying shoe laces by 20 (which is why I started my timeline after that). I feel that your understanding of elfs is slightly off. Per the complete book of elves you are already learning swordfighting, archery, and in my case magic before 75. From there to 110 or so we are in the adolescent area. If you disagree with any of the above (don't bother posting a reply ;) ), just imagine that my PC (with an int of 20) isn't average, lol. As you know, some humans (or elves) do more than others and are rich &/or famous in there teenage years - imagine that my PC, is above average (I know thats a stretch, a PC not being average :rolleyes: ). I am aiming for useful replies so let me restate what I am hoping to get: ->Ideas for rough history (if there are any real roleplayers here)? ->What effect would going to mage school for 30 years have? ->What type of wizardly business seems appropiate for my sun elf with an int of 20, before he gains the CWI feat at L3?
The_Yellow_Dart_Swinger 07-04-04, 04:02 PM	Actully according to the 3.5 PHB on page 109, an elf is considered an adult at about age 110. So in elf years, your more or less considered to be in your very early 20's. I have to agree with W_Worthley, that pretty much until your about 75, You'd have learned all the basics, like going to normal school. For about the next 25 years or so you'd be learning about magic. Elves are a culture built on patience and they take their time to do things. So while a human could learn about wizardry in about a decade, elves would take two or three times longer to teach someone. Here's a suggestion, 50-100, apprentice, even if you are a genius, a good place is to learn and serve from another genius. After all you are level 1, and even with a 20 int, you don't know everything about magic. Notice it would be with a wizard, doesn't have to be connected with the fleet at all. This would be nice if your a school specialized wizard. Just come up with a basic history with some plot hooks. Unless your DM likes em long. Something could be that others were jealous of your genius which could be nice future enemies. You could think of some magical goal (Want to build a golem, some magical weapon, best wizard in the land, etc) Would be a good hook also. What effect would the mage school have. Well, I honestly don't know, are you going to try to play an arragont wizard who is the "I'm better than you are?" A kind wizard, a I don't care unless it deals with magic wizard? I don't think mage school would be super harsh, just requiring dedication. And I'm just giving SUGESTIONS, you don't need to follow them, so don't flame me for them. And titlt, I didn't catch the sun elf part, but you didn't need to flame me and basicly call me an idiot. If you want to cuss me out, PM me and we can have a private flame war. EDITED POST
titlt 07-04-04, 11:59 PM	Originally posted by The_Yellow_Dart_Swinger Actully according to the 3.5 PHB on page 109, an elf is considered an adult at about age 110. So in elf years, your more or less considered to be in your very early 20's. Also another thing I noticed is that you say your character has a 20 Int. Now unless your using an elf that is different than the standered PHB elf, it would be impossible to have a 20 int. Considering that your starting at level 1, you wouldn't have the money or the wealth for a headband of intellect, the best you could do would be an int of 18. I have to agree with W_Worthley, that pretty much until your about 75, You'd have learned all the basics, like going to normal school. For about the next 25 years or so you'd be learning about magic. Elves are a culture built on patience and they take their time to do things. So while a human could learn about wizardry in about a decade, elves would take two or three times longer to teach someone. I also want to say that I considered your last post rude to both W_Worthley and to the Character Development Community. Oh try and read before you post anything, okay? "bleh bleh best you could do would be an int of 18" WRONG he said it's a sun elf, and yes sunelfs get 2+ int as a racial modifier, so there, its possible. And if it were an illegal character.. who gives? EDIT: oh, and in elf years someone around 50 would be 10 and if you had 20 intelligence I bet you could get shoved in a mage school at a pretty young age
SoulLord 07-06-04, 05:52 PM	How about this all elves are proficient with longsword and longbow. So a good deal of time could be spent with all other elves of age learning no matter how much they dislike them. Elven history even if he doesnt learn anithing in collegue teachers are still going to try to make him learn. SoulLord
Glust Ekem 07-10-04, 11:38 PM	Perhaps this line of thought will get me ideas...What would you do if you were an Elvin genus (Int20) with 100 (or more) years to spare? Here are some crazy ideas - I'm looking for history ideas, as I said, its too easy to end up rich or experienced (even tho I'm aiming for ideas for a level 1 character). -Plant a forest - it would grow to 100 years old and could be named after you! it can have living plants & collecting more could be a hobby. Imagine: Elf "Your tresspassing in my forest" human druid "you can't own a forest!" Elf "I'm xxx, I planted this forest 100 years ago, which is why its named after me" human druid ..speechless. -Ignoring living costs, basic use of the craft 4 skill (taking 10, with masterwork tools, and an int of 20), can earn 10.5gp/week, ~520 per year, or ~52,000gp for 100 years (L1 starting cash :) OR Start a wizard(ish) business, employ multiple (?) generations of humans with high wis & cha to run the store for ~1sp/day ea. sell 3L1 scrolls/day=~30gp/day! ~11,000/yr! (and very little time ignoring 1day min,75gp/1000*24hours=1.8hours work/day!) plus cantrip scrolls! & interest! -Raise a dragon... what else has a long enough lifespawn to be an elvish mount? Otherwise it would seem like your horse dies of old age every 'elvish month'. SoulLord, I like your history idea, my char has the history skill - I've just finished reading through a history of elves in the realms from -25,000DR to current period..yikes its long. I havent decided how exactly to work this into my character concept yet. but without further ado I present.. -Learn from elvish history in the realms; 25 millenia of elvish wars have thinned the race of elves to the point that they are now on the decline. Elves had their chance in the realms now is the time to help/stop the spread of humans...
titlt 07-13-04, 06:34 PM	No, your character doesn't have the means or the know-how to plant a forest, sorry. And you don't see human "geniuses" planting forest's at the age of 6 and then going "yeah I own this forest" when they are 90 years old-- and it's ELVEN, not ELVISH nor ELVIN
dirtymc11 07-15-04, 07:47 AM	The way I have always approached elven childhood is that they do not matue at the same race. Just like they live alot longer it takes them alot longer to gorw up. Also when you live that long you might tend to take things at aslower pace because there is less of a sense of immediacy. When you are young you have probably seen that the Elders use coping mechanizms to prevent themselves from getting bored. Some of these may be not fully dedicating yourself to one task, but learning many different things at the same time thus taking longer to learn each one. You would also be able to explore tangential topics that other races might ignore because they don't have the time. This would give you a deeper undestanding of the topic and how it relates to the world around you. Perhaps an elven childhood is approached much like a bard approaches life. Explore every nook and cranny and learn a litle bit here and there. I definitely see elven parents as encouraging their children to explore different ways of life that interest them but not letting them dedicate themselves to any one for fear that they may grow bored with it a few decades down the road. Sort of an encouraged ADD. While an elf probably doesn't spend 120 years looking at a tree he may come to that tee each day on his way from helping out the blacksmith and observe the creatures that live in and aound it and ponder on how it affects the other trees and the creatures that call it home. He may sit for an hour or two and then go to the Scriptorium to learn the Art of Writing. Then spend a couple hours thinking about the day to day lives of the People he is writing about. Then later walk past the tree and watch the hawk who lives in it catch a mouse on the ground a few trees away and begin to develop an idea of the interconnectedness of life and think about how maybe that mouse's children will not survive because the Hawks children will. So you might not need to come up with a history where he spent X amount of years doing this and X amount of yers doing that because he probably did them at the same time and threw in a few other useless explorations into the mix and took X xX amount of years to do it. this is just my thoughts on the whole thing. Elves aren't growing up at 15 and then being treated like children for the next hundred years. They are growing up as children for 100 years.