Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Arthur_Pendragon 12-21-03, 03:22 PM	In a camapaign I'm about to start I'm playing a noble Fey, who is ageless (that is they lack a maxium age limit). I realized the question I'm about to ask could also easily apply to many types of PC's including those who play angels or devils or demons in their games. I was wanting to know if you have any suggestions on how to play a being with such an incredibly long life span? (For a few example questions that could be involved with the larger question.) How would they look at normal mortal humans? What about the idea of being imprisioned for 100 years? Ideas on how to spend eternity?
Morka 12-22-03, 08:53 AM	You could think about the Treants in the Lord of the Ring. They could discuss for hours only to be sure two halflings aren't orcs. Now if you want something more realistic, do a mix of the treants and the typical humans. For someone who has all his life to do anything, there is nothing rush. But be wise! If you are hunting down a troll, it's not because you are eternal that you can stop and breath flowers! But if you know where your troll is, and that he will not move for a week, what prevent you to take a bath in the nearby creek?
Twilly 12-22-03, 04:58 PM	Well lets have a look... Some races have very short lifespans. You know they are going to die soon so you don't want to get to well aquainted with them. You might be friendly towards them, but you never get close. Maybe you find the shortliving races very interesting. They have so much to do and so much on their minds. They grow up, start working, get offspring and then die. What is the purpose of their excistence? They live to short to truely acomplish something in life. You show interest instead of enthusiasm. You live to long to make rash decisions. Think things over. Stay cool and think about the longterm consequences of your actions. You are surprised instead of shocked. Be a philosopher. You have the time to think things over. Think about life and death and such things. When one of your party members dies, your responce to it is cold and dispassionate. You have seen death so many times. When you have eternal life then you might know ancestors of your party members and other npc's. Say things like: your great great great grandfather (insert name) would disagree with you. The longer I think about it the more I come up with.
Mysteris 12-23-03, 12:23 AM	As your character gets older, he or she might adopt the philosophy that "everything is as nothing to me". That is, he or she has seen it all before. After enough centuries or millennia, he or she has probably seen all sorts of wonders and inventions, the best and worst that mortals and immortals have to offer, so it would probably take something truly wondrous or monstrous to really impress them. And I agree with the last poster that he or she might well know the ancestors of your other party members, or they'd probably know of or have been involved in many famous events throughout history, so they bring that perspective to the group.
Ithilorien 12-23-03, 12:52 AM	Originally posted by Twilly Some races have very short lifespans. You know they are going to die soon so you don't want to get to well aquainted with them. You might be friendly towards them, but you never get close. Or to contradict that viewpoint, your character may truly embrace life, the pain with the pleasure and thus while a friendship with a human may last for but a blink of an eye, and their loss may bring you pain, you still see no reason not to truly try and know them and befriend them. Of course, when you live for all eternity, your opinion on how long it takes to truly get to know someone or befriend them may take longer than a human can live . . . A lot of people tend to expect that immortality would end up making a person burn out and tire of life, but I think that may be projecting a mortal perspective onto an immortal. Jaded and bored is not necessarilly how things have to be. There is a lot to experience in D&D's multiverse and finding those new experiences could be one of your character traits - adventuring in order to discover that which is still new to you. On the topic of things being "new" also, the idea that things are "old" might also fascinate your character. While an immortal never dies, the world around them certainly does, you may be fascinated by senescence, not neccessarilly in a morbid way but rather a sort of antrhopological curiosity. You love going into old ruins and examining ancient items because they hold something of the minds of a people who had to live their lives in a hurry - and this is the same attraction living mortals (and party members) may hold for you. Another question may be, as immortal, how much do you value your own life? You may consider it far more precious than that of others, as they all have to go at some point, or you may be so tired, jaded, and fascinated by death that you are entirely reckless and pursue near-death experiences for the thrill of the chance.
Max the Immortal 12-24-03, 02:57 AM	On a lot of the usual topics, you could go either way. Mortal friends? Why not? Humans don't try to keep an emotional distance from pets or elderly relatives despite the near-guarantee of outliving them. Live life at a slower pace? Are you sure? Humans don't factor in their lifespan when budgeting their time; why would an ageless being? Sure, there's no hurry, but why wait? Attitude towards death could be an extreme, in either direction. One could either be terrified of dying a violent death and avoid danger as much as possible, or could be totally out of touch with the concept of death (humans all have to come to term with eventually dying, fey don't), behaving recklessly in the face of danger and callously when a friend dies. Think about it; just try not to think like a mortal.
Twilly 12-24-03, 06:46 AM	lol Max the Immortal should be able to answer your questions about immortality, for he is immortal. Nice views/opinions on immortality btw. I think it depends on your alignment what kind of immortal life you will live. Fear death and be cautious or laugh at death because you know that time cannot take your life away. Make rash decisions don't worry about the consequences. After 300 years everybody will have forgotten about it. Or think things through and stay out of trouble for many years. These are questions for your character that can best be answered if you know what alignment you are going to play.
Levism84 12-24-03, 12:48 PM	I always thought that inorder for an immortal to remain sane over time they would have to be a little insane, as to keep things interesting. Human's and other mortal creatures are blessed with the fact that we dont have to wait around forever in the same old life. We either die and go to heaven (standard catholic view point), die and are reincarnated (Buddhist), or die and cease to be (Athiest). Either way, we have a new adventure before us. An immortal might see life as a continuing adventure that needs to be kicked up a notch with a little chaos (BAMB!), if anything, to keep the mortals on their toes. Remember, just because an immortal doesnt age, doesnt mean that your alignment or disposition towards mortals can't change many many times.
Arthur_Pendragon 12-24-03, 12:59 PM	Well, he's going to be NG. As for attitudes toward death, hmmm... I don't think he'd be out and out reckless, because I see him valuing his own life very much, after all just like all of us, there's only "one" of him. However, I don't think it would be very fun to play a character who is constantly afraid of dying. . . as I don't think he'd be an adventurer in the first place. :P
Twilly 12-24-03, 06:02 PM	Your character might have some very timeconsuming hobbies. Or hobbies for which a lot of patience is required. Maybe you're busy writing a poem and after 10 years you still don't think it is finished. Maybe you're crafting something or you study something.
Levism84 12-24-03, 09:21 PM	Maybe your character has a fancy for fine wine, and even bottles his own hundred year old reds? Hey, he would have the time and patience for wine making, right? Maybe you could treat it like a brew potion feat, and make aged wine that has magical properties that come from aging? I am just throwing this out there.
jack haas 12-25-03, 01:47 AM	an ageless character wouldn't necessarily be jaded but i doubt they would feel much urgency except in the most dire situations. imagine the procrastination....your character could be really laid back and have been meaning to take up winemaking or whatever else for the last few years or so *L* it would be neat to have a few ranks in knowledge religion so that you could observe, in the strictest sense only, all the holidays of the races you are familiar with; as a way to mark the passage of time because the months would prolly just kinda blend together the way that the days get fuzzy if you are off work for a period of time or out of school for summer, ya know.... i don't think people have changed very much in the last 500 years but the technology level has changed dramatically. it wouldn't be quite so dramatic in the dnd world but your character may have observed the development of composite bows, metal armours or musical instruments etc. so the people that pass through your life might not leave a big impression because they are so brief but development, innovation, that sort of thing, takes time and may be of particular interest to an ageless character. of course, you would get along best with other long lived races. you would prolly find humans, even the oldest and wisest that you know, quite immature since their lifespan is so brief. merry christmas :angel:
Beleriphon 12-25-03, 09:10 PM	I very much suggest reading the Silmarillion. The elves in that are definately ageless. They take centuries to do anything, make swords, write songs, craft armor, whatever. They literally take millenia to make more important stuff, the Silmarils for example. They have the time to do thing perfectly. They can take the time to remove every single possible error or mistake out of their works.
dexdynamo 12-25-03, 10:01 PM	A few notable examples: Dr. Manhattan(Watchmen): He saw everyone he ever loved grow old around him. A good portion of his time alone is spent remembering ages passed, people lost, happiness long gone.(The Mars scene) Dorian Gray: Lived a life of Decadence and enjoyment for ages. Why? Because he could. He wasn't worried about the consequences. A few other ideas: -Immortality is a gateway to really advance the world, as far as science, development, etc. Your character could completely push himself into his tries to change the world. -Power is corrupting. And the power to be alive forever could very well be one of the greatest powers ever. -Maybe you believe that any interferance with the big events in life could, in the long run, mess things up beyond belief. After all, he's seen what happens in the past when people intefere.
Teron Gorefiend 12-27-03, 02:51 PM	After a while, I think an immortal character would be utterly bored. After experiencing thousands of different delicacies, art forms, and thrills, it would be rather hard to find something new and interesting. Rule a country? Been there, and being overthrown sucked. Slay a dragon? Done that, and it's easier to just outlive it. Create a wondrous and everlasting testament to your skill and power? Who do you suppose drew up the plans for the Temple of Elemental Evil, dug out the Underdark, and fathered Mordenkainen and Elminster? Somewhat exaggerated, but you get the idea. :)