The World of Layonara
The Layonara Community => Ask A Gamemaster => Topic started by: Hellblazer on May 26, 2010, 03:28:30 PM
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Alright this is purely out of rp purposes.
I know that even elf and half elf doesn't give up a 3/4 elf but a half elf, or that an half elf and human doesn't give a 1/4 elf but human or half elf if the traits are strong enough, mechanically represented in game.
But I was wondering about the age.
Now of course the mix down doesn't take all the racial traits away. So I was wondering. If the elves lives up to 700, half elf up to 180, human up to 80 (in essence). About how old would a 1/4 elf live to? 120-130 years old?
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Though this thread (http://forums.layonara.com/ask-gamemaster/150372-age-maturity-races.html) started asking about age of maturity, the answers given should go for any age related topic. And this one (http://forums.layonara.com/roleplaying/116158-what-half-elf.html) says that once there's so much human the character is essentially human regardless of elven ancestry. That's a way of saying there's no such thing as a "quarter elf" and sticking with human numbers wouldn't be too far from the mark, especially considering that second thread also says human genes tend to dominate over elven ones.
Given the realities of the way we have to deal with time, though, I don't think anyone is really going to care how old you say any particular character becomes. If a human (or "quarter elf," if you've gotta) lives to be a couple hundred years old without perming, then he does. Statistical fluke, maybe. Or effect of the bindstones. Who knows? If it's an NPC, lean toward human numbers.
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I still think it's absurd to think that all genetics traits are lost in only two generations. That is why I am asking. They may not have the immunities and attributes, but we still allow them to have elven traits to appear physically. So they are not -fully- human. This should also mean that there are other traits that they keep, longevity is maybe one of them? and this is why I am asking.
I am quite familiar with those thread, as the second one was me and lisanwillow talks that brought it up. And if you read it carefully they are talking of human past the quarter mark, which means over two generations. I'm asking for those of second generation, that means that parts of their grand parents were elves. As opposed and mention in that thread, great grand-parents.
And I am also asking because I'm wondering at what age, age would start to show for a human of elven descendant, to ask for a shift in hair color if the age is reached.
So basically others might not, but I do since it's my piece of rp.
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Absurd or not, that second thread says human genes win, and apparently pretty fast. Maybe it would help if you were more specific. There aren't any more cross-breed people being born, after all, so it's not likely to be considered a big deal for any lore-makers.
So is this about a specific playable character (or characters)? NPC family members?
For PCs, they can potentially live for ages longer than "normal" people would, y'know? The normal age limit is kinda irrelevant because no one is going to force a character to retire or die or anything. For NPCs, it's also kinda irrelevant since no one is going to bring down the hammer if grandma lives to be 127 instead of just 83 or whatever.
I know. It's for RP. I like answers, too. I hope you get one from someone official, or at least someone you'll listen to. If the answer is "like a human," I hope you don't blow a gasket. Good luck.
EDIT: Oh. I think "whenever works for you" is a good answer, then. There are 30 year old humans in the real world who start going bald and getting grey hair, and that's nowhere near "old." So whenever you think your character is starting to look "old" would be the perfect time, regardless of whatever is typical.
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If the answer is "like a human," I hope you don't blow a gasket. Good luck.
As a reference I don't blow gaskets ;) Written medium is hard to read feelings or moods, and I understand that. But trust me, there isn't much things in official answers or other answers that gets me mad. Irritated maybe sometimes, mad, extremely rare.
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I think I stated this elsewhere recently but I can't remember where (might have been IRC now that I think about it). I've known people to have grey hair (head hair and facial hair both) beginning to show before they graduate high school, hair loss in their twenties. Even in the real world there's no -real- guideline on this, it just happens when it does. Sure there are genetic markers for this but the average Joe/Jane doesn't really have their genetics read to predict these things. Additionally, things like stress, general environment, living conditions, food availability etc, all play apart. So does the raising of your own young... Oh wait... *coughs* This is one of those things that legitimately left to the player's control.
With regards to this, as long as the requests aren't excessive or silly (frequent hair color changes, or changes to bizarre colors like blue, pink or purple without quest backing) and you have the information handy for the color you'd like to have, you can ask a GM to do this IG without prior approval (i.e. grievance requesting).
~row
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So does the raising of your own young... Oh wait... *coughs* ..
:D I think my mother would agree with you totally after raising her four kids and helping my sisters with her five!!
With regards to this, as long as the requests aren't excessive or silly (frequent hair color changes, or changes to bizarre colors like blue, pink or purple without quest backing) and you have the information handy for the color you'd like to have, you can ask a GM to do this IG without prior approval (i.e. grievance requesting).
~row
Alrighty, that does solve the next question that I would have had.
How do I know which colors on the chart is linked to what number? Do I just create a new char with the hair color I want and it will be fixed that way?
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Regarding mechanical humans with elven ancestry, something else to keep in mind is that if they are elven enough that they have physical traits, then they cannot reproduce. This came up more than once, but if I recall the precedent making argument revolved around a very large human rumored to have giant blood. The consensus was that yeah, lots of people might have some kind of unnoticed and forgotten blood floating around way way back in the day, that can still reproduce...
But if it is close enough or active enough that it is represented outwardly, then they are considered mixed and cannot breed.
This would be the case with plane-touched characters as well, as far as I know. No new ones created, no existing ones able to reproduce, but the sister in whom the trace did not come to the fore is just plain old human and can have children. No new ones will pop up into the line.
Sorry if this appears off topic, but the comment about manifesting elven traits when mechanically human led me to think it was a relevant reminder that when some RP traits of mixed blood are used, the others must apply as well.
On the main topic, the precedents of "like a human," while not agreeable to everyone, lend (more) weight to the old elven mindset that is against relations with humans, and their poor treatment of half-elves - few children and slow breeding in elves (how rapidly their blood is overtaken) causing the natural reaction to simply protect their species.
You can see humans being all "whatev!" as a species when people take other races or same genders as partners (though they no doubt still run into cultural and traditional issues), but ones that breed less like rabbits and are on the downturn certainly suffer more for every other person picking a human, dwarf, or cute chick to sleep with in a time when breeding is allowed... ;)
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How do I know which colors on the chart is linked to what number? Do I just create a new char with the hair color I want and it will be fixed that way?
It's a task to get the color palette on LORE, but in the meantime, if you ask real nice in the grievance thread, someone will help you find the right gray color.
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Regarding mechanical humans with elven ancestry, something else to keep in mind is that if they are elven enough that they have physical traits, then they cannot reproduce.
If I remember right ed said somewhere that even after the 1/8 (planes touched), they still couldn't reproduce, once tainted, it's over.
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What do you get when you cross an angry dwarf with an elf?
Two halfs of an elf.
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On the subject of longevity, you'll note that the half-elf lifespan is not half that of an elf. In fact, if you take the 620 year (average) difference between human and elven lifespans, a half elf gains only 100 years of that, or about 16%. By that same math, a 1/4 elf would gain about 16% of that 100 year difference between half-elves and humans to have a lifespan of about 96 years, which is within the margin of error and realm of possibility of a full-blooded human.
So while all the racial traits may not be completely gone after 2 generations (and indeed...Aeridin knows regardless!), in terms of lifespan, the degradation is fairly rapid.
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For what it's worth- the NWN color palettes with numbers. Cloth & leather is similar to skin, metal for hair.. No guarantees that it's exact but I think it pretty much is, especially with the greys
http://wiki.arelith.com/wiki/images/7/75/Cloth_leather.jpg
http://wiki.arelith.com/wiki/images/a/aa/Metal.jpg
(from the wiki of the PW I usually play..)
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well, that is excessively off topic?
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well, that is excessively off topic?
Not quite.
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How do I know which colors on the chart is linked to what number?
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Missed that. My bad. :D
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For the time being, see here:
Hair:
http://forums.layonara.com/photopost/data/101552/LayoHairColors.jpg
Skin:
http://forums.layonara.com/photopost/data/101552/LayoSkinColors.jpg
Tattoos:
http://forums.layonara.com/photopost/data/101552/LayoTattooColors.jpg
As milty said, they'll be up on LORE eventually.