I am currently playing a 72 year old Gnome Wizard who has fallen quite madly in love with a Dragonborn who is 63 years old. Her greatest fear is having to watch him die of old age since he will likely only live into his 80's, but gnomes can live anywhere from 350-500 years. So, I'm looking for ways to prolong his life so that they are able to live out the remainders of their lives together.
I'm especially curious if there may be some way that she could transfer a few hundred years from her lifespan onto his. However, I'd also love to hear any other ways that people have dealt with or overcome this issue of extreme lifespan differences.
I'd personally like to find a solution that is a little more wholesome than creating a clone or becoming a Lich, but I'm open to suggestion!
Common issue in D&D. Not to mention real life. No easy satisfactory answer.
Best I know of is making friends with a Druid and having them Reincarnate the Dragonborn. There is a greater than 70% chance the new species will have a longer lifespan.
Good incentive to adventure, hoping he dies in battle, rather than having to commit suicide.
Easy answer is probably the Wish spell. Another alternative is the Clone spell, making duplicates of the Dragonborn's body. When he dies his consciousness will transfer to the cloned body which can be much younger.
I had this happen in a campaign as well when my character was a Goblin, which can live up to maybe 60 years, although they traditionally have much shorter lifespans, also falling in love with a Gnome. Rather than try to find a work around or otherwise, for the post-game story (since we weren't playing the kind of game where we have years of downtime and play through the characters' full lives) we just kind of... embraced the drama and the tragedy of it all. It was a fear he had in the game... afraid to take their relationship further, not sure if he wanted to put her through the tragedy of having her husband die when she's still, in a sense, in the equivalent of her teens in the scale of her lifespan. It led to some interesting discussions with a Dwarven NPC who had married a human woman. It added some fun complexity to the world they lived in, and ultimately felt more satisfying than just saying, "Oh, he drank a youth potion and lived 300 years."
Deal with the tragedy, lean into it even. One of the PCs in my game is an elf druid, so he’s gonna live to be 10,000 years old. His boyfriend is a human (and a prince, which makes artificial life extension problematic). The campaign’s not going to go long enough in game-time for that to be something we deal with, but it’s maybe something for his player to think about when she writes his epilogue.
What’s your gnome going to feel like when her lover breathes his last and she’s got centuries left in her? Will she ever love again? Would the dragonborn even want to live an artificially extended life? These are narratively interesting questions.
I had this happen in a campaign as well when my character was a Goblin, which can live up to maybe 60 years, although they traditionally have much shorter lifespans, also falling in love with a Gnome. Rather than try to find a work around or otherwise, for the post-game story (since we weren't playing the kind of game where we have years of downtime and play through the characters' full lives) we just kind of... embraced the drama and the tragedy of it all. It was a fear he had in the game... afraid to take their relationship further, not sure if he wanted to put her through the tragedy of having her husband die when she's still, in a sense, in the equivalent of her teens in the scale of her lifespan. It led to some interesting discussions with a Dwarven NPC who had married a human woman. It added some fun complexity to the world they lived in, and ultimately felt more satisfying than just saying, "Oh, he drank a youth potion and lived 300 years."
Honestly, this may end up being the route I go. He is a champion fighter who would likely be too prideful to accept any sort of artificial life. This is why I was looking for some way for her to willingly transfer a portion of her own life to him. If I can't do this in an ethical and agreeable way, she will likely end up just having to embrace his death and let the memories they create together give meaning to the rest of her life.
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Hello!
I am currently playing a 72 year old Gnome Wizard who has fallen quite madly in love with a Dragonborn who is 63 years old. Her greatest fear is having to watch him die of old age since he will likely only live into his 80's, but gnomes can live anywhere from 350-500 years. So, I'm looking for ways to prolong his life so that they are able to live out the remainders of their lives together.
I'm especially curious if there may be some way that she could transfer a few hundred years from her lifespan onto his. However, I'd also love to hear any other ways that people have dealt with or overcome this issue of extreme lifespan differences.
I'd personally like to find a solution that is a little more wholesome than creating a clone or becoming a Lich, but I'm open to suggestion!
Thank you :)
Common issue in D&D. Not to mention real life. No easy satisfactory answer.
Best I know of is making friends with a Druid and having them Reincarnate the Dragonborn. There is a greater than 70% chance the new species will have a longer lifespan.
Good incentive to adventure, hoping he dies in battle, rather than having to commit suicide.
See if your DM is open to homebrew spells and create a "prolong life" spell.
Cult of Sedge
Rangers are the best, and have always been the best
I love Homebrew
I hate paladins
Warrior Bovine
Easy answer is probably the Wish spell. Another alternative is the Clone spell, making duplicates of the Dragonborn's body. When he dies his consciousness will transfer to the cloned body which can be much younger.
pull a captain america...
cryogenic freezing or whatever.
Cult of Sedge
Rangers are the best, and have always been the best
I love Homebrew
I hate paladins
Warrior Bovine
I had this happen in a campaign as well when my character was a Goblin, which can live up to maybe 60 years, although they traditionally have much shorter lifespans, also falling in love with a Gnome. Rather than try to find a work around or otherwise, for the post-game story (since we weren't playing the kind of game where we have years of downtime and play through the characters' full lives) we just kind of... embraced the drama and the tragedy of it all. It was a fear he had in the game... afraid to take their relationship further, not sure if he wanted to put her through the tragedy of having her husband die when she's still, in a sense, in the equivalent of her teens in the scale of her lifespan. It led to some interesting discussions with a Dwarven NPC who had married a human woman. It added some fun complexity to the world they lived in, and ultimately felt more satisfying than just saying, "Oh, he drank a youth potion and lived 300 years."
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Cult of Sedge
Rangers are the best, and have always been the best
I love Homebrew
I hate paladins
Warrior Bovine
Deal with the tragedy, lean into it even. One of the PCs in my game is an elf druid, so he’s gonna live to be 10,000 years old. His boyfriend is a human (and a prince, which makes artificial life extension problematic). The campaign’s not going to go long enough in game-time for that to be something we deal with, but it’s maybe something for his player to think about when she writes his epilogue.
What’s your gnome going to feel like when her lover breathes his last and she’s got centuries left in her? Will she ever love again? Would the dragonborn even want to live an artificially extended life? These are narratively interesting questions.
In 5e you can probably get to level 18 in only a few months. If the Dragonborn becomes a druid and attains level 18 they might live another 200 years.
Honestly, this may end up being the route I go. He is a champion fighter who would likely be too prideful to accept any sort of artificial life. This is why I was looking for some way for her to willingly transfer a portion of her own life to him. If I can't do this in an ethical and agreeable way, she will likely end up just having to embrace his death and let the memories they create together give meaning to the rest of her life.