I want to include a clue for my players that an npc is actually a lich using their age, however I don't know what age to make the npc to hint at this due to how long elves live so I come to the forums to ask; how old is considered too old for an elf? Specifically for what most players would find agreeable for that to be a decent hint. Should I honestly just scrap that idea entirely?
How long elves live in your setting is up to you, but the 2024 Player's Handbook says elves live for about 750 years, and the 2014 version says they can live "well over 700 years". So, anything considerably beyond that would be suspect.
I think it might be how you play to characters around the elf
As the players won't know if the elf is too old, because that might be normal
You should just make it clear as a DM that the elf is really old
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Hello! Call me Gato (Cat in Spanish) In this place where you're not here, in this place where I was with you Your eyes are too kind, and I'm covered in wounds. Don't let me love you. They say people are born different. We brainwashed in the same system. They expect perfection. So how can we be different? NOW, ALL HAIL MERLIN, AND THE GREAT MERLIN ARMY. GIVE ME A 4D8 ATTEMPT: [roll]1d8[/roll] + [roll]1d8[/roll] + [roll]1d8[/roll] + [roll]1d8[/roll]=[roll][roll:-4]+[roll:-3]+[roll:-2]+[roll:-1][/roll]
I want to include a clue for my players that an npc is actually a lich using their age, however I don't know what age to make the npc to hint at this due to how long elves live so I come to the forums to ask; how old is considered too old for an elf?
From a PC POV, how would they actually realize that age is a clue? If you do not know the answer, the players will not know either. I assume the Lich will not look as old as they are? The easiest way to is to have the elf mention that he was at an event an elven generation or 2 ago. Players would need to know history to realize that.
I think the players finding out the elf is very old is a great hint, but getting the players to pick up on it is the key. This is where non combat knowledge skills come in handy.
Clothing/accessories (weapon or jewelry) etc. can be a hint. If the Lich is wearing something from another time era, like an out of style pattern, that could be a hint, but you need a PC to have a skill to notice that the belt buckle is a older fashion style.
His speech aka accent/actual words can be from previous generations.
The Lich mentions he was at events that occurred generations ago, but again, the PC needs the skill to pick up on that.
Lastly, you need several hints. Hints need to be in a context to be decipherable.
If a the PCs know that this quirky Elf talks with an old accent, has clothes from the great grandparents generation and slips in conversation that he was boyhood friends with a famous person that died 800 years ago, how is that going to help them determine this elf is a Lich?
Not only do you need to give them multiple hints to understand that this elf is very old, you also need to give them a context that a very old elf is unnatural and could be a Lich.
The hint is found through a defeated attic whisperer which collects items to form it's body and crumbles into a pile of said objects when defeated, within this pile I'd like to include either a letter or old painting that's dated for an extremely long time ago, I have a few players who are big history buffs and therefore like to know what year it is so they are aware of the current date and how long ago this would've been, it also isn't the only hint, far from it actually. I included the attic whisperer as a red herring but wanted to still give them something so they didn't waist too much time (They only have 12 hours to solve the mystery before it's nighttime)
The elf is meant to be a lich in disguise so them being absurdly old is one of (albeit many) hints that the elf is suspect, the players are aware that there is a lich in town and are specifically hunting it down
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I want to include a clue for my players that an npc is actually a lich using their age, however I don't know what age to make the npc to hint at this due to how long elves live so I come to the forums to ask; how old is considered too old for an elf? Specifically for what most players would find agreeable for that to be a decent hint. Should I honestly just scrap that idea entirely?
How long elves live in your setting is up to you, but the 2024 Player's Handbook says elves live for about 750 years, and the 2014 version says they can live "well over 700 years". So, anything considerably beyond that would be suspect.
pronouns: he/she/they
I think it might be how you play to characters around the elf
As the players won't know if the elf is too old, because that might be normal
You should just make it clear as a DM that the elf is really old
Hello! Call me Gato (Cat in Spanish)
In this place where you're not here, in this place where I was with you
Your eyes are too kind, and I'm covered in wounds. Don't let me love you.
They say people are born different. We brainwashed in the same system. They expect perfection. So how can we be different?
NOW, ALL HAIL MERLIN, AND THE GREAT MERLIN ARMY. GIVE ME A 4D8 ATTEMPT: [roll]1d8[/roll] + [roll]1d8[/roll] + [roll]1d8[/roll] + [roll]1d8[/roll]=[roll][roll:-4]+[roll:-3]+[roll:-2]+[roll:-1][/roll]
Is it important that they were around 700+ years ago?
If not, just say they look really old.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
From a PC POV, how would they actually realize that age is a clue? If you do not know the answer, the players will not know either. I assume the Lich will not look as old as they are? The easiest way to is to have the elf mention that he was at an event an elven generation or 2 ago. Players would need to know history to realize that.
I think the players finding out the elf is very old is a great hint, but getting the players to pick up on it is the key. This is where non combat knowledge skills come in handy.
Clothing/accessories (weapon or jewelry) etc. can be a hint. If the Lich is wearing something from another time era, like an out of style pattern, that could be a hint, but you need a PC to have a skill to notice that the belt buckle is a older fashion style.
His speech aka accent/actual words can be from previous generations.
The Lich mentions he was at events that occurred generations ago, but again, the PC needs the skill to pick up on that.
Lastly, you need several hints. Hints need to be in a context to be decipherable.
If a the PCs know that this quirky Elf talks with an old accent, has clothes from the great grandparents generation and slips in conversation that he was boyhood friends with a famous person that died 800 years ago, how is that going to help them determine this elf is a Lich?
Not only do you need to give them multiple hints to understand that this elf is very old, you also need to give them a context that a very old elf is unnatural and could be a Lich.
The hint is found through a defeated attic whisperer which collects items to form it's body and crumbles into a pile of said objects when defeated, within this pile I'd like to include either a letter or old painting that's dated for an extremely long time ago, I have a few players who are big history buffs and therefore like to know what year it is so they are aware of the current date and how long ago this would've been, it also isn't the only hint, far from it actually. I included the attic whisperer as a red herring but wanted to still give them something so they didn't waist too much time (They only have 12 hours to solve the mystery before it's nighttime)
The elf is meant to be a lich in disguise so them being absurdly old is one of (albeit many) hints that the elf is suspect, the players are aware that there is a lich in town and are specifically hunting it down