> One of the players in my campaign wants to create a 1/2 elf regent of
> Dhoesone. As we were discussing this character, a question came up about the
> expected lifespan of a 1/2 elf on Cerilia. The standard AD&D 1/2 elf (IIRC)
> typically lives less than 50% as long as their elven parent would expect to.
> However, even if a Cerilian 1/2 elf has only 10% of the infinite life span of
> a full-blooded elf, I believe that would still technically be infinite. Is there
> an official rule for this somewhere that I'm missing?

In so far as I do know, there is no official rule.
We use the house rule that 1/2 elves use the sylvan elf stats
concerning their life stages.

> If there's not any official info. on this subject, I'm leaning toward
> giving my 1/2 elves a "choice" similar to the one given in Tolkien's Middle Earth.
> At some point when they are relatively young, the children of a joint human/elven
> marriage (or "liaison", for that matter) must decide whether they want to be mortal
> or immortal.

Good idea! Although I have read "Lord of the Rings" several
times, I never thought using the half-elven choice in my
campaign.(although High-elves of Arda are in many respects very
similar with Cerilian elves)

Thanks to all of you who gave their comments to my "elves"
message - I found your ideas both interesting and very useful !!!

KaaRel

P.S. I wrote a clarification to my earlier post on elves [elven life
span and memory - the old post appears in the end of letter], here
it is:

The problem of memory occurred in my campaign when one of
my PC's wanted to play an elf. As he is a rather thorough person, and
I didn't quite have time to think the history of elves up, I came up
with the "fading of memory" concept. (and asked whether he agrees to
it, of course) And personally, I cannot quite believe that such race
as elves would be so negligent towards lore that the lack (or
ambiguity) of elven lore could be explained merely by constant
warfare.(Besides, there are still elven kingdoms that have never
been conquered in war.) I agree, that the elven lore may be scarce
but at least a regent of ancient elven kingdom should have
access to it. (Considering the rather hopeless situation of elven
race, it is difficult to find reasons why elven lore masters would
not share their knowledge with rulers. )

Of course, a good DM has always plenty of reasons [to explain why
lore of immortal and ever-remembering elves is so poor] in store
and a better DM (who has a lot of free time) may actually make this
lore rich. For lazier DMs, I suggest the "concept of fading memory".

KaaRel

Earlier post follows:
> We have established a similar rule in our campaign - most elves just
> pass away at age 700-900 Only a very particular reason can
> bind a spirit of an elf to his body for longer time. Such as a
> connection to the land for example.

> We have also agreed that the memory of
> elves weakens over time. After 300 years or so, a memory of an event
> will slowly fade away and after 600 years only the strongest
> emotions associated with the event will remain. (Consider the loss
> of the Loremaster dragon (mentioned in Tuarhievel DB) in this
> light, and you will understand the wrath of elves better!) This also
> explains the need for (and value of) written lore for elves.
>
> However, even if an elf cannot remember any more what exactly
> happened, he still has an advantage - in tight situation he could
> reach for his sub-conscious (the remnants of emotions associated
> with similar events) and make perhaps a better judgement than a
> human under the same circumstances. (It would also be in line with
> the chaotic nature of elves, i.e. to rely on their emotions rather
> than rational thought)
>
> All this IMHO of course.


Coose your own way - I am sure it will be