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The Dresden Files => DFRPG => Topic started by: Team8Mum on March 19, 2011, 02:04:14 PM

Title: Longevity in weres
Post by: Team8Mum on March 19, 2011, 02:04:14 PM
How long do weres live?
The books imply that Billy and the alphas get a normal human life span, but how does it pan out for wolf weres etc.
Does a wolfwere get a wolf life span?
Would a gerbilwere just get 3 years?

What if a wolf were was to spend most of it's time being human? Would that drag out his life to the three score and ten, or would he still age like a wolf and die in his teens?
Title: Re: Longevity in weres
Post by: EdgeOfDreams on March 19, 2011, 03:55:55 PM
There is currently no specific info on this in either the novels or the game.

Thus, the best answer is probably "whatever works best for the story" in your game/fanfic/own mind.
Title: Re: Longevity in weres
Post by: TheMouse on March 19, 2011, 04:24:41 PM
Unless there's a specific reason to assume otherwise, I go with them living however long the species they're born as would live. If there's a reason to assume otherwise, adjust accordingly.
Title: Re: Longevity in weres
Post by: Team8Mum on March 19, 2011, 04:38:20 PM
I just wondered if any one had come across anything or if it had come up before.
Wolves live 12 to 14 years in the wild, have lasted as long as 20 in captivity. So that works out about 5 wolf years for every human year. (Based on 3score and ten for normal, and 100 for looked after)

I have an NPC wolf were who arrived in the city as a 4 year old wolf but has been mostly hiding out in his human form. When he arrived he was 'young adult' so described as about 21.
He has been there for 5 years so the problem im having is does he now look 40 or 26?
In the character motivation aspect does he and his partner have 50 years of marriage ahead of them, or only 10.
I wondered if any one else had explored this.
Title: Re: Longevity in weres
Post by: Haru on March 19, 2011, 04:51:06 PM
I think they would get a lifespan of mere humans, maybe even wizards constitution, but most wereanythings won't die of old age anyhow. I wouldn't treat werehumans and humanweres any different here. Both are not half-human half-something but kind of both, combining the best of both worlds to something new. Remember that even the rules reflect this: in wereform they still have their human intelligence, and in human form they still have an echo of their beasts abilities. An athletic 45 year old human would still change into an athletic wolf form, not one crippled with old age.

Aftermath:
(click to show/hide)
Title: Re: Longevity in weres
Post by: Quantus on March 19, 2011, 05:03:58 PM
well, The change basically just a rather primal magic spell, and Magic is all about what you believe in.  So the question Id ask is:  After all this time, does he view himself as a man or a wolf?

On the other hand, if you need a justification for your table, there are a few things you could go with.  The change is about jumping the line between the two species, so maybe his form just kinda settled over time, going along with the self identity bit I mentioned.  Or you could go with the wizard longevity thing, and say that a wolf wizard can have a life up to 5 times a normal wolf. That tracks with the human wizard life expectancy, and equates to a normal human lifespan.  But doing that may open the door to questions of the other wizard perks like Sight and Soulgazes.

Ooh, that could be fun.  A wolf wizard with a Sight based around the superior canine senses like scent or hearing. 
Title: Re: Longevity in weres
Post by: UmbraLux on March 19, 2011, 05:31:18 PM
My view is they all start with their birth species' life span.  As long as they revert to that shape normally (they have the Human Form disadvantage), that remains their life span.  When they lose that and regeneration powers start affecting their human form, life span may increase appropriately.
Title: Re: Longevity in weres
Post by: Haru on March 19, 2011, 05:34:57 PM
Quote from: Quantus on March 19, 2011, 05:03:58 PM
Ooh, that could be fun.  A wolf wizard with a Sight based around the superior canine senses like scent or hearing. 

The name "Angua" pops up in my head right now  ;D

But jokes aside, why shouldn't a weresomething pick up other supernatural powers? I can totally see it, I might even be ok with a weresomething evolving into a focused practitioner and even a full blown wizard over time. The shapeshifting might just be his way of first manifesting his powers. I think someone somewhere suggested, that you could take powers for highly refined spells. Breath weapon for attack spells for example, or true shapeshifting for shapeshifting thaumaturgy. And following that logic, if you can upgrade from channeling and ritual to evocation and thaumaturgy, why not upgrade the even more specialised spell?
Title: Re: Longevity in weres
Post by: Quantus on March 19, 2011, 05:41:48 PM
Quote from: Haru on March 19, 2011, 05:34:57 PM
The name "Angua" pops up in my head right now  ;D

But jokes aside, why shouldn't a weresomething pick up other supernatural powers? I can totally see it, I might even be ok with a weresomething evolving into a focused practitioner and even a full blown wizard over time. The shapeshifting might just be his way of first manifesting his powers. I think someone somewhere suggested, that you could take powers for highly refined spells. Breath weapon for attack spells for example, or true shapeshifting for shapeshifting thaumaturgy. And following that logic, if you can upgrade from channeling and ritual to evocation and thaumaturgy, why not upgrade the even more specialised spell?
Certainly no reason you couldn't, just not necessarily a can of worms you want to open for an NPC.  If a were did go full Practitioner though, Id be asking who taught them.  Anything from fae to dragons to Native American wizards (like with Tera and LtW) would work, but getting past the one-trick-wonder level without a teacher/guide of some kind would be damn hard.
Title: Re: Longevity in weres
Post by: Richard_Chilton on March 19, 2011, 07:47:46 PM
Based on going through a bunch of "Word of Jim" posts (someone on the spoiler board has collected practically every post that Jim has made on the Dresden file - and has sorted them by topic) I think I know the answer to this one.

A were's lifespan is whatever it has to be for Jim to write a kick ass story.  And since all it takes is for Harry (or Bob) to say "these were spirit animals awaken, those were hit by a spell, that kind were played with by fairies, etc" Jim can make as many different types of weres as he needs to.  If he thinks it would be cool to have a wolfwere with a human lifespan fall in love with one that has a wolf lifespan, then that's what is going to happen (a tragic, doomed loved in the Dresden Files? It fits).

Personally, I think Terra's son (who becomes a monster on the night of the full moon) will be in a later book - maybe even the BAT.  No, there is no proof that she was pregnant at the end of Fool Moon, but I think she was because the curse has to continue until the Judgment Day.  Will he be a grown man in the next book (i.e. aging by wolf years)? That could happen, but I doubt it because of the subject matter of the next book.  But maybe the book after that.  Or maybe he'll be in the BAT - which implies aging by human years.

Until we see him again, it's whatever the group decides.  Personally, I'd go with "wolf years until they start to change, human ones after that, and in special cases - unaging".

Richard
Title: Re: Longevity in weres
Post by: MijRai on March 19, 2011, 07:53:04 PM
I would say becoming a were-wolf or wolf-were or any other kind of were-form would increase your lifespan by a bit. Not to 200 years by any means, but they probably have a better chance of living to 100 to me. Physically active, magical energies used to change form, etc. A 60 year old were-form could probably still kick ass.
Title: Re: Longevity in weres
Post by: Team8Mum on March 19, 2011, 08:18:33 PM
Quote from: Richard_Chilton on March 19, 2011, 07:47:46 PM
Based on going through a bunch of "Word of Jim" posts (someone on the spoiler board has collected practically every post that Jim has made on the Dresden file - and has sorted them by topic) I think I know the answer to this one.

A were's lifespan is whatever it has to be for Jim to write a kick ass story.  And since all it takes is for Harry (or Bob) to say "these were spirit animals awaken, those were hit by a spell, that kind were played with by fairies, etc" Jim can make as many different types of weres as he needs to.  If he thinks it would be cool to have a wolfwere with a human lifespan fall in love with one that has a wolf lifespan, then that's what is going to happen (a tragic, doomed loved in the Dresden Files? It fits).

Richard
Cool that's the sort of information I was after...
Tragic doomed love it is then,
:)