There are several races listed in Runners Companion that have no lifespan listed for them.

Under Sapient Critters it says "Each sapient species has a different lifespan, though this generally does not have any impact on the game."

Well, as a GM that likes to do consistent background and plotlines for my NPC's it does have an impact on the writings for my game.

What are the lifespans for these races? And why wasn't it put into the book? The word count for writing that statement could have easily been used to list the lifespans of those races and eliminated the question and debate. Some have said it is because the public doesn't know in game. If that is the case, then why have the lifespans of elves and dwarves been listed? Since, except for the immortal fourth age leftovers, none of them have been alive long enough to know thier lifespans.

And what is the lifespan of the drakes? Is it the base lifespan of the metahuman race they are? Or is it something else?

Use human as standard, orks live shorter, trolls even shorter, dwarves longer than humans, and elves even longer. As most of the metahumans born that way have yet to die of natural causes, I doubt there is any good information available. Do not play a drake, do not name him Ryan.

If you really want numbers, use a previous edition stats.

You got Orcs and Trolls confused, it has always been that Orks are the shortest lived (30-40 years on average) and Trolls live longer but not as long as humans (about 50 years).

Dwarf and Elf natural life spans are conjecture, suffice it to say that neither race has had anyone die of old age yet.

Presumably they have, but only those who expressed early due to mana spikes etc.

And they'd have been treated as mutants/freaks/etc and thus wouldn't have had much data recorded about lifespan.

Oops, you're right, trolls just get shafted more every other way.
Right, though there isn't actually anything that comes to mind in the literature that any of those have died of old age either. Unless they were already pretty old when they expressed (and survived what was not an easy process) I doubt they would have died yet.

Orks and Trolls that "Goblinize" live a standard human lifespan. Those born as said live their new lifespan.

Yeah...there's of course the Elven lifespan, but with Dwarves...they are pretty sure it goes into the 3 digits at the very least. But Dwarves might well have a lifespan into the several hundred range. I'm kinda waiting for more Dwarf info. They seem to be a bit left behind(Elves had plenty Orks and Trolls at least have their own language and a couple Trollish areas, but Dwarves? Not much except they live a bleedin' long time as well.)

Yeah, it seems that people went out of their way to wipe out the "Dwarven Culture" and "Troll Culture" and missed the "Ork Culture" (Or, at least, one book).

We know how the Elves kept theirs together.

Depends heavily on medical care, nutrition, and other factors. Keeping in mind that this is an unofficial answer, if it's really getting your shorts in a twist then I suggest centaurs and sasquatch would have similar lifespan to orks, nagas similar to humans, and pixies somewhere between dwarfs and elves.


A bunch of reasons, the biggest one being that the lifespans of those critters are not known in game, and out of game they don't really come into play unless you're running something along the lines of ork-generations. Suffice it to say that a sapient critter with sufficient access to modern medicine can live a reasonable period of time compared with other metahumans.

Okay, snarkiness off, there are other reasons. One is that the lifespan of a critter or player choice should not, generally, be the deciding factor in whether you play them. None of these sapient races are fruit flies with a natural span measured in hours, and they're no more or less likely after five or ten years of hard shadowrunning to shuffle off to the Shadowy Lane Retirement Home For Curmudgeonly Runners Who Can't Afford Leonization than anybody else. They're much more likely to catch a spell or bullet first. Shadowrun isn't exactly built for a replay of the Giovanni Chronicles, y'ken.


There are several indications that drakes would have a much longer lifespan. Think reverse dog years.

Yeah, let's count the old Shadowrunners that are with us.

...

...

...

One. FastJack.

Maybe if you consider Harlequin the Original Shadowrunner, two.

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd, that's about it.

There must be a few more less well known runners still alive....

Most of the rest retired with a bullet for company.

And a very few chose another, less invasive route.

You forgot to mention Smiling Bandit & Slamm-O.

Also to the OP: With Leonization then even humans can live a couple of hundred years. Sure it's expensive, but then again you can't take that money with you.

Smiling Bandit and Slamm-0 is of the "Old Guard", yes... But aren't OLD, if you catch my meaning.

No idea on the age of Smiling Bandit, but Slamm-0 is in his 20s, IIRC. He's a Second-Generation 'Runner.

Well the easy way would be just to use the old Earthdawn ages. Since it seemed to stay about the same in the other Shadowrun editions. Which would make Dwarves hit in the 100's, oldest recorded hitting 150's. Elves live into the 300's, with the oldest recorded being right around 400. Humans are fairly obvious, but I'll go ahead and list the Earthdawn age of 75, with oldest breaking 100. Orks hit the 40's for their age with a few making it up to their 60's. Trolls make it a bit longer with 50's as norm, and 70's as oldest. Winglings (pixies) mature in their 30's and live up into their 170's, nothing listed past that. (Also they don't show signs of aging from 30's to 170's.)

So you can figure on Shadowrun being about the same. Longer for people with better food, and medical care.

Digging around in my Earthdawn stuff. I found that the age for drakes is "centuries" and "far longer than the younger races". Nagas didn't have anything listed for age, though they were created by magicians out of people. So I'd probably go with a relatively normal lifespan, most likely human or dwarf.

I didnt' see anything about the others. So you'd have to make it up for them.

Actually, Slamm-O isn't "Old Guard". He first appeared in SR3, and his backstory (according to one of the books, Target Matrix, maybe) mentions that he's actually a 2nd or 3rd generation Shadowrunner.

Smiling Bandit's still around as well.

Pistons and Winterhawk are fairly "old" characters, but they first showed up in 3rd ed as well, I think, maybe towards the end of 2nd ed.

Talon is still around, and he goes back to Awakenings in 2nd ed.

Bull first appeared in 2nd ed, in Target UCAS. He's retired, but still around, just not being actively used. He'll probably poke his head up again if I ever do anymore freelancing, as the old Orks still got a bit left in him. Though this "Wireless" stuff has him feeling like a crotchety old man and more than a little left behind.

Of course, out of those, only Smiling Bandit isn't (as fas I know) someone's PC. Slamm-O was former FASA Art Director and artist Fred Hoopers decker. Pistons was Elissa Carey's rigger (I think), Winterhawk is Robyn King-Nitschke's character (Sammy, I think). Talon is STeve Kenson's mage, and of course Bull is my SR Avatar.

Hrmm, there's a couple other "long timers" still kicking about, but not many. Most have simply vanished, so they may have gone into hiding, may have actually retired, or may well be dead. Who knows? The Shadows are pretty rough.

Slamm-0 is "Old Guard" compared to these new kids that only have had to deal with the Wireless stuff.

He remembers the CyberDeck Days.

Damn but I wish I could have been gaming back then...

I thought I heard somewhere that the best ork decker became a wendigo?

Heh!

In the "home Game", he did, sort of, cause our GM was a bastard But, thanks to a few favors for Damian Night, we managed to do a full body Clone for him (This was still 2nd ed, or early 3rd, before clones were really a viable thing in SR), and transferred his memories through the Matrix.

Anyways, we're way off topic here. And I could tell stories about the evil shit my GM put Bull through all day, so...

Thanks bro - that's pretty cool.

So, start a thread that's on topic for that!

Back on topic, Shapeshifters apparently have the lifespan of your typical Ork, IIRC.

If the RN logs were still up, I'd just point you there. Tinner used to regularly troll the old Mailing List for ideas as well as to brag about what kinda crap he put me through that week.



Or, if you wanna be really evil, use the animals normal lifespan.

I call Giant Tortoise Shapeshifter!

God dammit. Now I have to actually read the fraggin Shifter rules and work up rules for this...

I hate you people.

Smiling Bandit has been around since 1st Edition. It's safe to assume he's well in his 40s now. Also, Picador's been around since Fields of Fire, so it's safe to assume she's past her 30s as well.

Personally, I'd like to see some more old-timers pop up. But that might just be me ...

Nope, it ain't just you

Smiling Bandit has been around since 1st Edition. It's safe to assume he's well in his 40s now. Also, Picador's been around since Fields of Fire, so it's safe to assume she's past her 30s as well.

Personally, I'd like to see some more old-timers pop up. But that might just be me ...

Or maybe some newcomers.

Maybe if I write about Winnipeg's and Sudbury's Shadows I can sneak my way into the JackPoint?

Gamera is really neat,
he is full of turtle meat,
we are eating Gameraaaaaa! sorry

Yeah, the guy with the two drones can sing his theme song.

Sammy? Bull, you wound me!

'Hawk is a professor of fraggin' thaumaturgy! He's one of the biggest mage snobs in the Sixth World!

sammy...

...wanders off muttering incoherently...

Elves and Dwarves are born as Elves and Dwarves (respectively). Nobody ever 'expresses' or 'goblinizes' into either of those races. Not even via SURGE.

This is what was known back in the Fourth World:

Race   (Maturity | Lifespan)
• Dwarf     (11+ | 100-150+)
• Elf           (20s | 300-400)
• Human   (teens | 75-100+)
• Obsidiman (100 | 500+)
• Ork         (13+ | 40-60+)
• Troll       (13+ | 50-70+)
• T'skrang   (10 | 80-115+)
• Windling   (30+ | 170)

As for shapeshifters, I would use the Ork lifespan for simplicity, or average the normal animal's lifespan with a humans to get something more specific.

Bah, sorry, I plead insanity. PLus, I was running on very little sleep when I posted that



Except for that Dwarf from Shadowboxer, I think it was...

I'm playing a Pikachu Shapeshifter. How long do Pikachu live?

(ducks)

pikachu is forever cute.... well until he is eaten by a naga.

People live until stupidity kills them.

Or so working Tech Support has taught me.

That one don't count!

I think SPD is still around, he's mentioned in the BBB at least. And since he used to be a member of Seattle's Finest, he's got to be real old by now. I think he first shows up in the first Seattle Sourcebook. Simmiarly, the Chromed Accountant dates back to 2ed (Coporate Download I think?), and he's still around.

Though its not clear if either of these chummers are actually runners.

IIRC, at the end of the Dragonheart trilogy, Harlequin tells Ryan that his lifespan will include most of the Sixth World, which would mean that (bred) drakes live for several thousand years.

Hey, I'm just saying... It's there. In a novel. You can't take it back.

Bull

Depends. Dodge Pool?

CA was. He used to work for the IRS, and got into the Shadows because it was safer. (Which tells you how Tax Men are viewed in the Sixth World!).

He made a fair sized fortune and got his own island. According to Ancient History, he had to clean out some "Squatters", and then retired there.

I give him a few more months before he flips out the Satelite Retransmitter and starts begging FastJack to be put onto the JackPoint.

Actually, wasn't it Shadowboxer that was declared non-canon by FASA way back in the day? I know that one of the novels received that distinction (and only one, for better or worse), but I always mix up which one it was.

Wasn't he a rookie during the Nights of Rage? He'd be pushing into his mid-70s or early-80s.

Maybe I've been way off base for a long time, but I thought Smiling Bandit was Harlequin's Matrix Persona (a la Orange Queen, Wordsmyth et al)

Wasn't his persona Laughing Man?

Yes. I believe Smiling Bandit was a different Matrix persona.

Well, you CAN add in Metatype attributes - but im not sure if they are only for show or if they add more than jut the attribute bonus...

What's dog years on an elf???

Thanks! ... Hmm. Has Laughing Man been "posting" in SR4?