How to use the elf age calculator
- Pick a race. The nine SRD 5.1 races use its adult ages. Every other race, including the SRD 5.2 goliath and orc (whose rules give no ages), uses our own default, and says so. Choose Custom race to type in your own.
- Choose what you know. Type a race age (for example an elf's 230 years) to get the human age, or switch to Human age to find out how old your character would be as an elf.
- Read the result. You get the matching human age, the life stage, a portrait, a figure that grows up and grows old with the age, and a timeline of the race's whole life.
- Compare and keep. The bars show the same point of life for all 24 races. Save characters to keep their ages in your world's calendar, then skip ahead 10 or 100 years.
Why not just divide?
Most age converters take a long life and divide. An elf lives to about 750 and a human to about 90, so they divide by 8.3. That makes a 100-year-old elf about 12 in human years: barely more than a child. But the free rules say elves claim adulthood around 100. A simple ratio gets the most important part of life wrong.
Our life-stage maths lines up the big moments instead: when the body is grown, when the race counts someone as an adult, and how long a long life lasts. Between those points the calculator draws a straight line. So a 100-year-old elf comes out as an 18-year-old human, just starting out as an adult, and a 500-year-old elf as a 62-year-old human: wise, still strong, starting to slow down. You can switch to Simple ratio at any time to compare.
What the life stages mean
The coloured stage label uses the matching human age: Baby (under 2), Child (2 to 11), Youth (12 to 17), Young adult (18 to 29), Adult (30 to 44), Middle-aged (45 to 64), Old (65 to 79) and Venerable (80 to 89). These stage names are our own, not rules from the SRD. The timeline under the result shows where each stage starts in the race's own years: for an elf, young adulthood starts at 100 and the Adult stage at about 208.
Type an age past a long life and the calculator keeps counting at the same pace, labels it Beyond a normal life, and says the character is older than most of their people ever live. That suits an ancient mage or a legend kept alive by magic. The Guess the age and Who is older? games always use the life-stage maths.
Elf years to human years chart
| Elf age | Human age (life stages) | Human age (simple ratio) |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | 10 | 1 |
| 20 | 16 | 2.5 |
| 50 | 17 | 6 |
| 80 | 18 | 9.5 |
| 100 | 18 | 12 |
| 150 | 24 | 18 |
| 200 | 29 | 24 |
| 300 | 40 | 36 |
| 400 | 51 | 48 |
| 500 | 62 | 60 |
| 600 | 73 | 72 |
| 750 | 90 | 90 |
Elf ages from the free SRD 5.1: adulthood around 100, a life of up to about 750 years. The human ages are our calculation.
Ages for all 24 races
| Race | Adult at | A long life | Same as a 30-year-old human | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Human | 18 | 90 | 30 | SRD 5.1 |
| Elf | 100 | 750 | 208 | SRD 5.1 |
| Dwarf | 50 | 380 | 105 | SRD 5.1 |
| Halfling | 20 | 160 | 43 | SRD 5.1 |
| Gnome | 40 | 480 | 113 | SRD 5.1 |
| Dragonborn | 15 | 80 | 26 | SRD 5.1 |
| Half-Elf | 20 | 190 | 48 | SRD 5.1 |
| Half-Orc | 14 | 75 | 24 | SRD 5.1 |
| Tiefling | 18 | 100 | 32 | SRD 5.1 |
| Goliath | 18 | 100 | 32 | our default |
| Orc | 14 | 80 | 25 | our default |
| Goblin | 9 | 50 | 16 | our default |
| Kobold | 6 | 60 | 15 | our default |
| Fairy | 25 | 500 | 104 | our default |
| Centaur | 18 | 110 | 33 | our default |
| Giant (small kin) | 40 | 400 | 100 | our default |
| Lizardfolk | 14 | 60 | 22 | our default |
| Merfolk | 20 | 250 | 58 | our default |
| Minotaur | 17 | 150 | 39 | our default |
| Catfolk | 17 | 85 | 28 | our default |
| Birdfolk | 5 | 30 | 9 | our default |
| Treefolk | 100 | 1,200 | 283 | our default |
| Satyr | 20 | 150 | 42 | our default |
| Troll | 15 | 200 | 46 | our default |
For the SRD races, the adult ages come from the rules. "A long life" is our reading of the rules' lifespan wording (for example "about 350 years on average" for dwarves), used as the end point of our life-stage maths.
Worked examples
- A 50-year-old dwarf is like an 18-year-old human: dwarves are thought of as young until 50, so this is the day they finally count as adults.
- A 33-year-old halfling is like a 25-year-old human: settled, confident and probably the best cook in the village.
- A 200-year-old gnome is like a 44-year-old human: a gnome in the busy middle of a long, curious life.
- A 3-year-old dragonborn is like a 10-year-old human. Dragonborn grow fast: by 3 they are the size of a human 10-year-old, and they are adults by 15.
Tips for writers and game masters
- Let age shape the character. An elf who is 120 has lived through one or two human lifetimes but is still young among elves. That gap makes great stories: old memories in a young heart.
- Mind the "middle" years. Long-lived races spend centuries as adults. Decide what changes for them across those years: a craft mastered, a name changed, a promise kept.
- Use world time. Save your party above (My characters, in world time) and skip ahead 10 or 100 years. Watching the human friend grow old while the elf stays young is one of fantasy's strongest themes.
- Make it your own. These ages are a starting point. Your world can have elves who live 2,000 years or dwarves who are adults at 30. Use the custom race to try your numbers.
Frequently asked questions
How old is a 100-year-old elf in human years?
About 18. In the free D&D rules, elves claim adulthood and an adult name around the age of 100, so a 100-year-old elf is a young adult, not a child.
How long do elves live?
The SRD 5.1 says an elf can live to be 750 years old. Our calculator treats 750 as a long, full elf life, like 90 for a human.
Is a 20-year-old elf a child?
Their body is fully grown, because elves mature physically at about the same speed as humans. But in elf society they are still a youth for decades. The calculator calls this the Youth stage.
How long do dwarves, halflings and gnomes live?
In the SRD 5.1, dwarves live about 350 years on average, halflings into the middle of their second century, and gnomes 350 to almost 500 years. See the table above for all 24 races.
Does it work for half-elves and other kinds of elves?
Half-elves have their own entry: they grow up like humans, are adults at about 20 and often live past 180, so a 50-year-old half-elf is like a 31-year-old human. The free rules give one set of ages for all elves, so the elf entry works for high elves, wood elves and any other kind in your world. If your world's elves age differently, use Custom race.
Can I use this for my own race?
Yes. Choose Custom race, type the age they become adults and how long a long life lasts. Races made with our Fantasy Race Generator open here with their own lifespan when you press "Convert their ages".
Where do the numbers come from?
The ages for human, elf, dwarf, halfling, gnome, dragonborn, half-elf, half-orc and tiefling come from the free SRD 5.1 (credited on our credits page). The other races use our own defaults, marked "our default" everywhere they appear.
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