HI!

In several intances I've seen mention of extreme lifespans for 'notables' of the Imperium - upwards of 300 years or so.
How official is this "fluff"? How common? How do you guys/gals rules this (are there rules somewhere on this)?

Thanks!

L

There are quite a few examples of notables living for a long tome in the 40K universe. Space Marines, naturally, have a prolonged lifespan and can easily live on for hundreds of years. I am not totally certain, but technically they might be able to prolong their lifespan indefinitely, given natural attrition from constantly fighting.

For normal mortals in the Imperium, a prolonged lifespan is normally the preserve of the wealthy. Juvenat treatments effectively replace cells, or failing parts of the body with chemical / biological replacements, but this surgery is an absolute king's ransom. Powerful single individuals, and organisations, like the Ordos for example, can easily sway things so that a notable Inquisitor, and possibly even trusted Throne Agents could receive the treatment. As long as you have a lot of thrones, then technically you could keep up Juvenat treatments - but I believe the effectiveness begins to diminish with further uses, until eventually death becomes a foregone conclusion. Technically, a lifespan could be extended for possibly 600-700 years(?) with this method, but the body would steadily age later in this term.

Other means of arresting age are through bionic replacement of flesh (AdMech being the major proponents of this method obviously) - with Magos and Archmagos being ancient indeed, possibly several thousand years old. Last of all, there are those unscrupulous enough to make 'deals' with the Ruinous Powers who can provide eternal life after a fashion. The major characters of the Heresy, although Space Marines, and largely possessed by Daemons, have been alive for 10,000 years! Objects like Halo Devices may well allow a protracted lifespan at a hideous cost, of course.

RedMike covered the bases pretty well. "Rejuvenat treatments" as they are called are an established part of the canon. Available to the mighty, important and/or wealthy of the Imperium. Inquisitors, Planetary Governors, senior Adepts of the Imperium and military commanders.

It seems that certain VIP;s get access to the treatment as a "job benefit", while other ( like the filthy rich ) have to get it the old fashioned way ( lots of money and contacts ).

Exactly what the treatment(s) entails is unclear. Replacing decayed organs with cloned/artificial ones? Potent exotic drugs? Maybe a combination of several techniques? But ultimately the human body ( if not mind ) will give in to age and decay. For "true" immortality you have to turn to proscribed means ( Xenos tech, Warp pacts etc. ).

given that Rejuvenated characters often seem hale and healthy, it would have to involve lengthening telomeres, clearing out celluar junk and replacement/repair of cellulite and elastin. There would probably be a lot of vat-grown organ replacement and internal bionic system regulators to keep cancer and such in check.

So far everyone has covered the good stuff quite well. For those who aren't important enough/ wealthy enough...well.....corpse starch has to come from somewhere , right?

Agmar_Strick said:

Keep in mind there has to be some kind of psychological conditioning, or the like in order to prepare one mentally for the strain of living hundreds of years. While they may be able to keep the brain from degrading, or replace damaged portions of grey/white matter, the psyche is another issue altogether. The strain of so many invasive surgeries and simply extending your lifespan 3-4 times or more what it should naturally be is going to be very mentally trying. Presumably people who undergo the process can afford a psychiatrist, however, so it is really only an issue to keep in mind for rp purposes.

Jack of Tears said:

Or else? Have you looked at the Universe latelly? I'm not so sure these psychological treatments are common... which could explain a few things...

Friend of the Dork said:

I would tend to agree with 'Jack of Tears' with this; the 40K universe would not really support such a concept. The crushing reality of life and the doctrinal oppressiveness of the Imperium would surely weigh down on any human, no matter how privileged (although nobles would be able to lead a much more free and licentious lifestyle). Those able to afford the exorbitant price of rejuvenat treatments would be part of an elite group of 'survivors,' but their minds would continue to age within their bodies - so accumulated wisdom for some - more hang ups, prejudices and growing insanity for others. Look at Lord Sector Hax as an example of hundreds of years of extended lifespan, with paranoid delusions and enemies around every corner. If anything, the universe becomes a more terrifying place the longer you live - perhaps the truths of existence are laid a little more bare to the fragile mind.

Another possibility is something that could tap into the longevity of Xenos like the Eldar - they re very long lived, and it seems that enigmatic and fickle as they are, someone who had close ties to the Eldar might be influenced by this psychically, or given the means to transfer his / her consciousness into another body and attain some measure of immortality. In 'Eisenhorn' Pontius Glaw manages this in a different way, having his personality / consciousness / soul 'recorded' into a crystal, waiting for an opportunity to be reconstituted into a fresh body.

In any case, some of the most memorable villains in the 40K universe have been those with lengthy lifespans in this way, accomplished through heretical dabblings - but so too have the greatest heroes of the Imperium - look at the decades long conflict between Commissiar Yarick and Ghazkhull for example!

Illithidelderbrain said:

"Soylent Green is made of people" ? No, really. There is a wonderfull scene in one novel ( forgot the name), pitting CSM against an Imperial force containing Elysian Drop Troops and their AdMech allies. The Elysian commander finds out ( to his horror ) exactly how logically efficient the AdMech way of war is. Nothing is wasted. The casualties are collected and recycled to food pellets .

Aajav-Khan said:

"Dark Apostle" is the book you're thinking of...and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

A couple drawbacks to the whole Juvenat thing:

1. The drugs have a very high tolerance factor - after the first couple times, you need more and more to make it work.

2. It's pretty close to canon - I remember reading this in...I think Eisenhorn - that there's a high probability of memory loss following the procedure, and disassociation to boot. So you're still young and alive, but you start to forget say, the first 20, 50 years of your life, your memories start to feel like things that happened to other people, etc.

3. There's also the other downsides of immortality - boredom/jadedness and watching friends and loved ones age and die around you.

4. Almost forgot - apparently if one is over-enthusiastic about juvenat, the skin develops a pinkish, shiny, pinched-back look.

Vikingkingq said:

I hope this was a joke. I really do.

Nope. It's from "Playing Patience," one of the short-stories in the Ravenor omnibus.

Have no fear, soon Juvenat WILL be here!

www.gizmag.com/regenerative-body-parts/15392/

Also from the ravenor book, Rickers, the Arbite guy in the first planet is like 200 years old I thought... I think In general, Lifespans have dramatically increased in the imperium.

It also goes without saying, as pointed out above... space marines dont die from age. In fact there are some (many?) Chaos marines that are around 10-13k years old (I'm thinking ultraminees omnibus)

As per numerous examples from books, you can get the 'half space marine' upgrade... Most notable of which was Luther from the Horus heresy fallen angels. He is too old to be fully upgraded into space marine. but he was able to get the job half done, AND it mentions his friends when he came back to caliban as being much more aged than he was (and doesnt imply that he had got any older, or had juvant treatment)

This implies that you dont have to be a space marine to live forever. Imperial technology definately allows for atleast signifigant near millenia long life spans, beyond that I dont know.

Honestly I was really curious about this topic myself.

I beg to differ on the Space marine aging thing. They do state in several sources that the average lifespan of a marine is about 400-600 years, with some individual exceptions.

Blood Angels are know to live a lot longer, with the Chapter master Dante being over 1000 years old.

The reason the Chaos Marines are so old because they are corrupted by the chaos, and time is irrelevant in the Warp

Meph said:

Exactly. The misconception about "immortal Space Marines" is irritatingly persistent.

well with 600 years they are on par with tech priests, and even then put them in a dreadnaught and they are immortal

Well, in one of the first Horus Heresy novels it is stated that Space Marines are “effectively immortal” since several were already several hundred years old, and none had ever died of old age, or natural causes.

The 400 -600 year modern “lifespan” of a Space Marine might be due to lesser quality or purposeful modification of gene seed.

ItsUncertainWho said:

It's hardly definitive proof: it's stated as the opinion of a single character who hadn't really thought about it before. By the time of the Triumph at Ullanor (when Horus became Warmaster - so shortly before the events in Horus Rising, where this oft-misreferenced statement comes from), the Great Crusade had been going on for about three centuries. Now, given that we know that the Astartes typically live for a few centuries (some living longer), the fact that none of them had died of old age, and there had never been Space Marines before that generation, nobody knew whether or not they could die of old age. In fact, those same books make mention of Astartes ageing (though not necessarily in the same way as an unaugmented human) - both Captains Iacton Qruze of the Luna Wolves and Nathaniel Garro of the Death Guard are mentioned as being particularly old, having been around pretty much since the start of the Crusade.

A new type of creature comes to exist that is unprecedented in its precise nature - the Astartes. During a period of time known (due to our hindsight) to be within the normal average lifespan of a Space Marine, none of them succumbed to age... I fail to see how this is such a big deal, as none of them would have been old enough to die of old age anyway...

How old are Inquisitors Marr and Ahmazzi? They are practically ancient.