Age in Eberron [Archive] - Wizards Community

Age in Eberron [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
SirPudding
02-02-06, 04:20 PM After an extended period of war it would be safe to assume that younger people would have a greater role in society. With so many of the older generation (or even the last two generations in the case of humans) killed or starved in the war would not armies be looking for recruits younger and younger? Toward the end of the war many people not much older than children would have to serve their respective countries. Perhaps some very bright teenagers might even become officers and have official positions now that the war is over.
I tend to throw out the randomly determined age chart. My players and I are all high school aged and have characters as such. It adds a new dimension to their characters. It might be a bit like full metal alchemist in which half the military in under 25.
How old are your character and NPC's and do you think Khorivar society might accept younger PCs?
Werwoelfin
02-02-06, 05:03 PM I think this would not be as extreme as it would be in our world. Remember, Eberron still is a fantasy world with magical healing available.

Also, not all parts of every nation were involved in the Last War (but in fact everybody knows somebody that has not returned from the front line and/or has lost a member of his own family) and not every young man and woman has taken part in the Last War. The war has had tides - sometimes there were many fights but sometimes there might be a partial ceasefire between two nations.

And there always have had to be enough adults working to keep the agriculture and economy running. Otherwise I could not think of how the war was able to last for 100 years...
Raziel_Brokodar
02-02-06, 06:02 PM For the most part we use the random age generation tables... but sometimes we'll produce the odd middle-aged war veteran...
Cutlass
02-03-06, 02:04 PM There were thousands of children less than 10 years old who fought in the Last War. They were called warforged :)

P.S. House Cannith's two year old can beat up your honor student :D
garner_adam
02-03-06, 05:09 PM I agree with you SirPudding. In Eberron people would be relatively young and many towns and cities would be relatively quite and barren after the toll of lives. Though some thing to consider- even in our world many young people used to be in important roles in society. With 15 year old captains and the like. A good rendition of this can be seen in the movie- Master & Commander and the far side of the world.

Even in today's times many nations in southern africa and the middle east begin using people as young as 12 years old for adult labor. (Particularly in Agarian societies) In the current western world our young people are given less responsibility and as a consequence they may not seem very capable. But history has proven many times that even the relatively young can be wise and capable.
ImpBob5
02-03-06, 10:55 PM This is certainly a good question. I would how ever tend towards pc being of a more standard age as generated on the table. While it would certainly be likely that people would be drafted into military service as young as 14-15 it would be more likely that the average age for the fighting force would be in the late teens to mid 20's. garner_adams example of the officers in master and commander is valid and likely there could be exceptionally young officers the thing to remember were those children were aristocrats and any young officers in eberron would likely be aristocrats as well. Blood would be far more important then experience. This however would be reserved to lower ranking officers. The average middle rank officer would likely be in their late twenties to mid 30s. As for the generations being killed/decimated in the war we are talking medieval warfare here and huge battles would be 15-20 thousand with the looser suffering 60-70% casualties. Plus officers would likely be spared as they are worth money in ransom as they are likely minor nobility at worst. All this is based on real world info so of course as this is fantasy you could change it if you want. (new so forgive any acts of utter idiocy)

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
SirPudding 02-02-06, 04:20 PM	After an extended period of war it would be safe to assume that younger people would have a greater role in society. With so many of the older generation (or even the last two generations in the case of humans) killed or starved in the war would not armies be looking for recruits younger and younger? Toward the end of the war many people not much older than children would have to serve their respective countries. Perhaps some very bright teenagers might even become officers and have official positions now that the war is over. I tend to throw out the randomly determined age chart. My players and I are all high school aged and have characters as such. It adds a new dimension to their characters. It might be a bit like full metal alchemist in which half the military in under 25. How old are your character and NPC's and do you think Khorivar society might accept younger PCs?
Werwoelfin 02-02-06, 05:03 PM	I think this would not be as extreme as it would be in our world. Remember, Eberron still is a fantasy world with magical healing available. Also, not all parts of every nation were involved in the Last War (but in fact everybody knows somebody that has not returned from the front line and/or has lost a member of his own family) and not every young man and woman has taken part in the Last War. The war has had tides - sometimes there were many fights but sometimes there might be a partial ceasefire between two nations. And there always have had to be enough adults working to keep the agriculture and economy running. Otherwise I could not think of how the war was able to last for 100 years...
Raziel_Brokodar 02-02-06, 06:02 PM	For the most part we use the random age generation tables... but sometimes we'll produce the odd middle-aged war veteran...
Cutlass 02-03-06, 02:04 PM	There were thousands of children less than 10 years old who fought in the Last War. They were called warforged :) P.S. House Cannith's two year old can beat up your honor student :D
garner_adam 02-03-06, 05:09 PM	I agree with you SirPudding. In Eberron people would be relatively young and many towns and cities would be relatively quite and barren after the toll of lives. Though some thing to consider- even in our world many young people used to be in important roles in society. With 15 year old captains and the like. A good rendition of this can be seen in the movie- Master & Commander and the far side of the world. Even in today's times many nations in southern africa and the middle east begin using people as young as 12 years old for adult labor. (Particularly in Agarian societies) In the current western world our young people are given less responsibility and as a consequence they may not seem very capable. But history has proven many times that even the relatively young can be wise and capable.
ImpBob5 02-03-06, 10:55 PM	This is certainly a good question. I would how ever tend towards pc being of a more standard age as generated on the table. While it would certainly be likely that people would be drafted into military service as young as 14-15 it would be more likely that the average age for the fighting force would be in the late teens to mid 20's. garner_adams example of the officers in master and commander is valid and likely there could be exceptionally young officers the thing to remember were those children were aristocrats and any young officers in eberron would likely be aristocrats as well. Blood would be far more important then experience. This however would be reserved to lower ranking officers. The average middle rank officer would likely be in their late twenties to mid 30s. As for the generations being killed/decimated in the war we are talking medieval warfare here and huge battles would be 15-20 thousand with the looser suffering 60-70% casualties. Plus officers would likely be spared as they are worth money in ransom as they are likely minor nobility at worst. All this is based on real world info so of course as this is fantasy you could change it if you want. (new so forgive any acts of utter idiocy)