Post/Author/DateTime	Post
LCD2YOU 02-12-06, 11:08 AM	but there are a lot of things to go through to search fo it. Anyoe have any good effects of aging on characters out there? I have a set of my own and I would like to see what effects other DMs have in their world.
Horatio Hornblower 02-12-06, 11:37 AM	I just use the rules on page 109 in the PHB. It works fine for NPCs. PCs don't have to worry about it because they never reach middle age. :evillaugh
teclis 02-12-06, 01:09 PM	totally not true, two PCs in one of my campeigns reached middle age. a half elf who started near the top of her age catagory, and a warmage who sacrificed a few years of his life for a magical ritual. ageing happens, it's in the players handbook.
Darko 02-12-06, 01:14 PM	You may want to house rule that spot and listen worsen with aging (by RAW they get better).
DaMullet 02-12-06, 01:15 PM	totally not true, two PCs in one of my campeigns reached middle age. a half elf who started near the top of her age catagory, and a warmage who sacrificed a few years of his life for a magical ritual. ageing happens, it's in the players handbook. There you go. The only person to age by natural means was one who started old on purpose. This means a standard PC (middle of the road, between adulthood & middle age) will seldom reach middle age. Those that do either get EXTREMELY lucky, or retire while they're ahead (and still have one). Sorry to seem overly rude, but I have never seen anyone naturally reach old age.
longarm 02-12-06, 01:56 PM	The group I DM for has been playing for about 2.5 years now and about 1/2 of them have aged to middle age. -Longarm
Horatio Hornblower 02-12-06, 03:42 PM	You may want to house rule that spot and listen worsen with aging (by RAW they get better). Good point. Never thought of that. When I stated PCs never reach middle age I was refering to my campaigns. It probably applies to most campaigns as well. Usually, there is little down time between adventures. Maybe a week or two of game time, but normally just days. That means if a PC isn't killed and reaches a high enough level to retire he has only aged a few years. I guess if you had a slower pace with months between adventures then aging would be an issue. How about the OP sharing his aging rules. You got this rule junkie interested.
Oakspar77777 02-12-06, 08:07 PM	Personally, I often have characters (human ones at least) reach middle age in campaigns. First, no one is going to go, face death, get slashed to bits, walk back to a tavern, sit for a week until the wounds close, and go right back out at it. Magical healing might make those wounds close in a day, but people LIKE to rest. What is the justification for the character of scoring Phat Loot if it is just going to be wasted on equipment for getting more loot? How many people are really adventure junkies or deathseekers of that caliber? Look at the Conan stories. He only adventures when his coin has run out on Wine, Women, and Dice. Second, unless your campaign world is falling apart at the seams (which does happen: war time, open gateway to the Abyss, etc), adventures are not going to fall into the PC's lap every 5 minutes until they bite on a plot-hook. Showing up at a new place might reveal a few "standing hooks" that are just waiting for adventurers to fix, but once they are done, exspect a long return to normalcy (if the party did a good job). Thus, they will end up waiting for something to do, or . . . Third, they will have to go somewhere else. Until they are well into their careers, this will mean that they will walk or ride there. In America, the average town is about 8 miles from the next town. Why? Because 8 miles is about the longest distance you can reasonable walk to and back from in one day (and do anything worthwhile why you are there). That means, if the group is in one town in the morning, they can exspect to see two other towns by the end of the day. If even 5% of the towns have something that qualifies for the party (thus, larger than the local population can handle, but small enough that the party can), which is a ridiculously high percentage for any kind of believeability, then they could walk for WEEKS without finding any adventure worth the name. Of course, capitals are usually hundreds of miles apart and boat voyages can take months. Horses, while a liabilty, are worth it to any party whose DM enforces journy time. Of course, if the party is hacking through the wilderness without a trail, then they sound only move a few miles per day. Crafting takes tons of time. Suits of Full Plate do NOT come one size fits all. Captured suits can be resized faster than new ones can be crafted, but PCs tend to like to have custom armor. Of course, nothing is keeping the party from placing an order and adventuring until it is finished, BUT, a MW suit of Full Plate can take TWO YEARS to make. That gives the party a reason to take some R&R. Castle building can be even more time consuming, even with magical help. Even using the Magical Crafting feats takes time, since there is a flat minimium of 1 day per item rule (which is what keeps the party from brewing 100 potions of CLW). If your party mage or cleric is NOT taking some of those feats, explain them to your party. While not every spellcaster wants them, they essentually trade one feat and one level for a +2 bonus to the groups CR (meaning that you earn back the XP faster, making that lost level really more of a bonus level for the rest of the party). Spellbook additions (apart from the free ones at each level) take time, as does new spell research (a much neglected part of the game). So, if your characters are not aging, it is likely because your game is being run like a video game OR you are campaigning in a high tension world (war time, invading demons, end of time, etc). Spot and Listen If you have not noticed, Spot and Listen tend to go up all the time as the party ages. Even a Fighter who reaches middle age negates those penalties in a level or two to be a stronger Fighter than he was before. Why penalize them? If you do, you open the door to a host of other skills that likely should be raised by age (Knowledge, Sense Motive, etc). Don't think of those skills as an improvement of the physical abilities of sight and sound. They were never tied to those abilities to begin with. Those skilles are tied to Wisdom, because observation is an exercise of will-power. For example, take a 21 year old with 20/20 vision who smokes pot daily. Take a 56 year old Third Grade teacher with bifocals. Take away the glasses. I assure you, the teacher will still Spot more and hear more than the burn-out. Why? 3rd grade teachers survive by staying aware of what is going on in the class room (high WS, ranks in those skills), while the burn out has better natural ability, they are going to be distracted or preoccupied with out things, and thus miss alot.