Aging and Immortality and does it Matter?

Grognerd · Nov 6, 2018

I agree that it's mostly fluff at this point, but that it certainly does (or could) matter in longer arcs and/or connecting between ancient heroes and the present (or vice versa), etc. At the same time, I really am not fond of the modifiers and approach taken in earlier editions either. I haven't had to use it yet, but my provisional plan for my own campaign:

There is, of course, a maximum age. Then radiating out from that are the "age bands" that are pretty familiar: mature, aged, elder, venerable (I don't worry about younger than mature). For each age band, beginning with mature, I impose one permanent level of exhaustion. So the mature figure simply isn't as spry as s/he used to be, and has a little disadvantage. By the time one is elderly, though, then those fights are much harder. Push yourself too hard when you are venerable (ie. gain any exhaustion), and your body might not be able to handle it.

Is it perfect? No. But it's simple to just add the exhaustion modifiers to both PC and NPC characters, and it lets me use the stat block for NPCs (or PCs) from their halcyon days of youth with minimal effort. I also like to stock previous campaigns' characters as NPCs in current campaigns. So I can take a PCs old character sheet when their character was in their prime, and just use it unaltered but with permanent exhaustion levels to represent them in the new campaign (depending on how much time has passed between campaigns).

TaranTheWanderer · Nov 6, 2018

rgoodbb said:
I am role-playing a old goblin PC who is 59 and knows that no goblin lasts past 60 years. For me (and him), age matters. I will soon start rolling a D20 each morning: on a 1, he won't wake up. So I guess it's important for me because I chose that age (56 at the start) to roleplay him and am finding it very interesting.

I am also playing an 82 year old human wizard who is suffering from dementia. It is funny at times but also humbling on other occasions. The age thing is obviously interesting to me from a role-playing standpoint. As for levels of Features: No idea.

I like this. I've had an idea for a druid for a while to start off as an old man. He was once a powerful druid who disappeared for a few centuries and shows up an old and decrepit with no memory of where he came from or who he was. My idea was that, as he leveled and regained his power and memories, he'd also start growing young to the age he was when he went missing (at 18th level).

Charlaquin said:
Or what about the story of a character searching for mortality? Not as common, but still an interesting one - see, for example, Smendrick the magician in The Last Unicorn (the book).

I love this story (and the movie). Does that work in D&D where you are constantly under threat of being killed? What if you can't be killed? There are games where it does work because there are different ways of being 'Taken Out' without being killed.

Sorcerers Apprentice · Nov 6, 2018

Charlaquin said:
Or what about the story of a character searching for mortality? Not as common, but still an interesting one - see, for example, Smendrick the magician in The Last Unicorn (the book).

Or the Nameless One in Planescape: Torment. Perhaps the best story ever told in a D&D derived work.

WaterRabbit · Nov 6, 2018

I have a campaign in which the characters are immortals (cross between Highlander and The Mummy from WoD). The campaign is set up in this fashion to allow character story flashbacks (like Highlander), so in that case aging does have some interesting effects.

The Crimson Binome · Nov 6, 2018

It's mostly there to protect the integrity of the assumed fantasy setting. If rich people can buy immortality, then the world starts looking like a very different place, and the DM has to spend time extrapolating on the greater ramifications of that.

Derren · Nov 6, 2018

Saelorn said:
It's mostly there to protect the integrity of the assumed fantasy setting. If rich people can buy immortality, then the world starts looking like a very different place, and the DM has to spend time extrapolating on the greater ramifications of that.

They already can with the clone spell.

LordEntrails · Nov 6, 2018

Derren said:
They already can with the clone spell.

Only if their are magic shops or magic services for sale.

If not, and if NPC don't have PC classes, then clone and wish spells are incredibly rare, and probably can't be bought, even by the wealthy.

Azzy · Nov 6, 2018

TaranTheWanderer said:
I was perusing Wizard Schools and noticed that Transmuters can restore youth. I notice that there is a caveat 'it doesn't extend the creature's lifespan.' Why is this a 14th level ability?

There is the Druid ability and the Monk ability as well that slows age.

It's been a longstanding tradition in D&D that certain abilities (or a spell like Wish) can stop aging but that 'you still die at your natural age.' So, the Orcish Druid dies way sooner than the elven druid even though they don't actually age any more (at least they didn't in 3e). Here's the thing...does it matter? Most RP games I play don't care if you are 15 or 1000 years old, as long as it makes sense for the character. I'm curious at D&D's obsession with 'limiting' age.

In 3e and earlier, if you played an old character, you got bonuses and penalties based on your age. And being aged by a ghost could seriously change or hamper a character. In 5e, that doesn't exist. (as far as I know) Aging 40 years is completely an rp thing.

In the grand scheme of a campaign, where elves live 800 years, does it matter whether or not you age? Why is this an 14th, 18th and 15th level ability? To me, it could be a 3rd level ability and have as much effect on the game. In fact, if a player asked to play a character who never aged, I'd allow it as part of their background.

So, in your games, does it matter? Would you allow a player to play a human with a background where he is cursed with immortality and has been alive for 400 years? Is that any more game-breaking than allowing a 400 year old elf? Has anyone run a campaign that has spanned centuries? If so, how did it go?

Edit: to clarify, when I say immortal, I don't mean they can't die but instead do not age.

The only campaign I've ever been in since 1986 where a character's natural lifespan actually matter was a sequel to a previous campaign... And most of our characters were effectively ageless.

So, no, I feel like it really has no impact on the game unless you try make it have some.

flametitan · Nov 6, 2018

It doesn't have many mechanical uses; most of its ramifications are thematic. The big thing is that it reinforces the idea that mortality is an absolute, inescapable truth of the world. We all die at some point, no matter what we do to prolong our lives. This is also why undeath and necromancy are considered evil in most settings. It is a perversion of the laws of nature, twisting it to serve the caster's ends.

Derren · Nov 6, 2018

LordEntrails said:
Only if their are magic shops or magic services for sale.

If not, and if NPC don't have PC classes, then clone and wish spells are incredibly rare, and probably can't be bought, even by the wealthy.

Why wouldn't NPCs not have PC levels? I had hoped this nonsense of special snowflake PCs died with 4E.
And a 15th level wizard with clone is probably more easy to find than a 14th level transmuter, considering how powerful clone is.