D&D 4E 4e Aging

[GoodKingJayIII]

In 4e all characters will be the physical equivalent of a 47-year-old grossly overweight man. Upon reaching 2nd level, they will have the option to select the feat Resist Heart Failure.

 

[Henry]

The 3e aging rules never made that much sense to me, really.

I can see you growing weaker as the body ages. But the mind ages as well. It doesn't get better with old age. You start forgetting things. Your eyesight gets worse (I mention this here since it's wis based), you become more set in your ways, get get old and wrinkly.

All that doesn't sound like an increase in Int, Wis and Cha to me.

Two words: Sean Connery. I can probably find thousands of women that thought him to be sexy and charming as heck into his 70's, and heck, probably even today. I can also see WIS being on the increase, because age does bring experience, when it isn't bringing Alzheimer's. INT, however, I can see your point: The mind loses capacity as you age, it doesn't gain it. But it was probably easier to say, "all mental stats get a bonus, all physical stats get a penalty."

Which really makes sense: "Here, that old hag shouted at me, my birthday is suddenly two years earlier!

I always saw it as a sapping of vigor and vitality, rather than physical aging. However, you can gain a lot more age than you can afford to lose CON.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

In 4e all characters will be the physical equivalent of a 47-year-old grossly overweight man. Upon reaching 2nd level, they will have the option to select the feat Resist Heart Failure.

Upon reaching middle age, PCs no longer recover hit points at the same rate.

Middle Age:
1hp/level recovered for every 12 hours of rest
Cure spells cast upon PC use a d6 instead of d8
Players of PCs with 80-99% of HP may not tell anyone they are down HP. The PC is convinced they are fine and can keep going just like they used to.

Old Age:
1hp/level recovered for every 24 hours of rest
Cure spells cast upon PC use a d4.
Players of PCs with less than 100% of HP must mention the pain they are in with each move action. Younger PCs should be berated for not having respect for their elders if they get any healing before PC is at full HP.

Venerable:
1hp/level recovered for every 48 hours of rest
Cure spells cast upon PC restores 1 +1hp/caster level
PCs have 20% chance to fall asleep each hour, even if in combat.
Players of PCs below 50% of max HP must say they can't go on and beg other PCs to kill them.

 

[Ganeldil]

Age

Hey when I started playing back in the 70's I didn't want to play an old character because it wasn't cool to be old, now that I am older I don't want to play an old character because if I am going to play a Fantasy Roleplaying game I want to be YOUNG again

I understand that is just me, but I tend to disregard aging in my campaigns and let the players shape that as they will and how they see their character.

 

[ptolemy18]

I like the age mechanic, but I don't feel that it really needs more space. I can't think of a D&D campaign I've been in where there was enough time passing in the campaign world for the characters to actually age years at a time. It seems to me more like a way to house-rule playing characters who start out older.

 

[Jhaelen]

What you think? What would you like to see them doing with Age/Aging in 4e?

I'd like to see them doing absolutely nothing with Age/Aging in 4e.

It just serves no purpose in D&D. If you'd like to have aging have a meaningful effect and purpose in the game, I'd recommend the Ars Magica or the Pendragon rpgs.

 

[Morrus]

Most [3e] campaigns run from 1st-20th level in roughly 15 seconds of game time*. Aging hardly matters!


*Which take 2 years of real time to play though!

 

[an_idol_mind]

I miss the staff of withering and potions of longevity.

Other than that, I've got no problems with how age is handled in D&D.

 

[ArmoredSaint]

35 years is too young to inflict the penalties that arriving at that age incurred in 3.5. Raise "Middle Age" somewhat.

 

[Morrus]

35 years is too young to inflict the penalties that arriving at that age incurred in 3.5. Raise "Middle Age" somewhat.

I disagree. Once I hit 30 (and everyone else of my age I know - everyone says it was about 30 it happened), I had to start working to stay in shape. Up until then it didn't matter; now I have to go to the gym and watch what I eat or I'll start putting on weight.

35's a good ballpark figure.