lordxaviar
Explorer
Age progression for NPC’s
This issue has never been addressed and for those few of us who like to add small doses of reality into this game, it does play a part. Many people add an age indiscriminately if at all to NPC’s. This works and if you don’t age your players, it won’t matter anyway.
Dm’s should address age as an important factor in running their world. If you work on your world growing and changing so should those living with in it. It is beneficial to those who are playing to grow in age, just as in level. (see Table 6-5 p 109 PHB) Age was first introduced in the 1st Ed. DMG. Some of us found it and started using it to better our characters. DM’s caught on and realized that that Characters may not reach 100th Lv (like the ones I read about all the time) if they died of natural causes.
So I have been working on a scale for NPC aging.. and a good idea of how to space out your game time in between adventures, to possibly age your player’s characters as well. Training is a way to slow them down a little, see the DMG p197. Now these charts are also useful in giving beginning ages to Characters starting at higher levels. But unless you’re a really hardcore DM I wouldn’t continue to use them against your players.
Lets start with Humans; Adulthood is given as 15. I start Commoners with a shot at this with an addition of 1d4-1. 15-18 is a good beginning, this gives the prospective human with time to think about going adventurer, apprentice or stay home on the farm.
Wizards start at a minimum of 17 max 27, I then made a chart with the possibility of reaching Epic level (20th) at max age. If they were Lucky (rolls) enough or smart enough (DM ruling after much begging) to start at the base. You base the starting age on the intelligence of the Character as well.
Wizard, Level Progression
Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Plus years 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 9 death
Age Base 15 17 19 21 23 26 29 32 36 40 44 48 53 58 64 70 77 84 92 101 110
This is a base line
Wizard Intelligence Bonus
Int score 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Starting Age Think about being a fighter 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 17 17
Bonus/minus to age increment* +20 +15 +10 +8 +5 +4 +3 +2 +1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1 -1 -2
*Minimum of 1 year per level advancement and only added bonus for three Levels not counting the first.
Now with adding the bonus for Int.
Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Plus years 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 9 death
Age Base 15 17 19 21 23 26 29 32 36 40 44 48 53 58 64 70 77 84 92 101 110
Age bonus -1 -1 -1 -2 -2 -2 -3 -3 -3
Char Age 17 18 19 20 23 26 29 31 33 37 41 46 51 57 60 64 68 76 85 94
Int 18 18 18 19 19 19 19 20 20 21 21 21 21 22 22 22 22 23 23 24
The age bonus at the bottom is from the age progression chart in the PHB pg 109, remember this is using the intelligence chart as well (this character started at 17 with and Int of 18 and added both points for Lv – 4th and 8th to Int, 12th and 16th were added to Con; She was getting frail)
On Clerics and Druids they get a bonus for the higher wisdom scores but no bonus for higher intelligence, however they do receive a penalty for low intelligence.
*Minimum of 1 year per level advancement and only added bonus for three Levels.
The monk is a special case as there are three abilities that reflect in his ability to function, so I gave no year bonus. The exception is to the starting age and years for level progression, because they end by becoming and outsider and no longer progress in Lv
Now on to the next list Bard, Fighter, Paladin and Ranger. This list has a minimum of 16 and max 21. The Bard is more like the Rogue and so I shall base its numbers on that section. Fighter types including warrior can use this chart based on Strength. The warrior I have start out with 1d4+1 years younger than any other fighter types but they have less to learn and have less abilities. Now I have added Int scores as a way of slowing fighters down so they stay with their friends, Or they shall quickly overtake their wizard friends in levels. Intelligence comes into play when it comes time for training. The smarter fighters will learn the tactical aspects faster then the lumbering hulk types. This helps explain why there are not dozens of 10th Lv Orc fighters running around. Starting out the age bonus for low intelligence counts from the start.
You may have noticed that the Level progression is faster for fighter types. This doesn’t seem fair except that beyond a certain age Fighting hand to hand should be phased out. I have found that most split classes tend to have fighter for the Hp. In first Edition, most older fighters became Clerics or Wizards as well. Just remember these lists are for giving effective and believable ages to NPC’s. NPC’s aren’t (well not all of them) as dedicated to getting ahead as players. These charts don’t work well for characters. Though Dm’s should at the very least use the training rules listed in the DMG pg 197. This will add months and weeks to the characters lives.
Paladins are a special case similar to monks. Charisma and Wisdom both play a role in the Age progression of a Paladin. When determining starting age, add all the bonus’s and penalties.
Now don’t forget that you gain points for levels, so this shall offset this list a little as well.
Rogues, Barbarians, and Sorcerer’s; How these three got lumped together is beyond me. But lets get on with the break down for Rogues (see above for Barbarians and Bards).
Now this covers humans but the Age differences in Demi-humans has always bothered some of my players. A first level Elven druid I recall was 150 (compare this with a human druid max starting age of 27). The players would often argue that the Elf knew more because of longer study time. I tried to explain this over and over. Until I went back to old issues of Dragon magazine and read up on the demi races. They think differently than humans who look at things in terms of years. They are more about decades, and dragons are more in tune with centuries. It’s a lifestyle and way of thinking, in my example the Druid in question didn’t learn more because he spent more time just living, doing Elven things and such. Or you could just say: “its because the book says so”. Anyway because of this and rather than doing an entire new set of math for each race, I have worked out multipliers for the different races.
You start with the class, and work out the age above and then multiply it by the following numbers to find out the Demi age. Its close enough and if you want to do the math, be my guest. Working out the above charts wasn’t as easy as you think. (many a long late night and im too old for this dragon dung)
Dwarves and Gnomes are times 3, Elves 5.2, ½ Elves, times 1.8, Halflings, 1.75 and ½ Orcs .95
Now Split classes were a problem that had to be tackled in a Min/Max style. Base the starting age on the harder of the two and go up evenly, first one than the other. But the starting age is based on the older of the two. An example is Fighter Wizard, you might think that you start the base age on the Wizard as it takes longer, then on to the other class. But it all depends on the modifiers. Example… Dolph, Figher/Wizard that I worked on had an Int of 17 and a Str of 13. this would make the starting ages to chose from 18 (Wizard) or 20 (Fighter). So you start with the 20, then switch to the Wizard Age progression list. This under 2nd Lv adds 2 years to the total, than back to the Fighter for 3rd Lv which then adds the penalty for 13 Str to his age (+1) and so on. Now at 4th Lv Dolph took his ability point in Str, making his bonus 0 In this case Dolph (not his real name…changed to protect the unknown) was Elven as well.
Again these aren’t meant to be the definitive answer to the age old question. But perhaps it will make another DM think about adding age to his campaign to slow down the progression of those 60th Lv world destroyers he has created. BTW this list makes me a 750 year old Elf..!
This issue has never been addressed and for those few of us who like to add small doses of reality into this game, it does play a part. Many people add an age indiscriminately if at all to NPC’s. This works and if you don’t age your players, it won’t matter anyway.
Dm’s should address age as an important factor in running their world. If you work on your world growing and changing so should those living with in it. It is beneficial to those who are playing to grow in age, just as in level. (see Table 6-5 p 109 PHB) Age was first introduced in the 1st Ed. DMG. Some of us found it and started using it to better our characters. DM’s caught on and realized that that Characters may not reach 100th Lv (like the ones I read about all the time) if they died of natural causes.
So I have been working on a scale for NPC aging.. and a good idea of how to space out your game time in between adventures, to possibly age your player’s characters as well. Training is a way to slow them down a little, see the DMG p197. Now these charts are also useful in giving beginning ages to Characters starting at higher levels. But unless you’re a really hardcore DM I wouldn’t continue to use them against your players.
Lets start with Humans; Adulthood is given as 15. I start Commoners with a shot at this with an addition of 1d4-1. 15-18 is a good beginning, this gives the prospective human with time to think about going adventurer, apprentice or stay home on the farm.
Wizards start at a minimum of 17 max 27, I then made a chart with the possibility of reaching Epic level (20th) at max age. If they were Lucky (rolls) enough or smart enough (DM ruling after much begging) to start at the base. You base the starting age on the intelligence of the Character as well.
Wizard, Level Progression
Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Plus years 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 9 death
Age Base 15 17 19 21 23 26 29 32 36 40 44 48 53 58 64 70 77 84 92 101 110
This is a base line
Wizard Intelligence Bonus
Int score 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Starting Age Think about being a fighter 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 17 17
Bonus/minus to age increment* +20 +15 +10 +8 +5 +4 +3 +2 +1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1 -1 -2
*Minimum of 1 year per level advancement and only added bonus for three Levels not counting the first.
Now with adding the bonus for Int.
Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Plus years 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 9 death
Age Base 15 17 19 21 23 26 29 32 36 40 44 48 53 58 64 70 77 84 92 101 110
Age bonus -1 -1 -1 -2 -2 -2 -3 -3 -3
Char Age 17 18 19 20 23 26 29 31 33 37 41 46 51 57 60 64 68 76 85 94
Int 18 18 18 19 19 19 19 20 20 21 21 21 21 22 22 22 22 23 23 24
The age bonus at the bottom is from the age progression chart in the PHB pg 109, remember this is using the intelligence chart as well (this character started at 17 with and Int of 18 and added both points for Lv – 4th and 8th to Int, 12th and 16th were added to Con; She was getting frail)
On Clerics and Druids they get a bonus for the higher wisdom scores but no bonus for higher intelligence, however they do receive a penalty for low intelligence.
*Minimum of 1 year per level advancement and only added bonus for three Levels.
The monk is a special case as there are three abilities that reflect in his ability to function, so I gave no year bonus. The exception is to the starting age and years for level progression, because they end by becoming and outsider and no longer progress in Lv
Now on to the next list Bard, Fighter, Paladin and Ranger. This list has a minimum of 16 and max 21. The Bard is more like the Rogue and so I shall base its numbers on that section. Fighter types including warrior can use this chart based on Strength. The warrior I have start out with 1d4+1 years younger than any other fighter types but they have less to learn and have less abilities. Now I have added Int scores as a way of slowing fighters down so they stay with their friends, Or they shall quickly overtake their wizard friends in levels. Intelligence comes into play when it comes time for training. The smarter fighters will learn the tactical aspects faster then the lumbering hulk types. This helps explain why there are not dozens of 10th Lv Orc fighters running around. Starting out the age bonus for low intelligence counts from the start.
You may have noticed that the Level progression is faster for fighter types. This doesn’t seem fair except that beyond a certain age Fighting hand to hand should be phased out. I have found that most split classes tend to have fighter for the Hp. In first Edition, most older fighters became Clerics or Wizards as well. Just remember these lists are for giving effective and believable ages to NPC’s. NPC’s aren’t (well not all of them) as dedicated to getting ahead as players. These charts don’t work well for characters. Though Dm’s should at the very least use the training rules listed in the DMG pg 197. This will add months and weeks to the characters lives.
Paladins are a special case similar to monks. Charisma and Wisdom both play a role in the Age progression of a Paladin. When determining starting age, add all the bonus’s and penalties.
Now don’t forget that you gain points for levels, so this shall offset this list a little as well.
Rogues, Barbarians, and Sorcerer’s; How these three got lumped together is beyond me. But lets get on with the break down for Rogues (see above for Barbarians and Bards).
Now this covers humans but the Age differences in Demi-humans has always bothered some of my players. A first level Elven druid I recall was 150 (compare this with a human druid max starting age of 27). The players would often argue that the Elf knew more because of longer study time. I tried to explain this over and over. Until I went back to old issues of Dragon magazine and read up on the demi races. They think differently than humans who look at things in terms of years. They are more about decades, and dragons are more in tune with centuries. It’s a lifestyle and way of thinking, in my example the Druid in question didn’t learn more because he spent more time just living, doing Elven things and such. Or you could just say: “its because the book says so”. Anyway because of this and rather than doing an entire new set of math for each race, I have worked out multipliers for the different races.
You start with the class, and work out the age above and then multiply it by the following numbers to find out the Demi age. Its close enough and if you want to do the math, be my guest. Working out the above charts wasn’t as easy as you think. (many a long late night and im too old for this dragon dung)
Dwarves and Gnomes are times 3, Elves 5.2, ½ Elves, times 1.8, Halflings, 1.75 and ½ Orcs .95
Now Split classes were a problem that had to be tackled in a Min/Max style. Base the starting age on the harder of the two and go up evenly, first one than the other. But the starting age is based on the older of the two. An example is Fighter Wizard, you might think that you start the base age on the Wizard as it takes longer, then on to the other class. But it all depends on the modifiers. Example… Dolph, Figher/Wizard that I worked on had an Int of 17 and a Str of 13. this would make the starting ages to chose from 18 (Wizard) or 20 (Fighter). So you start with the 20, then switch to the Wizard Age progression list. This under 2nd Lv adds 2 years to the total, than back to the Fighter for 3rd Lv which then adds the penalty for 13 Str to his age (+1) and so on. Now at 4th Lv Dolph took his ability point in Str, making his bonus 0 In this case Dolph (not his real name…changed to protect the unknown) was Elven as well.
Again these aren’t meant to be the definitive answer to the age old question. But perhaps it will make another DM think about adding age to his campaign to slow down the progression of those 60th Lv world destroyers he has created. BTW this list makes me a 750 year old Elf..!