D&D 5E (2024) Aging penalties and new exhaustion rules.

[Clint_L]

No thanks. It took years to get rid of gatekeeping according to gender and race, we don't need to add it back in for ages. If a player's character fantasy is to play a spry old dude (or a precocious kid), let them do it without penalty. In a fantasy world in which goblins can have the same strength as a goliath, I don't think we need to worry about policing players' age choices with stat penalties.

Edit: Adding an optional rule is cool, though. I like it when the game has more options for those who want them. The DM's guide is already basically optional rules.

 

[Tonguez]

1. You wake up from bed with a sore back and 1 exhaustion level
2. Coughing makes you gain an exhaustion level
3. Standing up requires a dexterity saving throw
4. Permanent perception penalty since you’ve misplaced your spectacles

 

[Frozen_Heart]

I'd like to see aging return as an optional rule in the DMG. That way people are free to use or ignore it.

 

[Horwath]

I'd like to see aging return as an optional rule in the DMG. That way people are free to use or ignore it.

this is also an idea.

also, this age penalties might be in handy if raising from the dead would rapidly age you.

I.E. Human venerable age is 80.

Raise dead could age you by 15% of that age. 12 years for humans. This would be more for long lived races as dwarves or elves. Elves might be venerable at 400 years, so this would age them by 60 years.
Resurrection would age you by 10%. 8 years for humans.
True resurrection would age you by 5%. 4 years for humans.

 

[mysticflame]

Id like to see a little give and take. I think the negatives for age are a lot of fun, but I think they come off better to the players if they also have some good reason for being old. Older members of a community and a society are like to get more respect from certain groups and peoples. They may also be eligible for certain honors and posts within society that the very young arent. I think giving some new story benefits and avenues for older characters would make them more appealing and make something like a -1 hurt a lot less.

 

[mysticflame]

Id like to see a little give and take. I think the negatives for age are a lot of fun, but I think they come off better to the players if they also have some good reason for being old. Older members of a community and a society are like to get more respect from certain groups and peoples. They may also be eligible for certain honors and posts within society that the very young arent. I think giving some new story benefits and avenues for older characters would make them more appealing and make something like a -1 hurt a lot less.

Id also say I think negatives for aging work better during character creation, not as an ongoing debuff. If you make a an old character I think it would be cool to give them a -1 to con and strength, but then give them a feat or attribute called something like "Venerable" that denotes their elevated position in certain societies.

 

[Horwath]

Id like to see a little give and take. I think the negatives for age are a lot of fun, but I think they come off better to the players if they also have some good reason for being old. Older members of a community and a society are like to get more respect from certain groups and peoples. They may also be eligible for certain honors and posts within society that the very young arent. I think giving some new story benefits and avenues for older characters would make them more appealing and make something like a -1 hurt a lot less.

if we had some kind of honor/reputation/leadership score, this would be good place to give a bonus.

there is no advantage of being old except experience, so better grind those levels before penalties kick in so you can have an edge over young people.

I.E.
in athletics you could start with 14 STR and +2 prof bonus for a +4,

as an old guy, you could have 16 STR, +3 prof bonus and expertise for +9, minus 2 for age, and still have a +7 bonus

 

[Clint_L]

Fine if folks want an optional rule...but mostly these suggestions just add complexity and for what? "Realism"? In D&D? I'm not seeing how they make the game better, except maybe by adding real stakes to aging magics, but those are really rare, and would become rarer.

I guess I'm mostly seeing solutions in search of a problem. What is the gameplay/story telling problem that aging mechanics will solve?

 

[Wyckedemus]

I personally don't think that age should be a mechanical function. Let people play the character they want without a permanent penalty.

But if someone was interested in a mechanical limitation as a house rule, I'd prefer that the 10 level cap gets reduced by a few levels over time, rather than the character get permanent exhaustion levels.

For instance, a venerable humanoid might die at 7 levels of fatigue, rather than 10.

Even then, I would personally vote against using such a rule.