Character Aging modifiers for children?

[IcyCool]

The aging effects and minimum ages are in the PHB. Is there a WotC source that provides modifiers for anyone younger? I had a child savant idea and was wondering.

 

[LeifVignirsson]

Not in a WotC book that I am aware of, but I know Mongoose Publishing's Quint Human has childhood stats, something along the lines of -6 all for toddler, -4 all for youngster, -2 all for pre-teen, -1 all for teen or something like that...

 

[nittanytbone]

For physical stats at least you could extrapolate from the "changes to creature by size" table (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/improvingMonsters.htm#sizeIncreases).

A toddler/baby would be tiny (-8 str, +4 dex, -2 con), a child small (-4 str, +2 dex), and teenagers normal medium creatures. Its not exactly RAW but could be a decent approximation (and toddlers have pretty good AC, they're tough to catch when they start running around! Good thing they have a short move...).

 

[Bloodstone Press]

Back in 2e, my group came up with some house rules for stats for kids when one of the players wanted to play a child.

IIRC, we penalized his Str. and his Wis. Maybe one other stat, too, but I'm not sure.

Depending on the age, -2 or -4 would be about right, I think.

 

[kenobi65]

A toddler/baby would be tiny (-8 str, +4 dex, -2 con)

While the Str adjustment might be accurate, I'm not sure giving a baby an average of 14 Dex is. This is a creature who can't walk more than a few steps without making a Balance check, and can't reliably aim his food into his own mouth, after all.

But seriously, babies and children should probably be receiving minuses to all of the mental attributes, as well, to represent their lack of cognitive development, reasoning skills, and sense of self, compared to an adult.

 

[nittanytbone]

While the Str adjustment might be accurate, I'm not sure giving a baby an average of 14 Dex is. This is a creature who can't walk more than a few steps without making a Balance check, and can't reliably aim his food into his own mouth, after all.

But seriously, babies and children should probably be receiving minuses to all of the mental attributes, as well, to represent their lack of cognitive development, reasoning skills, and sense of self, compared to an adult.

You're right, babies might be better handled as objects than creatures at least for physical abilities

 

[Deset Gled]

But seriously, babies and children should probably be receiving minuses to all of the mental attributes, as well, to represent their lack of cognitive development, reasoning skills, and sense of self, compared to an adult.

I disagree. Young children actually have the ability to learn many things (such as language) must faster than adults. They may not have mch experience, but they can absorb information perfectly well. Kids should be getting many more skill points at each level than an adult. Consequently, I would give a Wis penalty, but an Int bonus.

I would also be tempted to give a Cha bonus, and little kids can be, y'know, cute. This might be handled better with circumstance bonuses, though.

 

[Sejs]

-2 across the board for each pre-age category: Child, Youth, Young Adult. At Youth and Child, you're also one size category smaller than the norm for your race.

Children may have a greater ability to absorb information, but their comprehension is limited by their lack of experience. They may have a faster metabolism, but they are nowhere near as hardy as an adult. They may be cute but they are not convincing and self-confident.

 

[domino]

Young children actually have the ability to learn many things (such as language) must faster than adults. They may not have mch experience, but they can absorb information perfectly well. Kids should be getting many more skill points at each level than an adult. Consequently, I would give a Wis penalty, but an Int bonus.

They can learn the simple things faster. Language is a special case, because it's a lot of practice and experience. They're still learning their own language at that point.

That doesn't make them SMARTER, which is what int represents. They have trouble grasping certain conceptual concepts (you pour water from a narrow, tall container into a wide, shallow one, and young kids will wonder where the water went, because it's so much lower.

 

[Sejs]

Consequently, I would give a Wis penalty, but an Int bonus.

Problem. An Int bonus for young people would mean that they would know more languages and skills that they'd all suddenly forget how to do upon reaching age of majority. Aah! I'm 16! I suddenly forgot how to speak Elvish and how to swim!