D&D 5E Effects of Aging

[CapnZapp]

I do see a situation where a DM and player disagreeing on the age a PC dies.

In this case I think it is good dungeonmastering to defer to what the player decides. After all, it's his or her character.

What is gained by killing off the character? I mean: the player is obviously enjoying playing the PC despite it being 100 years old. So why not let him?

It's not as if the Ghost ability was designed to saddle the PC with a mechanical penalty. (If it was, the monster entry would specify what the penalty was instead of saying something very cool and atmospheric but mechanically meaningless)

Cheers

 

[I'm A Banana]

One fun thing to do: Give the character a new Flaw.

Something like "I'm never really content at the world today and all the idiots in it"

Or "My teeth have fallen out and I can't eat solid foods very easily."

Then, when they play up the flaw, give 'em Inspiration. And if they don't play up the flaw, meh, don't worry about it too much.

 

[Flamestrike]

Except that Disadvantage doesn't stack. So you are saying that said player could never have Advantage. No matter their circumstances just because they are old they will never get to roll 2d20 on a check. Inspiration die? Now useless. Sneak Attack is literally impossible with your change.

No its not. Gaining advantage removes disadvantage. You dont need advantage to sneak attack (having an ally nearby is enough), you just cant have disadvantage on the roll.

And personally, for old age I would just impose disadvantage on Str, Dex and Con proficiency checks and saves. I'd leave attacks alone (unless we're talking a seriously ancient dude).

If you want a 'graduated' ageing methd, then Str goes first at old age, followed by Con at very old age followed by Dex when venerable.

 

[Lanliss]

No its not. Gaining advantage removes disadvantage. You dont need advantage to sneak attack (having an ally nearby is enough), you just cant have disadvantage on the roll.

And personally, for old age I would just impose disadvantage on Str, Dex and Con proficiency checks and saves. I'd leave attacks alone (unless we're talking a seriously ancient dude).

If you want a 'graduated' ageing methd, then Str goes first at old age, followed by Con at very old age followed by Dex when venerable.

I think a more random method might work better. Some people lose their health first, while others find themselves unable to thread a needle like they used to.

Perhaps roll a d6 at old age, with 1-2, 3-4, and 5-6 each assigned to a different stat? At very old age it is 1-3 and 4-6 assigned to the two remaining stats. Finally, at a venerable age, the final stat comes up.

 

[ranger69]

Strangely enough one of my players, also running a bard, was aged by a ghost. Further into the dungeon they encountered bearded devils. The player bartered his characters soul for returning the characters normal age.

 

[Pauln6]

I rather liked the notion that casters got better with age and warriors declined. Think of those fantasy tropes with ancient powerful wizards and warriors who are past their prime. I personally would only apply -1 and +1 to a single stat and do the rest with RP. This is a level of bonus that is sustainable in the rules, since you can achieve it with feats and you have a stat cap anyway. If a player used points buy and wanted their wizard to have a higher intelligence, I'd be fine if s/he lowered physical stats and boosted intelligence by reason of being older.
Randomly choosing which stat goes down is a good way to add some risk to the method.

 

[Azurewraith]

So a monk's 15th level ability is to ignore the effects of aging ... which are nothing?!

Well death from old age I guess. Isn't that the monks thing though they attain immortality through mastery of self?

 

[Blue]

So a monk's 15th level ability is to ignore the effects of aging ... which are nothing?!

Well death from old age I guess. Isn't that the monks thing though they attain immortality through mastery of self?

From the PHB (pg 79):
At 15th level, your ki sustains you so that you suffer none of the frailty of old age, and you can't be aged magically. You can still die of old age, however.

So no, not even that.

 

[Azurewraith]

From the PHB (pg 79):
At 15th level, your ki sustains you so that you suffer none of the frailty of old age, and you can't be aged magically. You can still die of old age, however.

So no, not even that.

Dam that'll teach me to quote from memory. I guess it gives you that awsome venerable kung Fu master vibe.