Longevity

[rich]

hi all! new to the board, hope this is the right place for this post. If not, please someone move it...

I have a few questions concerning aging in DnD:
1) I just started playing a few months ago, but in our campaign our 6th level characters gained 2-3 levels in about a month (playtime, not realtime). At this rate it would seem reasonable for a character to go from 1st to 10th level in a year... I think things would slow down at the higher levels (more complex plots/strategies), but it doesn't seem very "realistic" to me for a character to be so powerful so quickly. According to the DMG(3.5), a 10th level character would be the most powerful person in a small city! Do you all address this issue or just not? ie, do you purposefully slow down a character's development, or just let it go?
2) are there any spells that increase a character's age limit? perhaps guidelines on Epic-level spells for this? It seems, based on generally fantasy literature that there should be, but I don't remember seeing anything in what I've read so far... I'd prefer "core" rules, but if there aren't any what else is available?
3) are there any guidelines on aging for creatures other than the core humanoids? Obviously there are for dragons, but I'm thinking about other NPC's and Savage Species-type monster characters. How old do giants get? or the fey creatures? Do Treants live as long as trees?

thanks!

 

[Haradim]

Do you all address this issue or just not? ie, do you purposefully slow down a character's development, or just let it go?

It really depends on how long you want to keep the campaign going(and how XP- or stat-oriented your players are). If a GM is aiming for a long-term campaign, slowing down the XP flow seems reasonable (also assuming that non-Epic high levels are supposed to be the pinnacle of an adventurer's career in a given game).

2) are there any spells that increase a character's age limit? perhaps guidelines on Epic-level spells for this? It seems, based on generally fantasy literature that there should be, but I don't remember seeing anything in what I've read so far... I'd prefer "core" rules, but if there aren't any what else is available?

I'm pretty sure there is a feat for this in the epic book. A spell isn't out of the question. Note, however, that in a majority of games, you will probably not actually perish of old age, unless you intentionally put your character at an advanced age category.

I'm not certain about 3, as I rarely make creatures. The General board might also be a better place, as there doesn't seem to be much to do with house rules in this thread so far, though I'm no expert on thread placement either.

 

[the Jester]

hi all! new to the board, hope this is the right place for this post. If not, please someone move it...

First off, welcome to the boards! ENWorld is a fun, friendly place.

I have a few questions concerning aging in DnD:
1) I just started playing a few months ago, but in our campaign our 6th level characters gained 2-3 levels in about a month (playtime, not realtime). At this rate it would seem reasonable for a character to go from 1st to 10th level in a year... I think things would slow down at the higher levels (more complex plots/strategies), but it doesn't seem very "realistic" to me for a character to be so powerful so quickly. According to the DMG(3.5), a 10th level character would be the most powerful person in a small city! Do you all address this issue or just not? ie, do you purposefully slow down a character's development, or just let it go?

This is prolly my biggest problem with 3.x dnd. I do try to slow character advancement a little, but even with a five-year 'break' between adventures the pcs in my campaign have gone from 1st to epic in less than a decade (prolly something like seven game years). A typical young human starting pc might be barely old enough to drink in my country and yet be the most powerful person in the land!

I've modified the xp system significantly, to reward roleplaying and to slow advancement, but I still think it goes too fast.

2) are there any spells that increase a character's age limit? perhaps guidelines on Epic-level spells for this? It seems, based on generally fantasy literature that there should be, but I don't remember seeing anything in what I've read so far... I'd prefer "core" rules, but if there aren't any what else is available?

I believe there's some sort of extended lifespan feat in the ELH, and a few prestige classes have aging-affecting abilities (usually Timeless Body). Older editions were chock full of aging/de-aging stuff, but it got taken out (basically because it didn't affect the longer-lived races like elves anywhere near as much as it affected humans and the other short-lived races).

3) are there any guidelines on aging for creatures other than the core humanoids? Obviously there are for dragons, but I'm thinking about other NPC's and Savage Species-type monster characters. How old do giants get? or the fey creatures? Do Treants live as long as trees?

Again, I don't think there's much of this in 3e, but if you look back at older editions, Dragon mag "ecology" articles, etc, there's tons of info out there. If you don't have access to that material, don't worry about it too much; you can make it up yourself if it's important.

 

[rich]

It really depends on how long you want to keep the campaign going(and how XP- or stat-oriented your players are). If a GM is aiming for a long-term campaign, slowing down the XP flow seems reasonable (also assuming that non-Epic high levels are supposed to be the pinnacle of an adventurer's career in a given game).

yeah, I just found a thread (http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=85147) in the "General" forum discussing XP which touches on this subject...

I'm pretty sure there is a feat for this in the epic book. A spell isn't out of the question. Note, however, that in a majority of games, you will probably not actually perish of old age, unless you intentionally put your character at an advanced age category.

I'll look in the ELH -- thanks! I'm mostly thinking about NPC's, and about what sort of "beings" are around for info, etc. A 2000 year old Treant might know as much history as a dragon, and might be more useful for some sorts of adventures

I'm not certain about 3, as I rarely make creatures. The General board might also be a better place, as there doesn't seem to be much to do with house rules in this thread so far, though I'm no expert on thread placement either.

I did find some info in the General board (see above), which interestingly is mostly devoted to house rules

 

[rich]

First off, welcome to the boards! ENWorld is a fun, friendly place.

thanks! Our group has been too busy to play recently, so I've been in withdrawal -- this helps me keep my obsession alive!

This is prolly my biggest problem with 3.x dnd. I do try to slow character advancement a little, but even with a five-year 'break' between adventures the pcs in my campaign have gone from 1st to epic in less than a decade (prolly something like seven game years). A typical young human starting pc might be barely old enough to drink in my country and yet be the most powerful person in the land!

I've modified the xp system significantly, to reward roleplaying and to slow advancement, but I still think it goes too fast.

as I mentioned above, the XP post in the General Forum (http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=85147) has some discussion about this...

I believe there's some sort of extended lifespan feat in the ELH, and a few prestige classes have aging-affecting abilities (usually Timeless Body). Older editions were chock full of aging/de-aging stuff, but it got taken out (basically because it didn't affect the longer-lived races like elves anywhere near as much as it affected humans and the other short-lived races).

what's wrong with having some features that are more useful for certain races? I have issues with this idea that all races/classes/etc must be equal ("balanced") in all areas... If humans, etc are more concerned with aging, it makes sense that they would look into ways to extending their lifespan. Just because its not useful for others doesn't mean it shouldn't come up (IMNSHO!)

Again, I don't think there's much of this in 3e, but if you look back at older editions, Dragon mag "ecology" articles, etc, there's tons of info out there. If you don't have access to that material, don't worry about it too much; you can make it up yourself if it's important.

thanks for the tip -- I may know someone with some back issues. Are there online archives of back issues anywhere?

 

[the Jester]

thanks for the tip -- I may know someone with some back issues. Are there online archives of back issues anywhere?

Not that I'm aware of, but I believe there's a cd-rom with all the old Dragon mags on it you can buy.