Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Races and Ages - Balancing Short-lived and Long-lived
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="AeroDm" data-source="post: 5605562" data-attributes="member: 13650"><p>I guess the initial question is "should we?" A great many things are hand waived in RPGs such that all forms of strength are represented by a single statistic and most forms of damage are absorbed by a single pool of hit points. In life, age can bring with it a great range of progressions and, perhaps, it is foolish to presume that for all persons and all races a linear path of improvement and decline is followed. </p><p></p><p>I guess what I am saying is, maybe we can handle it with fluff.</p><p></p><p>But let's assume we cannot. The next question is, "should we?" Does the concept of the 300 year old elf really do as much good as it does harm? How many players really seem to own up to the fact that their elf has three centuries of life experiences under their belt to RP a being that truly understand the gravitas of the world around them? Probably not too many. Maybe it'd be better to just bring their ages more in line with other races.</p><p></p><p>I guess what I'm saying is, didn't we create this problem ourselves?</p><p></p><p>But let's assume that isn't the case. Then we have an issue that maybe new rules are ripe to solve. I think statistics might have been a good mechanism pre-3e, but the importance of stats 3e and beyond means that you'll just make all wizards old (and more powerful) and all warriors young (and have longer until they're more powerful). That isn't a strong solution. I think a better bet is to introduce little traits or flaws that are flavorful and evoke the feeling you want without substantially interrupting the game mechanics. So a flaw for "old age" might be that you are always encumbered irrespective of weight carried. You are slower, a little worse at skills, but the aged knight is no worse off because his armor already encumbered him. That way, the flavor is present but no one is so punished that their desire to RP is crushed by the impact of your rules.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="AeroDm, post: 5605562, member: 13650"] I guess the initial question is "should we?" A great many things are hand waived in RPGs such that all forms of strength are represented by a single statistic and most forms of damage are absorbed by a single pool of hit points. In life, age can bring with it a great range of progressions and, perhaps, it is foolish to presume that for all persons and all races a linear path of improvement and decline is followed. I guess what I am saying is, maybe we can handle it with fluff. But let's assume we cannot. The next question is, "should we?" Does the concept of the 300 year old elf really do as much good as it does harm? How many players really seem to own up to the fact that their elf has three centuries of life experiences under their belt to RP a being that truly understand the gravitas of the world around them? Probably not too many. Maybe it'd be better to just bring their ages more in line with other races. I guess what I'm saying is, didn't we create this problem ourselves? But let's assume that isn't the case. Then we have an issue that maybe new rules are ripe to solve. I think statistics might have been a good mechanism pre-3e, but the importance of stats 3e and beyond means that you'll just make all wizards old (and more powerful) and all warriors young (and have longer until they're more powerful). That isn't a strong solution. I think a better bet is to introduce little traits or flaws that are flavorful and evoke the feeling you want without substantially interrupting the game mechanics. So a flaw for "old age" might be that you are always encumbered irrespective of weight carried. You are slower, a little worse at skills, but the aged knight is no worse off because his armor already encumbered him. That way, the flavor is present but no one is so punished that their desire to RP is crushed by the impact of your rules. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Races and Ages - Balancing Short-lived and Long-lived
Top