D&D 5E Simple Rules for Aging (+)

[Mannahnin]

Not necessarily, as I mentioned upthread the full idea was you got the +1 for a -1 only if you wanted to. Otherwise, it is assumed you are working to keep your "weakness" from developing into a weakness.

Either way, you might increase STR but lose DEX or CHA or whatever. You might increase INT but sack WIS as you lose touch with the world around you but study more, or how ever you want to work it.

The challenge with this approach is not letting it turn into simply a min-maxing tool. Generally speaking, in D&D it's more important to be good at your specific thing than at everything. Similarly, being able to raise your most important ability score is much more helpful than lowering some other ability score is detrimental.

If I were trying a +1/-1 aging system I might specifically require the -1 to be applied to either the character's highest or second-highest ability score. Or just always to Constitution, which would help simulate increased fragility and vulnerability to injury. In the latter case, to counterbalance the min-max effect, I might actually make it -2 to Con.

 

[AnotherGuy]

I'm not sure if anyone else has posted this, but this thread is inspiring me to run a module where the characters are an aging group of ex-adventurers.

 

[James Gasik]

I remember an old Dragon issue had an idea for an adventure like that as well, Lonesome Dove, D&D style.

 

[Lanefan]

I'm not sure if anyone else has posted this, but this thread is inspiring me to run a module where the characters are an aging group of ex-adventurers.

If you end up homebrewing any rules or mechanics for this around how their class-based skills and abilities might have deteriorated over time due to disuse, please gimme!

 

[James Gasik]

How about armor fitting? Maybe your older hero is carrying 20 extra pounds of encumbrance around his middle. Maybe your younger hero can't properly wear adult-sized armor?

 

[Peter BOSCO'S]

Feat - Young. Proficiency bonus times per long rest you can add +1d4 to to any attack, skill check or save, as your youthful vigor helps you out.

Feat - Old. Proficiency bonus times per long rest you can add +1d4 to to any attack, skill check or save, as your experience and learning helps you out.

Taking one feat excludes taking the other feat but, at your DM's choice, you may be able to swap one for the other if it is now (after wacky magic or the passage of much time) more appropriate.

 

[James Gasik]

The fact that they both do the same thing is amusing, but I think it kind of makes the idea kind of a pointless endeavor. Also, is this a bonus Feat? Or do I have to decide the instant I get an ASI to become old (it would be weird to decide I'm actually young! "Surprise, I'm not a Gnome, I'm really 6 years old!").

 

[Peter BOSCO'S]

The fact that they both do the same thing is amusing, but I think it kind of makes the idea kind of a pointless endeavor. Also, is this a bonus Feat? Or do I have to decide the instant I get an ASI to become old (it would be weird to decide I'm actually young! "Surprise, I'm not a Gnome, I'm really 6 years old!").

In this version of D&D that I'm making up as I go all starting characters pick one of Young, Middle-Aged, or Old and get the appropriate Feat. That's why I didn't worry about making them under-powered. (In my first draft it was get Advantage, not add +1d4.)
Then, rarely, they might change age categories. "Twenty-five years have passed and you have all gained five levels. All of you with human length lifespans gain one age category." The Middle Aged Feat is the one that does something different.
Feat - Middle Aged - Decades of life, and maybe office politics, have taught you how to crush your rivals. Proficiency Bonus times per day, recovering on a long rest, you may, as a Reaction, subtract 1d4 from any roll that any other character has made. (More powerful but it takes a reaction, while the Young and Old ability is a Free Action.)

 

[le Redoutable]

Do you know of China's 12 ages ?
like
1 conception
2 age du berceau
3 childhood
4 adolescence
5 kuang tuai ( or is it so )
6 young adult
7 mature
8 old
...
12 funerals
( sorry it's a little aproximative I print this by memory )

 

[TheSword]

The funny thing is, I’m familiar with a lady who is the European power lifting champion for her age category. She’s 82 and it’s a very big category.

I also know 82 year olds who are completely chair bound and have to be helped to the toilet.

I think when it comes to setting expectations by age things are entirely subjective so I would suggest there doesn’t need to be a mechanical variation based on age.