Age Is Just A Number - Playing Older Characters


Gamer Life General Discussion


In gaming you don't often see players choose to player characters of advanced age. Everyone one is a spry late teen or early twenties adventurer fresh faced to face the world. Today we look at why playing older characters isn't bad. And things to think about when choosing to do so.

Have you played an older character before? What were they like?


Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

I have a grandmother tengu I'm playing in a Murder's Mark atm.

I look to some of the works of Ursala Vernon ('Digger' webcomic) to get an 'idea' for how the character thinks, then add my own spin on it.

So far it's been awesome, especially when someone in the party does something stupid and she goes either all 'Gibbs' slap' or 'gentle chiding mode'.


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I played a 40-year-old human paladin in my last campaign. Being in his middle years gave him a more world-weary, live and let live (as far as the paladin code allows), live by example sort of way of seeing things.

It was an interesting RP challenge.


Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber

If it's appropriate for the background and/or concept, then starting at Youth, Middle Age, or even Old is always an option. There are tropes and character hooks for all of them: the adolescent orphan/only survivor, the grizzled veteran, the (mostly) "ordinary" person dealing with a life-changing event (especially if it ties to the BBEG or main plot arc of the campaign; i.e., the classic "you killed my wife/children/grandchildren/wiped out my home town" revenge hook), the established/fed up professional looking for a "second career"/excitement, the bookish sage forced into action, etc.

One thing to keep in mind is the penalties to ability scores tends to make certain combinations less attractive. Except for 9-level casters (and possibly alchemist or synthesist summoner), you probably won't see many characters starting at the Old age category (the -3 total hit to Str, Dex, and Con is a bit much of a disadvantage). Middle Age can probably see a wider rage of "viable" characters, even for full BAB classes.


Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber

One other thing to look at is to give characters that start at higher age categories background skills and/or the Breadth of Experience feat for free; simulating their greater life experience, even if it's not reflected in a higher starting character level.

The Exchange

I love to play older characters but there are imho much better rpgs for this.
For me age is also experience!
I really have a problem to imagine an experienced person in the late 40 with 2 skillpoints or other things.

For me the problem are simply the core rules of PF.

My oldest character is a 102 years old dwarven Gozreh cleric ...with the Breadth of experience feat as a must have!

Silver Crusade

I know a guy who plays an old alchemist for the int boost. Always... something when people make these kind of character decisions for the stats.


One of my players choose to play a middle-aged Halfling cleric. They only began adventuring because their best friend remarked at his birthday party that he was "officially too old to be an adventurer", and that they (the Halfling) should stop talking about all the things they would do when they embarked upon their adventure... The halfling, being very, very drunk took offense at the idea he was too old to be an adventurer, and staggered off into the woods (still wearing his fancy silk birthday suit)... never to be seen by his peers again. Luckily he was found by the Halfling God of Campfire Cooking - Byron the Traveler. Byron taught the Halfling the ways of survival and being a cleric... The Halfling didn't realize he was traveling with a god until after he'd been trained, and the god disappeared one morning, leaving the Halfling with a copy of his holy text/survival manual.


This is all really good stuff. I'm happy to see people not just sticking to fresh faced characters. I'd of course like to hear some more stories of folks who have played older (or even younger but I think thats more common) characters. Of course i'd also like to hear from people wo don;t like to or wont do it and their reasons why.


I have played middle aged in Pathfinder as a Paladin veteran who was a Gunny-esque military commander who had lost his homeland and his command with it. He was a real sour puss and kind of a jerk, but the first to fall on a sword to save the rest of the party.

Unfortunately I could never bring myself to do old or venerable in Pathfinder - the penalties were just too steep, even for a caster. (-6 CON? Youch.) But I am playing a Gnome Wizard in his late 4th century for a 5E game right now.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

If I'm not starting at first level, I actually run a lot of middle-aged characters...

In APs my characters skew young because a 45 year old man who's using a sword to earn his living probably didn't JUST start doing that yesterday. I have played the odd older wizard or cleric,someone who's been cooped up with their books and/or studies for a decade or two. They're fun.

Scarab Sages

I play a lot of elves, and although I haven't played a character old enough to take any of the age penalties, I do often set my character's age near the 'middle age' limit. Most of the time our games don't worry much about how much time has passed, but if we ever have a campaign that pays more attention to the passage of time I may allow a character to move into the 'middle age' category.

I do feel like the ability score adjustments just aren't enough to truly represent those years of experience, especially if the character is starting at first level. I have struggled to justify why a character who's over a century old doesn't have a little more experience (as simulated by skills and feats) than a 20-year-old character.

Sovereign Court

I tend to play older types in my Traveller games, though char gen kind of promotes that :)

Adventure often seems like something a younger character is likely to want and engage to experience. It is also something an older person is going to be weary of due to their own experiences. Characters of any age are of course appropriate for any game, but I can see why folks gravitate to younger characters.


I play characters in their 40's because....well. Im in my 40s lol

I really don't think a 60 year old wizard is realistic at 1st level. Sure, I can agree that he may have went back to school for a new career but there are scores of skills that he probably developed at some point in the years before.

I really think advanced age for PCs should be something akin to advanced monster templates and even perhaps incorporate an ECL. I think the attribute adjustments is a start but skills just HAVE to be taken into consideration, even if nothing more than to tack on ranks In knowledge or whatever. Just slapping attribute adjustments and bonuses is one facet of the equation.

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