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Is there some limit for aging per level ?
For me it depends on race. For a human, I'd consider high-school age to be about 1st level, with someone old enough to be entering the work force of about 2nd level. Additional levels of degrees beyond that could translate into additional levels. Non-adventuring characters who are exceptionally wise or intelligent may level-up somewhat faster because they are able to assimilate information and experiences more quickly. For non-adventuring humans, I would generally consider level 5-6 to be about the limits of human potential before you start getting into superhuman feats.
Now consider that in fantasy, the long-lived races are always portrayed as much more bad ass than humans. Why would this be?
Well, for one thing, elves do not take 100 years to grow-up physically — they'd never survive. Instead, they mature at about the same rate as humans. The key difference is cultural. Whereas the age of majority for a human might be 18 to 21, the age of majority for an elf is 100 to 110. This means that an elf who has just reached the age of majority has about 80 years of experience over a human who has just reached the age of majority.
All things being equal then, if a non-adventuring human were able to reach about level 5-6 in their 70-80 years, it seems reasonable to suggest that another humanoid race with very similar racial statistics would achieve a similar level of expertise. Thus, the reason why elves and dwarves often seem far superior to humans in works of fantasy isn't due to inherently superior genetics (beyond lifespans), but rather due to experience.
To turn it around, if you took a level 5 human adventurer of age 30 and contrasted them against a level 1 elf who is 20, that human would seem fantastically powerful to the young elf. By the same token your average 100 year old non-adventuring elf who is level 5 probably seems pretty powerful to your average young human, and even pretty impressive to a human who is fairly advanced in their field (due to the elf not having any aging penalties yet).
Part of the way I determined this was based on the old adage, "You learn something new every day." While it was originally based on a different XP scale (3.5's), at one point, I worked out the math for characters basically gaining 1XP/day. Each week they would gain an additional amount equal to their Wisdom modifier. (Averaging their mental ability scores and deriving a modifier from that would probably also work.)
This results in a fairly believable spread of NPCs, with the most powerful magic, and the most skillful smiths being in the hands of the long-lived races. Why don't rich and powerful humans simply raise each other from the dead when assassinated? Good luck finding an elven elder who can be bothered with every time that happens! For my purposes, I found that this conformed rather nicely to time-honored fantasy tropes and why it is that young adventurers often stand out and surprise even elders with their aptitude.
Quite simply, aside from perhaps the occasional skirmish or call to war, most NPCs will not see much 'adventuring'. As such, they are generally justified in being able to anticipate someone's level of expertise based on their general age and how intelligently that person presents themselves. This reinforces the notion of adventurers as iconoclasts.
Hope this helps!
I think experience(not the game) term is more important than age. Many people reach their peak in martial arts skills after about 10 years, then age sets in and they start to lose ability.
If you are always adventuring you should improve quickly. If you only take the odd adventure with years or months off at a time then you probably won't be as good as someone who is always on the job.
A level-limit per age would make no sense considering that you gain levels for gaining "experience", which is awarded for overcoming challenges.
If you have a 15-year-old who lives under constant attack, he can't help but accumulate XP. Of course he'll be level 20 in no time.
If you want to set limits, do the logical thing and don't throw so many challenges at them in such a short time.
20 encounters per level / 4 encounters per day * 20 levels + one day off in seven = just under 4 months, or about 6 days per level.
(Longer if your Wizard needs to craft.)
I've known GMs who put months, or even years, between adventures and said, "What have you been doing during all that time?" (With the obvious proviso that I was not allowed to say, "Gaining levels!")
I tend to do that , i HATE the concept of a little boy who became a 20 level pc in months , in my campaing for player to reach 20th level, he has to see many winters.
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do age limits based on level really matter? considering an 11 year old human apprentice wizard can over the course of a matter of months, become the greatest and youngest archmage ever. just because of the high risk high reward lifestyle of adventuring.
the only rule i would impose on staring ages is that thier race is equivalent in age category to the human double digits.
do age limits based on level really matter? considering an 11 year old human apprentice wizard can over the course of a matter of months, become the greatest and youngest archmage ever. just because of the high risk high reward lifestyle of adventuring.
the only rule i would impose on staring ages is that thier race is equivalent in age category to the human double digits.
They matter to most of us, but to a different extent. Kids would not be taken seriously. They would not have the mental fortitude to withstand combat and/or made the necessary decisions. The verisimilitude of a kid adventure is not I can see as an actual realistic* concept.
*Yeah I know this is a fantasy setting, but the word fantasy has its limits for all of us.
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do age limits based on level really matter? considering an 11 year old human apprentice wizard can over the course of a matter of months, become the greatest and youngest archmage ever. just because of the high risk high reward lifestyle of adventuring.
the only rule i would impose on staring ages is that thier race is equivalent in age category to the human double digits.
Doogie Howser, Wzrd
20 encounters per level / 4 encounters per day * 20 levels + one day off in seven = just under 4 months, or about 6 days per level.
(Longer if your Wizard needs to craft.)
In 3.5, it could be done in 76 days or 2.5 months. And thats with almost 2 weeks of down time total. (3.3 days/level rounded up to 4 days/level times 19 levels. You start with one level already, so you only level up 19 times to get to 20.)
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Part of the way I determined this was based on the old adage, "You learn something new every day." While it was originally based on a different XP scale (3.5's), at one point, I worked out the math for characters basically gaining 1XP/day. Each week they would gain an additional amount equal to their Wisdom modifier. (Averaging their mental ability scores and deriving a modifier from that would probably also work.)
I've always used 1 XP/day as well. It just seems like a good "standard" for regular, work-a-day folks. Basically, non-adventurer types earn 1 XP per day for doing their thing - a farmer farming, a baker baking, a mom momming, whatever. Most people in the world are going to put all their energy (and skills and feats = Skill Focus) into getting better at doing what they do to earn a living so they can live better and provide for their families. 1 XP means "1 day of growth as a person."
I've never done the stat bonus per week Laithorn suggests, but it's not a bad idea. But with just straight 1 XP/day, working 6 days/week, means the average person earns about 313 XP/year. At that rate, one would hit 2nd level in a little over 6 years of work (or other dedicated activity), 3rd level after about 16 years, 4th level after about 28.5 years (meaning most modern people are about 4th level when they retire from a career), and 5th level after 50 years of work. Seems reasonable to me.
That's for humans. I'd be inclined to let non-humans with longer life-spans keep going. Yeah, elves will reach much higher levels after 500 years, but that seems right to me as well. (You're oldest elf would rack up 219,000 XP at this rate, not quite 12th level). Maybe a slower rate, like working 4 or 5 days/week because they're not in any big hurry. Humans have shorter lives, and might not gain as much XP in a life, but assuming they spend their bonus feat on Skill Focus, they're better at what they do than a non-human of the same level. We get better quicker and they need the longer time and higher levels to match our skill levels.
And all that is for non-adventurers. Once you start solving puzzles and by-passing traps and killin' monsters, you get more than a day's worth of experience each day. Single-handedly killing a kobold is worth like 100 day's life experience to your average bloke. Adventurers are on a MUCH accelerated growth chart. It seems odd to grow 10 levels in a year, but that is certainly heroic and on-par with fantasy movies and literature. If you want PCs to age more, include episodes of down time. Unless the story demands it, don't assume adventures happen the day after each other and give them a year off in between. That's cinematic too. Years ago, they defeated the bad guy, but now he's back!!
It gets a little wonky when you ask why a farmer killing a kobold gets to be a better farmer, but that's where you just have to accept the abstraction. Maybe facing death has given her a new clarity of purpose in life or deep knowledge of self that allows her to be better at her profession. Whatever. It DOES mean that Warriors who are more likely to engage in quasi-adventurer activities like fighting ARE going to advance faster than other NPCs. That's fine too. Burn bright, burn quick - they're also more likely to die younger.
To the OP, make 'em whatever age you want that fits with the story you're telling. No progression is too quick if it advances your story, but, yeah, an 18-year-old 10th-level paladin IS going to be a bit of a phenomenon. If that messes up your story, make him 30.
Sorry if this has already been said, but in Unearthed Arcana, they have a variant called character background, to help bring characters into a higher level campaign. It suggests that each level takes 1d6 months.
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Reality might reflect the XP tables more than what would seem readily apparent - very few, if any, people on Earth, in history or present, face danger at their own level of skill several times per day. Even people who are involved in dangerous professions that include what most would consider "encounters" do not face that sort of danger on a daily basis - with no resurrection and the odds being so dangerously even nobody would survive long at all. I've never been in any sort of military but the famous opinion on war is that soldiers spend the vast majority of their time waiting for action rather than in it, and even if action happens, there's no guarantee that it won't be an encounter below a person's level, or an encounter above someone's level from which they flee, or surrender, or wait for help from a higher level character or several other people who then split the xp several ways. One of my old GMs always liked to remind me that in real life, nobody volunteers for even fights - people generally only risk their lives when forced to, or choose to do so when they're already at an advantage, which cuts down on the XP gain from already rare encounters.
As compared to what most people in reality face, dealing with four life-or-death situations per day and surviving is probably going to teach you a lot. Fast. World-saving adventures don't happen every day, explaining why most of the world takes until they're 40 to get to where the PCs can get to before 25.
EDIT: To top it off, most trained professionals in the modern world are the equivalent of the expert class - the people who have a lot of room for advancement are the ones who can practice their craft without fear of death. Those people can face encounters and challenges all the time...and that's assuming that they're not unskilled laborers/unskilled service industry, or that they don't go home and watch TV. The modern world is probably filled with 10th level Experts.
The Modern world has many more experts, and many more opportunities to learn, than a far less structured medieval or early renaissance setting, where trained professionals don't have a global community to practice and exchange ideas, and are therefore likelier to stagnate, and a far greater number of people don't develop skills at all - they farm the same way they always did, and then go drink beer or chat with the family around the fireplace every single night.
do age limits based on level really matter? considering an 11 year old human apprentice wizard can over the course of a matter of months, become the greatest and youngest archmage ever. just because of the high risk high reward lifestyle of adventuring.
the only rule i would impose on staring ages is that thier race is equivalent in age category to the human double digits.
I spy a Negima fan. To be fair, Negi is a supergenius, he's a highschool teacher at 11, he became inhuman while still 11, and he's basically a god at 12 give or take. He has even taken to thinking like a god: he told the laws of magic(!) to sit down and shut up when he performed that pactio with Chachamaru. Plus his whole "I'm going to have my cake, and everyone is going to get to eat it. Myself included." plan to save Mars.