Greetings all,
I was thinking of playing a child character and wanted to know what the stats where for one, the pluses if any and the minuses.
Though, I'd probably talk to the DM and try something else. The -4 Constitution would kill.
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It is fantasy. Children are often characters in epic stories. If a PC wants to such a character, why penalize him/her that it is unplayable?
I agree with Lumi. I love the idea of a super child. And not only that, it will be great RP as well.
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It is fantasy. Children are often characters in epic stories. If a PC wants to such a character, why penalize him/her that it is unplayable?
i agree with this.
penalizing a child PC is like saying that a human fighter has to blow a feat called "Extra Tall" to play his freakishly tall warrior or forcing a childlike halfling to take a feat called "childlike".
superhuman children should be possible.
Edit; Why did my post dissapear?
Granted, a child character ought to less inclined towards martial classes. Child spellcasters are cool, though. A Vivi-like wizard comes to mind.
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Granted, a child character ought to less inclined towards martial classes. Child spellcasters are cool, though. A Vivi-like wizard comes to mind.
there may be somebody who may want a Pint Sized Power House
Edit; that makes me want to play a petite framed human barbarian who chucks busses.
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Think it depends on the age of the child you're looking to play. If you are talking like 14-16 then you should be fine just rolling up, now if you are talking about something younger you may want to talk to your dm. If it were me I would go with the standard human build but with small size that goes away as you age and perhaps the speed drop.
Urgh, I know one dm who loves the idea of child heroes and is love with the young template. It has gotten a bit weird actually. He is the type to totally not pay attention to the minimum age requirements.
As an example, we once fought a tiny kobold (so it was a young kobold) that was a 1st level sorcerer. Yay, he hits a party member with a spell he shouldn't even be able to cast, he is equivalent of what, an eight year old? The dm seemed so pleased, and then it was my scimitar rogue's turn.
...forcing a childlike halfling to take a feat called "childlike".
um, there is just such a feat.
i do agree with you, and you're not required to take the feat, but just letting you know.
The Young template does make a pretty big hit to the starting stats, but make that child a child prodigy with Young + Advanced and you have an effective CR 0 adjustment. I'm working on a halfling Master Summoner using this right now.
He wanders through town as a human child with his odd looking "dog", but in actuality, he and his eidolon are built for stealth and concealment and act as scouts. In combat, they lay low "out of harms way" while he buffs the group and sends summoned creatures.
Still, how old is said 'child'?
As an example, for an 13 year old human rogue, I whipped up an 'adolescent' template (basically the 'child' template at half strength (size stayed at medium but in the low size range, -2 Str +2 Dex -2 Con)).
Still, how old is said 'child'?
As an example, for an 13 year old human rogue, I whipped up an 'adolescent' template (basically the 'child' template at half strength (size stayed at medium but in the low size range, -2 Str +2 Dex -2 Con)).
My character is a 10-11 year old orphan that just kinda starts following the group around town. The Adolescent template seems better for teens.
Why does the template give a +4 to Dex? Makes no sense. I wouldn't give them a bonus on anything.
If you're short enough to be Small, you probably shouldn't be an adventurer.
So no halflings, gnomes, kobolds, goblins, etc?
While kids in adventuring situations usually cause more trouble than good (Yeah, I'm talking to you Johnny Quest) there's no reason they couldn't stay out of melee and do well with a ranged or spell class.
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The big issue with child characters is when someone tries to gain a roleplaying advantage while avoiding the mechanical aspects. Saying that no penalties to stats should be given because it's not fair to the player in question is silly, because you are getting boons in return.
A child character will:
-be underestimated frequently
-be able to use 'cuteness'
-place extra moral quandaries on his party (you can't leave me here, it's got to be evil to leave a child in a dangerous situation!)
What's more, there's no reason that an 8 year-old should be able to match an 18 year-old in any feat of physical or mental strength, short of severe mental deficiencies on the adult. It doesn't make sense to give them the same stats as an adult of their race.
The big issue with child characters is when someone tries to gain a roleplaying advantage while avoiding the mechanical aspects. Saying that no penalties to stats should be given because it's not fair to the player in question is silly, because you are getting boons in return.
A child character will:
-be underestimated frequently
-be able to use 'cuteness'
-place extra moral quandaries on his party (you can't leave me here, it's got to be evil to leave a child in a dangerous situation!)What's more, there's no reason that an 8 year-old should be able to match an 18 year-old in any feat of physical or mental strength, short of severe mental deficiencies on the adult. It doesn't make sense to give them the same stats as an adult of their race.
those boons are all setting dependant fluff and wouldn't apply to a superhuman child walking around with a party of equally superhuman bloodthirsty avaricious bandits.
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those boons are all setting dependant fluff and wouldn't apply to a superhuman child walking around with a party of equally superhuman bloodthirsty avaricious bandits.The big issue with child characters is when someone tries to gain a roleplaying advantage while avoiding the mechanical aspects. Saying that no penalties to stats should be given because it's not fair to the player in question is silly, because you are getting boons in return.
A child character will:
-be underestimated frequently
-be able to use 'cuteness'
-place extra moral quandaries on his party (you can't leave me here, it's got to be evil to leave a child in a dangerous situation!)What's more, there's no reason that an 8 year-old should be able to match an 18 year-old in any feat of physical or mental strength, short of severe mental deficiencies on the adult. It doesn't make sense to give them the same stats as an adult of their race.
I've seen a thread on these forums where the OP (who had been playing a child summoner) claimed that his party member paladin should fall for leaving a child in a dangerous situation. So at least some people would decide that it applies.
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The big issue with child characters is when someone tries to gain a roleplaying advantage while avoiding the mechanical aspects. Saying that no penalties to stats should be given because it's not fair to the player in question is silly, because you are getting boons in return.
A child character will:
-be underestimated frequently
-be able to use 'cuteness'
-place extra moral quandaries on his party (you can't leave me here, it's got to be evil to leave a child in a dangerous situation!)What's more, there's no reason that an 8 year-old should be able to match an 18 year-old in any feat of physical or mental strength, short of severe mental deficiencies on the adult. It doesn't make sense to give them the same stats as an adult of their race.
capt marvel (SHAZAM) would like to talk to you...
A member on these boards (Golden-esque I believe) sent me this website which has their rules for playing younger than adult characters. It's also good for making spells that makes someone a toddler.
Playing Children Characters Wiki
Remember that like getting venerable, the stat modifiers are cumulative.
Or, if you don't like the idea of a child having a +4 Dex (some don't) this link is pretty awesome, if a bit dated:
It's pretty cool and enjoyable. That said, if I were going to be a kid, I'd probably stick with being a caster. That's my personal preference anyways since I'd rather not get mutilated by an orc's axe ;)
But I think playing a child could be interesting roleplaying-wise and fun. It's been done in many forms of media, whether it's the entire cast of the Narnia series or Rydia from Final Fantasy 4. I'd advise to play smart and like a skirmisher if going a martial class. And as always, happy gaming.
I think -2 to all physical stats and -1 to int, -2 to wis, and +1 to cha sounds about right for around 11-13 or so. Younger than that, I don't see a reason to be a PC really, but if you really wanted to, you could apply -4 to physical stats, -2 to int, -4 to wis, and +2 to cha. The lowered physical stats are obvious, lower INT reflects an earlier stage in mental development, lower WIS reflects less life experience, but higher CHA refers to the winsome effect that children often seem to have on others, as well as their force of personality before social conditioning tells them to keep their heads down and out of the way.
If you wanted to start as a child, perhaps with unusual magical abilities manifesting, i.e a sorceror, then you could start out with one of those adjustments, then if enough time passes that you grow up, reverse the adjustments; you're getting stronger, more agile, and hardier, you're gaining knowledge and life experience, but your cherubic appearance of innocence no longer is enough to get by on.