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I like much of what I see in the playtest document, and will comment further on several things after doing some experiments. There is one thing that I would like to point out directly though: I am really missing some form of ability, either a mythic feat or a universal path ability, that lets a character live longer than their usual racial lifespan. Mechanically, it could be exactly the same as the Wizard Immortality discovery or the Alchemist Eternal Youth grand discovery.
There are some common arguments against this:
1. This is a fluff ability, so having it as a character option is a waste of a feat etc. that could have gone to increase combat efficiency
However, there are multiple class capstones (wizard, some druids and monks, time oracle, imperious sorcerer, alchemist) that does this already, so as the game is written so far, it is the kind of ability that gets taken as a feat, and it would be unfair to characters with those builds to assume it is an ability that every DM will provide for free. Currently, no other class/archetype combination than those described above, and certainly no multiclass or prestige class characters, can live beyond the time span their race gets, even when they become powerful enough to kill demigods, casually raise the dead or make their own pocket dimensions. Furthermore, it does have a rules effect. With an option like this in place, there can be, for example, martial characters with the experience of age (i.e. mental ability stat bonuses) still keeping up physically.
2. It is not needed since any NPCs that need to be Really Seven Hundred Years Old can just be DM fiated to be so with no rules needed, or assumed to have won the bidding for the Sun Orchid Elixir regularly.
However, I am sure I am not the only one who prefers that the rules for PCs allow for, in principle, everything that NPCs can do. We may be a simulationist minority, but in this case, a few lines of feat text is all we need to be kept happy. Furthermore, in a Mythic game starting at a level higher than first, being able to make a centuries-long backstory can help explain why this particular character has achieved Mythic power - it can be the culmination of very long training and exploration, or mean the character is a literal survivor of some past Golden Age. Not everyone will want this option, but for those who do, it will enrich the game.
To summarize, if possible, please add some generally accessible option to the final product that allows a character to escape death from old age without having to reincarnate into a kobold, become an Always Evil undead, or have all 20 levels of one of a handful of classes.
I think that definitely should not be such a feat.
You've answered the arguments I'd expect to see against leaving the ability out, but there's no reason for it to be a feat. I don't want to have to sacrifice practicality or character concept for cool fluff abilities that will never come up in play.
Just give me the cool fluff ability for free.
I would like to see mythic tiers directly affect lifespan, starting with mythic tier 1 maximising your lifespan roll and finishing with a limitless lifespan at 9th tier. Possibly all ageing penalties could be removed at 10th.
I think living a little longer is very appropriate for even the least supernatural, most down to earth members of the lower mythic tiers, and by the time your lifespan is too long to be justified by being awesome, you're well beyond mortal status anyway.
I'm hoping there's already such a rule, but it was cut from the play test for brevity and due to irrelevance to game play.
I think as a feat, it'd be very mediocre and a waste. But... what about a Mythic trait? What if you picked up a mythic trait at the first tier that allowed you to be more long-lived? Food for thought.
I would really like this to be supported in the rules, but yeah it doesn't need to be playtested.
Merge it with a mechanical ability that's appropriate, like immunity to disease or resistance to negative levels or something.
Because we already do: it is something considered powerful enough that it is a capstone option for several classes or else requires periodic use of a consumable minor artifact. Those set a precedent for pricing it, so just handwaving it seems to devalue a number of existing options.
Furthermore it interacts with ability scores, so it can in fact have substantial mechanical impact in some cases, particularly with martial characters. Not because you necessarily age in-game, but because not every starting character is built as a first-level young adult.
Easier to simulacra a tear of nuruughaal :p
Gives you immortality, immunity to fire, telepathy, mind reading and produce fire at will. Oh and cold vulnerability.
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Why not just fold it in with the existing Immortality path feature of Mythic classes?
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Immortal (Su): At 9th tier, if you are killed, you return
to life 24 hours later, regardless of the condition of your
body or the means by which you were killed. When you
return to life, you are not treated as if you had rested and
do not regain the use of any of your abilities that comes
with such rest. This ability does not apply if you have
mythic damage in excess of half your full normal hit
point total at the time of your death.
I think immortality cover dying by old age, but it would be a good idea to add longevity and agelesness to the ability of Mythic characters at different levels.
The only problem I see is that it will overlap some class ability.
Ageless and Eternal
(Mythic Feat)
You no longer age, and remain in your current age category forever. In addition, you have resistance 5 against negative energy damage, do not lose hitpoints when you gain a negative level, and have a +2 bonus on saving throws against death attacks, energy drain, negative energy, and spells or spell-like abilities of the necromancy school.
I'll reiterate what I said before.
It's a cool thing to have. But certain not worth a feat. I'd rather they have an option for getting mythic traits and this become one of the options. Simply put, while it's a flavorful option, it has a very small impact on the actual game mechanically and is simply not worth a feat. But, if there was a mythic trait you could grab to get you this option, then I'd be down for it. Arazni's version of being ageless is definitely worthy of being a feat.
Saying that we don't think it's worth it because of lack of DPS (alluding to munchkinism) is disingenuous at best.
Mythic tier 9 gives you Immortality. Personally, I'd say that that gives you exactly what it says on the label.
It's not like, with all the abilities available to a person that's going higher into mythic power, dying due to age is an actual concern.
