In fiction and real life we see individuals who do not exhibit the physical signs of aging, whether through vigorous activity or practice, or good genetics, but in D&D/PF that's an impossibility. So, I came up with a system that allows for this.
First, start with the standard rules of -1 to all physical scores at middle age, -2 at old age, and -3 at venerable, while the mental stats gain a +1 at each age category.
Then, upon reaching an age category mark, a character may select one or more physical attributes. The selected score(s) do not take the associated aging penalty. Instead, that penalty is assigned to a mental score instead of the standard bonus. You may not select the same mental score more than once per age category.
For example, if you wanted to play a character that remained strong and hearty in middle age, their Str and Con scores would not change, but they would gain a -1 penalty to two of their Int, Wis or Cha scores. That same character, at old age, would again not have their Str and Con change, but would now gain a -2 penalty to two of their Int, Wis or Cha scores (at least one of which would now be at -3). You make these choices each time you gain an age category, and may choose new stats each time.
This represents people maintaining themselves physically, but losing their memory and reasoning skills, descending into dementia, or becoming increasingly crotchety and anti-social.
An alternative would be to have one physical score and one mental score remain unchanged, but to assign twice the associated penalty to all skills that use the chosen mental score. Additionally, if your penalty on Knowledge skills exceeds twice your normal ability modifier in that score (that is, with no non-permanent bonuses), you gain a 25% chance per age category of forgetting a piece of information--you roll a Knowledge check normally, and if you succeed, you then roll a d% and forget what you had on the tip of your tongue. For Wis skills, you go either blind or deaf, and for Cha skills, you lose your voice.
Then, for random NPCs/ages, you could do something like:
roll 1d100 per age category
1-2: Str remains unchanged, Int goes down
3-4: Str remains unchanged, Wis goes down
5-6: Str remains unchanged, Cha goes down
7-12: Same as above, but replace Str with Dex
13-18: Same as above, but replace Str with Con
19-20: Str and Dex remain unchanged, Int and Wis go down
21-22: Str and Dex remain unchanged, but Int and Cha go down
23-24: Str and Dex remain unchanged, but Wis and Cha go down
25-30: Same as above, but Str and Con
31-36: Same as above, but Dex and Con
37-38: Str, Dex and Con remain unchanged, Int, Wis and Cha go down
39-40: Str remains unchanged, Int skills go down
41-76: Same as 3-38, but applying stat penalty to skills
77-00: As normal (Str, Dex, Con go down, Int, Wis, Cha go up)
Ultimately, the penalties start to be crippling, while you aren't gaining bonuses, but it opens up some options for storytelling, like the battle-hardened warrior continuing to fight well into his old age.
Any input from anybody?
Well, the skills thing and the table were secondary ideas.
Do you feel the same way about the first part?
I'm more interested in opinions about the mechanics of it than the complexity. The extra rules wouldn't amount to much bookkeeping--if you're dealing with an age category for a player's character, they look at a sheet, or table, make a choice, and then that's probably the last time you need to look at it. For NPCs, again, it's likely a one time thing, and infrequently at that, unless your game is set in a retirement home.
I think the optional penalty to a mental score is a good idea because it's more realistic, especially for monk who have been drilling themselves physically every day for their entire lives. The more complex table and skill penalties... not so much.
|
Yeah, I think giving the option to degrade mental scores instead of physical is a decent idea. Certainly makes it easier to play an older martial character, like the gruff middle-aged sergeant or the grey-haired monk. My group has had a couple middle-aged martials who ignored the first round of aging penalties with the idea that their rolled stats already included the effects of aging.
The table is only necessary if you want to randomly generate aging stats for NPCs, and it might be easier just to assume a default set.
More complex penalties are interesting, but might be difficult to actually work out and apply.
Ok, that's welcome feedback.
I'll note that the skill thing was a secondary idea that hit me while writing up the beginning, which is why I started that section with, "As an alternative," though I can see how that could also be read as being an alternative to the ability-based penalties, and I added the table because...well, we have tables for random EVERYTHING.
If I could edit the OP, I'd more clearly delineate those ideas.
And the gruff middle-aged sergeant and aging martial artist were EXACTLY what I had in mind when I thought that up. Also, the wizened wizard who has become LESS charismatic with age, and somewhat doddering, while remaining healthy and spry.