| Thornborn |
Consider if you will, Sam. Sam Ple, lately of Riddleport.
Sam is 80 years old, and has spent a life at sea, which shows in the weathering of his face. He's worked hard, in a dangerous business, and on his 30th birthday, Sam lost a finger in a duel over the attentions of his intended, Annie Ple, known at that time as Annie Body. In that same duel, Sam gained a saber scar on his left cheek. Annie is a bit of a Hedge Witch, and she maintains a Scar Hex on Sam. She has done this since she learned the Hex, when Sam was 35.
On Sam's 80th birthday, his son Simon gifts Sam and Annie with potions of Youthful Appearance, one for Sam, and another for Annie. Drinking them, they are both returned to their appearance at 20 years of age...
Or are they?
Do the potions fix:
A: Sam's weathered face?
B: Sam's missing finger?
C: Sam's scarred cheek?
D: Annie's marks of carrying Simon and his sister, Dim?
E: The magical Scar from the Scar Hex?
Please answer in the following format:
A: Face, yes.
B: Finger, no.
C: Cheek, yes.
D: Stretch Marks, yes.
E: Hex Scar, no.
(Those are my answers and opinions, but should not influence yours)
Morgen
|
The only one that can be fixed would be the first one.
Nothing else has anything to do with aging so Youthful Appearance has no effect on it as per the spell.
You make your target look like a younger version of itself. You select how much younger it looks (for example, “10 years” or “as a young adult”). You cannot otherwise change details of the target's appearance other than those directly associated with aging (for example, gray hair returns to its original color). The target cannot appear so much younger that it changes size. This spell does not affect any age-based modifications to ability scores or other age-related effects.
Scars, stretch marks and missing digits have nothing to do with aging so the spell doesn't do anything about them.
| Thornborn |
So you envision a thousand-year-old elf drinks such a potion, and stands there as an adolescent elf with a thousand years of scars?
What about missing teeth? Hair?
Consider, please, this is a polymorph effect, not an illusion.
Also, please, answer all the questions, not just the cherries and the plums.
| Jeraa |
The spell very clearly states that it changes only those things directly associated with aging. Noting else gets changed.
So, to use your format:
A: Face, yes.
B: Finger, no.
C: Cheek, no.
D: Stretch Marks, no.
E: Hex Scar, no.
Sams weathered face is a result of aging. So it gets changed.
Sams lost finger has nothing to do with ageing - it was cut off in a fight. No change.
Sams cheek scar was likewise gotten in a fight - it is not the result of aging. No change.
Annies stretch marks are no the result of aging - they came from pregnancy. No change.
The magical scar, again, was not gained from aging. No change.
As for missing teeth - if they fell out due to old age, then yes they would be restored. If they were knocked out in battle, then they are not brought back.
If hair fell out from old age, then yes it grows back. If it was shaved off or removed by some sort of magical experiment gone wrong, then it does not grow back, as it was not caused by aging.
Also, even though Sam and Annie now appear to be 20, they still have the same ability scores they had before they drank the potion. Same looks like he is 20, but has the strength of a man of 8 (the -6 aging penalty) as the spell very clearly states it doesn't remove those.
And Morgen did answer every question. He just didn't use the format you wanted.
The only one that can be fixed would be the first one.
Nothing else has anything to do with aging so Youthful Appearance has no effect on it as per the spell.
Answers all questions from A to E.
| Xaratherus |
A. Face, yes.
B-E. No. These effects may have occurred while the character aged, but that is different from having actually been caused by aging.
To answer your counter-argument regarding "a thousand years of scars": There is only so much skin on the body. Eventually, scars on scars can become indeterminate; a thousand years of scars would likely look identical to someone who was whipped five-hundred times over the course of ten years as a slave, or who was burned in a single fire.
Fingers can be lost in other ways. A five-year old who loses a finger didn't lose it because of age, he lost it because he got too close to a threshing machine.
As for the teeth and hair? Teeth can be knocked out, and if they're your adult teeth, you don't get them back - again, plausibly covered by the whole slave story. And unless you're seeing the person consistently, how do you know they don't just shave their head? Or that the damage caused by the scars caused them to grow no more hair?