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How old is too hold to start to play RPGs like Pathfinder?
I know it's a strange question, but I'm tempted to get back into RPGs after a 25 year hiatus! After that length of time, to me it's like I've never played before.
The last thing I remember playing was the Middle Earth Role Playing game. Before that was D&D. That was with a bunch of guys I went to uni with. When we ultimately went our seperate ways, I remember the games being quite fun.
A year ago I was introduced to the Castle Ravenloft board game, and my interest in RPGs began again. It took me a year to get myself confident enough to play again, but am I too late?
Is 45 too old to play?
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Don't ever let anyone tell you that you're too old to play anything.
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Absolutely not i'ld say.
I'm 42, and i'm not saying i play a lot,my old party disbanded due to age,families,jobs etc. but we stay in contact.
In the latter years i don't manage to play table top as much as i did once, and when i do maybe it is with a very small group,2-3 people including myself,but we still try to play whenever possible.
And i assure you the desire to play is as strong as it was 20 years ago....only thing that changed is the amount of gaming material i can afford,which is way greater than before.
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When they plant you in the ground you are too old, until then have fun.
Keep on gaming, life at home or after work can be frightfully boring otherwise.
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Depends, is your name Rasputin, Lestat, Flammel, or Methuselah? If so.... then DIE MONSTER! YOU DO NOT BELONG IN THIS WORLD! (don't throw a wineglass at me...or rotten tomatoes)
Otherwise, you are fine to play as long as you are semi-lucid and able to use some of your senses.
You're not too old but don't assume you know anything about the rule system. There have been a lot of changes! Roleplaying is still the same though, and that's the fun part :-)
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Our group of 5. The youngest is 43. :)
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I'm turning 40 this year, I game avidly 4-5 sessions a month with some sessions 4-6 hours in general.
My buddy is 44, same games.
My other buddy is 42, he games a bit less but unlike me and the first guy, he has a job and real career.
My wife is 43, she games 8-12 hours a month with us.
Don't be afraid to enjoy the things in life that are fun.
I'd highly suggest trying to find at least people to game with that are as close to your age as possible, just so you dont end up the guy that always reminsices about games the younguns don't know about and cannot fathom.
Also, enjoy the ROLE aspect of it. You might be stunned at what you can accomplish role wise, instead of roll-wise.
My group is a bunch of guys in their early 40s. We still enjoy playing. I don't see how it's any different than getting together with friends for football, dinner, or cards.
I say go for it.
I had the same feelings last year at 37 when i discovered the Beginner's Box and hoped to play with my children. I now GM for my 3 best friends,who are fantastic enough to indulge my gaming whims, and we're having more and more fun each session (just about to start The Skinsaw Murders from ROTR adventure path).
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You're not too old but don't assume you know anything about the rule system. There have been a lot of changes! Roleplaying is still the same though, and that's the fun part :-)
For the last 6-8 months of read through the Pathfinder Beginner Box set and the D&D Beginner set. I've started reading the Core Rulebook also.
(As well as other misc. things to do with gaming!)The rules have become more complex, I'll give you that. But at heart, the rules are still the same!
My problem isn't wanting to play, it's trying to find a group here in sunny Melbourne to get involved with.
I may have to try the Roll20 website to see if there's a group willing to allow a middle-aged noob to join! :)
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I'm only 33 but I know I'll be gaming for the rest of my life. It's just too much fun not to. :)
Have you tried Meetup.com? That's how I found my Pathfinder group in NZ.
Turning 50 myself in a few months - still playing and loving it...
go for it:-)
GRU
There's no such thing as too old. I'm 37 and when my group formed 10 years ago I was the youngest in our group, with every other member in their late 30s or 40s. Now two of our members have had their children join the group, so our ages range from late 40s to one member's daughter who is 16 or 17.
If you enjoy roleplay, find yourself a good fun group and have fun. Welcome back, friend. Welcome back. :)
What they all said.
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My latest player never had a table-top RPG session in his life, until he joined my latest PFRPG campaign at the age of 64. He's doing fine, he hasn't quit yet, and we've finished the first dungeon level of "King's Festival" (adapted to PFRPG, of course).
My problem isn't wanting to play, it's trying to find a group here in sunny Melbourne to get involved with.
I may have to try the Roll20 website to see if there's a group willing to allow a middle-aged noob to join! :)
Get out of the middle ages, old man and harness the power of the internet! Ok, maybe you're not that old (I am 40!) But, there are a lot of resources to get you back gaming without the need to feel self-concious about age or anything else, for that matter.
And this was exactly how I got back into RPGs after a long hiatus.
I started with play-by-post. It's a great way to ease back into the rules, giving you a lot of time to read and research prior to your round.
Check out Paizo's PbP (play-by-post)recruitment boards here:
If you want to jump into a game, you could try a virtual platform. There is a increasing community of online players, using all sorts of VTTs (Virtual Table Tops) to play sessions.
Pathfinder Society just got their first Online Venture Captain, so this form is only growing! Take a look at the new PFS (Pathfinder Society) online play boards here:
If you have any questions, just shoot me a PM!
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Nope, I have you all beat,
our group consists of 3 40 somethings and 1 70 year old! he's been playing since first edition.
46
I dont drink, or drugs, or gamble.
I just play 4-6 hours friday nights.
PF is the most logical conclusion to D&D V1-V3.5
Enjoy your life.
grab the dice.....
Live long and game on my friend. No such thing as to old. I would welcome you in a heartbeat.
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My problem isn't wanting to play, it's trying to find a group here in sunny Melbourne to get involved with.
Melbourne (presuming you mean the Australian one) has a couple of Pathfinder Society Venture Officers - drop them a line to see if they know of any local games. They are Stephen White and Andrei Buters.
There is a 'Send a Private Message' link on their pages and the reply will be shown by a very subtle change in the little envelope icon at the top of your Paizo webpages. It gets a little orange exclamation mark, if I recall correctly.
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Nice thread, great responses people. All too true.
Just had a fun mental image of sitting round the nursing home with my buddies when we're in our 90s, still roleplaying - and still passionately discussing RAW and RAI for 10 minutes before agreeing to flip a coin :)
I've played with people in their tweens and at least one guy in his 60's. Many of my games have had forty year olds. 45 really doesn't seem that old, in fact one of the guys I played with got into roleplaying games because he played them in his 20's and started playing them again when he retired trying to find something to do.
I would eagerly GM a game for Ian McKellan, Morgan Freeman, Christopher Lee, and Betty White is all I'm sayin'.
That would be one hell of a group!
On subject, if 45 is to old to play, then my entire group would be in trouble. I'm the youngest at 38 and the oldest is mid 50's. In fact one of the home built campaign worlds I've gotten to play in is only two years younger than me. We are still a rather active group.
No you are not too old to play, the only issue i can think of that due to your life obligations (family, job etc) you might not have enough time to learn a system as complicated as pathfinder on your own, at least quickly. It would help a great deal if you have someone to help you during your learning phase.
Anyway this boards are full of eager people and i am sure that they will help you learn the rules if you need their help and ask.
My current groups have run the gamut from late 20s to late 40s and beyond. And they've got pretty good M/F ratios too!
So it's never too late, so long as you can think and communicate with others. Some grasp of the system being used is also useful, but fellow-players can always lend a hand with the numbers/options until you find your feet. :)
When they plant you in the ground you are too old, until then have fun.
Ooh Rah !!!
I just turned 66 in July. The baby in the group is 41, the others are in there 50's.
-- david
I'm 44, and I play in two different weekly groups, one of which I am the oldest player. In the other group, however, three of the players are over 50. Being too old for anything is subjective. As long as you enjoy yourself, what does it matter?
The average age of my gaming group is probably around 48. I'm 53, and I'm younger than two of our players. Our youngest player just passed 30.
Too old?
As far as my self-image knows, I'm still 18.
As far as my self-image knows, I'm still 18.
So I'm not the only one?
Phew.
I dont think there is such a thing as too old to game. Fun is a universal thing, so is telling stories. Can you be too old to read a book or go to a movie? If you enjoy playing the game you are just the right age.
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You're only "old" when you stop playing games.
I'm 45, and have just gotten back into RPGs after having not played them since the late 90s.
You're never too old. Err, unless you're 140 and just a withered corpse. That might be too old.
Im 32 and will play till I cant physically get to a game. Even then I might start one up at the nursing home.
I'm a veritable young whippersnapper at the tender age of 37 (brain insists I'm not more than 20, though). I've been roleplaying since I was... 12, I think it was. If it's still fun, you're still young.
Grab some dice, and enjoy.
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Im 32 and will play till I cant physically get to a game. Even then I might start one up at the nursing home.
We had this conversation (HERE) back in August 2009. Read that post and about a page and a half later....
I'm in with the Ranger, and the kobolds stole our dentures adventure!
-- david
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I just turned 40 yesterday. Two years ago, I returned to RPGs after a 20ish year hiatus. Been having fun with it ever since.
And playing Pathfinder Society at public stores and conventions, I regularly play with people who are much younger or older than I am - from a 9 year old girl at a convention to a nearly blind retired gentleman at our local store. To me, getting to meet and play with a variety of people is part of the fun of public play, though I do like having a regular group around my own age as my "core group".
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As far as my self-image knows, I'm still 18.
My inner 10 year old says you are an old, old man, sir. Adult even!
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I just turned 45.
I am the oldest person in my regular FtF gaming group. The next one down is just about 40. The group is at my university, and includes (depending on which subset you count) 3-5 professors (including myself) and a whole bunch of students. So, while there are lots of 18-20something year olds like you'd "expect", there's also lots of us old fuddy-duddies who are supposed to take everything too seriously to waste time on games any more.
You aren't too old for a restart. I took a decade long hiatus from playing and have had no problem jumping back in. Yeah, the rules are different but if you played more than one system 'back in the day' you can easily adapt to learning the new editions. It's like riding a bike... with dragons and demons.
Age has nothing to do with the ability to play RPGs. It's about intelligence, imagination, passion, and having fun.
I'm 53 and run a weekly game and play in another.
I'm a 43-year-old GM. My players are aged 54, 47, 44, 41, and 32.
No, you're not too old! You may have been out of the water for a while, but you still know how to swim. Jump back in!
One little caveat based on personal experience... Be wary of the open games at your Friendly Local Game Store. It's been my experience that the folks who play there tend to be kids-- mostly middle- and high-school students. Both times I've shown up to open gaming sessions, I received the "hairy eyeball" from a number of parents. While I never interacted directly with them, I immediately recognized their concerns of why a middle-aged man would want to play games with other people's children.
Never too old to play and have fun with friends.
My group has people from young 30's to mid 40's and we all enjoy playing and getting together every couple of weeks to throw down some epic RP'ing!