Yo.
I looked and can't find this in the rules or on the boards.
Do aging effects change CR? I mean, in the absence of a rule I would just estimate this by rule of thumb (similarly to the simple templates in the bestiary), but I wanted to know if there's a rule somewhere.
Failing that, does anyone have any instructive anecdotes? It seems like it would be very situational and I'm curious to see what people think.
Obviously an old fighter would be less of a threat (unless old = high-level), but an assassin (increased DC for instant-death effect), a wizard fireballing the party from the balcony of his tower, etc.
Mainly I guess the biggest danger, from a PC's standpoint, would be increased DCs on instant-death effects. Higher DCs on damaging spells, charm spells, etc. would be dangerous on average but probably not enough to change the encounter drastically. All three mental ability scores can influence instant-death attacks from casters, but Intelligence (assassin) and Wisdom (quivering palm) at least can have that effect on more martial-oriented classes as well. Monks, in particular, age very well, even if they haven't hit 17th level yet.
Further, what happens if a character qualifies for a feat with a physical ability score prerequisite when younger, but the required physical ability score decreases below the prerequisite threshold with age? Normally I believe the feat would become useless (and I can see that both from a mechanics and flavor point of view - "when I was your age, I could Power Attack with the best of 'em) but I could imagine a special case. Some feats, like Double Slice, would become useless with a too-low Strength score no matter how you rule that.
What do people think?
Having thought about the feat issue, I could see switching out feats older characters no longer qualify for. Power Attack -> Skill Focus [Knowledge (nobility and royalty)] for an old royal marine, anyone?
