One thing that I’ve been pondering recently is how much players and DMs factor the age of the PCs into their own roleplaying as well as their interactions with NPCs (and the NPCs’ reaction towards them). If you choose to use the average starting ages for human PCs for example, you’re going to end up with some very young characters out to save the world.
Of course, I didn’t bat an eyelid when I was a teenager playing AD&D, but as a (considerably . . . sigh) older adult it’s more of a conscious effort to roleplay my PC as someone who’s not yet hit 20. I’m curious to know if other characters take this into account and how it informs how they play their characters. It often seems people play their 16-year old PC with all the world-weariness and confident badassery of a latter-day John Wayne (or whichever aging action star you choose to mention), which often strikes me as odd.
From the other side of the DM screen, it’s often the case that many of the NPCs in the campaign world are older than the PCs. How much do the DMs out there let this colour their encounters? I find that many of my NPCs end up talking down to the PCs, assuming these ‘wet-behind-the-ears’ adventurers probably don’t know what they’re doing. This often makes for fun roleplaying, especially when the PCs prove their expectations wrong. On the other hand, it can feel a little wearisome for both DM and players when Pimply Paul the Still-Pubescent Poleax Master strides into the sixty-year old Lord’s hall expecting to be lauded as a hero but instead gets ignored as a callow youth unworthy of anything but a quarter-ration of mead.
Of course, there’re plenty of underage heroes in film and literature to look at for inspiration (Luke Skywalker springs to mind, and . . . ugh, young Ani, some of characters in Game of Thrones also bear consideration). There’s also the issue of how far our real-world conception of ‘youth’ translates into a medieval or fantasy world - although irrespective experience should still count for a lot.
This is a bit of a ramble to be honest, but I’d still be interested whether similar thoughts also cross the minds of players and GMs.
For the pedants :-)
- Yes I know there’s no requirement to use the starting ages listed in the rulebook.
- Yes I know it’s just a game. Consider this post aimed at the role-players.
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Well, my main character, a Level 3 Half-Orc fighter is only 19, and he has already been through the military (in story), but he's been kicked out for fighting with his superiors. He's a hot-headed brawler, who hates being told what to do, and intimidates anyone that gets in his way. I kinda play him a bit older in emotional ways, but he's been through a lot of stuff so I feel that I am within a good mindset with him.
"It's not the years, it's the mileage."
I've met some very world-weary and mature teenagers, and I've met some very immature adults. It's not so much how many years you've had, as what's happened to you during them.
My ninja is thinking of retiring, because she's already 22 and she's not getting any younger. She doesn't want to turn into a Christmas Cake after all.
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My young wizard is constantly worried about what bard's he's listening to, and what bards other people are listening to, and what those people think of him for listening to those bards.
My middle-aged wizard hates adventuring. He's constantly thinking that he could be getting his laundry done instead, and that there is barbecue available at the tavern tonight.
I never roll for my characters age but instead choose it based on their background. For 1st level characters I usually pick an age within the range for their race and class though.
I wholeheartedly agree with Zayne, but I also want to add that gamer psychology doesn't take kindly to playing an older (or younger) character.
[sarcasm]
If you play older than Adult, you're either an optimizer for trying to wriggle an extra +1 Int/Wis/Cha for your spellcaster or you're dragging the party down by taking that –1 Str/Dex/Con penalty on your martial character. Anything above Middle Aged and your fellow PCs/GM get exponentially angrier.
[/sarcasm]
And let's not get started on Youths. I was pretty annoyed with the decision to add rules that basically translate to, "the moment you take levels in a PC class, you're no longer a Youth and should be treated as an adult." Yet in the SAME section, the rules reference characters like Harry Potter (an arcanist) and Arya Stark (a rogue). It is the only rule in Paizo's entire printed history that I flat-out toss out of the window in my home games. Try to convince me that Harry is an adept or Arya an Expert. Go ahead. I dare you.
A good reason I generally consider age to be a completely cosmetic/flavor thing that has no mechanical effect on a character.