getting older

[ronnieB]

Sooner or later it happens to everyone (mortals), here's my idea on how to handle it (simply taking away points from the physical pool does not work with already burned characters).
Note that this system only covers aging, not neglect to train
Use the following as traits.
past his prime (human age equivalent: 40- 50)
Physical training is less effective- any physical training has to take 10% more time to be effective (does not apply to 'leveling up' due to actual fighting etc..)
Healing rate is slower- wounds take an extra 10% time to completely heal and so doe’s illness
Eyesight is weaker too, but it's not critical to place penalties yet.
aged (human age equivalent: 50-60)
Physical training is even less effective- any physical training has to take 20% more time to be effective (does not apply to 'leveling up' due to actual fighting etc..)
healing rate is much slower- wounds take an extra 25% times to completely heal and so does illness.
eyesight is weakened - +1OB to all perception rolls.
(DM's option) if the character has a chosen skill which he has been practicing for more then one third of his life he might be considered a veteran -when testing the skill against someone less experienced he gets -1OB
old (human age equivalent: 70 -80)
physical training takes very long- any physical training takes 33% more time to be effective (does not apply to 'leveling up' due to actual fighting etc..)
healing rate is sluggish- wounds take twice as long to completely heal and so does illness.
eyesight is weakened - +1OB or +2OB to all perception rolls.
(DM's option) if the character has a chosen skill which he has been practicing for more then one forth of his life he might be considered a veteran -when testing the skill against someone less experienced he gets -1OB
venerable (human age equivalent: 80 and up)
physical training is next to impossible- any physical training takes twice as much time to be effective (does not apply to 'leveling up' due to actual fighting etc..)
healing rate is sluggish- wounds take 150% more time to completely heal and so does illness.
eyesight is weakened - +2OB to all perception rolls.
(DM's option) if the character has a chosen skill which he has been practicing for more then one fifth of his life he might be considered a veteran -when testing the skill against someone less experienced he gets -2OB
still needs much work, so replies are welcome

[eruditus]

Weird, I was JUST thinking about this very topic this morning

I think traits are the perfect way to handle it. Kudos.

[luke]

i don't know. I toyed with this originally, and it never really worked itself out. I just don't think it is cool to impose many of these penalties on a player character who has adventured and pushed themselves to their limit. Assume their vigorous. Assume their one of those who's still chopping lumber at 80. It's a game, if a pc makes it to 80, then they should be freaking rewarded, because in BW they probably already have enough scars, badly healed wounds and crappy traits already. No need to add more.

As for "NPCs" burned up. Have you actually tried to make an 80 yr old Servant? The physical and mental frailties are reflected in the numbers.

But if you must have penalties, penalize Health. Increase Health obstacles or perhaps even decrease Health dice (if you're really a sadist). That's what Health is there for, no need to jigger with anything else.

Lastly, those "lifelong expert" obstacle bonuses are nutty. Way too powerful in my book. Probably unnecessary, too. If a character really does train for 20 yrs in BW, they'll have a 7 or 8 exponent. No need for any other special consideration when rolling that many dice!

-abzu

[ronnieB]

When I write these add-on rules I mostly think about my characters- I want rules for aging characters, I want to create a character and see how his life unfolds and not just in battle-scars or personal traumas.
Simply put, I’d like a character that can say "it's not as easy as it used to be when I was young", I want a character that does not have time on his side.
Maybe I’m doing this wrong however, I will separate the different symptoms to different traits and make them likely rather then required.

I want decay with growth.

[eruditus]

I completely agree with ronnieB

I don't want the answer to the question of immortality to be "oh, you just keep adventuring."

Why can't Biblo get back to visit the locales of his youth? because he is old. Not because he's been sedentary (in fact he takes a long-ass journey from Hobbiton to Rivendell) but because he no longer has the regenerative powers of the ring to keep him vital. Aragorn is like 80 yet it is the sustaining magic within his bloodline that keeps him wry.

I think there should be reasons why one is able to adventure to a ripe old age. I think there is an enormous amount of plot in why one has to retire. And once in retirement what makes it difficult to come out of retirement to save the land. There are so many cool dichotomies to explore - namely one of my favorites - experience vs youth. As of the rules now an 80 year old guy adventuring has no fear from the young hero. One's stats can ONLY go up.

I think this removes not only the human experience from such an epic game, as well as limits plot, but it also strips other races of their interest as immortals or long lived. Who cares that a troll or dwarf can live three times that of a man - an adventurer can keep up any day. And in the scope of a campaign the men are chugging right along with the elves for centuries. I would not only be as upset as ronnieB playing the men, I would also be annoyed as another race, making key aspects of their existance seemingly trite and unimportant.

I will have to study ronnieB's trait suggestions. They seemed a little complicated at first glance. I will give my further opinion as I read deeper.

[ronnieB]

Let’s study the effects of aging individually:
One of the first symptoms is the gradual loss of near-sight (reading, examining closely) that starts at about age 45* - it's getting harder to read small writing unless you push it further away from you
ingame trait:
Hyperopia die trait (1 point) -close things are getting blurry, you find it hard to read from up close. +1OB to any search attempt for very small objects

I’m including shortsightedness too, not everyone gets it and it usually isn't the result of aging.
Myopia I (short sightedness) die trait- far away objects are hard to see +1OB to perception rolls
Myopia II die trait- far away objects are very hard to see decrease perception (currant and maximum) attribute by one
Myopia III die trait- far away objects are almost invisible decrease perception by one AND +1OB to perception rolls**

it IS possible to have both myopia and Hyperopia and it sucks...

*Hyperopia starts much earlier, but the trouble reading really hits at 45
**I’m not about to delve into medieval optomatrics here, but they didn't have very good spectacles then, think 'help' instead of 'correct' so a good pair of spectacles will only reduce the problem to the previous category (no bifocals)

[DarkeTwilight]

I relize this string is a bit old but Incase you havent noticed i'm rather new. In the actual mechanics book for BW it talks about neglect of skills. Should someone actually WANT to play a character past the mid 40's they are being illogical in any setting. But as mentioned before in various other strngs not all players play logically. An active character will resist the affects of aging just as well as an active person in real time. A 40+ man who hikes 5 miles a day and chops wood will continue to do so with little more trouble than 10 years pror. a 50 year old would be on par with a 40 year old. No this isnt exageration. its the way of the human condition. Sight loss, lack of energy and even aches and pains all come from LACK of use. Thus your char hits 50 and decides to retire. Yet in a later campaign you think it'd be great to bring him outa retirement. You look up the rules for neglected skills, apply them accordingly to how long this character has been in retirement. Yes a retired knight may have chosen to practice his swordsmanship. but unless he did so daily for multiple hours that skill is likely to slip and grow rusty. So when this elder char goes into battle he suffers the lack of proficiency he once had. THUS the "it's not as easy as it used to be when I was young". And one thing your also forgetting is while an elf or even dwarf may live hundreds and more years. Most humans by age 80,if not a few decades prior, have experienced all they care to and now simply wish for a more peaceful life. A nice quiet night by the fire. Let the new generations of younger adventurers save the world or let mankind die off and make way for what ever comes next.

[Blackberry]

Of course I'm still new to all this, but what about just applying a Trait to an aging character and using it as a "negative call-on trait"?

Call the Trait "Over The Hill", "Old", "Decrepit", etc., and use it to decide non-diced events and break diced ties against the character's favor rather than in the character's favor.

[luke]

Call the Trait "Over The Hill", "Old", "Decrepit", etc., and use it to decide non-diced events and break diced ties against the character's favor rather than in the character's favor.

that's cool.