I was curious as to whether anybody actually bothers with ageing rules in games that have them. I've played games where time might as well not exist and ones where every hour is accounted for. Most of time somewhere in the middle.
Have your characters ever reached pensionable age and did it matter statistically?
AD&D 1E
When your fighter with an 18** STR starts aging and drops to a 17 STR it gives real meaning when he says "sure I'm up to help you on this adventure, but I ain't what I used to be." :(
It was the only system with aging mechanics built in that we played a campaign long enough to see them in action.
One word: Traveller.
Reaching enough terms to become eligible for retirement pension as a starting character is fairly common.
Also, aging rules (and the drawbacks of anti-aging drugs) are what keeps characters with many terms under their belt somewhat balanced to younger, less experienced characters.
Quote from: One Horse Town;789870I was curious as to whether anybody actually bothers with aging rules in games that have them. I've played games where time might as well not exist and ones where every hour is accounted for. Most of time somewhere in the middle.
I would use them but I've never had game last long enough in game time for them to come into play in part because most player (IME) make their characters fairly young to begin with. Another reason is time compression. I don't usually have much down time between sessions so a game that lasts for years might only cover a stretch of months in game time.
In Traveller, of course. And in Call of Cthulhu. And both have included physical stat loss.
But, in both cases, characters have been spat out of chargen aged. I can't think of any cases where a character reached old age through the course of play.
A couple of times in AD&D I used the ageing rules when someone had been magically aged by something, but we never bothered tracking regular ageing.
The only game in which I do that is Ars Magica. Since "adventures" in Ars Magica can occur a game year apart or more, ageing the characters at the end of each year is an essential part of the campaign. It's not uncommon for an Ars Magica campaign to last more than a generation, where characters born after the campaign started get to grow up and have their own children; while others get old and die.
It's a pet peeve of mine.
I have issues with games/campaign that are not stop action action action.
I push, sometimes a lot, for downtime. Which makes time go by. Which brings in aging rules.
Never thought about until a new player showed up back in the early 90s and we got to a'talkin about old characters. He loved his Ranger from a recent campaign, an 18yr old 20th level Ranger.
Quote from: Sommerjon;789903It's a pet peeve of mine.
I have issues with games/campaign that are not stop action action action.
I push, sometimes a lot, for downtime. Which makes time go by. Which brings in aging rules.
Never thought about until a new player showed up back in the early 90s and we got to a'talkin about old characters. He loved his Ranger from a recent campaign, an 18yr old 20th level Ranger.
Yeah, i like to keep the time rolling. Even so, you can rack up levels in d&d pretty quickly these days, which compounds the problem.
Have a player who is drawing one right now, and my char in another game should get one as he took a major hit to his stats (-2 to two physical stats) on a failed aging roll, both trav.
Quote from: One Horse Town;789910Yeah, i like to keep the time rolling. Even so, you can rack up levels in d&d pretty quickly these days, which compounds the problem.
True.
I have a number of ways to make time go by.
Travel: make the distances greater and/or harder to get to
Appointments: you really going to blow off Duke Iwillgettoyoueventually? Ballsy.
Research: obscure information isn't at the local library
Commitments: you promised to do a,b, and c. Now you don't want to do c because X? okay sure, up to you, just remember choices have consequences.
In my games, advancement is built around aging, so yeah. Lots of times. Not my characters - I'm usually the GM - but my players.
-clash
I absolutely use it in ZWEIHÄNDER during the character creation process.
However, there isn't a massive decline in Primary Attributes. Instead, you roll X amount of times on the distinguishing marks table, depending on your age group. Each distinguishing mark grants either a small boon or penalty to the character's Primary Attributes. They're more for cosmetic reasons, but give slight increases to abilities.
In your youth? Roll once. An adult? Roll twice. Middle-aged? Roll three times. Elderly? Roll four times.
it is realistic? No. Does it emulate Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay? Absolutely.
All in all, I vastly prefer the idea of cosmetic changes with tiny bumps or decreases in abilities, rather than the traditional -X physical attributes, +X mental attributes. Here's the excerpt, and the tables following.
Quote from: ZWEIHÄNDER grimandperilous.comAGE GROUPS
Consider some of the ideas you have about your Character’s history, and let it inform your choice to play an older Character. Your Profession and Archetype may inform your decision to play as an older or younger Character. A Preacher may be Elderly, whereas a Student has just reached Adulthood. A Sellsword likely has some victories underneath their belt, so they may be Middle-Aged.
You will note that we’ve purposefully omitted specific ages and instead use general terms for Age Groups, as a Gamemaster may have their own idea about how Age Groups may vary by Race. Roll Percentile Dice to randomly determine which Age Group your Character is in. Go to the first page of the Character Sheet and record your age under Background.
YOUTH
Thrust into a role that others of your age have not faced, the world’s grim reality rests heavily upon your trembling shoulders. Inexplicably, your youth has drawn the attentions of lady luck. It’s clear she has gifted you with her beneface. In exchange, a sordid - and perhaps violent - future awaits you.
Effect: You must roll one time on the Distinguishing Marks table. Record your age under Background.
ADULTHOOD
You are a full grown adult, along with all the responsibilities it entails. You are acutely aware of the realities of the world around you, pulled in different directions to fulfil your dreams, but prepared for them to be stomped upon by the unyielding weight of reality.
Effect: You must roll two times on the Distinguishing Marks table. Record your age under Background.
MIDDLE-AGED
You're just now beginning to suffer the effects of aging, growing wiser but weaker physically. Your experiences have taken a toll on your body, as you now suffer from morning pains and perhaps a rattling cough when the weather is poor. Unlike the younger generations, destiny has decreed a new beginning - or perilous end - for you. As such, you’ve been given a spark of luck; a second chance to attain these goals through whatever hardships you must suffer.
Effect: You must roll three times on the Distinguishing Marks table. Record your age under Background.
ELDERLY
You are in the twilight years of your life, and most of your physical prowess has waned as decades have passed. You are wheezy, shaky and given to fits of memory loss...or even moments where you stop and do nothing but recount old memories of your youth. Despite this, fate has something in store for you, and will give you several chances at seeing its potentially grim outcomes realized.
Effect: You must roll four times on the Distinguishing Marks table. Record your age under Background.
DISTINGUISHING MARKS
Beyond simple appearance, all Characters have some sort of disfiguring or unusual mark on their body or affectation in outward personality. Most people have some oddity of birth or their life. People who are too comely are often viewed with suspicion. It is not to say that others wish to attain physical beauty! There’s a whole market for tinctures, powders, elixirs of youth and other “beauty products” snake oil salesmen pawn off to the unwitting. But there’s just a slight imbalance of ugliness to the world to the point where it’s become the norm, and those who possess striking looks aren’t well-trusted.
Depending on your Age Group, you must select a specific number of Distinguishing Marks to further flesh out your Character’s appearance. Note that each Distinguishing Mark carries some positive or negative modifier to your Primary Attributes. Go to the first page of the Character Sheet and record your Distinguishing Marks under Background.
TABLE FOLLOWS (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AjBW3uJTeayydFFKVVdFbk10ak9VTlBER1ctalBidnc&usp=sharing)
I got clammy hands and a lazy eye. :(
GURPS used to have aging/youth rules, which bugged me, but a major design shift from BSIII to 4th edition was in the elimination of most Advantages and Disadvantages that themselves had derivative Advantages or Disadvantages. Rather than, say, stipulate that a character with the Aging Disadvantage had minuses to this stat or that stat, the current premise is that if you want to play an aged character, reduce stats to what you think would be suitable, and take certain Disadvantages (impaired vision, reduced Move, Bad Back, Unfit, Chronic Pain, etc) appropriate to your age. Or not: the Age section stipulates that if you're one of those exceptional elderly people who are perfectly fit, well, heroes are exceptional people.
Quote from: One Horse Town;789870I was curious as to whether anybody actually bothers with ageing rules in games that have them. I've played games where time might as well not exist and ones where every hour is accounted for. Most of time somewhere in the middle.
Have your characters ever reached pensionable age and did it matter statistically?
As others have said, in
Traveller through chargen.
In actual play reaching old age, not so much.
Of course,
Traveller5 has rules for having offspring based on your character, so you can have multigenerational campaigns.
In AD&D, aging mattered, but I don't think I ever had a game last longer than 12 years of game time...so a few players made it to middle age "naturally". There were enough ghost attacks that ageing occurred other ways.
But dying naturally of old age? No, never happened. I can't even imagine a campaign lasting long enough for a dwarf/elf to die of old age, starting from anything like youth.
Quote from: Raven;790044I got clammy hands and a lazy eye. :(
I got wind-chapped cheeks and perpetual sneer :(
ACKS has aging rules, and while I altered them a little (to make the age boundaries variable and health-dependent, and lessened the penalties of the first two post-maturity milestones), it's a vital part of my game. Moreso for NPCs, but one of the PCs isn't far off Middle Age which might become relevant.
My historical campaigns tend to run over decades of game-time, so yes, the aging rules have been used quite often.
Quote from: Exploderwizard;789876AD&D 1E
When your fighter with an 18** STR starts aging and drops to a 17 STR it gives real meaning when he says "sure I'm up to help you on this adventure, but I ain't what I used to be." :(
It was the only system with aging mechanics built in that we played a campaign long enough to see them in action.
Or when the fighter gets old enough to get 18 strength in the first place! They start immature relative to paladins and rangers, iirc.