This homebrewed background serves as a sub-background for certain one-shot campaigns and specific scenarios. Characters with this background are elderly. Their bodies are failing and they and feeling the effects of age. Though they may have extended their life with magic, or might belong to a race that ages slowly or doesn't age, the effects of time and repeated adventures have taken it's toll. Eventually, all living things break down, and even immortality can show signs of wear and tear.
Use this background for adventures set far in the future for these characters. Perhaps, after many years of living off of the fruits of their adventures, the gang gets back together for one last job. However, they aren't the heroes they used to be. This makes great "filler" game content for when you have a guest DM or are missing players.
It is recommended that characters be around level 13 with access to all the spells and abilities of a character of that level. The catch is that players must roll a "geriatric check" when they use spells or abilities above level 3. The higher level the skill, the harder it is to pass the geriatric check. Wizards forget their spells, Barbarians have heart disease, Bards have arthritis, all the effects of old age and repeated adventuring may cause their ability to fail, or worse, backfire.
If you are running an adventure with geriatric party members, you can create milestone based advancement in the form of removing geriatric checks. The characters are getting back into the swing of things and remembering their old abilities, shaking the dust of their bones.
- Skill Proficiencies: Characters move at half speed if they do not have their mobility device at hand.
Characters have their total health pool halved.
Characters take -1 in all stats
I know someone might say "well, when you're old, you have more wisdom and have learned more things." Have you ever met an old person? They're clueless. They have no idea how the world works anymore. Anybody who asks that gets a minus 2 in wisdom instead of minus 1 for lacking actual wisdom.
- Tool Proficiencies: Proficient in all elderly mobility devices like canes, staves, wheelchairs, and walkers.
- Equipment: Characters may optionally choose a mobility device. Characters that don't use a mobility device move at half speed. Some weapons function as a mobility device
- Walking stick
- one or two handed
- Access to Shillelagh cantrip
- Can increase jump distance by 2 feet when used two handed.
- 1d6 damage
- Walker
- Two Handed
- Can mount crossbows or shields
- Can be dropped and picked up without use of an action or bonus action
- Cane
- one handed
- Access to Shillelagh cantrip
- Can be used offhand without dual wielding feats or proficiencies.
- 1d4 damage
- Wheelchair
- No handed
- Can mount crossbows or shields
- Disadvantaged when pushed or pulled in any direction
- Distance pushed or pulled is doubled
- Difficult terrain is impassable without assistance from another character
- When dismounted, movement speed is reduced by half again
- Summoned Creatures
- No handed
- Can only be used by characters with the ability to summon a creature or companion
- Creature cannot take actions while being used as or with a mobility device
- While being used as a mobility device, character movement and creature movement take place on the character's turn.
- Can be destroyed if targeted.
- Walking stick
Characters are afflicted with a permanent condition associated with their class. Characters that multi-class are affected by the conditions of all of the associated classes. A barbarian ranger will have high blood pressure AND cataracts, for example.
- Barbarian | High Blood Pressure and Heart Disease
- Years of stress, rage, and combat have taken a toll on the ol' ticker.
- Activating Rage causes 1d6 damage every other turn
- Extra attacks cause 1d4 damage
- Years of stress, rage, and combat have taken a toll on the ol' ticker.
- Bard | Arthritis
- Music in your heart, but it is so painful to play it.
- Bardic inspiration and attacks cause 1d6 damage
- Disadvantage on performance checks and slight of hand checks.
- Cleric | Stroke Prone
- Does it smell like burning toast in here or are the godsssshhhvhrrh;as
- Healing spells can reduce health to 1hp if a 1 is rolled on a 1d20 check when cast
- Druid | Gout, hemorrhoids, back pain, and neck pain.
- Turns out, living in the wilderness and eating only foraged food and wild game is hard living.
- Movement based actions actions (jump, dash, throw, attack) cause 1d4 damage
- Disadvantage on concentration saving throws
- Fighter | Osteoporosis
- The battlefield and armor ain't kind to one's bone structure
- 2d6 damage when using Action Surge
- 1d4 damage for every extra attack
- Monk | Dementia
- Remember all those concussions from your training? No, I suppose you wouldn't.
- Attacks that miss cause 1d6 damage to the nearest ally
- Failing a geriatric save will result in being afflicted with Confusion for 2 turns
- Paladin | Depression
- Faith becomes zealotry, and at the end of zealotry there is a void that no god can fill
- Smite attacks that miss cause 1d6 damage
- Failing a geriatric save will result in a level of Exhaustion being added until short rest.
- Short rest only removes 1 level of Exhaustion.
- Ranger | Cataracts
- The eyes of an eagle, if that eagle was looking through a beer bottle.
- Attacks that miss cause 1d6 damage to the furthest ally
- Failing a geriatric save results in blindness for 2 turns
- Rogue | Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
- Quick *wheeze* as a *wheeze* fox *wheeze*
- Movement based actions actions (jump, dash, throw, attack) cause 1d4 damage and disadvantage on stealth checks for 1 turn.
- Immobilized every other turn on difficult terrain.
- Sorcerer | Parkinson's disease
- Is the power of my spell causing the earth to quake, or is it just me?
- Spells that miss cause 1d4 damage to all allies engaged in the combat encounter
- disadvantage on slight of hand associated tasks
- Warlock | Madness
- Your patron has laid a finger on your mind too many times. Warlocks aren't supposed to last this long.
- Spells that miss cause 1d4 damage to yourself, and the nearest ally.
- Failing a geriatric save results in short term madness for 2 turns.
- Wizard | Alzheimer's disease
- I summon the flames of... or was it winds? Where am I? Are you my son?
- Spells that miss cause 1d4 damage to all allies, self included.
- Failing a geriatric save results in paralysis for 2 turns
The player characters are elderly, and constantly fighting battles with their own bodies as they adventure and engage in combat. While they retain the skills and experience from their previous adventures, their ability to still use them becomes questionable. The higher level the ability is that a character is trying to use, the more difficult the geriatric check. Some geriatric checks result in the ability backfiring. See the Table for more details.
Geriatric checks can be removed or lessened as the characters adventure, getting back into the swing of things, or being de-aged by some powerful magic.
Disadvantage can be imposed upon characters who are attempting something related to their class-specific disorder. For example, you could optionally impose disadvantage on strength saving throws due to a Fighter's osteoporosis.
Summoned Creatures, Familiars, and Animal Companions: Players might attempt to get around geriatric checks by summoning creatures or utilizing animal companions. These summoned creatures are also elderly in this homebrew and are afflicted by the same conditions as the character that summoned them. However, they don't require mobility devices like the characters do. A summoned creature could be used as a mobility device, or be attached to one. An elderly wolf companion could pull a wheelchair, or an earth elemental could stabilize a wizard as they walk. However, summoned creatures can't take actions if they are being used as a mobility device.
Geriatric checks get more difficult every 3 levels and are based on rolling 1d20
Level 1-3: No check needed
Level 4-6: Must roll 7 or higher
Level 7-9: Must roll 12 or higher
Level 10-12: Must roll 17 or higher
Level 13 and up: Must roll a 20
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