In the event that a ghost uses its Horrifying Visage to age an already old creature, what happens? If a human is aged to a point older than 100 years, do they die instantly because humans live less than a century, or is it more like in real life where the body simply breaks down over time? It gets more vague when you consider that most playable races provide a range of lifespans rather than a set time limit. Say I'm playing a 55 year old wizard, and the Horrifying Visage ages me by 40 years. I'm under a century, but does something still happen? Does the game punish me for not just playing a 25 year old wizard?
This edition does not have rules for aging. So 25 or 55 or 95 are all mechanically identical.
As far as if you’d die, that’s going to be a DM call. They could just decide you die from old age, or this being D&D, more likely they could make some kind of roll to determine what that particular character’s natural life span would be, and then compare that to the age your character is.
Well... DM's call, as there are no strict rules for age. However, I would not call that punishment. It is decisions and consequences. If you chose to play an older character, and the older character ages magically, of course the result is different for this specific character in comparison to a younger one.
Saying that, I think I will dig for some effects of age tables and integrate them into my campaign. :)
Saying that, I think I will dig for some effects of age tables and integrate them into my campaign. :)
There were tables in 1e you might be able to track down. Each race had an entry with age ranges for young, adult, middle age, etc. Almost matching dragon age categories. Basically as you got older, your str, dex and con went down, and your wis went up. Might have been an int bump in there, too. But the gains did not offset the losses. 1e was just mean like that.
Saying that, I think I will dig for some effects of age tables and integrate them into my campaign. :)
There were tables in 1e you might be able to track down. Each race had an entry with age ranges for young, adult, middle age, etc. Almost matching dragon age categories. Basically as you got older, your str, dex and con went down, and your wis went up. Might have been an int bump in there, too. But the gains did not offset the losses. 1e was just mean like that.
I know for sure, there are also tables from AD&D for age categories, that can then be applied to all races.
However, I would not call that punishment. It is decisions and consequences. If you chose to play an older character, and the older character ages magically, of course the result is different for this specific character in comparison to a younger one.
Then is there even a point to playing an older character? The Player's Handbook allows you to play as a character of any age feasible for your race, even suggesting that age can be used as an explanation for deficiencies in certain ability scores. Why have the option if there are detriments to playing an older character instead of a younger one, but not detriments to playing a younger character instead of an older one?
However, I would not call that punishment. It is decisions and consequences. If you chose to play an older character, and the older character ages magically, of course the result is different for this specific character in comparison to a younger one.
Then is there even a point to playing an older character? The Player's Handbook allows you to play as a character of any age feasible for your race, even suggesting that age can be used as an explanation for deficiencies in certain ability scores. Why have the option if there are detriments to playing an older character instead of a younger one, but not detriments to playing a younger character instead of an older one?
There are also effects that make you younger, with a much more clearly defined line as to what age would be very bad.
However, I would not call that punishment. It is decisions and consequences. If you chose to play an older character, and the older character ages magically, of course the result is different for this specific character in comparison to a younger one.
Then is there even a point to playing an older character? The Player's Handbook allows you to play as a character of any age feasible for your race, even suggesting that age can be used as an explanation for deficiencies in certain ability scores. Why have the option if there are detriments to playing an older character instead of a younger one, but not detriments to playing a younger character instead of an older one?
There are also effects that make you younger, with a much more clearly defined line as to what age would be very bad.
What effects? Are they involuntary? Because there's a big difference between drinking a potion to make yourself younger and being forcibly aged by a ghost.
However, I would not call that punishment. It is decisions and consequences. If you chose to play an older character, and the older character ages magically, of course the result is different for this specific character in comparison to a younger one.
Then is there even a point to playing an older character? The Player's Handbook allows you to play as a character of any age feasible for your race, even suggesting that age can be used as an explanation for deficiencies in certain ability scores. Why have the option if there are detriments to playing an older character instead of a younger one, but not detriments to playing a younger character instead of an older one?
There are also effects that make you younger, with a much more clearly defined line as to what age would be very bad.
What effects? Are they involuntary? Because there's a big difference between drinking a potion to make yourself younger and being forcibly aged by a ghost.
The ones that come to mind are one of the wild magic table rolls, which is involuntary, and a sphinxes lair actions, which are also involuntary and can de-age up to 20 years, so your 23yo human just became a toddler
How about instead of "aging" as an effect, you gain a level of exhaustion. I know that, if I saw a ghost that scared the HECK out of me, I'd feel a bit tired-- kinda like the crash after an adrenaline rush or like the sugar-crash you get after eating a stack of pancakes with lots of syrup
plus, as it's written, "The aging effect can be reversed with a greater restoration spell, but only within 24 hours of it occurring." The spell itself removes "exhaustion" ---"You imbue a creature you touch with positive energy to undo a debilitating effect. You can reduce the target's exhaustion level by one, or end one of the following effects on the target... (list of four effects)"
In the event that a ghost uses its Horrifying Visage to age an already old creature, what happens? If a human is aged to a point older than 100 years, do they die instantly because humans live less than a century, or is it more like in real life where the body simply breaks down over time? It gets more vague when you consider that most playable races provide a range of lifespans rather than a set time limit. Say I'm playing a 55 year old wizard, and the Horrifying Visage ages me by 40 years. I'm under a century, but does something still happen? Does the game punish me for not just playing a 25 year old wizard?
This edition does not have rules for aging. So 25 or 55 or 95 are all mechanically identical.
As far as if you’d die, that’s going to be a DM call. They could just decide you die from old age, or this being D&D, more likely they could make some kind of roll to determine what that particular character’s natural life span would be, and then compare that to the age your character is.
Well... DM's call, as there are no strict rules for age. However, I would not call that punishment. It is decisions and consequences. If you chose to play an older character, and the older character ages magically, of course the result is different for this specific character in comparison to a younger one.
Saying that, I think I will dig for some effects of age tables and integrate them into my campaign. :)
There were tables in 1e you might be able to track down. Each race had an entry with age ranges for young, adult, middle age, etc. Almost matching dragon age categories. Basically as you got older, your str, dex and con went down, and your wis went up. Might have been an int bump in there, too. But the gains did not offset the losses. 1e was just mean like that.
I know for sure, there are also tables from AD&D for age categories, that can then be applied to all races.
Then is there even a point to playing an older character? The Player's Handbook allows you to play as a character of any age feasible for your race, even suggesting that age can be used as an explanation for deficiencies in certain ability scores. Why have the option if there are detriments to playing an older character instead of a younger one, but not detriments to playing a younger character instead of an older one?
There are also effects that make you younger, with a much more clearly defined line as to what age would be very bad.
http://people.wku.edu/charles.plemons/ad&d/races/age.html
Found the AD&D 2e Age tables online. Great piece of information.
What effects? Are they involuntary? Because there's a big difference between drinking a potion to make yourself younger and being forcibly aged by a ghost.
The ones that come to mind are one of the wild magic table rolls, which is involuntary, and a sphinxes lair actions, which are also involuntary and can de-age up to 20 years, so your 23yo human just became a toddler
The 3e SRD also has them -- e.g. https://www.d20srd.org/srd/description.htm#age. A bit harsher on physical stats than 2e, but gives more mental stats.
How about instead of "aging" as an effect, you gain a level of exhaustion. I know that, if I saw a ghost that scared the HECK out of me, I'd feel a bit tired-- kinda like the crash after an adrenaline rush or like the sugar-crash you get after eating a stack of pancakes with lots of syrup
plus, as it's written, "The aging effect can be reversed with a greater restoration![]()
spell, but only within 24 hours of it occurring." The spell itself removes "exhaustion" ---"You imbue a creature you touch with positive energy to undo a debilitating effect. You can reduce the target's exhaustion level by one, or end one of the following effects on the target... (list of four effects)"