Age Advantage

[Citizen Keen]

Ok, in my campaign one of my characters (new to HERO) asked why Age was such a big disadvantage. Now, he sees it as giving him a boost in the Char Max for the characteristics he needs (EGO and INT), and still leaving him plenty of room to grow in his less important characteritics (a char with 15 BODY and CON is still much healthier than your average man). I can't farely make him "get sick more often" in every adventure, so really, he's getting points for Increased Char Maxima.

In Fantasy, for Wizards, does Age seem like an advantage?

-cK

[keithcurtis]

I have played a character with the Age disadvantage and played it up regardless of physical stats. Think of the Con and End and such as "short term", i.e. during a single fight. Long term, Old characters just don't have the stamina. They should sleep longer, suffer aches and pains that make them reluctant to travel, a whole host of things that require decent role-playing but aren't necessarily covered by points. If your player is not up to role-playing the negative consequences of aging, I would strongly suggest he re-design his character.

For instance, "Age" is not necessary in order to play an 80-year-old. You can buy the character normally and just say he's that old but remarkable spry. The Disad is there to be disadvantageous.

Keith "Hey! I'm middle-aged now! Where are my dang five points?" Curtis" Curtis

[Bartman]

It can be, especially if you have a setup where he really doesn't need the physical characteristics. For example if magic uses an End pool instead of the End characteristic, that characteristic becomes much less important. Likewise making Con necessary to cast spells under trying circumstances, such as during storms or after having taken body damage, can make Con seem much more important. If you don't ever bring characteristics into play than don't expect them to play a role.

But for me the real difference between characters with and without the age disad should be general health. This shouldn't be a major disad, after all age is just a 5-10 pointer. But in general someone with age should be someone who has lost a step. He should be slightly more vulnerable to disease, he should tire more easily, and should recover more slowly, he should be more vulnerable to environmental effects. All of these should be minor, but added together they can really equal a real disadvantage. Here are some concrete examples you might use. Give the character a -1 to perception roles about 1 in 10 times to model the 'slowing of the senses.' If you use long term endurance, give the character a 10% reduction on how much weight he can carry before long term endurance loss kicks in. Make the character heal body at a 10% slower rate, maybe it takes him 33 days to heal that 5 body instead of 30. Give the character a 1.5x vulnerability to poisons and diseases on an 8 or less. Make the survival skill a bit less effective, instead of taking 10 hours to meet his needs, perhaps the character needs 11. If you use the option damage rules like disabling make the effects about 10% more severe for the aged character.

None of these on their own would make much of a disad but added together they would underscore how a character with age just isn't quite as healthy and/or robust as the rest of the party. It isn't worth any points if it doesn't disadvantage the character. Just make sure if you impliment this that the player knows about it and agrees with it. If the character is 90+ years old and he doesn't suffer any of the effects of age, he shouldn't get the disadvantage. By the same token if a character is only 30 but already has seen a lot of wear he should be able to take it. Ask the average ex-NFL lineman if "it is the years or the mileage."

On preview I see that Keith has already made some of these points so I'll leave it at that.

[Captain Obvious]

Make the character doze off a lot. No amount of CON or BODY stops an old man from getting sleepy. It probably wouldn't happen in combat, but probably would while he's standing guard, or attending a feast at the castle, or any of a number of other embarrassing situations.

Make him forget stuff. Just because his intelligence is through the roof doesn't mean his short term memory isn't about shot.

Give him big PRE penalties if the player gets even a little annoyed in a role-playing situation. Cranky old men... Similarly, make young buck NPCs call him "old man", and discount whatever he says. If the player gets mad and seriously uses the phrase "Young whippersnappers", you're doing it right.

[JMHammer]

In most games, it's probably best to either force all PCs to take the Normal Characteristic Maxima disadvantage at no points, or to disallow the Normal Characteristic Maxima disadvantage completely. Characters that take this disadvantage in games where it is optional don't lose anything by doing so - the player doesn't intend to boost the characteristics beyond the NCM limit anyway and so gets a free 20 points.

Similarly, the Age Disadvantage should not provide any changes to Characteristic Maxima. Although some age limits can be severe, they provide increased Characteristic Maxima for some traits and, again, the Disadvantage will be used in such a way by players and only with certain characters such that it will not really be a disadvantage to those characters at all. Again, free points for nothing, which ought to be avoided.

Age should be worth something in terms of Disadvantage points: Very young characters can't get a driver's license, won't get taken seriously as hostage negotiators, are too short for some rides, and aren't eligible for senior citizen discounts. Very old characters can't go undercover at the high school, won't be eligible to join NASA's astronaut training program, and aren't going to make the cut for the next season of Real World.

For all the other effects of real-world aging or lack thereof, such as memory loss, "crotchety-ness," or being under parental control, use other Disadvantages such as Physical Limitations and Social Limitations. And adjust the character's actual Characteristic values, not the Maxima applied to each Characteristic defining the point beyond which double points must be paid.

John H