Aging as a Side Effect?

[caid]

I'm trying to figure out how to use aging as a Side Effect for a powerful magic spell, but can't seem to find any good examples to support it. The spell should, if used carelessly, age the caster a number of months. By 'carelessly' I mean too often (as in more than once a year or so).

 

Can you give me a hint of how to solve

1) the aging thing

2) the 'careless' thing

 

Sincerely,

Mikael Lindberg

 

PS.

I picked up your 5th edition a few days ago as an attempt at finding a system for my epic fantasy campaign. So far, I'm very happy that I did. Keep up the good work and please don't fall to the temptation of adding alot of rules in other supplements. One book to rule them all, the _rulebook_, ok?

[Steve Long]

Well, I'm currently working on one supplement, Fantasy Hero, that I'm sure you'll want to get if you're running a Fantasy game. It doesn't have a lot of all-new rules (none of our books do, really, other than the Ultimate series), but it does have a lot of expansions and options for existing rules.

 

Now, on to your question. Here's the issue you have to consider: how badly does it affect a character to be aged a few months?

 

Generally speaking, age has very little effect on most RPG characters. Most campaigns don't last long enough for a character to reach old age, and neither the HERO System nor any other RPG I'm familiar with is set up to take minute divisions of age (like a few months, or even a few years) into account regarding character abilities. This is one of those things that, while fairly severe in "real life" terms, is practically meaningless in "dramatic reality" game terms.

 

Therefore, it seems to me that, while the spell definitely has a Side Effect, it's a -0 Side Effect. It doesn't really hinder the character in any significant way, so it's worth nothing as a Limitation. Of course, if you can attach some significant effect to "aging a number of months," then by all means consider increasing the value.

 

As for "carelessness," you defined it yourself: more than once per year. So, the Side Effect becomes:

 

Side Effects (character ages four months every time he casts the spell more than once in the year since he last cast it, automatically occurs; -0)

 

Hope this helps! If not, I suggest starting a thread on the subject on the Fantasy Hero board, where lots of experienced Fantasy gamers can weigh in on the subject.