This came to me while talking to a player about how to make their desired concept. It wasn't a particularly ambitious concept, especially not for the age of the PC, but it required more XP than the player had access to.
What really struck me was the fact that a 17-year-old creates with the same amount of XP as a 34-year-old, although one has done twice as much living as the other and has had twice as long to accrue skills.
As such, I'd like to propose two little changes to bonus XP:
1) Make the base bonus XP (for Lithmorrans) 17k. It's very low where it is right now; it's essentially impossible to make a concept that requires many skills unless you have a big backlog built up from your first PC. If you happen to be the sort who only plays one PC at a time, as well, you can't use another PC to gain XP while your PC who needs more XP sits in chargen.
2) Add a bonus of 1k XP for every year past the age of 17. This can be added once the PC purchases age. This will allow people who are roleplaying older, more experienced characters to create something of the skillset to match, but I think this won't provide such an overwhelming advantage that we'll suddenly be besieged by 40-year-old PCs. Youth is a pretty big draw, after all.
Bonus Xp in Chargen Dependent on Age
What if there is a trade-off, in chargen, between age and potential?
I'd get a huge amount of extra xp to create a guy who is actually 37: he's skilled like an ic 37-year-old would be. He's better than all the 22-year-olds. The catch is this: he doesn't get better. However good he is, that's it. He learns nothing.
He doesn't start play at 37 and all of a sudden rocket into new expertise for no reason.
In other words, I'd get extra xp in exchange for 0% pooling.
However, you could also do this on a sliding scale:
If I start play under the age of 20, I don't know squat. My xp is low. But I improve by leaps and bounds. My ability to learn ('pool') information is working at 100%. If I start 20-25, I know some things. My xp is middling. I improve pretty well. My ability to pool new information is pretty good. 75%. If I'm 25-30, I have good starting xp. I can still learn new skills, but not that easily. I only pool 50% as much as a 15-year old. Etc.
Or something like this: For every year you are above 20, you lose three percent of pooling ability.
I'd get a huge amount of extra xp to create a guy who is actually 37: he's skilled like an ic 37-year-old would be. He's better than all the 22-year-olds. The catch is this: he doesn't get better. However good he is, that's it. He learns nothing.
He doesn't start play at 37 and all of a sudden rocket into new expertise for no reason.
In other words, I'd get extra xp in exchange for 0% pooling.
However, you could also do this on a sliding scale:
If I start play under the age of 20, I don't know squat. My xp is low. But I improve by leaps and bounds. My ability to learn ('pool') information is working at 100%. If I start 20-25, I know some things. My xp is middling. I improve pretty well. My ability to pool new information is pretty good. 75%. If I'm 25-30, I have good starting xp. I can still learn new skills, but not that easily. I only pool 50% as much as a 15-year old. Etc.
Or something like this: For every year you are above 20, you lose three percent of pooling ability.
Yeah, Bingo, I feel that's too harsh, and also not too realistic. In your 30s, you're far from too old to learn new tricks - in fact you're never really too old to learn, it's just a question of 'how much time do you have to master this new skill'.
I think for most players just having to be older will be the tradeoff in and of itself; people typically don't like playing older PCs.
I think for most players just having to be older will be the tradeoff in and of itself; people typically don't like playing older PCs.
Well, I recognize that this is something that only appeals to me! I guess I don't see the problem with offering it as an option, though. (Other than the coding.)
"If you play a PC who is over 35, you have the option of getting ##### of xp here in chargen, in exchange for learning new skill at 25% the normal rate. Do you wish do to this? Yes or No ..."
"If you play a PC who is over 35, you have the option of getting ##### of xp here in chargen, in exchange for learning new skill at 25% the normal rate. Do you wish do to this? Yes or No ..."
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