D&D 2E What if your starting age...

[Mannahnin]

It's an interesting take, but it's also just a really good example of how hard it is to do this even if you understand the system and have thought hard about it.

Objectively, you'd always take 'youthful' because not only does the character get longer natural life from the point you begin playing them (rarely comes up, but can especially if magical aging happens), but also you get advantages of real merit that can't easily be taken away in the course of play and which remain useful no matter how high of level you attain. Whereas the advantages you gain by being anything but youthful not only can be taken away in the course of play, but become less and less meaningful the more you age.

If I was implementing this system in a real game, perhaps I should make the Youthful benefits expire after a few years of aging.

 

[le Redoutable]

Well, it's not just your starting age

 

[Richards]

Not quite the same thing, but when we incorporated the youngest son of two of my players into our original 3.5 campaign, we had him roll up an 8th-level fighter because he was 8 years old at the time.

Johnathan