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Old 06-06-2016, 02:52 PM   #1
Themoopanator
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Default [3e] Character Ages-Skills

I know you don't get many third edition questions on the forums atm but I play 3rd edition because it's the first one I learned a while back and still remember some of it so I have chosen to learn it again. -Now that that is out of the way:

I have a question regarding the age-skills thing. By this I mean, in the 3e book it says that a character can apply twice the number of points to skills as their age. E.g. an 18 year old could only spend max 32 points on skills. However, in a fantasy campaign I am going to start, some of the races (E.g. Elves) live to hundreds of years old in the lore of the world we are playing in where as Humans will live to like 80.

Is there any way around this problem ? Where characters can have different skill point maximums without making the characters ridiculously OP. I /could/ just make it so the Elves etc. have it proportionally. For example if Elves lived to 800 and the character was 400 then they could have the same skill point max as a Human that lives to 80 and is 40 years old, if you see what I mean. The only problem is that this offers again no advantage to being older.

Does anyone know of any ways to fix this problem using house rules or otherwise ?

-Thanks for reading.
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Old 06-06-2016, 03:19 PM   #2
arnej
 
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Default Re: [3e] Character Ages-Skills

Hi Therm,

I guess I'm not seeing the problem. In a campaign with say, 100 point starting characters, your Elf PC could be spending 100 pts on skills. So his stats/ads are crap, but he's been around and seen a lot. Meanwhile the 18yo Human farmboy has amazing stats and advantages that will help him along as he progresses.

In 3e, iirc, most advantages are not purchaseable after character creation, and stat boosts cost double, so it seems like letting someone spend a ton of points on skills at the beginning is really self-correcting.

arnej

PS This from the guy who's longest running character started with 100 pts in advantages and 2 pts in skills. FWIW.
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Old 06-06-2016, 03:28 PM   #3
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Default Re: [3e] Character Ages-Skills

If you did want a young character with more points in skills there is unusual background "trained intensively due to blah blah"
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Old 06-06-2016, 03:49 PM   #4
David Johnston2
 
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Default Re: [3e] Character Ages-Skills

Quote:
Originally Posted by Themoopanator View Post
I know you don't get many third edition questions on the forums atm but I play 3rd edition because it's the first one I learned a while back and still remember some of it so I have chosen to learn it again. -Now that that is out of the way:

I have a question regarding the age-skills thing. By this I mean, in the 3e book it says that a character can apply twice the number of points to skills as their age. E.g. an 18 year old could only spend max 32 points on skills. However, in a fantasy campaign I am going to start, some of the races (E.g. Elves) live to hundreds of years old in the lore of the world we are playing in where as Humans will live to like 80.

Is there any way around this problem ?.
By recognizing it's not a problem. While the elves may have a high maximum number of points they can put in skills, you don't actually get more points with which to design your character and dumping huge numbers of points into skills isn't a particularly optimizing approach. The limit on skill points based on age, was in fact a cure for which there was no disease, which is why it was dropped in the later edition.
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Old 06-06-2016, 04:02 PM   #5
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Default Re: [3e] Character Ages-Skills

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Originally Posted by David Johnston2 View Post
By recognizing it's not a problem. While the elves may have a high maximum number of points they can put in skills, you don't actually get more points with which to design your character and dumping huge numbers of points into skills isn't a particularly optimizing approach. The limit on skill points based on age, was in fact a cure for which there was no disease, which is why it was dropped in the later edition.
Yeah, if the players want to give a toddler Shortsword-18, it's really for the GM to say no.
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Old 06-06-2016, 04:05 PM   #6
Themoopanator
 
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Default Re: [3e] Character Ages-Skills

So what system is in place for this kind of thing in newer editions.
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Old 06-06-2016, 04:08 PM   #7
johndallman
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Default Re: [3e] Character Ages-Skills

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Originally Posted by Themoopanator View Post
So what system is in place for this kind of thing in newer editions.
None. In 4e, points in skills at character generation may be the result of natural talent, training, or both. Your only limit on the number of points in skills is efficient character design, and/or the GM saying no.
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Old 06-06-2016, 04:54 PM   #8
Þorkell
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Default Re: [3e] Character Ages-Skills

Quote:
Originally Posted by Themoopanator View Post
E.g. an 18 year old could only spend max 32 points on skills.

Does anyone know of any ways to fix this problem using house rules or otherwise ?
First off that's 36 points on skills.

As for a solution, ignore the rule.
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