Effects Of Age On A D&D Character Can Enhance the Experience

Effect of age in D&D

Opening phrase of Prince Hamlet’s soliloquy in William Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet,” Act III, Scene I.

Age is a usually inescapable villain that hunts down any and all who walk this mortal coil.

That being said, there are ways to escape it. What we will deal with here are reactions left to those who don’t have the ability to visit the fountain of youth, become a lich or vampire, and have no chance to ascend to godhood.

The touch of age is something a lot of gamers forget but could do well to keep in mind. After all, the effect of it could very well enhance your gaming experience.

In previous editions of Dungeons & Dragons the effect of age was pretty easy to document.

“To be or not to be? Not to be.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger as Jack Slater, playing Hamlet in the 1993 Columbia Pictures film “Last Action Hero”

In fact, your character could even use it as a form of min/maxing as your physical stats drop while your mental stats raise.

This could be a godsend to casters, especially the wizard and sorcerer who would want to push the DC of their spells as far as possible.

Conversely, a more physical type would run from the cold hand of time, as those physical abilities are their very bread and butter.

Temporal perception and your character

Thusly I bring up the first point in the combat of time. How your character views it very much so would depend on what they do in their lifetime. Those who have viewed knowledge as paramount could likely come to a calm acceptance of their fate. Those of a physical bent can be expected to be fearful, angry, and even resentful.

Some on either side of the fence could treat aging with resentment, acting in a bullying or patronizing way toward the young pups that come up behind them. Though we have all heard of those invaluable mentors who view their experience as a commodity to be divided among those they find worthy. The point is, at some point a character’s view of their own mortality will become settled through their actions and beliefs.

Changes over time

Eartha Kitt

Now little known fact, I have done a smidgen of voice work in the past, and have even had the joy of speaking to various linguistic specialists. In fact, I have even taken the time to listen to documentaries and pieces on the subject for various roles both voice and otherwise. Now here is an interesting thing about age, it changes your voice in almost every way.

Did you know a voice gets deeper, and often more raspy with age? This happens regardless of any factor such as sex.

Though not many will reach the levels of Eartha Kitt or Christopher Lee, the effect can still be felt. From the high-pitched voice of youth, to the unstable changes of our teen years, age is heavy-handed with our voices.

Christopher Lee

Another aspect that struck me as surprising was age has an effect on our phonetics, syntax, grammar, and rhetoric. This might be an aspect of our resistance to change, or it may be a refinement that comes with age.

Older people tend to be slower, more concise, and enunciate things far more than those who are of a younger age.

A great example of this is within the rap and R&B stars who have survived for decades as opposed to those who have entered the scene recently. Words of power, of a plight oft unheard, and the song of the street have given way to a sped up mumbled mess. Youth tend to abbreviate, skip words, and even try to make up words.

Also worth noting is accents become more prominent with age. Christopher Lee, Sean Connery, and such are great examples of such. The consonants are leaned on harder, the emphasis on words changing to have more power on the facts as opposed to the emotions emphasized with youth. This direction of discussion shows the very different ways in which we think with age. I believe the times have created a phrase for this, “Ain’t nobody got time for that.”

Viewpoints on now and later

Elves can get old and wizened, too!

The final aspect of age I will speak on is age also tends to change a person’s view on the events unfolding currently. The aloof view of things elves take is born of this very aspect of age – patience, the ability to view things with the eye of ages, to see how things will play out.

Not just the actions that come from one reaction, but the domino effect that would come from one thing leading to another. Your character will likely view things differently as they age. What once caused you to fly off the handle, would now set off things in a chain of events that ultimately come to succeed where the fires of youth would have failed.

Age is a deadly thing.

When directed it can be as cold and permanent as any steel blade. Oh boy, this reminds me of all the times I jumped when I shouldn’t have in my youth. Age is truly a beotch.

Your time

Well those are my brief thoughts on age of a character. What are yours? I would love to hear how your characters have matured with age. Maybe you can tell a tale of your character making a mistake at a young age? I bet we can name one or three if we put our heads together.

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Stay Nerdy,

Nubz

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