One thing that's kind of bugged me for years is the continuing lack of rules concerning characters younger than the standard age of 16 and up... what with Harry Potter becoming an adventurer at 10 or so, and several other fantasy characters I could name (Lyra in the Golden Compass, etc...), you'd think there'd be at least a sidebar in the DMG covering such individuals, but no! The only two examples I can think of were the rules in the 1st Edition of D20 Star Wars (since dropped) and the rules in GURPS... There is occasional mention in Greyhawk and other D&D material that supports the existence of such characters (i.e. 9-year old Skye, a 2nd level wizard in Return of the Eight), but no rules... any suggestions? I was thinking about having ability score penalties for such things as Strength, the same way older characters scores drop in the chart in the PHB (but maybe a bonus to dexterity?) Also, very young characters are short, so size would be Small...
The problem arises in that children go through so many different stages of growth, and go through them so quickly. For example, there was a significant difference in my son's strength and dexterity between ages 4 and 5 - it would have been extremely difficult to assign stats to his development.
If you're intending to run a campaign with children as PCs, I highly recommend the d20 version of Grimm from the Horizon series. Fantasy Flight Games also has a version of this product that they have expanded into a more complete game using the d6 system.
I think I can perhaps help. The best child rules I have seen are in the d20 version of Grimm from Fantasy Flight Games. The d20 Grimm was so well recieved that it was reissued as a non-d20 stand alone game. The d20 Grimm has comprehensive rules for child characters. I am using the d20 Grimm rules, slightly modified for GH, right now in one of the campaigns I'm running for a central NPC. _________________ GVD
I was considering running a GH campaign where the characters start off as young teenagers with no formal training in their chosen discipline, but certain inclinations.
I would have them start off as Commoners, using certain feats & skills to show their inclinations--for instance, I'd have a feat that would allow an aspiring spellcaster to cast a # of 0-level spells per day equal to the appropriate ability modifier, chosen from either the cleric, druid, or wiz/sorc list.
Not wanting to keep them as commoners too long, I planned to have their second adventure take place a few years later, when they would be hafway through their class training--"apprentice" characters, if you will, using modified versions of the non-commoner NPC classes. Aspiring barbarian & fighters would be warriors; monks, bards, & rogues would be experts; clerics, druids, wizards, & sorcerers would be adepts; rangers would be either experts or warriors (player's choice); & paladins would be either warriors or aristocrats. Certain aspects of the class would be modified to where the class would be similar to the PC class the character was aspiring to (wizard-adepts would not have access to divine spells & only have d4 for hp, barbarian-warriors would not have heavy armor proficiency, etc).
I was considering running a GH campaign where the characters start off as young teenagers with no formal training in their chosen discipline, but certain inclinations.
I would have them start off as Commoners, using certain feats & skills to show their inclinations--for instance, I'd have a feat that would allow an aspiring spellcaster to cast a # of 0-level spells per day equal to the appropriate ability modifier, chosen from either the cleric, druid, or wiz/sorc list.
Someone using this approach might raid the hardcover Greyhawk Adventures, with its appendix on 0 level characters, for similar ideas. _________________ My campaigns are multilayered tapestries upon which I texture themes and subject matter which, quite frankly, would simply be too strong for your hobbyist gamer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Mp7Ikko8SI
One thing that's kind of bugged me for years is the continuing lack of rules concerning characters younger than the standard age of 16 and up...
... There is occasional mention in Greyhawk and other D&D material that supports the existence of such characters (i.e. 9-year old Skye, a 2nd level wizard in Return of the Eight), but no rules... any suggestions?...
-I do the following when calculating NPC's kids, and young PCs (humans & half-orcs):
A new born infant has the following stat's:
STR: 1/10 of final STR score;
DEX: 1/10 of final DEX score;
CON: 1/2 of final CON score;
INT: 1/10 of final INT score;
WIS: 1/10 of final WIS score;
CHA: 1/5 of final CHA score.
(round up)
...then, each year, there's a chance that they improve 1 point (or more):
STR: 5 x final STR score;
DEX: 7 x final DEX score;
CON: 5 x final CON score;
INT: 7 x final INT score;
WIS: 5 x final WIS score;
CHA: 6 x final CHA score.
It works pretty well. STR (i.e. muscular power) and WIS (i.e. common sense) are the last things to be "actualized", most children reach their full potential for INT at around 13 (which, according to the way IQ tests are run, is about right) , and young children are very vulnerable to illness (I use a variant of the old 1e DMG disease & parisitic infection rules) up until 5-10 years of age.
You do the same sort of check 3 years out of 4 for half-elves & halflings, evry 3 years out of 8 for gnomes and dwarves, and one check one year out of 3 for elves (D&D 3.5 age progression).
BTW, there's a young wizard in Restenford (L1), and Gygax listed the young Gord's stat's in the appendix of "Gord the Rogue".
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
Canonfire! is a production of the Thursday Group in assocation with GREYtalk and Canonfire! Enterprises
