Age

You can choose or randomly generate your character’s age. If you choose it, it must be at least the minimum age for the character’s race and class (see Table 7–1). Alternatively, roll the dice indicated for your class on Table 7–1 and add the result to the minimum age of adulthood for your race to determine how old your character is.

Table 7–1: Random Starting Ages

Race	Adulthood	Barbarian, Rogue, Sorcerer	Bard, Fighter, Paladin, Ranger	Cleric, Druid, Monk, Wizard
Human	15 years	+1d4	+1d6	+2d6
Dwarf	40 years	+3d6	+5d6	+7d6
Elf	110 years	+4d6	+6d6	+10d6
Gnome	40 years	+4d6	+6d6	+9d6
Half-elf	20 years	+1d6	+2d6	+3d6
Half-orc	14 years	+1d4	+1d6	+2d6
Halfling	20 years	+2d4	+3d6	+4d6

With age, a character’s physical ability scores decrease and his mental ability scores increase (see Table 7–2). The effects of each aging step are cumulative. However, none of a character’s ability scores can be reduced below 1 in this way.

Table 7–2: Aging Effects

Race	Middle Age¹	Old²	Venerable³	Maximum Age
Human	35 years	53 years	70 years	70 + 2d20 years
Dwarf	125 years	188 years	250 years	250 + 2d% years
Elf	175 years	263 years	350 years	350 + 4d% years
Gnome	100 years	150 years	200 years	200 + 3d% years
Half-elf	62 years	93 years	125 years	125 + 3d20 years
Half-orc	30 years	45 years	60 years	60 + 2d10 years
Halfling	50 years	75 years	100 years	100 + 5d20 years

1 At middle age, –1 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.

2 At old age, –2 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.

3 At venerable age, –3 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.

When a character reaches venerable age, secretly roll his maximum age (on Table 7–2) and record the result, which the player does not know. A character who reaches his maximum age dies of old age sometime during the following year.

The maximum ages are for player characters. Most people in the world at large die from pestilence, accidents, infections, or violence before getting to venerable age.