Modifying the Aging Table?
- Thread starter lurker
- Start date
All good points. I agree that the purpose of aging is to manage character generation more than anything else.
If you're after realism, I'd consider changing which stats are affected first. Dex starts to fall much sooner than I think most people in their mid 20s actually realise (from bitter experience!) - there's a reason that most professional tennis players quit by the time they hit 30 or so. Geoff Capes, a famous UK strongman, was still winning titles in his late 30s. However, realism is complex and often is better served by a simple system that generates a result which you then retro-actively justify.
However, you'd then need to think about balancing character generation another way, as those skills and ranks start to add up. And mustering out benefits are also an issue.
For me, it works just about fine as it is. You're never going to get ultra-realism in a chargen system that breaks everything down into 4 yearly chunks, and I think MgT provides enough colour, variety and story-hooks without any major realism bloopers.
If you're after realism, I'd consider changing which stats are affected first. Dex starts to fall much sooner than I think most people in their mid 20s actually realise (from bitter experience!) - there's a reason that most professional tennis players quit by the time they hit 30 or so. Geoff Capes, a famous UK strongman, was still winning titles in his late 30s. However, realism is complex and often is better served by a simple system that generates a result which you then retro-actively justify.
However, you'd then need to think about balancing character generation another way, as those skills and ranks start to add up. And mustering out benefits are also an issue.
For me, it works just about fine as it is. You're never going to get ultra-realism in a chargen system that breaks everything down into 4 yearly chunks, and I think MgT provides enough colour, variety and story-hooks without any major realism bloopers.
Tech Level should modify aging - it is a result of various therapies, medicines, applied knowledge, and the level of development of "lifestyle science" to improve people's quality of life.
However, it's important, I think, to differentiate between the TL of the environment someone is in and how much they can take advantage of it. The poor scavenger who lives on a TL15 world isn't going to have the same benefits as a "middle-class" person on that same TL15 world. Furthermore, that middle-class person on that TL15 world isn't going to fully utilize all the advances of TL15 medical science as that world's version of the wealthy and privileged.
For instance, in our own world, if you're middle-class in the United States you're going to get some average level of treatment. Now, imagine if you were wealthy and powerful, I am absolutely certain the options for care and treatment of illnesses is going to be much wider and better - expensive cutting-edge drugs, the finest specialists for treating your ailments, personalized care in some "clinic" that looks more like a resort than a gloomy urban hospital.
I would argue that Social Standing actually makes a bigger difference than TL in medical treatment in Traveller. Someone from a TL5 who is sufficiently wealthy and powerful could make a trip to a higher TL world for treatment or hire captains to bring expensive drugs and therapies as well as hired specialists from off-world to treat illnesses. Conversely, someone who is desperately poor and is living "under the radar" on a high TL world isn't going to get nearly as much benefit.
Nevertheless, I wouldn't eliminate TL completely from your scale. Even someone with a low social standing on a TL15 world could probably go down to the local convenience store buy a bottle of "Panacea" which will purge the body of harmful micro-organisms, and clean out particles in his lungs, and even find cancers in his body. It's just that the wealthy person on the same world would get even more...
However, it's important, I think, to differentiate between the TL of the environment someone is in and how much they can take advantage of it. The poor scavenger who lives on a TL15 world isn't going to have the same benefits as a "middle-class" person on that same TL15 world. Furthermore, that middle-class person on that TL15 world isn't going to fully utilize all the advances of TL15 medical science as that world's version of the wealthy and privileged.
For instance, in our own world, if you're middle-class in the United States you're going to get some average level of treatment. Now, imagine if you were wealthy and powerful, I am absolutely certain the options for care and treatment of illnesses is going to be much wider and better - expensive cutting-edge drugs, the finest specialists for treating your ailments, personalized care in some "clinic" that looks more like a resort than a gloomy urban hospital.
I would argue that Social Standing actually makes a bigger difference than TL in medical treatment in Traveller. Someone from a TL5 who is sufficiently wealthy and powerful could make a trip to a higher TL world for treatment or hire captains to bring expensive drugs and therapies as well as hired specialists from off-world to treat illnesses. Conversely, someone who is desperately poor and is living "under the radar" on a high TL world isn't going to get nearly as much benefit.
Nevertheless, I wouldn't eliminate TL completely from your scale. Even someone with a low social standing on a TL15 world could probably go down to the local convenience store buy a bottle of "Panacea" which will purge the body of harmful micro-organisms, and clean out particles in his lungs, and even find cancers in his body. It's just that the wealthy person on the same world would get even more...
Captain Jonah
Mongoose
The base tech level of a world does determine what is available to everyone and should be a modifier to a degree.
The social level is a factor but only where it reflects wealth and power, being realy well known but poor and powerless leaves you at the base tech level where as money allows you to buy the best of what is available.
For players even those who spend a great deal of time on ship the factors remain the same as for planet bound types for the following:
Medicines and supliments of the tech level will be found in a ships med bay.
Limited quarters does not prevent physical fitness, see sub crews
Who doesn't get the annual check up when the ship is in for its overhaul.
After a few hundred years ship food will have been made sustaining and healthy, it may taste like crap but it will be good for you :lol:
I would suggest mods as follows.
Tech 1-3, -2
Tech 4-5, -1
Tech 9-12, 1
Tech 13-15, 2
Tech 16+, 3
Soc 1-3, -2 (Use either Soc or wealth which ever is better)
Soc 4-5, -1
Soc 9-12, 1
Soc 13-15, 2
Soc 16+, 3
Dirt Poor, -2
Poor, -1
Wealthy, 1
Millionaire, 2
Billionaire, 3
Mods are used to negate the number of terms on the aging table and can if GM is happy be used as a negative modifier as well if number of terms is lower than mod. Add the mods together and apply the result to number of terms on aging chart.
Note with something like this do NOT us anti aging drugs as is or use them to add a 2 to the above values.
So a tech 15 billionaire will happily ignore 5 term penalties on the aging table with his personal doctor and hospital where as your dirt poor tech 15 will get the table as it comes.
This does change the age dynamic a lot but as usual the 1970's traveller tech is out of date. Life expectancy and the ages at which people are still fit and active have risen significantly with tech levels over the last few hundred years and should continue to do so in the future.
The social level is a factor but only where it reflects wealth and power, being realy well known but poor and powerless leaves you at the base tech level where as money allows you to buy the best of what is available.
For players even those who spend a great deal of time on ship the factors remain the same as for planet bound types for the following:
Medicines and supliments of the tech level will be found in a ships med bay.
Limited quarters does not prevent physical fitness, see sub crews
Who doesn't get the annual check up when the ship is in for its overhaul.
After a few hundred years ship food will have been made sustaining and healthy, it may taste like crap but it will be good for you :lol:
I would suggest mods as follows.
Tech 1-3, -2
Tech 4-5, -1
Tech 9-12, 1
Tech 13-15, 2
Tech 16+, 3
Soc 1-3, -2 (Use either Soc or wealth which ever is better)
Soc 4-5, -1
Soc 9-12, 1
Soc 13-15, 2
Soc 16+, 3
Dirt Poor, -2
Poor, -1
Wealthy, 1
Millionaire, 2
Billionaire, 3
Mods are used to negate the number of terms on the aging table and can if GM is happy be used as a negative modifier as well if number of terms is lower than mod. Add the mods together and apply the result to number of terms on aging chart.
Note with something like this do NOT us anti aging drugs as is or use them to add a 2 to the above values.
So a tech 15 billionaire will happily ignore 5 term penalties on the aging table with his personal doctor and hospital where as your dirt poor tech 15 will get the table as it comes.
This does change the age dynamic a lot but as usual the 1970's traveller tech is out of date. Life expectancy and the ages at which people are still fit and active have risen significantly with tech levels over the last few hundred years and should continue to do so in the future.
Similar threads
