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NPC Age Ranges?
Tweet Topic Started: Jan 24 2008, 11:49 AM (149 Views)
kismetrose Jan 24 2008, 11:49 AM Post #1
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When I first started playing, I was 16 with a similarly young DM. While many of his NPCs appeared to be in their 20s and 30s, it was very rare for them to get any older than that. There were a few child characters, but I can't remember any elderly ones.

When I run, I do try to show at least some range when I design NPCs. Part of the trouble is that children and the elderly have drawbacks that largely prevent them from adventuring with swords and magic. Still, I try to fit them in somewhere to give the idea of a varied world. But you don't always realize what you do when you design your games. I'm wondering if Valefor will tell us if he's noticed anything in particular about the ages of my NPCs.

I also wonder if other DMs pay attention to age, or if players notice such things.
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Lord_Iames_Osari Jan 24 2008, 02:36 PM Post #2
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I try to have a range of ages in my games, too, although people that the PCs really interact with are rarely older than middle-age, or younger than their mid-teens. Everyone older or younger tends to be windowdressing.
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kismetrose Jan 25 2008, 04:48 AM Post #3
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When we left our D&D game in hiatus, there seemed to have been a baby explosion. One of the PCs had had twins a year or two before; another PC just had a baby with his wife. One NPC just found out his new wife was pregnant. Gawd, babies! While some babies are bound to be window-dressing, some of them might become targets. I don't want to take advantage of the PCs with the kidnapping of the week, but they're bound to make sufficient enemies for at least one bad time.
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DarkElf Jan 25 2008, 01:11 PM Post #4
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as a DM I try to add flavor to my cities and towns. I actually had the group rescue a little 9 year old who was stuck in the sewers. And there is an elderly wizard who sells potions....granted he can't remember anything for longer than a few minutes...his parot familiar helps him out alot.(more comic relief) Though there is a serious aged wizard who is one of the councel members of the wizards guild.

So I like to have the townies be a wide range of ages, while the adventurers are the young adults.
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kismetrose Jan 25 2008, 02:56 PM Post #5
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In my D&D game, there are some older people in positions of power. The Queen isn't a spring chicken and one of her advisors is an elder. The generally middle aged tend to be on the next rung down. It's the youngest people who are in the lowest positions. Does anybody else find that happening?
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HollowDes Jan 25 2008, 07:30 PM Post #6
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  In my D&D game, there are some older people in positions of power. The Queen isn't a spring chicken and one of her advisors is an elder. The generally middle aged tend to be on the next rung down. It's the youngest people who are in the lowest positions. Does anybody else find that happening?


That's pretty normal and realistic, so yeah, definitely. Even in our modern world, that's true. I bet you'd be very hard pressed to find a CEO of a major corporation who was in their 20's.

In fantasy settings, young rulers are an anomaly, and often "guided" by wards and advisers who are from the same generation the rulers' parents were from.

I think it's a natural law that the ability to handle responsibility is a function of age and experience. You hear things like, "I was forced to grow up fast because I had to take care of my siblings." And then there's everyone else's perception. Even if an 18-year old is just as capable and responsible as a 50-something aristocrat, imagine trying to convince a populace that this 18-year old is going to be in charge of protecting them and guiding them.

I imagine the players assume a certain age range too, because the very old and the very young NPCs seem to stand out in their minds more. Then there's the fact that age is like a bell curve. Compare how long kids are kids and elderly are elderly to how long you're an adult. 0-18, 18-60, 60-80 *shrug*
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