Aging impact -- palliations?

[FrancisBean]

So, my human character just turned 35. Happy birthday to me!

Unfortunately, the obvious downside also just arrived. It's made much more painful by the fact that we all carefully optimize to land every ability score on even numbers. Thus, there's literally zero upside to the change. None at all. Everything is negative or has zero impact. And just to make it even worse, the character is a front-line bruiser working primarily from his strength and constitution scores. It's a serious impact on par with losing a level, but without the faster XP gain to make up for it.

In older editions of D&D, there were the potions of longevity. Beyond that, Wish spells could be used to roll back the odometer at need. These were designed out of 3.5. I'm told it was to reduce the excuse for an accumulation of unaging semi-deities like Elminster to over-populate the world, but that's not what interests me.

Is there anything I can do about it now? I gather a trio of Wish spells can boost the three physical stats to reduce the immediate pain, but that's a pretty difficult target for an ECL 14 character to reach. Are there other options?

[Gildedragon]

There's a spell but it is EVIL
Iirc there's some magical plants that can help against that... Magic items can help too
Ask your DM if an alchemical tonic can give an alchemical bonus to ability scores

Clockwork armor is good too
Die and get Last Breath-ed

Or look at this guide (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=5996) and marvel that there's a guide for almost everything

[FrancisBean]

There's a spell but it is EVIL

Evil is perfectly fine. See, the character is also a werewolf -- patient zero, the first lycanthrope in his world. The change came with a mandatory alignment shift from his original Lawful Neutral (town guard, "Lawful Stodgy" was a better description) to "anything non-lawful." Right now he's Chaotic Neutral, but my plot plan is that he's eventually headed for the deeper end of the alignment pool. It's all a lead-up to his ultimate swan song, where his son, also infected, gets to be the hero who tears his throat out.

:smallconfused: What, like you've never planned out your own character's demise before? :smallbiggrin:


Or look at this guide (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=5996) and marvel that there's a guide for almost everything

After looking through it, most of those don't give immediate help without a change of body -- and that loses the personal-plot-centric lycanthropy. That, or they're things which don't reverse the immediate damage. But I'm loving the guide itself. It's giving me lots of ideas for my next character!

[Gildedragon]

Evil is perfectly fine. See, the character is also a werewolf -- patient zero, the first lycanthrope in his world. The change came with a mandatory alignment shift from his original Lawful Neutral (town guard, "Lawful Stodgy" was a better description) to "anything non-lawful." Right now he's Chaotic Neutral, but my plot plan is that he's eventually headed for the deeper end of the alignment pool. It's all a lead-up to his ultimate swan song, where his son, also infected, gets to be the hero who tears his throat out.

:smallconfused: What, like you've never planned out your own character's demise before? :smallbiggrin:



After looking through it, most of those don't give immediate help without a change of body -- and that loses the personal-plot-centric lycanthropy. That, or they're things which don't reverse the immediate damage. But I'm loving the guide itself. It's giving me lots of ideas for my next character!

There's the amulet to extend age categories
And there's the spell that locks your life into the item

Alternatively: have the lycanthropy heal your aging penalties... First werewolf in the world and I take remove curse etc wouldnt cure your fella... So get a bonus for that (falls under ask the DM)

As to the eeeeevil method: the Steal Life spell; must be cast under a full moon, drains victim 1 ability score point per round, reduces age by 1 week per point.
Have an item that works 1/month, drain your local Binder 6 points or more... Be golden for the rest of the month.
Take a level in binder and you can target yourself.
It is an 8th level spell so the item might be pricey...

[HurinTheCursed]

If you have access to D&D 3.5 > Dragonlance > Legends of the twins, they have 1-2 spells that removes NEGATIVE aging effects.
It's not an interpretation, it is written clearly in the description !
However, it costs 10.000 xp if I remember correctly.

[FrancisBean]

If you have access to D&D 3.5 > Dragonlance > Legends of the twins...

I don't. (I just asked my DM.) It's a pity, because the 10K XP cost would actually be a benefit here. My character is grossly ahead of the party in ECL, so I'd be thrilled to lose XP.

...and since I have a friend with the sourcebook, and loved the books, I'm now destined to lose several nights of sleep to reading it. You Bastard.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

If you want to ditch your old body and its penalties, there are a few options.

For a cheap item, there's an amulet in the Arms & Equipment Guide that constantly polymorphs you into one other form whenever you activate it. Or you could polymorph any object yourself into something else permanently. Or you could do a true/mind switch roulette with a psion and something young (or immortal!) that has really high physical stats. ie, he swaps with the creature via mind switch, so he's in its body, then he true mind switches with you so you're permanently in the creature's body, and then he cancels the true mind switch so the creature is stuck in your body and the psion is in his original body. Or you could purchase a psychoactive skin of proteus.

[Zanos]

You could ask your DM if he will allow the Clone (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/clone.htm) spell to create a younger body for your soul to inhabit. It does not technically remove aging penalties by RAW, although it probably should.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Bestow curse and its greater versions say that you can curse the target with any effect equivalent to those listed. One of the potential curses listed in the BoVD is aging someone to the next age category. Aging someone down one category is equivalent. Ergo...

It's even bad for some characters, too, like the SAD character who wants high mental stats and doesn't care about his physical ones.

[Zanos]

Bestow curse and its greater versions say that you can curse the target with any effect equivalent to those listed. One of the potential curses listed in the BoVD is aging someone to the next age category. Aging someone down one category is equivalent. Ergo...

It's even bad for some characters, too, like the SAD character who wants high mental stats and doesn't care about his physical ones.
Giving yourself benefits with a curse probably isn't going to fly. I don't think any sane DM would accept that a +6 untyped bonus to a stat or twice as many actions would be legitimate applications of bestow curse.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Giving yourself benefits with a curse probably isn't going to fly. I don't think any sane DM would accept that a +6 untyped bonus to a stat or twice as many actions would be legitimate applications of bestow curse.There are plenty of stated uses for the spell that could be considered positive in the right light. "Okay, you're an age category older? Enjoy the +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha, in exchange for penalties to stats you don't care for, Mr. Int-SAD." "Oh, you're infertile? Now you can have all the carnal romps you want without worry of consequences, so long as you hit your partners with remove disease first." "Oh, you're a woman now? I guess it's a good thing that you never liked being a man."

[Gildedragon]

There are plenty of stated uses for the spell that could be considered positive in the right light. "Okay, you're an age category older? Enjoy the +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha, in exchange for penalties to stats you don't care for, Mr. Int-SAD." "Oh, you're infertile? Now you can have all the carnal romps you want without worry of consequences, so long as you hit your partners with remove disease first." "Oh, you're a woman now? I guess it's a good thing that you never liked being a man."

I am reminded of oglaf's Curse Emporium... (link (http://oglaf.com/curse-emporium/) WARNING: strong language, rest of comic VERY VERY VERY NSFW)

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Maybe you should ask for a character rebuild, where one of the things you do is retool your point buy so that you've got all odd scores? Or you could undergo one of the rituals for changing your race, from (what else?) Savage Species. The new one would have larger age categories, like kobold, dwarf, or elf.