Aging Rules

[SirNibbles]

I was reading through the Branch Dancer class from Dragon Magazine #310, page 70 and noticed an interesting feature:

Instant Fletching (Su): At 2nd level, as part of the branch dancer's heightened affinity for trees, she may draw arrows directly from a tree's surface. The arrows have wooden arrowheads, but they act as arrows for all purposes when used by a branch dancer. Each 20 arrows drawn from a tree reduces its age by one year. Trees generally do not mind this, but the ability can kill a sapling or weaken a young tree with repeated use, so it is generally reserved for mature trees (usually of Huge size or larger). Drawing an arrow from a tree is a free action.

At 4th level, any arrows created this way act as +1 arrows.

This was the first time I'd seen any ability that could reduce the age of a creature. (If anyone knows of any other such ability, please let me know).
_

This got me thinking about how aging works (in particular, the penalties and bonuses from aging from adult to middle age to old age to venerable age). If you reach one of those points and are then affected by this age reduction, what happens to those stat bonuses/penalties? Are they removed? Could you use this trick to reduce your age and then grow old again to gain the bonuses multiple times (using Timeless Body or something similar to avoid the penalties)?

I'm also interested in the age categories/max ages for non-core races. Does anyone know where it'd be possible to find such information?

_

Side note: If you wanted to kill trees, you could kill as many as you could reach as a free action (and obtain a lot of arrows at the same time).

[JNAProductions]

This does require you to be a tree...

Now, how I would play it is that it reduces your physical age (and so physical stat penalties are removed, if you're de-aged enough) but not mental age (since it only affects your body, and so you'd keep mental stat bonuses).

Ask your DM for their ruling, though-if you're the DM, just decide.

[Uncle Pine]

Steal Life (BoVD) can make the caster one week younger for each ability point he drains if casted during a night of a full moon.

As for aging bonuses/penalties, I've always operated under the assumption that if you become younger you retain mental bonuses but lose physical penalties (as per the Reincarnate spell), but I'm not sure if this is actually backed up by a RAW quote. :smalltongue:

[Ruethgar]

This does require you to be a tree...


Only ECL 5 for a small awakened tree! Way too bloody much if you ask me, but if an Urban Companion can count as a Familiar you could double Familiar Form to use its body(or just magic jar at later levels). Also Tree Shape might work.

[Particle_Man]

Would it work on a Treant?

[Keral]

As for aging bonuses/penalties, I've always operated under the assumption that if you become younger you retain mental bonuses but lose physical penalties (as per the Reincarnate spell), but I'm not sure if this is actually backed up by a RAW quote

If that is true the only question is how do you age quickly?


Age and get mental buff-> become a tree-> be de-aged->age again get some more stats-> rinse and repeat?

[dhasenan]

Age and get mental buff-> become a tree-> be de-aged->age again get some more stats-> rinse and repeat?

The implication I got from Uncle Pine's post is that your soul's age determines mental stat changes from age, and your body's age determines physical stat changes from age.

[frogglesmash]

If that is true the only question is how do you age quickly?


Age and get mental buff-> become a tree-> be de-aged->age again get some more stats-> rinse and repeat?

A plane with the fast time trait.