Gettin' Rusty

[Steelo_Mcbuff]

Hey there, Just wondering if anyone out there knows if there are any rules regarding player characters losing power over time due to lifestyle choices in any D20 game they have seen.
I know that the effects of aging are documented in the DnD players handbook but I'm thinking more what would happen if an adventurer say gave up adventuring for a period of time.
for example, a campaign may end with my 25 year old fighter character putting away his sword and staring a new life more similar to that of a commoner. Then suddenly 4 years latter a new threat appears and he must once again fight. If i used this character in the new campaign he would only be 29, so his stats are not changed by aging, but I'm sure the beer gut he has developed would make him less dexterous, and so long without wielding the sword would have an effect surely.

I would be easy enough to just house rule any of this but i would first like to check if anyone knows if its mentioned anywhere.

i play Dnd, D20 modern, and star wars D20 and i have not read anything of it in any of my books but thats not to say i haven't missed something.

thanks.

[Kel_Arath]

To my knowledge there is nothing in RAW about this, but I'm sure it wouldn't be too far fetched to house rule. I think this is due to the fact that most campaigns are just straight adventure, then end. But I will look into this to double check, it is very interesting.

[Yuki Akuma]

Nope. No rules like that at all. You can level up as a Wizard to level 20 in your twenties, then wait until you're a hundred simply being a potter, and still be able to cast ninth-level spells.

[mostlyharmful]

Nope. No rules like that at all. You can level up as a Wizard to level 20 in your twenties, then wait until you're a hundred simply being a potter, and still be able to cast ninth-level spells.

Only BETTER than you did before because your Int has gone up.....:smallconfused:

[F.L.]

Would this wizard you mentioned be named Harry?

[Yuki Akuma]

Would this wizard you mentioned be named Harry?

What? Why would I be making a Harry Potter reference?

[Solo]

Wizard, potter.... Harry....

[Rex Blunder]

Just so he's not named Rusty. Get that guy!

[KIDS]

I think that this "getting rusty" feeling is supposed to be roleplayed how your want it, because people react to rusting in different ways.

Also see Bruce Willis in Die Hard 4 (Live Free or Die Hard) :) for an example.

[Matthew]

This is probably something best handled by Circumstance Modifiers, rather than a coherent system.

[Anxe]

In Star Wars there were rules for this. Basically a -2 to all d20 rolls and to your AC until you're back in shape. So I'd rule that in your first combat -2 to everything and in your second combat -1 to everything and then you'd be ready to fight the forces of darkness again.

[mostlyharmful]

And they should be able to "earn" them off a lot faster than having to go over the whole process again. Once you develop as a rogue even if you go into retirement the skill base is still there, all you need to do is get back in shape and brush up on the old tricks you used to know, say a circumstance mod that drops per week of adventuring rather than a drop in level or something equally extreme

[Rex Blunder]

(Unless you want a level drop - for instance, you want to bring your 15th-level wizard out of retirement and have him join a 7th-level party. Then, whoops! He lost 6 to 8 levels!)