How do you handle children characters?

[Kytross]

[garhkal]

To me there should be some sort of 'cap' for attributes, whether in what is initially assigned, or what can be max in any stat (pref both) for kids.. but some will argue what is a kid..

IMO those of a young status (Ie 10 and under for humans) should be limited to the same 12d starting as NPCs get. 11-16 or so i can see being at 15d. Then as they hit 17 they graduate to 'full adult hood' and the 18d.
2d+2 max in any attribute for those 10 and under, 3d for those at 11-16, and racial max for adults.

Now all we need to do is figure what would be a good break along those lines for all other races.
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[Whill]

Well, the Force-sensitive Chosen One who grows up destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force is the central film character and really no basis for comparison to a PC-level Kid.

ATM I can't remember ever having any Kid PCs in my game. I do remember having a couple 19-year-old PCs. It is a stretch to imagine a kid with 18D attributes and the same starting skills as everyone else, but on the other end a starting-level Retired Imperial Captain PC only starts out with the same 7D in skills as everyone else. Since for me it is important for all PCs to start out equal, I don't weaken or strengthen characters based on experience-level of the PC's background.

The way I look at it, an 18D/7D Kid is especially extraordinary for a kid (and also an average human for that matter) and could become a very skilled adult (perhaps even with the potential to become movie-caliber character in the future beyond the campaign). And with the aged characters it could be a combination of them starting out life as closer to an average joe and didn't work their way up until much later in life, and also perhaps some of their skills have even lessened over time. So no matter how long or short each character's background is, when the PCs come together they all just happen to be at a point in each of their lives where they are roughly equal in overall ability. For the sake of game balance you just accept it and move on.

I'm not a fan of the character concept, but I do have 2 Kid templates available, just in case a player really wants to play one. One is based on 2E and R&E Kid templates with the twist that they have spent some time in a swoop gang, and the minimum character age is 13. I call this template Street Punk. The other one is based on the PC template in the Imperial Double-Cross solitaire adventure book with a minimum character age of 15, and I call this one Extraordinary Kid.

And for the record, in my game an average Human has 2D+1 for all attributes and a PC has a max of 4D+1. So a 2D in Knowledge is slightly below average, and 2D+1 attributes are exactly average instead of slightly above average. That scale helps with making the kid PCs seem not quite so outrageous.
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Star Wars D6 Damage

[Leon The Lion]

[garhkal]

SO you don't think it's dumb a 70 yr old human gets the same starting scores as a 15 yr old human?
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[Leon The Lion]

[atgxtg]

I can see both sides of the argument here. Kid character should probably be restricted to lower STR and KNO scores, at least, but we also want the character to be heroic, fun to play, and useful to the group.

D6 SW also has a bit of an additional hurdle with the 2D "average: stat also being the minimum allowable stat for a Human PC.


And it's not like the kids get many game benefits for being a kid, either. They probably should be harder to hit, and find it easier to hide, but that is up to the GM.

[tetsuoh]

it is generally accepted that a starting pc is a character of low skill - regardless of age.

the stats however are another matter entirely - we do think that full stat die to the kid template isn't right. nor correct to an aged failed jedi either.

as a kid more to -3 to stats die and -1d to kno, str, and attr maximums.

as the aged characters we flip all physical stats toward mental by 1-2 pips.

[DougRed4]

We've just introduced a new kid character, and - though we haven't spelled out all the details yet - I think she's going to be around 14 years old and will have stats be a bit lower. Whatever amount she's low (compared to the other PCs) will just be some dice she'll get down the road (as she matures).

I kind of like the idea of balancing things, though, so perhaps - to offset the negative that she'll be starting with - I'll suggest some of atgxtg's thoughts (perhaps a temporary bonus to Dodge and Hide).
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Currently Running: Villains & Vigilantes (a 32-year-old campaign with multiple groups) and D6 Star Wars; mostly on hiatus are Adventures in Middle-earth and Delta Green

[garhkal]

How's about this.

Kid characters
Starting out kid characters have the same basic die allocation as does a standard NPC for that race (12d unless the race has more/less than 18d). This is offset somewhat by A) gaining 3d to allocate once they hit mid teens for what their race is, and then the remaining 3d once they hit adulthood for their race, and B) by gaining a temp +1 to both sneaking and dodging skills. While a kid, their Str, Int and Tech skills are limited to 2d max, 2d+1 for mech, and their per/dex are not limited.

Aged characters.
As a pc of any race hits their 'species' old age category (what that is though can be DM decided), they lose 2 pips from their max strength and dex attributes and 1 from all str/dex related skills. Their int also suffers but its a flat -1 period. To offset this though they do get wiser, gaining +1 to per, and +1d to willpower.
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[atgxtg]

[Leon The Lion]

[jmanski]

Actually, its 5.4% to hit 20 or better with 4d (70 out of 1296 outcomes), 44.3% to hit 15 or better (565 out of 1296 outcomes).

5d is 77.85% for 15+ (6054 out of 1296) and 30.5% for 20+ (1273 out of 7776)

But your point is valid: a professional should be better than hitting a 20 difficulty 5% of the time. Heck, moderate, at 15, is less than half the time.

Oh well.


Edited to add 5d in.
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Blasted rules. Why can't they just be perfect?

[Tupteq]

[garhkal]

Didn't think of con or persuasion for their mods.. good call.
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!