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TL advancement and aging

G

Golan2072

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The CT LBB1 aging table seems to ignore the possibility (more accurately, the projection from historical and current development) that advancement in medical TL will slow the natural aging process and prolong the Human (or alien) lifespan. This, ofcourse, should be pretty conservative (10% or 20% per TL past 7?) and not include the effect of radical mesures such as brain transfer to cloned/robot body, anagathics (sp?) and organ replacement (vat-grown or cybernetic). Such measures will prolong life much more, but they will be EXPENSIVE and hard to get.

Ofcourse, the only problem there is with this is a "metagame" balance issue - it will remove (that is, delay) some of the disadvantages of staying in a long career.
 
That does not sound unreasonable, it could be expressed in roll modifiers when the ageing crisis comes around.
+1 for TL 8-9
+2 for TL 10-12
+3 for TL 13-14
+4 for TL 15
Yep +4 is a good modifier but we are talking about a SIX level difference. It would only apply if you were stationed on that world for your whole career. I could grow up in the US but if at age 18 I decided to go live in the Congo I might not live as long.

The trick would be determining if that person was cared for on a high TL world for most or all of his life. I would guess most military medical facilities would be more along the TL 11-12 range.
It could even impact survival rolls! :eek:

[edit] those modifiers would apply to the first aging crisis. Subtract 1 from each modifier after the first crisis.
 
The MT Players book has rules for anagathic use during character generation, if that's of any help.

I do like the idea of modifying the aging role by TL though.
 
This has come up before, and one of my points I'll remind everybody of again is best summed up by a quote from Indiana Jones, "It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage."

Most "traveller" careers put your body in harms way in any number of interesting and mundane ways, all of which leads to premature aging. I think the aging tables are fine and very representitive of the trade-off "travellers" make in the pursuit of a life lived more fully, even if less lengthy.

This is why I also think limiting anagathics to "travellers" makes more sense. The proceedure is not the usual life extension that high tech society benefits it's citizens (normal people have the advantage of that and will all else the same, outlive "travellers"). No, Anagathics programs are an expensive treatment to reduce and reverse some of the damage the "traveller" has already done to their body that reduced their life span to what it is.

For this reason alone I'd be loathe to introduce a blanket TL or Soc adjustment. Most "travellers" don't enjoy the benefits of, or suffer the penalties for, their homeworld TL, or Soc for that matter, while engaged in their career. Most careers (presumably) exposing them to a wide range of TL and Soc interactions, and it all balancing out as an average in the end.
 
As for the CT metagame issues, well presumably you've already done away with the single most effective one, death in character generation.

This is I think one of the most misunderstood balance rules there is in CT. I remember fondly the effect death had on limiting the careers of characters. There was a very real sense of acheivement in living to retire from the Navy with a pension, or gambling that your career as a Merchant was long enough to earn you a nearly paid off ship if you were lucky. And then there was the fear of that enforced callback when you had decided you'd pushed your luck far enough as a Marine and decided to muster early.

Worried about aging rolls? Hardly ever. Most of the time we got out of the career before we had to worry about aging, we were afraid of dying! The game (and the game within it) lost a lot of it's punch when the decision was made to make death in character generation an option rule and most of us blindly adopted it as the best way since it was the suggestion of the powers that be. Who were we (mere players and young) to question the intent of the (presumably older and more experienced) designer(s) of the game.

Did it speed up character generation? Yes, but then creating a CT character didn't take long anyway.

Did it make it better? In retrospect and with the experience I at least attributed to the designers when they suggested it, NO!

In my not so humbly suggested opinion the game lost more than it gained with that one ruling and I've not encountered anyone else who feels this way. But maybe that's because we have kept quiet about it. Perhaps by speaking out I'll find others who have secretly kept the same opinion, or maybe even win some converts over to my perspective. But of course, it is just an opinion, shared or not, it may not suit you, so as ever, YMMV and do as you please :D
 
Originally posted by far-trader:
In my not so humbly suggested opinion the game lost more than it gained with that one ruling and I've not encountered anyone else who feels this way. But maybe that's because we have kept quiet about it. Perhaps by speaking out I'll find others who have secretly kept the same opinion, or maybe even win some converts over to my perspective. But of course, it is just an opinion, shared or not, it may not suit you, so as ever, YMMV and do as you please :D
Click to expand...
<Raises hand and then ducks to avoid flames>

I agree, the character generation game within a game was never the same once you took away this important balancing act.
 
Well, far-trader, the problem with your statement about "Travellers" is that the aging grid even applied to careers like Doctor and Bureaucrat. I think there should be some benefit to higher TLs where aging is concerned (I like Parmasson's idea, so there!), especially for Travellers. They are the folks who are active, athletic, etc. - keeping their bodies up to speed.

As far as the chargen therapy group, I'll start: "Hi, I'm Fritz, and I think death in chargen can be a good thing..." After all, knowing you have a problem is the first step to fixing it.... :D
 
Originally posted by Fritz88:
As far as the chargen therapy group, I'll start: "Hi, I'm Fritz, and I think death in chargen can be a good thing..." After all, knowing you have a problem is the first step to fixing it.... :D
Click to expand...
ROTFL :D
file_21.gif
:D
 
Originally posted by Sigg Oddra:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by far-trader:
In my not so humbly suggested opinion the game lost more than it gained with that one ruling and I've not encountered anyone else who feels this way. But maybe that's because we have kept quiet about it. Perhaps by speaking out I'll find others who have secretly kept the same opinion, or maybe even win some converts over to my perspective. But of course, it is just an opinion, shared or not, it may not suit you, so as ever, YMMV and do as you please :D
Click to expand...
<Raises hand and then ducks to avoid flames>

I agree, the character generation game within a game was never the same once you took away this important balancing act. </font>[/QUOTE]I knew I granted you the honourific of GGC in good judgement ;) I was pretty sure you would be with me
Is it getting warm in here?
 
Originally posted by Fritz88:
Well, far-trader, the problem with your statement about "Travellers" is that the aging grid even applied to careers like Doctor and Bureaucrat. I think there should be some benefit to higher TLs where aging is concerned (I like Parmasson's idea, so there!), especially for Travellers. They are the folks who are active, athletic, etc. - keeping their bodies up to speed.
Click to expand...
Well Doctors and Bureaucrats (and the like) were post CT (CT+ if you like) but even so IMTU they are "travellers". The Doctors are the ones you find serving on Free-Traders, Subbies, distant humanitarian mobile hospitals (like Doctors without borders), and such. The Bureaucrats are the bookkeepers that serve the likes of the SPA or aboard the larger merchant ships or private yachts of the very rich or corporate heads, and so on.

As for the lifestyle and keeping healthy that is represented by the gains (if any) of ability points in character generation.

That's how I look at it anyway, nothing invalid in other points of view, I just prefer a pov that fits the rules as are if possible, as opposed to changing the rules to suit my pov. I do that as well, but as a last resort, and as minimally as possible.
 
My two millicredits:

I agree with points made by Michael, Andrew, and Dan.

CT chargen seems to assume the average citizen of a TL12 planet has more or less approximately the same standard of living as the top percentages of the fortunate ones here on Terra at TL7 or 8 or 9 or whatever. Seems possible, and makes it handy for us to relate to such a character.

I like the application of anagathics: I think they should be very expensive. A small addendum to the rules could therefore allow nobility and the filthy rich to go on anagathics during career resolution.

I like the concept of "mileage", too.

There are probably other means of life extension that could be brought to bear. Can't think of them at the moment, but they could be applied in a manner similar to anagathics with no additional stretching of the system.
 
Yes, other methods, good point robject. One I've debated adding to the rules is service as a "frozen watch" crewmember for the Navy. Depending on the way it's implemented it could mean a term of half skills and half aging with the normal chance of promotion (since you're likely to be thawed only for immediate use to replace casualties in a situation that seems positive for promotion, and perhaps decoration. Or it could be a term of no skills and no aging and no promotion indicating you were not needed to replace casualites. Survival in either case is probably the same. And in the rebellion era you could be placed on "frozen watch" and not wake up until the new era


Anyway, I've never really developed the idea to the point of using it, but it might fit the general gist of the topic.
 
Well, if "career terms" meant "years in awake, non-frozen service", then frozen-time could be rolled after career resolution ended, with a DM based on service category. The players' birthday would be moved back to the appropriate date, and the "actual age" would be noted in parentheses.

</font><blockquote>code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;">Frozen Watch: roll 2D6. Modifiers:
Marine: +2
Scout: +1
Rogue: 0
Navy: -1
Army: -2
Nobility: -4 (in addition to career DM)

2-6 no significant frozen watch time
7-8 1d6 months
9-10 2d6 months
11-12 1d6 years
13-14 1d6 x 10 years</pre>[/QUOTE]
 
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