Age

Your age is determined by the total of your character's years in each career. Age falls into three broad bands – young, adult, and old.

If you are young or old, you get a free age exploit. Choose any synonym for that word and insert it into your descriptor. It's up to you what adjective you choose. If you are adult, you do not need to add it to your descriptor.

Adding Years

You may always add extra years to your age during character creation. In cinematic mode, adult characters gain an additional LUC die and old characters gain a further LUC die.

Young Characters

Young characters are characterized by curiosity and brashness. You gain one of the following exploits. You lose the exploit when you are no longer categorized as young.

  • Brash. Once per day, when rolling a dice pool, you may declare it to be an exploding dice pool. Any 6s that you roll may be rolled again, the new roll adding to the existing 6. If you roll a 6 again, repeat, until you roll less than a 6.
  • Ignorance is Bliss. Sometimes it's better to just not know. When you first meet a creature type you have not met before, you gain +1d6 to attack that creature until it first attacks you and makes you know better. You do not gain this bonus against that creature type thereafter.
  • Recuperation. Young people heal quickly; whenever you recieve healing, add 1 point of HEALTH per full die of healing.
  • Youthful Exuberance. Young people are resilient to damage. Once per day you, when you take damage, you may reduce that damage by half.

Old Characters

Old characters are characterized by experience. Old characters can no longer improve physical attributes (STR, AGI, END) through career advances or experience expenditure, although they may do so via other means (magic, cybernetics, etc.) You gain one of the following exploits.

  • Broad Knowledge Base. You’ve learned a lot over the years. Choose five skills which you do not already know; you gain those skills at 3 ranks (2d6).
  • Careful. Once per day, when rolling a dice pool, you may declare it to be a careful dice pool. Any 1s that you roll may be rerolled, with the new roll replacing the 1. If you roll a 1 a second time, however, you must keep the 1.
  • Mentor. You are able to pass your experience on to those younger than you. Once per day, you may replenish the LUC pool of a young ally by spending five minutes offering sage words.
  • Old Dog. Old characters are often set in their ways. You gain +4 MENTAL DEFENSE.
  • Old Friends. An old character will have made many friends over the years. Choose a skill; you have an old friend with 3d6 ranks in that skill. As long as you have some way to communicate with your friend and ask for their advice, you effectively gain the benefit of that skill. It takes five minutes to acquire the advice, and it must pertain to one specific task you intend to carry out within the next day.
  • Poison Immunity. You’ve eaten and drunk everything known to man, and many things not. You have developed a complete immunity to poisons.
  • Resistances. Over the years, you’ve been exposed to many illnesses and built up a resistance. Any time you would normally be affected by an illness or disease, you may make a LUC check vs. the difficulty rating of the disease; on a success, the disease does not affect you.
  • Seen It All Before. You’ve seen so much in your life. You are immune to the Afraid condition.
  • Seen That One Before. It can be a hard to surprise an older person. You become immune to ambushes.
  • This Old Trick. You know some old tricks which youngsters may not be aware of. You gain a bonus LUC die.
  • Wizened. You are old - and you look it! Fortunately, this works in your favor, granting you +1d6 to CHA checks vs. young people.