Aging in Moldvay

All PC’s are assumed to be young adults just starting out on their adventuring life and in the prime of their lives. As characters age forward or backwards their stats begin to decline. When a characters ability scores hits 3, that ability stops declining and stays at that score since this is the lowest achievable score. A characters other scores continue to decline until they reach a score of 3. This usually means that while the character is alive, they have trouble functioning because of their low ability scores.

< 7     All scores are assumed to be 3 or 4.

8-11    -2 from all ability scores.

12-14   -2 from all ability scores.

15-18   -2 from all ability scores.

19-29   All ability scores are normal.

30-39   -1 from all ability scores.

40-49   -1 from all ability scores.

50-59   -1 from all ability scores.

60-69   -2 from all ability scores.

70-79   -2 from all ability scores.

80-89   -2 from all ability scores.

90-99   -3 from all ability scores.

100+   -3 from all ability scores.

The table can also be used in reverse by adding to the ability score of characters. For instance, a young beggar NPC will see his stats improve as he ages, or characters who travel back in time sixty years will find the old crone from the village to be a young, strong, charismatic and full of life.