Effects of Aging, Revised (3.5e Variant Rule)

Basics
A character's ability scores do not change with age. Instead, the character gains background points and aging effects.

A young character gains background points per the table below. A middle aged character gains more background points and one aging effect. An old character gains more background points and two more aging effects. A decrepit character (see below) gains more background points and two more aging effects. These are gained upon reaching the specified age category, and chosen by the player.

Other Kindreds
The age at which a character reaches decrepit is the age at which she reaches venerable, plus the average of the maximum age dice, rounded up to a multiple of five.

The background points per age category is the age at which the character reaches decrepit divided by 25, rounded down. If the age at which the character reaches decrepit is over 200, round down to a multiple of five.

The minimum background skill retention is the age at which the character reaches decrepit divided by 3, rounded to a multiple of five.

(A character who just changed age group will have slightly fewer than 1 background point per four years. A character who lives long enough for this to become an issue has a slightly over 50% chance of dying before reaching decrepit.)

Timeless Body (Ex) [Revised for use with this variant]
A character with this class feature no longer takes aging effects for aging and cannot be magically aged. Any such effects that she has already taken, however, remain in place. Background points still accrue, and the character still dies of old age when her time is up.

Background Points
Background points are used to purchase ranks in skills much as skill points. However, no more than four background points can be spent on one skill, the normal rank maximums apply, and the only skills background points can be spent on are Craft, Knowledge, Perform, and Profession. These skills always count as class skills when spending background points, whather or not they count as class skills when spending skill points.

Background Skill Deterioration
At intervals, (as determined by the minimum background skill retention), a character may 'unspend' one previously spend background point. The rank gained from the previous expenditure is lost, though it may be replaced in the future. The background point thus gained must be immediately spent on a different skill as above.

Aging Effects
Each of the aging effects listed below has a specific game effect. Some aging effects can only be taken by a character who meets a special requirement.
 * Feeble Aging Effect
 * Frail Aging Effect
 * Inattentive Aging Effect
 * Meager Fortitude Aging Effect
 * Murky-Eyed Aging Effect
 * Noncombatant Aging Effect
 * Pathetic Aging Effect
 * Poor Reflexes Aging Effect
 * Shaky Aging Effect
 * Slow Aging Effect
 * Unreactive Aging Effect
 * Vulnerable Aging Effect
 * Weak Will Aging Effect