"Old Age" system in Dom3 - need some info

[Corwin]

Unfortunately it seems to me that the information about new age system is somehow missing from otherwise great manual.


I would like to know more about this new old age feature, but I couldn't find any threads that discuss this topic with level of details that I am looking for, so I decided to started this new thread instead.


I have several questions about an old age. I know general idea behind the old age, that old units tend to get afflictions and becoming worse and worse with passing of years, that Growth scale helps against aging while Death makes it worse, that there are item and spells that affect it, et cetera...


What I do not know and would like to learn are mechanics behind all this stuff.


For example:

How exactly the Growth scale affects the old age?

What is the chance of geting afflictions due to the old age? Is it related to the difference between current age and start of "old age"?

What are the overal general old age penalties and when exactly the kick in - is it random or fixed, years-wise?


Is it true that "heal" command can not get rid of old age related afflictions? (that would be strange, since there is no way for me to determine if this particular affliction is from ald age or not)

How often the check for affliction is made - once per game turn? Is the check becomes more difficult to pass when your unit grows older and older?



Some of these things are very important to know in certain situations. For example, if I am playing a nation with old mages, such as TC S&A, I need to know the how link between aging and Growth scale works, to determin if I should take Growth 1 or Growth 3, or not take any Grwoth at all. And so on.


Any information regarding these questions will be very appreciated.

Thanks!

[dirtywick]

I can tell you a few things, I've been playing EA Arco today and they have plenty of old guys.

The chance of getting afflictions is pretty random. You could have a commander get one the turn after you hire it, or it could last 20 turns or longer with nothing. They get knocked off pretty often though and need to be replaced frequently. It always happens at the beginning of a turn, you won't get an old age affliction after a battle, for instance.

I haven't noticed much of a difference with healing yet either.

If you look at the status screen for a unit, there's two numbers for age. Like 30(50). I think the 30 is their current age and the () number is the age when they get the old age icon and the potential for afflictions increases. I think that adding nature magic or growth scales increases that number, but I don't know how it relates exactly to units that start with old age, but it appears to slow down the affliction rate. I'm going to have to experiment with that a bit and figure it out, I'll get back to you on that.

[Arralen]

Late Winter is the time old chaps do their rolls on the aging tables. 'Been that way since the days of the Pendragon RPG ;-)
This might change in a future patch to monthly rolls, though.

Nature magic moves the 'old age' threshold up (that number in paranthesis, as dirtywick already mentioned), Fire magic moves it down to smaller numbers.
Death magic is said to keep you from getting afflictions.

There seem to be 'aging levels', which give increasing negative modifiers. These levels seem to depend on the proportion of 'real age' to 'aging threshold'.

There are magical means to escape old age, but you have to figure them out yourself.

We had quite some discussion about the aging system during the beta test, but the devs never came forth with (numerical) details, therefore I would say the more exact working of it is kept in secret in purpose.

[Nerfix]

Death magic also prolongs their life.

[Kristoffer O]

The ever suspicious Arralen.

I don't know the numbers either. JK might well be keeping it secret for me as well as for you, but it is probably out of lazieness and a feeling that it matters little anyway

I think death gives 30% per lvl of not getting diseased during winter age. Not sure of exact numbers. It might be 20 or 40. Thus death mages rarely die from old age.

The ageing chance is proportional (IIRC) to the max age of a unit, so an Oracle of the Deep is much less likely to get afflictions than a short lived Bandar Commander. Also the old age penalties are dependent on lifespan.

Nature adds max age as do earth magic for inanimates IIRC.

Undead have generally long life spans, but can get old age. However, they are still undead and do not suffer from disease. Only the reduced stats from bodies becoming more brittle and unrealible. Hmm, soulless should have very short lifespans, or transform into longdead. Might have been discussions on this topic earlier in the beta or in elsewhere, I don't remember.

The effect of the growth scale was mentioned in the beta, but I'm not sure if numbers were presented. I think it was.

[Corwin]

dirtywick said:
I think the 30 is their current age and the () number is the age when they get the old age icon and the potential for afflictions increases.

Do you mean that even before they reach an official "old age" (the number in () ), there is a chance for affliction?

Kristoffer O said:
The ageing chance is proportional (IIRC) to the max age of a unit, so an Oracle of the Deep is much less likely to get afflictions than a short lived Bandar Commander. Also the old age penalties are dependent on lifespan.

Kristoffer, under "max age of the unit" you mean the number in (), the age when unit get "old age" icon, correct?

If this is the case, and if this is the only variable in this formula, does it mean that, let's say, human mage who is 1 year over the limit of "old age", has the same chance of geting affliction during the winter season, as the same type of mage who is 30 years "over the limit"?

Arralen said:
There are magical means to escape old age, but you have to figure them out yourself.

I think I may know some of them already. There are boots, that stop aging process, there is Gift Of Health ritual, which cures affliction (and maybe stops aging as well), there is a spell in Blood magic, which makes caster 10 years yonger. Anything else?



Thanks a lot to everybody who shared thier knowledge here, most appreciated.


I think the only big question that I still have is about Growth scale. Based upon what you guys said, it seems to reduce the chances of getting affliction during the winter season. But by how much? For eample, I am about to play TC S&A, which, according to the manual, have "serious age problem". If I don't want me best mages to turn into senile wrecks, should I take Growth 1 or Growth 2/3?

[Kristoffer O]

> Kristoffer, under "max age of the unit" you mean the number in (), the age when unit get "old age" icon, correct?

Yep

> If this is the case, and if this is the only variable in this formula, does it mean that, let's say, human mage who is 1 year over the limit of "old age", has the same chance of geting affliction during the winter season, as the same type of mage who is 30 years "over the limit"?

Yep

[Corwin]

Kristoffer O said:
> Kristoffer, under "max age of the unit" you mean the number in (), the age when unit get "old age" icon, correct?

Yep

> If this is the case, and if this is the only variable in this formula, does it mean that, let's say, human mage who is 1 year over the limit of "old age", has the same chance of geting affliction during the winter season, as the same type of mage who is 30 years "over the limit"?

Yep

Thanks a lot, it's good to know.

[Horst F. JENS]

i try very hard to find the Old Age system interesting instead of annoying. Two suggestions:
1.) Offer a mod command to turn off Old Age or edit the Old Age values.
2.) Give me a reason to like Old Age. Maybe a very small chance (1%/year) that my old age sage learns a random new magic skill.

[Meglobob]

Horst F. JENS said:
i try very hard to find the Old Age system interesting instead of annoying. Two suggestions:
1.) Offer a mod command to turn off Old Age or edit the Old Age values.
2.) Give me a reason to like Old Age. Maybe a very small chance (1%/year) that my old age sage learns a random new magic skill.

Yea I agree, all old age does is put me off the unit. Just played EA Nielfelheim, totally avoided recruiting the old age crone/hag the entire game. Also played MA Man, just recruited daughters/mothers, avoiding the grandmother until I had no choice.

Why recruit a unit that may die any time unless u have no choice?

Old mages would just retire anyway or solve there age problems with magic, I very much doubt they would want to serve a nation in a epic battle for godhood.

The more times a mage dies of old age, the more annoying it becomes...