Age and physical appearance play a major role in how others perceive you. Choose carefully! Except in settings with magic or advanced biotechnology, you will be unable to change your mind after the game begins.
You are free to pick any age the GM agrees is within the usual lifespan for your race. Adventurers usually fall somewhere between 'young adult' and 'old' - 18 to 70 years, for humans - but fiction is full of heroic youths and sharp 90-year-old veterans.
In many game worlds, especially those based on cartoons and fairy-tales, children are just small adults. By real-world standards, such children would be exceptional. However, even in a realistic campaign, those who wish to roleplay 'heroic' children do not have to play less-capable characters - they can create their characters normally.
Players interested in complete realism are welcome to make children smaller and less capable than adults. To create a believable child, decide what his attributes will be when he is full-grown, reduce them, and purchase the reduced values instead of the full values.
A human infant has 30% of his adult ST score, 40% of his adult DX, 50% of his adult IQ, and Size Modifier -3. A 5-year-old has 60% of his adult ST, 70% of his adult DX and IQ, and SM -2. A 10-year-old has 80% of his adult ST, 90% of his adult DX and IQ, and SM -1. A 15-year-old has adult scores. Interpolate between these values for children in other age groups. HT is usually unaffected by age, but young children might be at -1 or so relative to their adult HT. Note that there is no point cost for Size Modifier; this is merely a special effect.
For nonhumans, use the above rules, but adjust the age categories upward or downward in proportion to the race's rate of development. For instance, a race that reaches adulthood at age 36 instead of age 18 doubles the age thresholds given above. Size Modifier is equal to the sum of the SM given for a human child and the racial SM.
In many societies, children are subject to social restrictions. A child generally is Dead Broke (worth -25 points), and has Social Stigma (Minor), for -5 points. These traits are usually balanced against Patron (Parents; 15 or less), worth 30 points.
As a child grows up, he should gradually improve his attributes toward their full adult values, reduce the appearance roll for his Patron (and eventually get rid of it together), increase his wealth, and buy off his Social Stigma. These changes have their usual point costs.
If you age in play, you will eventually have to make HT rolls to avoid attribute loss (see Age and Aging). These rolls start at the first 'aging threshold' for your race, becoming more frequent at the second threshold and again at the third. These thresholds are 50, 70, and 90 years for humans.
If you start at an advanced age, you have no special disadvantages. Not everyone ages well, but heroes are exceptional, and you are free to make elderly characters as fit and as capable as you wish. There are plenty of examples of this kind of person in fiction - and in real life!
To create a character who has declined with age, first decide what his attributes were before he got old. Reduce his ST, DX, and HT by 10% at the second aging threshold, or reduce ST, DX, and HT by 20% and IQ by 10% at the third aging threshold. Then purchase the reduced values instead of the values he had in his prime.
Note that in many societies, the elderly enjoy great respect. Represent this by taking Social Regard (Venerated).
Appearance is mostly a 'special effect' - you may choose any physical appearance you like. At minimum, note the color of your skin, hair, and eyes (or other features appropriate to your race: scales, feathers, paint job, etc.) However, certain traits count as advantages or disadvantages.
Appearance is rated in levels. Most people have 'Average' appearance, for 0 points. Good looks give a reaction bonus; this is an advantage and costs points. Unappealing looks give a reaction penalty; this is a disadvantage, and gives you back points. These reaction modifiers only affect those who can see you! Those who cannot see you might have to make a new reaction roll upon first meeting you in person (GM's option).
Reaction modifiers due to appearance only affect members of your own race, a very similar race, or a dissimilar race that finds yourr race attractive (for whatever reason). In all cases, the GM's word is final; humans are 'very similar' to elves, but bug-eyed monsters are unlikely to care about a human's appearance except in a silly campaign.
Horrific: You are indescribably monstrous or unspeakably foul, and cannot interact with normal mortals. This gives -6 on reaction rolls. The GM may decide that this trait is supernatural and unavailable to normal characters. -24 points.
Monstrous: You are hideous and clearly unnatural. Most people react to you as a monster rather than a sapient being. This gives -5 on reaction rolls. Again, this trait might not be appropriate for normal characters. -20 points.
Hideous: You have any sort of disgusting looks you can come up with: a severe skin disease, wall-eye … preferably several things at once. This gives -4 on reaction rolls. -16 points.
Ugly: As above, but not so bad - maybe only stringy hair and snaggle teeth. This gives -2 on reaction rolls. -8 points.
Unattractive: You look vaguely unappealing, but it's nothing anyone can put a finger on. This gives -1 on reaction rolls. -4 points.
Average: Your appearance gives you no reaction modifiers either way; you can blend easily into a crowd. A viewer's impression of your looks depends on your behavior. If you smile and act friendly, you will be remembered as pleasant-looking; if you frown and mutter, you will be remembered as unattractive. 0 points.
Attractive: You don't enter beauty contests, but are definitely good-looking. This gives +1 on reaction rolls. 4 points.
Handsome (or Beautiful): You could enter beauty contests. This gives +4 on reaction rolls made by those attracted to members of your sex, +2 from everyone else. 12 points.
Very Handsome (or Very Beautiful): You could win beauty contests, regularly. This gives +6 on reaction rolls made by those attracted to members of your sex, +2 from others. Exception: Members of the same sex with reason to dislike you (more than -4 in reaction penalties, regardless of bonuses) resent your good looks, and react at -2 instead. As well, talent scouts, friendly drunks, slave traders, and other nuisances are liable to become a problem for you. 16 points.
Transcendent: You are an 'ideal specimen'. This gives +8 (!) on reaction rolls made by those attracted to members of your sex, +2 from others, and all the troublesome side effects of Very Handsome. The GM is free to reserve this trait for angels, deities, and the like. Such entities frequently possess Charisma or Terror as well. 20 points.
The following options are available for above-average appearance, and do not affect point costs:
Androgynous: If your appearance is Handsome (Beautiful) or better, you may specify that your looks appeal equally to both sexes. You get a flat reaction modifier instead of a sex-dependent bonus: +3 for Handsome, +4 for Very Handsome, or +5 for Transcendent.
Impressive: If you are Attractive or better, you can specify that you have exceptional physical presence that doesn't manifest as sexual magnetism. This is typical of tigers and aged royalty. If your appearance is Handsome (Beautiful) or above, use the 'flat' reaction bonuses given for Androgynous.
Universal: Your reaction modifier applies to everyone who can see you, regardless of race. If your appearance is Handsome (Beautiful) or above, use the 'flat' reaction bonuses given for Androgynous. This modifier is most common for Hideous or worse monsters and for Attractive or better gods, faeries, and the like. The GM may deem it off-limits to normal mortals. +25%.
Off-the-Shelf Looks: You can apply this to any appearance better than Attractive. Through ultra-tech or magic, your looks are a variation on a standard type or famous person. You're as beautiful as ever, but you get half the usual reaction bonus with people from your own culture, because they've seen it all before. (“Oh, look! Another Mr. Universe 2003!”) -50%.
There is more to appearance than good (or not-so-good) looks. You may take any combination of the following traits in conjunction with any appearance level.
Your look is always one step ahead of the crowd. You have the ability to create a fashion statement out of the cheapest and most nondescript materials. This gives +1 to reaction rolls in social situations when you have a chance to plan your attire in advance. You can also give someone else a +1 reaction bonus when you put together the outfit.
Fashion Sense has a special form in virtual reality.
Fashion Sense (Digital): In defining an online avatar for yourself, you have a sure sense for what’s distinctive, ahead of the trend, and just cool. Any avatar you build, assemble, or select by shopping around gives +1 to reaction rolls in realtime online social interaction. You can give someone else the same advantage if you can work on his avatar. Staying ahead of the curve takes constant tweaking; you have to make time to rebuild each avatar for each set of social encounters. 5 points.
You are often mistaken for someone else. Your 'double's' allies approach you and tell you things you don't want to know, and his acquaintances will treat you in strange and irritating ways. His enemies are after you too! You might eventually get things straightened out, but not without some effort. If every member of your race looks the same, your race qualifies for a bizarre feature (see Features and Taboo Traits), but you do not have Mistaken Identity.
This is especially appropriate for identical clones that are the same age (via forced growth, or just being born at the same time). It’s also suitable for bioroids or other genetic constructs if a run of identical copies were mass-produced, even if the variant race itself has some diversity. Surgical doubles could also be mistaken for one another.
You usually or always behave in a fashion repugnant to others. An Odious Personal Habit (OPH) is worth -5 points for every -1 to reaction rolls made by people who notice your problem. Specify the behavior when you create your character, and work out the point value with the GM.
Examples: Body odor, constant scratching, or tuneless humming would give -1 to reactions, and are worth -5 points apiece. Constant bad puns or spitting on the floor would give -2 to reactions, worth -10 points apiece. We leave -15-point habits (-3 to reactions) to the imagination of those depraved enough to want them!
The reaction penalty for an OPH applies only to members of your race. It is up to the GM to handle the reactions of other races. A constant drool will irritate other humans, but a Martian might not even notice - and a troll might think it was cute! Of course, an entire race can behave in a manner repugnant to most other races. These 'Odious Racial Habits' are priced identically to OPHs.
Something about you makes people pity you and want to take care of you. You get +3 on all reaction rolls from those who consider you to be in a position of helplessness, weakness, or need (which never includes those with the Callous disadvantage). Taken in conjunction with above-average looks, Pitiable means you are 'cute' instead of 'sexy'; in combination with below-average looks, it means you are 'appealingly homely', like a basset hound.
You are superficially 'normal' but have one or more disturbing cosmetic features. To qualify for points, these must be unnatural for your race. Pointed ears and eyes like hot coals would be unnatural for a human, but not for a demon from Hell! You must specify the origin of your Unnatural Features: magical curse, ultra-tech surgery, rare disease, etc.
Unnatural Features need not be unattractive (if they are, you can also claim points for below-average appearance), but they make it easy for others to identify you and hard for you to blend into a crowd. Each level, to a maximum of five levels, gives -1 to your Disguise and Shadowing skills and +1 to others' attempts to identify or follow you (including their Observation and Shadowing rolls), unless almost everyone else in the crowd happens to share your features.