Golden Oldie (+1 Wis)

See that crusty old man at the bar? He’s done a lot in his time and seen even more. He used to be the human ambassador to six star systems. See that kindly old lady talking to her grandson? Would you believe she was the notorious “Butcher of Azork VI”, the most famed and heroic assassin of the last sector war in her youth? A “golden oldie” (a slang term for a old song that’s still popular) is an old person with a storied and heroic (or infamous) life behind them.

This theme assumes you lived a storied and varied life so you should leave a lot of your background vague so you can insert little tidbits. Just how vague is too vague is a discussion for you to have with your GM and it should never leave out key details about your life. It would be inappropriate to say that you were “secretly in league with the bad guys the entire time” or “actually a god masquerading as a mortal”. Largely, keep it constrained to the confines of the theme’s class features.

Sidebar: Vague Backgrounds Part of the fun of playing a character like this is that you can always say, “Oh yeah, I was totally at the Battle of Vindos”, “Have I ever told you about the time I was a death-bike racer for 6 months?”, or “Do I know how to fly a ship? Why sure I do: I ran transport rigs along Orion’s Belt just before I met my 3rd wife.”

Theme Knowledge (1st)

You’ve been there and done that, even if you haven’t “been there” or “done that” in 30 years.

Reduce the DC of Culture checks to recall historical events or pop culture references from the past by 5.

Culture is a class skill for you, though if it is a class skill from the class you take at 1st level, you instead gain a +1 bonus to your Culture checks. In addition, you gain an ability adjustment of +1 to Wisdom at character creation.

Glory Days (6th)

You have friends, acquaintances, and connections in odd and unexpected places. Once per week you can claim to have known, have a shared a life experience, or have a vague connection to a given NPC. The GM determines if this is appropriate and, if so, you can spend 1 RP and attempt a DC 20 Culture check to make it true. If the GM determines it is not appropriate the use of this ability isn’t expended.

Veteran (12th)

Once per day you can designate a single skill that relates to some aspect of your background and gain a +2 bonus on that skill until you change what that skill is. In addition, you may use your glory days ability twice per week.

Living Legend (18th)

You can use your glory days ability once per day (rather than twice per week). The first time per day that you use your glory days ability successfully you recover 1 RP.

Alternative: You can use your glory days ability once per day (rather than twice per week). The first time per day that you impart some great wisdom or life lesson to a creature of a lower age category that you recover 1 RP.

Sidebar: The Effects of Aging & “Age Categories”

Other than a general increase in Wisdom in most creatures who live a long time, the core rules say that the detrimental effects of old age have largely been bypassed by medical advancements. Though this theme calls out “age categories” it refers to the “general stages of one’s life” (generally: childhood, adolescence, adulthood, middle age, and elderly).