robertthebard,
Ohhh. I was talking about the characters, not the players, ya big numpty. Our characters (especially if you create a human, even though nobody really does it) don't look like they have spent several decades establishing their business and going from rags to riches. Even elves look noticeably younger than Halsin, for example, although I have no idea how old he actually is.
Suppose a human Urchin starts making some money at 18. Could be earlier, but probably not if it's a legitimate business. 18 + 36 = 54. Do our characters look like they are 54? Not in the slightest. I didn't mean they can't survive long enough to have it, I meant they can't have such a long life and still look like they're 25. At this point, their age should be obvious.
Btw I'm not exactly a teenager myself, but if you are looking for any excuse to feel offended, go on, who am I to stop you?..
Not really looking to "be offended". It's extremely easy to get rich quick just running through what we have in EA, how is it going to be any different in an established zone? This ignores, of course, the fact that if one doesn't think a specific background is immersive, they aren't forced to take it. If you can't find a way for an urchin to strike it rich, or for a noble to play at being the urchin, you're free to choose something you can wrap your head around. As I said earlier, I had no issue at all running a Human or Dwarven Noble as a rogue in Dragon Age. It's no different here. Just as it's no different in any game franchise you'd care to bring up, where the appropriate class archetypes apply anyway. All that's required is to allow yourself to define your character, instead of waiting for Larian, or someone else, to do it for you.
Let's start with your artificial limitation of "starting at 18". Why? Why didn't the Urchin start much earlier? It's not like we don't have an example of that in EA right now, in the Grove. Larian's given you an out, right? If some Tiefling children can find a way, surely your own character could as well. This requires a bit of creativity on your part, although not much, as I said, Larian has provided an archetype for you to follow, if that's what you need. It could well be that Tav was successful before they ever hit 18. All that's required is for the player to "write that in" to the backstory. If it's being a successful thief, it's highly probable that the guards wouldn't know who you are, that's what being successful would mean, or part of it anyway. This is exactly the reason I prefer a blank slate character to a pre-defined one. I get to make those choices, instead of having to play someone else's ideal.
All of the backgrounds are RP-able, if one takes the time to actually RP them. That's the idea in an RPG, after all. So people fussing that "this doesn't make sense" need to evaluate what they're expecting in an RPG. The mere existence of something that "doesn't add up" for you doesn't invalidate it. It just means that you need to look at some of the other backgrounds to find something that fits with what you've decided to artificially limit yourself to. Because the limitations are artificial. You created them, and you have to either overcome them, or pick something that doesn't offend your sensibilities.
