When to apply aging effects during character creation

Question

I am not sure when to apply aging effects during the character creation. So after or before

• ability point distribution
• racial modifier.

My guess would be to apply the aging effects before I start distributing the ability points and racial modifier, since I could end up with an ability of 3 and to my knowledge it is not allowed to have an ability score lower than 7. But correct me if I am wrong.

Example Values for an old elf:

Elf Modifier: +2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, and –2 Constitution Aging effects at old age, –2 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha So if I would dump Constitution during the ability point distribution I could end up with Constitution 3.

Answer 1

The Character Creation Outline specifies the order of creating a character; the key points are:

2: Determine Ability Scores 3: Choose a Race 10: Description & Personality

It seems pretty straightforward from those steps that age modifiers would be applied last, since they're in the Description section, along with height and weight.

Paizo's PRD generally agrees: Ability Scores are step 1, Race is step 2, and description (including Age) is listed in step 6.

This makes sense in-world: your rolled/distributed abilities are modified by racial modifiers at birth (or, at least, by the minimum age for the character's race/class combination), and are later modified by getting older.

NB: if this is for a PC, check with your GM before aging your character beyond the random starting ages for their race/class; some GMs might not go for it.