Easy Random Life Experience

[whoknowswhynot]

I love Cyberpunk's random lifepath.  I think that something like this would be just perfect for my game, but I need a little help.  It needs to be simple enough that it fits in with the rest of character creation...here goes... http://www.freewebs.com/omnirpg/ (GOTO Characters and please, pardon the spelling errors etc.)  My system needs a little tweeking for sure, because it has never been playtested.  Anyway, here is what I have now for life experiences...

Parents
Mother
Adopted/No father.
Adopted...??

Siblings
??

Family life

1. Over-priveleged childhood.  Roll 5 times on the + side under childhood experiences.
2-3. Priveleged childhood.  Roll 3 times on the + side under childhood experiences.
4-5. Happy childhood.  Roll 1 times on the + side under childhood experiences.
6-7. Sad childhood.  Roll 1 times on the - side under childhood experiences.
8-9. Bad childhood.  Roll 3 times on the - side under childhood experiences.
10. Traumatic childhood.  Roll 3 times on the - side under childhood experiences.

Childhood experiences
Sickly child/Healthy child
orphaned/Parents were always there
Emotional abuse/Parents were encouraging and accepting
Physical abuse/No spankings
Sexual abuse/Were not repressed sexually


Teenager experiences
Crush/Sweetheart
Geek/Fit in
Assaulted/was Assaulted
Troubled teen/Well adjusted
(Keep in mind that I am not a psychologist and that these are the result of brainstorming!!)

Adult Experiences
Year 1

Seeks:
1. Control
2. Excitement
3. Being Different
4. Being Accepted
5. Pleasure/Comfort/Peace
6. Fortune
7. Popularity/Being noticed/Friends
8. Knowledge/Understanding
9. Family and starting family
10. Romance

Finds:
"It" or something else??
Roll Ego (Pass/Fail)
1. Control or Chaos
2. Excitement or Bordom
3. Being Different or being normal
4. Being Accepted or being outcast
5. Pleasure/Comfort/Peace or conflict
6. Fortune or lost fortune
7. Popularity/Being noticed/Friends or infamous/embarassed
8. Knowledge/Understanding or confusion/insanity
9. Family or Family problems
10. Romance or Heartbreak

This is alright I guess, but aside from needing a tremendous amount of work, It is complicated!  Any other types?  I was thinking of a flow chart like the carreer paths in Warhammer...Has this been done before?

By the way!  Tell me if this character creation system is accurately described as semi-freeform.  Also, if you have any comments about my site or the game itself, inherent problems with the game system, etc., please send me a personal message if it is not pertaining to life experiences.  Just wondering...Thank you!!

[Vulpinoid]

I've used a mini game of 21 to determine life experiences in the Eighth Sea.

From the base hand of two cards, the high card determines the type of experience (and it's suit determines how this experience manifests). The low card determines the significance of the event in the character's life. The background events don't start too great, but vary depending on the value of the cards.

Players may choose to hit for an extra card, or stay with the background generated. If they successfully hit, the background improves and the description slightly changes. More cards indicates a better background. If they bust (go over 21), they come up with a really bad alternative to what could have been. 

This gives characters a random event in their lives, and allows players a bit of control to shape the event from their past. It also helps to define the play style for the character...someone wanting to play things cautiously will probably end up with a series of mediocre events in their life. Those who take risks have a better chance of the really good effects...or the really bad ones.

V

[whoknowswhynot]

I really like this idea!  I think that it is probably the easiest method, and allows for a creative mind to fill in the blanks.  having 4 suits really helps.  This may be the best way to go about such an endeavor, however I want to keep from using cards and just use a simple d10.  I think that Evens/Odds and Ego check (Pass/Fail) to determine the details and what exactly happens, such as gaining EGO points, extra Skills, major life events, etc. might work. 

                      d10     Even                                         Odd
Ego check Pass      Aspirations met+1skill -1ego        Acquired something-1ego
Ego check Fail        Lazy & bored(-1skill+1ego)         Big loss (+1ego)

I know, needs work.  Just some brainstorming.  The ego check is like a "luck roll" or something.  This may be a little too difficult to make work.  Maybe simply adding d10-d10 ego and d10 -d10 extra skill, an ego roll every year for gains and losses or something.  Any suggestions?

[Vulpinoid]

If you want to keep it like the old Cyberpunk/Fusion lifepath generator, then adding minor bonuses and penalties keeps to this aspect of the generator in play.

Personally, I remember the old days of playing these games in high school and there would be a guy who shows up with a pre-generated character who ends up with a whole heap of bonuses that they can justify through their life path...or another pair of players who run through their life path in front of the group, one of whom rolls really well and gets bonuses, while the other rolls poorly and keep getting penalties. There's heaps of discussions on this site about situations like these, and the psychology of players as they interact with rule systems like these...so I won't go into further detail here.

My only comment here is that I removed the mechanical bonus/penalty aspect of the life path (or at least rendered them all "equal"), and instead gave players an additional way to "posture" through their experiences. A life of crime might give a character some kind of bonus when dealing with criminals, but it also gives them a penalty when dealing with cops; prison time might double the effects of this pair. A privileged life might give the character a bonus when dealing with high-society types, but gives them a penalty when dealing with the people on the street.

This sort of fits your game's pattern; where every level of ego has a positive and negative effect associated with it. It doesn't play with the skill levels, instead it adds something that grounds the character into the community around them. Perhaps characters might need to overcome these connections to truly transcend as they progress in the game.

Since my game uses cards, it was a natural fit to turn this aspect of the game into a mini-game of 21.

Turning it to d10s will take some work, and tweaking it to mesh more seamlessly into your game will take more work still. But hopefully you'll get something good out of it.

I'll try to think of some more ideas.

V

[whoknowswhynot]

There's heaps of discussions on this site about situations like these, and the psychology of players as they interact with rule systems like these...so I won't go into further detail here.

I like the randomness because, to me it simulates being thrown into a strange world with a new body and not having any control over your lot in life, at least in the beginning.  The idea of creating a character and then finding out that they had a horrible childhood disease that caused them to lose strength (for example) sucks a lot, but the game is kinda about transcending these type of things.  The lost strength is not of any importance compared to ego.

My only comment here is that I removed the mechanical bonus/penalty aspect of the life path (or at least rendered them all "equal"), and instead gave players an additional way to "posture" through their experiences. A life of crime might give a character some kind of bonus when dealing with criminals, but it also gives them a penalty when dealing with cops; prison time might double the effects of this pair. A privileged life might give the character a bonus when dealing with high-society types, but gives them a penalty when dealing with the people on the street.

I like this!  It makes me think of creating a life experience flow chart of sorts.  This could be interesting, but not easy.  The game is mostly descriptive so extra tables and charts could be omited with the right wording on the main flow chart.

I dunno.  I am still kicking this around after several failed attempts at it.  It is just too complex and actually limiting in a way.  I just wanted it as a sort of fun way to create a more challenging character to play.