LifePath Systems offer a unique approach to character generation in role-playing games (RPGs). This method involves creating a character by simulating their life experiences, often through a series of semi-random events and choices. This article delves into the reviews of LifePath Systems, examining their advantages, limitations, and how they compare to other character generation methods.
What is a LifePath System?
I first met life-path character generation in classic Traveller, which I played using the five little black books in 1981-82. In Traveller you generated a character by rolling six stats and then played a little semi-random simulation of your character's life. You got to choose what the character had tried for in each four-year term of their prior life, but you had to roll to get what you wanted (including rolling to re-enlist and continue your career), and you got to roll for what fate befell you in each term in the service that you ended up in. If you failed the rolls to enlist in any service at age 18 then you might be drafted into one, willy-nilly. In each term your character gained skills etc. that were determined by what they were doing and rolls on tables. Upon retirement (voluntary or compulsory) you got rolls for assets and honours as "mustering-out benefits". This process produced a character with a set of stats and skills in the usual form, but also with a sketch of their character history, a former rank and maybe honours, and a financial situation.
The term "life path" originates in R Talsorian's Mekton not Traveller.
Advantages of LifePath Systems
Among the advantages of a semi-random life-path character generation system I see the following:
- It gives the character a concrete, algorithmic way to get started that does not depend on the inspiration of a character concept.
- The different occupations, the requirements to get into them, the skills and benefits they teach and bring, the opportunities they afford, the events that befall characters in them and so on can convey information about the setting by showing examples including what actually happens to one's character.
- For example, going through the Traveller chargen system it is easy to pick up that there is an interstellar empire in the setting with a titled aristocracy, a space navy, a space marines corps, and an army, that there is an interstellar merchant marine that probably isn't a branch of the Empire, and a scout service that maybe is, and that there is a draft.
Let us add to the advantages it gives to the game master a powerful tool to build NPC characters efficiently and quickly, which can be a bit of a chore sometimes.
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Limitations of LifePath Systems
Despite their advantages, LifePath Systems also have limitations:
- It is often difficult with life-path based character generation to get a character who has the necessary skills and qualities to be suitable to a particular campaign scheme that the GM has pitched.
- You needed not necessarily end up with characters who wouldn't even plausibly meet in the same bar: if the game is only meant for one core activity, then the system can be biased to produce characters who enter play with appropriate skills, resources (or lacks), and status.
- By the same token and to the same extent that a chargen system can convey information about the setting it can be limited to that setting, and less useful for a general-purpose game meant to be applicable to a wide range of settings.
- So for instance Traveller to a certain extent implies the Third Imperium, but it is a tolerably good fit for, say, Asimov's Galactic Empire, or the Second Empire period of Jerry Pournelle's CoDominium universe (the setting of The Mote in God's Eye et. seq.) - perhaps you have to overlook Traveller's implications about which services favour the intelligent, which the highly-educated, and which the well-connected, but that's not too hard.
- On the other hand it is just not a good fit for Larry Niven's Known Space, which has no interstellar polity, aristocratic class, space navy, space marines, Imperial army, draft etc.
- Modern and futuristic settings usually involve a multitude of different occupations that a future PC might have learned important skills in, from street detective or special reconnaissance trooper, through marine engineer, to trauma-room nurse or sanitation engineer with the Peace Corps.
Some of those limitations can be vitiated by designing a specific chargen system for each setting and perhaps several different ones for different PC occupations in each setting.
Traveller's lifepath system is highly random which can be good when seeking inspiration but can be bad when you know what you want. If you know how to play it well, you can manage to get what you want sometimes but you can also die on the way.
Comparisons with Other Systems
I was not hugely taken with the Traveller character generation system at the time, and preferred RPGs in which you started from the idea of the character you wanted to play in the campaign that the GM was offering, and then bought attributes and skills (and knowledge, and powers, and rank, and honours, and wealth) from some sort of character generation budget.
Future World and Runequest 3 are point systems tied to age where age determines the number of points and background determines the available options.
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The various ...Without Number games (et al) by Sine Nomine have chosen or random simple life paths for starting characters with random being mildly incentivized. There are also 20 backgrounds in each if someone wants to roll that too. It's mostly broad classes (except Cities...) and level.
I'm not that much of a fan of Life Path as it makes things very random and takes up a lot of time. And with a slip of the dice the bennies you've been putting into agility are gone as is your concept of an ageing gymnast turned navy seal. So I mix it up. (These are the chargen rules in the 3rd Edition of The 23rd Letter, a YZE game). I decided that I'd have a a childhood section. There's a short table but it enables the player to choose too. Picking a Talent from the list. Oh, you are an excellent swimmer or brawler. Ok. Then the meat is the selection of an archetype (profession). This provides 1 bump to one of four skills and 1 talent from a short list. Then you apply the age related attribute bennies, skills and talents. Younger people get more attributes, older people get more skills. Lastly you have your Life Event. Really they can choose an extra talent but again there's a short list. Each choice is "garnished" with a quote.
Modifications and Variations
For my current Traveller game, we used Mongoose 2e with a few modifications. The main change is to have 5 "reroll" tookens. Beside to do a reroll, those can also be used to add two dices to a roll and then discard two dices from the result.
If you're going to mention various versions of Traveller's term/lifepath system, mention should probably be made of the Twilight:2000 2e/Traveller: The New Era version. It had much less randomness, and a lot more choice about where skills went, with the random rolls tending to determine how many you got, not what they were. As with the others it still had random promotions, etc., so in that respect has the same benefits and flaws.
Make a lifepath character. Limit the terms to 3 or 5. Then give them some amount of "discretionary points" to spend on attributes and skills...but the catch would be that those are less than what a lifepath term would produce. Still, you can add things to your character concept to represent hobbies and stuff. Sure, you didn't sign up for a military lifepath, but you were visiting the range regularly all those years, so you got Shooting-1 (pistols) at the end. Or you were taking yoga classes, so you get a yoga mat and +1 Agility (yoga pants optional).
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I'd like to point out that Mongoose already does that, by virtue of the Contacts rules and the Package rules - so you end up picking roughly 4 skills, 2 chosen by another with your input, which basically means "chosen by you", and 2 chosen by you from a list.
Traveller 2022
I'm a couple sessions into a new Traveller 2022 game, and we're trying to really run it according to the book. Travel times, rolling up all of the trade related things, managing the ship mortgage and all of the rest is a bit much, but I'm making it easier for myself and it's getting better (I'm the player that has kinda taken that part on... When I think of what Traveller is trying to do, especially older Traveller, it's definitely different from "I'm a bad-ass action hero" or "I made a Cleric so we can have healing". Most characters are ex-military, but fairly normal non-action movie folks. The worlds that get created, most of them aren't high tech in the way people think of when they think of "sci-fi". Even in the 2022 Traveller, my character is a Noble from a TL 7 (like, 1990s tech) planet, and that was rolling a 6 on the Tech Level roll (TL is 1d6 + a variety of modifiers, the biggest predictor of having a sci-fi style level of technology is having a Class A or B Starport). Given early Traveller's mostly military, scout, trading careers, this means that a lot of characters have had lives most people back home could barely imagine. Like, I imagine a lo...
(2025) UPDATED Life Path Character Generation Guide (Twilight: 2000 4E)
Real-World Reviews of LifePath Systems Employees
Lifepath Systems has an overall rating of 2.8 Average Rating out of 5, based on over 2 Lifepath Systems Review Ratings left anonymously by Lifepath Systems employees, which is 28% lower than the average rating for all companies on CareerBliss. 50% of employees would recommend working at Lifepath Systems with the overall rating of 2.8 out of 5.
Some employee reviews include:
- Client Service Representative at $30,000 annually.
- Assistant Program Supervisor at $23,000 annually.
Examples of positive feedback include:
Brianna Evans turns any negative issue into a positive every time I have been around her. Whether it is a spill in group, disagreement between individuals we serve or co-workers she stays positive and calm. Ashley is amazing to me. Even though she is facing physical and personal adversity she continues to work her schedule. She puts forth 100% in everything she does and is so good with her individuals. She puts them first in every engagement and it is obvious how much of a difference she is making.
I wanted to say thank you for reaching out. I’ve actually been kind of surprised by how persistent you and your team have been. I was talking to my husband about it and we both agree that [LOSS Team} is a wonderful program that you guys have and how thankful we are that the medical examiner’s office lets you guys know about things like this. Thank you for checking up on my son and I. It means a lot to me. We just got the purple bag with all the [suicide survivor] resources at our door, and I am thanking you through tears. It is just what I needed today. We are slowly working to help ourselves heal. Thank all of you for being here for us.
My son is a completely different child. When I first started with ECI, I was afraid, I was scared, I did not know what to do, or which direction to go. I did not know what my son’s future would be like, but now I feel confident. I am very thankful for all the progress my son had made. Now we can go to places, to stores, we can go to restaurants. Our life is more functional, and we can do things like any other families. Now, I can take my son to the barber shop and have his hair cut! He sits down and let the barber do his job. For his third birthday coming up, I had the barber make a special design on his hair, and there was not problem at all. When we go to restaurants, I do not need to bring his own food, now he eats the macaroni and cheese from the restaurant.
I must thank the entire team who evaluated [and] served my son. We found everyone involved has been very knowledgeable, professional and helpful. Even though we met only on zoom, I find my meetings with Esperanza were as effective as it could have been in person. She is very easy to work with and very resourceful. Often provided guidance, recommendations on places for the kids which [my son] may enjoy and be benefitted. She has been great in communication and always kept us apprised.