#lifepaths

Inspired by @ostrichmonkey-games asking about lifepaths, here's a lifepath system for SpeedRune, my rules-lite ancient world fantasy game. It stretches from time immemorial to the year before play starts, and it's meant to help players define their clan and their characters. Clanpaths? Familypaths? I dunno.

It didn't quite fit in the most recent supplement. Maybe it'll go in a future one? Or maybe it's just secret content only for Tumblr.

(Art by Nikola Nevenov, from this article about how Bronze Age Greek families were complicated.)

This is a process for the start of a campaign to help players come up with histories for their clan and their characters. It’s fully optional, and it doesn’t result in characters who are any mechanically stronger or weaker. Players can go through the whole process or pick individual stages. This should be done as a group.

In Time Immemorial

The players work together to choose a single Rune that represents a portion of the power of who they worship (their clan’s god, pantheon, ancestors, or hero). This doesn’t represent the totality of that god; for instance, an earth god might have power of the ground and over fertility (and any number of other spheres). The chosen Rune merely represents a key part of the clan’s worship of that god.

Work together to tell a short story about an important part of this god’s life where they gained the power of that Rune or were helped by it. This is a story your clan has told, perhaps unchanged, as long as they’ve existed. Why was it important to your ancestors?

If at least half of the players start with the chosen Rune, your community’s starting Spirit Power is increased by 1. What ceremonies and trials initiated you into the Rune’s power?

500 Years Ago

A time of catastrophe! The GM chooses a bad thing that happened to your clan. This bad thing reverberates through to today, and it might affect your DOOM track or your community’s scores.

The players have a chance to address this catastrophe at a personal loss to their skills. One player can declare that an ancestor or god stepped in to avert the catastrophe. If they do, the GM chooses a skill that is appropriate for fixing the problem, and that player loses 1d10 from that skill. Present times are protected from the listed consequence. The player describes how the problem was fixed and what the loss was.

Examples:

Your people were controlled by another clan (militarily, financially, etc). Your ancestors eventually won their freedom, but the other clan still considers you their enemy. When your DOOM track fills or a community track is endangered, they attack.

Your clan’s reigning religious power (god, pantheon, ancestor, hero) was dishonored, and many other people ceased to worship them. When outsiders witness you calling on the power of that Rune, they become angry, fearful, or dismissive.

A natural disaster (drought, earthquake, flood, etc) left the clan reeling for years. Food or Population start at 1, and until they’re improved, players must make a roll (Orate, Worship, Career) in order to secure equipment or resources.

A clan member broke a taboo, and the whole clan was blamed. The ghost of the sinner haunts your people, breaking tools and luring others to sin. When the DOOM track fills or if Spirit Power is endangered, the ghost manifests in a big way.

Grandparents

(Note: many cultures in SpeedRune complicate or eschew modern notions of family and descent. “Grandparents” is here used as shorthand for “the people from two generations back whose lives continue to influence your own.”)

One or more of your grandparents did something that is still talked about today. Roll 1d10 and consult the chart below. If you want, you can choose to switch the noted skill’s value with another skill’s value.

(Example: you rolled Sneak and heard the tale of your grandparent’s stealthy exploits. Your Sneak is only 17, but you decide to switch it with your Mass Battle skill, which is 39. Your Sneak becomes 39 and your Mass Battle becomes 17.)

1. Weapon: A grandparent won a duel based on weapon skill alone. Who did they defeat? Why were they fighting? Did you inherit their weapon?

2. Mass Battle: A grandparent led a force to victory. Who were they fighting and why? Where did this battle take place? Is their flag or standard still in your home?

3. Worship: A grandparent was famous for preaching or priesting. Who did they worship? Which speech or holy act is still remembered? Do you worship the same god?

4. Domesticity: A grandparent expanded the health and wealth of their family’s household. What tactics did they use? Did people enjoy it, or did they grumble? Do you still live in their well-running home? Do the crops or trees they planted survive today?

5. Orate: A grandparent told an original tale or swayed a crowd, and their words are still repeated today. What did they say? How did it influence others? Do you tell the story, try to live up to it, or work against it?

6. Sneak: A grandparent used stealth or hiding to avoid a terrible consequence. Did they infiltrate someone? Hide something important? And do you still use their secret paths or hiding places?

7. Spirit Power: A grandparent negotiated or commanded a powerful spirit or worked a great act of magic. Why did they risk it? Is the spirit still hanging around? Do you speak to it?

8. Lore: A grandparent invented something useful or discovered ancient secrets. What did they bring forth? How did that knowledge change things? Is it still in use today?

9. Career: A grandparent mastered a trade or craft. Was it a lonely work, or did they work with a guild? Did you inherit any remnant of their work? Do you follow their career?

10. Endure: A grandparent persisted through great physical stress and is remembered for it. Did they travel through terrible weather or harsh landscapes for the good of the family? Did they survive a plague or an assassin’s poison? How did this change the clan?

Parents

(As with “grandparents,” “parents” refers to the people of the generation above you who raised you. They need not be biological relations, and you can have any number of parents.)

This section not only describes what the previous generation did; it also begins to tie your characters together. Roll on the table above, but it applies to both your parents and the parents of the character of the player to your right (or below you on a list, if you’re playing online).

Both you and the other player can trade the skill value for another. You work together to describe how both of your parents worked together in the situation described. Were both good at it? Did one help another? Were they competing? How did it affect how the two of you were raised?

Last Year

What were you up to last year? Choose a downtime action that represents the most important thing you did before the current campaign. Play through it as normal.

I had a dream... he was driving fast with risk. He somehow manouvered the car with the steering wheel from behind the front seat whilst told me to sit in the front for better experience. It was risk all along and we nearly killed 2 or 3 children who were playing on the street. We drove over them. I kept telling him to stop or he'll get fined thousands but he didnt stop until he decided to call someone if its illegal. To ask for permission when he was wrong. So as soon as he realized, he swayed his car onto the curb and drove onto a parking spot dangerously. He got off the car and there my granny was. He called her instead and held up a congratz banner in pink. He thought i was pregnant with a girl and he named her Rosia. I was all in all confused and my granny supported him when she lied about it. She wanted us to stay together but i cracked it at him and said, this is all wrong. Granny had a loud mouth and were not pregnant, but he cracked down in tears shouting at me that this cant be. He said he tried to move out of home to get a house by himself for more than twice, but it didnt work. He even spent all his money investing in this imaginary family he wanted to build, but its not happening. He was devastated. I couldnt do anything but cry. As my brothers embarressingly came out of their car, my mum later came out to see from the building nearby, then his father appeared in surprize still thinking im pregnant, as soon as i saw him, i fell on my knees and begged for his forgiveness, i cried so hard like never before in front of his brothers and then his mum appeared and forgave us all. My ex then stopped crying and mum suggested a honeymoon overseas, i didnt knownwhat to say but to excuse ourselves and me and my ex told granny we will have some alone time to discuss the situation. Devilish eyes he had as we walked out of the drama and headed for his car... soldiered on and then i wokeup.

Not a tear was shed from this nightmare, but deep inside my heart was drowning that we have finally come to an end.

Dreamt of an alternative reality that was exactly the opposite of what should have happened...

Corpo, Nomad, or Street Kid – who are you?