Ravnica and new lifepaths.

[The Oakenshield]

Hi all, first post on the BW forums!


I have been thinking about using the setting Ravnica: City of Guilds from the Magic the Gathering block of the same name. It's an awesome setting, a massive city spanning an entire world (an ecumenopolis), where 10 guilds vie for power, all vastly different from each other. (There is, unsurprisingly, lots more info on Wikipedia)

My real question is, how difficult is making lots of lifepaths? I have no experience doing this, and I might need to make up to 80.
Can this even be done?


Thanks for reading!

[Kublai]

Making an entire campaign's worth of LPs are not difficult, just time-consuming and tedious. But if you're excited about it and have a very good idea of what you want, it will go fast.

[Tilde_See]

Do you have the Monster Burner? If so, trivial, but as Pete says, time consuming. LP creation on a grand scale is a labour of love.

Without the MoBu, still quite easy, but with a shade less guidance. What sorts of Lifepaths do you need? Are there any extant lifepaths that can be repurposed?

[The Oakenshield]

Well, I don't have the Monster Burner as such...

The lifepaths I need to make are going to be 10 sets of 8 lifepaths (one for each guild), with each set having progression from low-ranking, initiate types to high ranking-second in commands fro the entire guild.

For the guildless I'll just use the pre-made ones.

[Daniel H.]

You could save time by coming up with a guilder sub-setting that would contain the eight lifepaths, and then using skills, traits, and wises to differentiate them. So an initiate of Boros and an initiate of Azorius would have the same basic profile, but a different guild-specific skill, wise, and trait. You could simply list the guild-specific stuff on a separate chart; you wouldn’t need more than two or three items per category.

See also the rules for cultural traits in the character burner—these could be adapted as guild traits.

Or, have the characters be from the same guild and save yourself 90% of the work. In truth, lifepaths don’t do much once play begins, so front-loading you preparation by detailing 80 lifepaths before the first session will be of limited use in the long run.

[Judd]

Any particular reason why each guild needs new lifepaths, rather than using the standard lifepaths and giving those characters affiliations with said guild?

[Daniel H.]

Good thinking, Judd.

[Judd]

I'm really not trying to take a dump on your idea and I'm really sorry if it came across like that.

I'd love to see what you come up with if you make Ravnica LP's, the setting looks keen and ripe for a solid BW campaign.

[The Oakenshield]

Don't worry, the affiliations are a good idea.

I try making some a general set of lifepaths like wanderer suggested with variations for each guild, should be easier.


Thanks!
Any more ideas and suggestions are welcome.

[Daniel H.]

There are also Traits that grant affiliations, like the ones in the noble and religious paths.

Good luck! Be sure to post your lifepaths in the Sparks sub-forum for us to peruse.

[The Oakenshield]

Okay, so here are the lifepaths for the Orzhov guild.

Acolye-10yrs-5r-+M
4 General
1 Trait point

Enforcer-3yrs-5r-+P
5-Intimidation, Shield, Armor, Sword, Conspicuous
2-Brutal

Euthanist-5yrs-10r-+P
6-Sneak, Inconspicuous, Knives, Assassination-wise
2-Deathly Silent

Deacon-3yrs-7r-+M
5-Suasion, Conspicuous, Oratory, Orzhov-wise
1-

Tax-collector-5yrs-20r-+M
4-Intimidation, Haggling, Persuation
1-Heart of Stone

Slag-priest-6yrs-15r-+M/P
6-Trull-wise, SLag-wise, Trull forming
2-Lifeless

Guildmage-6yrs-15r-+M
6-Sorcery, Orzhov-wise, Enchanting
2-Gifted

Carver-5yrs-20r-+M/P
5-Grotesque-wise, Grotesque forming, Engraving, Enchanting
2-Patient

Chisel-master-8yrs-25r-+M/P
5-Gargoyle-wise, Gargoyle-carving
2-Arrogant

Pontiff-12yrs-50r-+M
6-Oratory, Suasion, Sorcery, Orzhov-wise, Summoning, Accounting
3-Morbidly Obese, Condescending, Greedy

Patriarch-20yrs-200r-+M
2G 6-Stealth, Command, Telepathy*
3-Ghostly


Euthanist requires Enforcer.
Tax-collector and Slag-priest requires Deacon.
Guildmage requires Slag-priest or Tax-collector.
Carver requires Slag-priest.
Chisel-master requires Carver.
Pontiff requires Guildmage or Chisel-master.
Patriarch requires Pontiff.


So what do you think?

[Warboss Sid]

I approve, ad can you post the dimir and simic ones that I helped you with ?

[jb.teller4]

Quick question: How do the Guildmages get the Gifted trait? Are they expected to take Born Gifted as their Born lifepath (from Magic Burner), are they supposed to take an apprentice-type lifepath from outside of the Guild subsetting, or are you not requiring the Gifted trait to use sorcery?

[The Oakenshield]

Ah, my mistake.

I will correct it with Gifted for the Guildmage.