Born Again

[Poorhobo]

Is it possible to take a born lifepath more than once? Suffering the penalties for diminishing returns, of course.

[Kublai]

C'mon! How can you possibly be born twice? Use some common sense here.

[Berandor]

and here I thought the topic was about religious "rebirth".

[Poorhobo]

C'mon! How can you possibly be born twice? Use some common sense here.

If I had thought it was so clear cut I wouldn't have asked. Nothing in the life paths suggests that it is something you can only get once.

[luke]

Hi Poorhobo,

You seem to be looking for an official. Here's the best I can muster:
You may not take a Born lifepath more than once.

Thanks!
-L

[Kublai]

If I had thought it was so clear cut I wouldn't have asked. Nothing in the life paths suggests that it is something you can only get once.

Maybe I'm coming off a little harsh, but how much clearer cut can it be? How many friends do you have that were born twice? That passed through the birth canal more than once? I think the very name of the lifepath suggests you can only take it once.

But I am belaboring the point and regret such a welcome to the boards.

Ask us something else and let me make amends!

[luke]

Pete. Be nice.

[Berandor]

I can sort of undertsand the question. The "born" lifepath also describes the effects of growing up in a certain environment. But that's it, it's just the growing up. Once you've grown, you're the kid, or the butcher's apprentice (or ...).

[Poorhobo]

Luke, thanks. Yes I was looking for a direct answer, one supported by the rules or the guy who wrote them :)


Kublai, Yes I know what "born" means. Does that also mean that the mere act of exiting a womb is what gives a trait point and 4 general skill points? So if I pick up Swords B5 with my general skill points, that I as a 8 yr old village kid was a master swordsman before becoming a student? Or do I fold those general skill points into the story of my other life paths, say student, where my character was top of the school in fencing, followed by a career on the high seas where I honed my skill fighting pirates. Now swords B5 for a villager doesn't seem so implausible.

Seeing as one cannot exit the womb being a master swordsman, It seemed to me that born life paths were just the building blocks for a character, to enrich him with skills and traits he might not otherwise get. Why not just have more building blocks for more diverse characters? I compared the born life path to the others, Sure it gives general skill points, but it has low resources, high years and no stat boosts so it seemed balanced. Hence my question.

[zabieru]

Poorhobo,

Most of us are on the same page here about what a lifepath means. I don't think you've had the benefit of that hive mind yet (and some of it is in the Monster Burner, which it doesn't sound like you've read). Essentially, the narrative of the lifepaths is what matters, not the exact disposition of the points. The lifepath must fit the narrative. But the points do not have to be spent in the narrative. The instructions given in the book actually mimic this very well: Determine your lifepaths, then add up all the points in one big pool.

Lifepaths, like everything else in BW, have core concepts. We ain't about balance. Just look at the wheel: It's got five spokes! That's not balanced! What it is, though, is toothy and conceptually rich. So a "born city" lifepath is about being born and spending your early years "in the smoke." "Born noble" is about a silver spoon. Trade lifepaths based on concept, not balance. It's not reasonable to suggest that you could grow up in the city and then later grow up in the country too. Pick one, or if it really was both, pick whichever fits the next LP better or roll your own (instructions in the monster burner).

If you're concerned about character diversity, you have a couple of options. I would suggest that you just burn characters with that in mind. You're doing group character creation, right? (If not, you really, really should be). So talk about it. Say "Hey, I don't want to see four guys with Born Noble, Page, Student, Squire. That's boring. Mix it up. Whoever picks the weirdest set of lifepaths gets the last slice of pizza, as long as you can tell a good story about them." Believe me, that will work. It'll work beautifully. You'll get one guy who's been a ratcatcher and another who figured out how to be the youngest War Wizard/chess prodigy in recorded history.

The other option is just to give out more general points. Say, for instance, "Okay, after you pick lifepaths, everyone stop. Erase three skill points and add three general points." I think that will backfire on you. I predict that instead of genuinely diverse characters, you'll instead see those points used to make the characters more similar by filling the gaps: You'll see the player of the alley basher use his to buy armor training and wilderness survival skills, and the player of the soldier use his for streetwise and persuasion. But you could do this.

[Kublai]

Again, I did come off too harsh earlier, but please understand that I've been indoctrinated many years ago and my head is in a completely different space than yours might be, poorhobo.

You make fine points, but the idea that you can only be a kid/grow up once outweighs any mechanical, numerical considerations.

[Verrain]

Along those lines though, I've always wanted a life path under noble that was the equivalent of Kid in the village called Spoiled Brat or Idle Rich. A few general points and a bunch of resource points since Daddy and Mommy got him whatever he wanted. I just couldn't decide on how many of each seemed right for the concept.

[GreedyAlgorithm]

10 years, no stats, 6 GP, 15 resources, and a trait: Spoiled Rotten, which lets you trade up to 5 GP for 8 RP apiece during character creation. Leads to Court, Religion, and Servitude. 2 trait points.

[Dwight]

That sounds very fat Greedy. General Pnts are very potent. How about this? ((cross-posted to the more appropriate forum)) (http://burningwheel.org/forum/showthread.php?t=6559).

[Poorhobo]

I've been indoctrinated many years ago and my head is in a completely different space than yours might be, poorhobo.


I don't think you've had the benefit of that hive mind yet

Us poor, poor uninitiated, whatever will we do. I was just trying to explain why I had the question and I get jumped on for not being a member of the good ol boys club.

This isn't worth the aggravation. I got the answer I needed from Luke.

Please close this thread.

[Kublai]

::note to self - get better at apologizing::

[luke]

Poorhobo,
They're just trying to help. Seriously. Pete and Devin are two of the most helpful guys you'll find on the internets. Go ahead and start another thread with another question, you'll see!

-Luke