Near-Human Lifepaths

[James Maliszewski]

I'm in the process of pulling together my notes for a fantasy setting for use with Burning Wheel and have come across a possible difficulty. While there aren't a lot of non-human races, there are races of mixed blood, such as the Angelics, who are humans with the blood of angels in their veins. For the most part, the Angelics are fully integrated into human society, as their numbers are small and their origins don't engender fear (the way, say, the Diabolics do).

That makes me wonder: do the Angelics need special lfepaths of their own? There will certainly be several unique to them certainly (as most sorcerers are Angelics), but many Angelics take up the same careers as ordinary humans. Would the ones already included in Burning Wheel suffice?

(I realize in advance that a lot depends on specifics of the setting that no one else knows, but I'm still looking for general guidelines and suggestions)

Thanks!

[luke]

HI James,

We've found the basic BW lifepaths to be pretty flexible and universal. Perhaps some skills and traits would have to be replaced in order to better fit them to your world, but the overall lifepaths of man are versatile.

Also, you might want to consider having separate Born... LPs for your special races and just introduce them into the standard LoM settings.

That keeps things simple.

-L

[James Maliszewski]

We've found the basic BW lifepaths to be pretty flexible and universal. Perhaps some skills and traits would have to be replaced in order to better fit them to your world, but the overall lifepaths of man are versatile.

That seems a good way to go about it, I think. Of course, this issue then becomes one of presentation. What's the best way to present a tweaked or subtly altered LP without having to create a whole bunch of new tables that differ only a little?


Also, you might want to consider having separate Born... LPs for your special races and just introduce them into the standard LoM settings.

That keeps things simple.

That's what I was planning on doing, but it's good to know I'm basically on the right track.

-L[/quote]

[Manicrack]

take a look at the lost atlantean lifepaths, with a little editing that might be exactly what you're looking for.
But they are deffinetly overpowered.

[James Maliszewski]

take a look at the lost atlantean lifepaths, with a little editing that might be exactly what you're looking for.
But they are deffinetly overpowered.

Thanks for the suggestion. I had forgotten about those.

Their being overpowered isn't an issue, since I'm more interested in presentation than content. I already have (I hope) a good sense of BW's internal balance, so this isn't a big problem. I was just worried that, by altering existing LPs or adding a few new ones, I might muddy the waters of simplicity, so to speak. I'd like my modifications to work seamlessly with the existing LPs.

[Thor]

Thanks for the suggestion. I had forgotten about those.

Their being overpowered isn't an issue, since I'm more interested in presentation than content. I already have (I hope) a good sense of BW's internal balance, so this isn't a big problem. I was just worried that, by altering existing LPs or adding a few new ones, I might muddy the waters of simplicity, so to speak. I'd like my modifications to work seamlessly with the existing LPs.

If you don't have it already, you might consider picking up the Monster Burner, since it spends a lot of time dealing with stuff like Lifepath creation and Trait burning.

In any case, if your races are pretty close to human, you should be able to handle the differences just by giving those races Traits, like Winged. Then you'll be good to go.

[James Maliszewski]

I've already got a copy of Monster Burner and am finding it extremely useful. The issue, as I said, is simply presentation of the material so that it easily integrates with the originals. I see no point in reinventing the wheel (no pun intended) if I don't have to and, frankly, the bulk of the existing Lifepaths of Man work just fine with the Angelics.

[luke]

the slave raiders are my best example of this. 12 additional LPs jammed into a single setting -- but they are diverse and bring new material to the table.

You might come up with Micro-Settings or Setting Adds for your specific Borns... or specific cultures. "Citydweller can be used for all characters, but if you were born in this city, you also have access to these 6 LPs."

Also, a list of restricted general lifepaths would probably be useful. I e, you can't take this path unless...

-L

[James Maliszewski]

This is excellent advice. Much appreciated. While I like to think I grok the rules of BW, I'm still getting a hang of how best to present the material I'm working up.