Some people prefer an element of randomness within character creation, because they like the unexpected factor that the dice bring with them. This prevents them from playing the same character over and over. Old Geezer reminded me of this fact way back in the early days of this column.

I think the way to do this in Simulationist-Immersive Character Creation, especially the Tarafore System’s Subjective Character Creation Process, is to create a type of life paths table, one that will randomly generate things that will shape the characters, such as: circumstances of birth, childhood status, how they spent their adolescence, what professional training they had, etc. At some point you get to “events” that happen in adulthood, which are likely less foundational than the other issues.

These events and circumstances would not come with numbers attached, but would be used to guide the Subjective Character Creation Process. I find that life path-type random tables (like the One Roll Character Creation engine) often end up with a somewhat scattered array of skills, which can lead the entire group to be a bunch of “jacks of all trades.” It’s less fun to play, and it seriously undercuts one of my principles of running a successful Simulationist-Immersive campaign: intentionally, carefully creating player characters that work together not only personality-wise, but mechanics-wise.

The Breakdown

As I see it, tables would exist for

• Circumstances of Birth
• Childhood Status
• Adolescence
• Professional Training
• Adulthood Events

The first four would be the most “foundational,” with the Adulthood Events serving to help refine the concept, add new twists, or inspire relationships (whether friendly or adversarial). The tables, of course, would be setting-specific, and would be weighted to show the social mobility present in the given society.

I’ve set this example on Tarafore, my personal fantasy setting, the one that’s been bouncing around my head, evolving since I was twelve years old. I think we all have one of those worlds rolling around in our heads. Tarafore, as it stands now, is mostly late Renaissance-equivalent, with a broken ‘Roman empire,’ one that has been split in two and then had most of its conquests leave it behind to become, effectively, Renaissance city-states. The culture isn’t overwhelmingly Italian, but the late Renaissance and early Enlightenment era is about where we’re looking at, technologically and culturally, at least in the more civilized areas. A lot of the world is much wilder than Europe in the 1500-1600’s, and with that wildness comes a great deal more mobility, unpredictability, and variety.

Social mobility is somewhat greater than it was on Earth at the time, but not nearly so great as it is currently in, say, Europe or North America. There would be a 70% chance that the Childhood Status would be the same as the Circumstances of Birth, and 70% chance that Adolescence would be based on Childhood Status. Similarly, Professional Training would flow out of Adolescence. A 30% chance of changing “levels” is actually pretty big, even in the modern world, but there is an assumption that player characters are (at least potentially) somewhat exceptional.

To clarify, Circumstances of Birth and Childhood Status would be simple tables, giving general social status, such as “Nobility,” “Street Urchin,” “Rural Peasantry,” “Working Class,” “Professional Class,” “Outlaw,” “Tribal,” etc.

Adolescence and Professional Training would both be a series of tables, with each table linked to the status of the character coming out of childhood.

For Example

The player could start rolling and get: Circumstances of Birth: lower nobility From there, the player could create a noble character, using the templates as an example.

Or the player could assume Childhood Status and Adolescence were spent as a noble, with the relevant training (male or female would be different in most families – determining what family would be important, and should be discussed with the GM). Then the player could roll for adult “events” to see what happened since the young noble left the nest.

Or the player could keep rolling from the beginning, possibly getting Childhood Status: Street Urchin, Adolescence: Street Criminal, and Professional Training: Soldier. So, what happened? Did the noble family go extinct? Was the PC lost, abandoned, or left to die? Why (in the City States and wild areas, children are rarely exposed like that unless they are clearly Touched by Chaos – and even then it’s fairly rare. In a Nova Roma, however, exposure is still a form of birth control, though illegal, so it could just be that the child is inconvenient and paternity is uncertain).

So the kid somehow survived on the streets, begging, stealing, and fighting, and eventually was inducted into a military unit, perhaps because he proved his martial potential in front of the right person. Now he’s a solder, a commoner as far as he knows, but that noble birth, though unknown even to the PC, could come back into his life somehow, in an unexpected way. If he was abandoned because he was Touched by Chaos, that may even manifest in the form of a magical power.

Getting this background, it wouldn’t be too hard to decide on Trait levels appropriate for the campaign using the Subjective Character Creation Process, which is conversation-based, rather than point-based (see my previous columns). I’m going to assume a “typical” Tarafore power level, in which the heavy hitters in an area have a 16 or 17 (Very Good) Trait Rating, depending upon their other advantages.

This PC (We’ll call him Benvolio) will surely have some criminal skills, such as high Awareness (including Sneak/Hide and Perception), possibly Rogue (lying and detecting lies), Subterfuge (picking locks, picking pockets, sleight of hand, etc.), though these skills will have atrophied some during his soldier training, meaning he would not be as good as someone who was “currently” a criminal. Athleticism overlaps with soldiering, but I’ll address it here: he’s probably above average for a soldier, since he’s had to do a lot of running away, climbing into windows, etc. Since Endurance covers resisting illness, his would have to be quite good, or some infection would have probably killed him as a child.

Benvolio would probably not have any powerful contacts left: being such a low-ranking street kid, he’d know a few similarly hard-luck cases, but they’re likely dead, in jail, or scattered to the four winds. They may come back into his life, and may even be helpful at times, but aren’t likely to be a major resource.

So, let’s say:

Awareness: 13 (includes Perception and Sneak/Hide)
Athleticism: 13 Endurance: 15 Subterfuge: 10 (includes picking locks, pockets, etc)
Rogue: 12 (includes lying, negotiation, etc). Read People: 13 (basically detecting lies, etc.)

Contacts:

Criminal: A couple of old “friends” he might still be able to contact, but who could be caught or killed by the law at any time (for that matter, if Benvolio is still a soldier, he could end up having to go after them, though as a soldier, he’s not going to be doing law enforcement within a city unless it’s putting down a riot or large gang).

Military: Benvolio will also have several acquaintances within his company, if he’s still serving or left on good terms. If he left on bad terms, he might still know one or two people who’ll talk to him, though just doing so could get them into trouble.

Being a soldier, Benvolio would have good combat skills. His Strength might be lower than you’d expect for a soldier. He was a street urchin growing up, and he ate whatever scraps he could beg or steal. That doesn’t exactly lend itself to the development of a large, strong physique. On the other hand, his Toughness would be better than his Strength, probably better than some of his fellow soldiers, because he’s taken beatings and survived things they probably didn’t have to.

Likewise, Benvolio’s Prowess (fighting ability) is likely higher than his fellow soldiers: he has the same training, but the desperation of street life, of fighting every day to survive, fuels him with a greater aggression and tenacity than most of his well-fed peers. He wouldn’t be as good as the elite combat veterans, most likely (well, depending on the campaign’s power level, he may very well be that good), but they are few and far between. It’s been two centuries since Tarafore’s seen a major war, and most of the soldiers spend their careers on guard duty or chasing bandits.

Generally, most soldiers will have at least some basic skill with guns. While bows are still used for hunting and a few military applications, they’re much less effective unless they’re used in mass combat, and mass combat hasn’t happened much lately. Guns are more useful on a skirmish level, and that’s how most combat happens in Tarafore these days.

Of course, every soldier will have a basic knowledge of tactics, military etiquette, and wilderness survival, though these may not be particularly strong points.

So let’s say:

Strength: 12 Toughness: 15
Prowess: 16, maybe 17, depending on the campaign and the other PC’s.
Guns: 12 (a bit lower than expected, since he’s only recently had access to them)
Military Etiquette: 10
Tactics: 10
Survival: 10

The specifics of which family birthed him, how he knows the other PC’s, and what friends and enemies Benvolio made during his hard-scrabble life would be worked out with the GM (who would know about the other PC’s, or at least the concepts he’s been getting)

The traits would be appropriate for some games, but might be over or under powered for others, which is why each character should be custom-made for the ongoing game, not imported whole cloth from another.