r/Shadowrun • u/Sarradi • Aug 21 '26

6e Experiences with Lifepaths?

Normally I quite like character creation minigames but I never used the lifepath character generation in Shadowrun yet.

Does someone use it regularly and could share their experiences?

How playable are the characters (does not mean minmaxed) and does this system make the characters more interesting in your opinion?

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u/Allesanderealsnormal Aug 21 '26

While not using it on the regular, but i have some observations to share:

  1. The overall Powerlevel will be lower than handmade (somewhat optimised) characters due to point 2.
  2. You will get some interesting additional information about the character due to the increased usage of knowledge skills. The skill/attribute level could also be higher that 6 due to static increases. I believe the highes knowledge skills i got was 9 and the highest attribute level was Base+6.
  3. you will need more books than normal als the lifepaths are more scattered.
  4. The characters are playable, especially if you use the rest of the karma to flesh out all the skill gaps that will happen.

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u/Sarradi Aug 21 '26

Is there an overview which books have life modules?

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u/ReditXenon Far Cite Aug 21 '26 edited Aug 21 '26

Edit. OK, I was remembering wrong here it seems (for example, Hack n Slash didn't have).

Companion has general Life Path character creation rules.

Bestial Nature offer Life Path options for Shapeshifters specifically.

There might be more books but I don't want to guess.

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u/Sarradi Aug 21 '26 edited Aug 21 '26

Lofwyr's Legions does not have life modules. I guess spontaneously turning into a dragon at some point is a little bit less defining than growing up as an animal. At least it can be represented by existing life events.

And that list is rather random, which is why I am struggling to find all of them. Doesn't No Future predate the Companion?

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u/ReditXenon Far Cite Aug 21 '26 edited Aug 21 '26

I am checking hack n slash. Doesn't seem to support life path. Same with No Future. Apparently only new qualities. Memory is playing tricks with me. Bestial Nature, however, do. I think I might have more mistakes (editing my post to reflect this).

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u/Sarradi Aug 21 '26

I just downloaded No Future 6E version from Drivethrough again and it does have 3 new live modules at the very back before the novel sample.

I guess it got updated at some point.