STAGE 1: EARLY CHILDHOOD The formative years are vital to a character's development. Many Attributes and personality traits are dramatically affected by this stage, and some paths even provide basic skills. Most important, the path chosen in this stage will have a significant impact on what paths the character can follow later. Time: Upon completion of this stage, the character is ten years old. Continuation: After following a single path at this stage, most characters will proceed to Late Childhood. Some affiliations permit a child to enter the workforce after Stage 1; in this case, proceed to the Real Life stage. You can also end the Life Path here and play your character as a child, in which case proceed to Assigning Attributes, Traits and Skills. Clan Characters: Trueborn characters must begin Stage 1 in a Clan Crèche. Freeborn characters start the Life Path based on their caste: scientist and merchant caste characters start on the White Collar Path, technician caste on Blue Collar, laborer caste on Blue Collar or Farm (player's choice), and dark caste on the Back Woods, Farm, Street or Blue Collar paths. If you want your character to be a freeborn warrior, he or she must begin the Life Path in one of the civilian castes. Free Skills: Regardless of Life Path, all player characters automatically receive 3 Skill Points to be divided as the players choose among their affiliation's primary and secondary Language Skills. Characters also receive 3 Skill Points toward Language/English (all 6 Skill Points can go to the Language/English Skill, if the player desires). Also, all characters receive 2 Skill Points toward Perception. Players can improve all of these skills as normal. Age: Some life-paths have an associated minimum or maximum age, indicating how old a character taking that path may be at the conclusion of character generation. For example, a Clan War Orphan will, by definition, be no older than 28, since the Clans did not invade the Inner Sphere until 3050. If taking a path would make the character older than the maximum allowed, then the character may not take that path. Likewise, if ending character generation would leave the character younger than the minimum allowed, he must take additional paths. Federated Suns or St. Ives characters over the age of 21 may have attended a Lyran academy while the Alliance still formed part of the Federated Commonwealth and may ignore the Lyran Alliance Affiliation restriction on these paths. Similarly, Lyran Characters over the age of 21 may attend a Federated Suns academy such as the NAIS. Social class: Because of some differences in the Lyran class system, this updated table can be used in place of the generic table found on p. 55, MW3. Additionally, because life in the Alliance is governed by social status and who you know, characters with a high SOC can ignore some path restrictions in a similar manner to Edge and Path Restrictions (p. 25, MW3). Players may voluntarily increase the minimum value of their Social Standing Attribute (to a maximum of 8) in order to gain the benefits of high social status. Rather than reducing the character's edge threshold, the player can choose to exploit his social status, calling in favors, using the family name and so on. Each of these "overrides" can only be used once and, unlike an Edge, can only be used to offset a single prerequisite rather than all those associated with a path. BACK WOODS Raised in the country, you are hardy but unrefined and uneducated. Your parents subsisted on hunting and gathering, probably in the remote areas of the Periphery or on a less prosperous Inner Sphere world. Attribute Thresholds: STR +1, BOD +1, RFL +1, INT -1, CHA -1, SOC -1 Traits: Poverty Skills: Language/Affiliation -1, Scrounge +2, Survival +1, and choose one: Swimming +1, Running +1 or Climbing +1 Next Path: Adolescent Warfare (2), Back Woods (2), Farm (2), High School (2, Capellan Citizens only), Street (2), or Warrior House Aspirant (2) Back Woods Events 2 Serious hunting accident [Choose one: BOD -1, Lost Limb, Slow Learner] 3 Caught rare virus [Glass Jaw] 4 Hunting accident [Choose one: Poor Hearing, Poor Vision, Unattractive] 5 Family captured by bandits; only you escaped [Escape Artist +1, Stealth +1, Enemy] 6 Made time for a hobby [Interest/Any +1] 7 Started using weapons early [Rifle +1] 8 Home planet had toxic atmosphere [Poison Resistance] 9 Natural hunter [Natural Aptitude/Tracking] 10 Single-handedly hunted and skinned a wolf [Good Reputation, Brave] 11 Adopted by well-to-do relatives [SOC +2, Wealth (2), may take High School as next path] 12 [Choose one event or roll twice and apply both results] BLUE COLLAR Your family worked for an industrial concern, perhaps a weapons factory or a mining operation. While you had few advantages, your hard-working parents managed to give you a reasonable education, and your future prospects are fairly open. Attribute Minimums: SOC 3 Skills: Career/Any +2, Interest/Any +1 Next Path: Adolescent Warfare (2), Farm (2), High School (2), Spacer Family (2), Street (2), or Warrior House Aspirant (2) Blue Collar Events 2 You're not that far from the street; you nearly got killed in a street fight [Choose one: Combat Paralysis, Lost Limb (2)] 3 Times were really tough [Poverty; must also choose Street Path in Stage 2] 4 You worked alongside your parents at the factory [Career/Any +1, Poor Hearing] 5 Another childhood wasted on holovids [Interest/Holovid Shows +2, Career/Any -2] 6 Family worked on an asteroid mining facility [G-Tolerance, Zero-G Operations +1] 7 Learned many skills in the kid scouts [First Aid +1, Survival +1] 8 Already learning how to fix the family car [Natural Aptitude/Technician/ICE] 9 Started early in sports [RFL +1, Interest/Any sport +1, Swimming +1] 10 Your parents were both in the military, so you grew up an "army brat" [Career/Soldier +1, Pistols +1, may choose Military School or Mercenary Brat as next path] 11 A big job promotion in the family [SOC +1, Wealth, may take Preparatory School as next path] 12 [Choose one event or roll twice and apply both results] CLAN WAR ORPHAN Lyran Alliance, Free Rasalhague Republic or Draconis Combine Affiliations only Your family was killed or you lost them during the Clan invasion or a raid. Since then, you've lived on the street and in orphanages. You've had a hard life, but at least you could turn for help to government-run orphanages for victims of the Clans. Attribute Thresholds: BOD -1, WIL +1, EDG +1, SOC -1 Traits: Poverty, Stigma/Orphan Skills: Streetwise/Affiliation +1, Perception +1 Next Path: Back Woods (2), Farm (2), High School (2), Mercenary Brat (2), Spacer Family (2), or Street (2) Clan War Orphan Events 2 Caught in the attack that claimed your family [Choose one: Poor Vision (2), Combat Paralysis, Poor Hearing (3), Lost Limb (2)] 3 Skipped orphanage-sponsored classes [WIL -1, Language/Affiliation –1] 4 Can't take it anymore [Addiction] 5 Used as slave labor by orphanage [Introvert, Escape Artist +1] 6 Kicked out of the orphanage [Must take Street Path in Stage 2] 7 Made the best of a bad situation [Scrounge +1] 8 Made friends with orphanage head [Contact] 9 Trapped on Clan-held world for a time [Streetwise/Clan +2, Scrounge +2] 10 Long-lost relative takes you in [Wealth (2), may not choose Street Path in Stage 2] 11 Military-oriented orphanage teacher takes you as his pupil [Brawling +1, Tactics/Infantry +1, may enter Military School if desired in Stage 2] 12 [Choose one event or roll twice and apply both results] FARM Like trillions of others who supply food to the thousands of human-occupied worlds, you were born and raised on a farm, ranch or other rural food-producing enterprise. Attribute Thresholds: STR +1, BOD +1, CHA -1 Skills: Animal Handling +2, choose one: Piloting/Wheeled +1 or Riding +1 Next Path: Adolescent Warfare (2), Back Woods (2), Farm (2), High School (2), or Warrior House Aspirant (2) Farm Events 2 Horrible combine accident [Choose one: STR -1, Lost Limb (2), Slow Learner] 3 Drought devastated family and your health [Scrounge +1, BOD -1, Poverty] 4 Family killed in BattleMech crossfire; you haven't been the same since [Combat Paralysis] 5 Least successful farm on the planet [Poverty] 6 Pa takes you hunting all the time [Rifles +1] 7 You start to learn the family business [Administration +1] 8 Already learning how to fix the tractor [Natural Aptitude/Technician/ICE] 9 Home planet had long day/night cycle [Night Vision] 10 Most successful farm on the planet [Wealth] 11 Family killed in BattleMech crossfire; a sympathetic mercenary adopted you [may enter Mercenary Brat Path] 12 [Choose one event or roll twice and apply both results] FUGITIVES Free Worlds League Affiliation only One or both parents were involved in a rebellion against the lawful government of the Free Worlds League (during Anton Marik's revolt, the Andurien Crisis, the recent incident in Zion, and so on). You have spent much of your youth on the run or in exile. Attribute Thresholds: BOD -1, WIL +1, EDG +1, SOC -1 Traits: Poverty Skills: Streetwise/Free Worlds League +1, Language/Any +1, Zero-G Operations +1 Next Path: Back Woods (2), Farm (2), Mercenary Brat (2), Spacer Family (2), or Street (2) Fugitives Events 2 Enemies targeted your family; you barely survived [Choose one: Combat Paralysis, Lost Limb (2), Poor Vision (2)] 3 Other kids mocked your fugitive status and made life in your adopted home miserable [Timid, Introvert] 4 Your parents' allies raised and supported you, and they indoctrinated you with their political beliefs [In For Life] 5 The faction opposed to your parent(s) includes you among its enemies [Enemy (2)] 6 Ran away from home and fell in with local street toughs [Must take Street Path in Stage 2] 7 Lived outside the League [Language/Any +1] 8 Made the best of a bad situation and took to study [Academic/Any +2] 9 Constantly on the move [G-Tolerance, Interest/Any +1] 10 You are trained to "carry on the fight" [may enter Military School in Stage 2, ignoring prerequisites] 11 Though exiles, your parents maintained many connections [Well-Connected] 12 [Choose one event or roll twice and apply both results] NOBILITY Most Inner Sphere and Periphery societies maintain a ruling noble class, into which you were born.