Lifepath Character Creation for Savage Worlds: Battletech

I’m getting ready to run a big Battletech campaign this week. Upon looking over the A Time of War rules, I realized they were too fiddly and complicated for my liking, so I started looking for other options that would still work with. I’ve done some Savage Worlds conversions in the past, so when I found the Savage Battletech fan PDF, I knew this would be the way to go. I’m using the Savage Battletech rules for their replacement of Race rules to establish where the characters are all from at character creation, but I’m not using the mechanics they have for mech combat, because we still intend to play Classic Battletech, so we’ll need some conversion rules between Savage Worlds and CBT. I’ll present those after the Lifepath rules.

One thing I love about A Time of War is its Lifepath rules. I’m a sucker for Lifepath stuff, so it got my wheels turning once I realized we wouldn’t be playing AToW. I realized character creation from Savage Worlds could be done with Lifepaths as well.

Standard character creation for Savage Worlds involves increasing Attributes with 5 points and Skills with 15 points. As such, with Lifepath rules you will choose 4 Lifepaths, which each  will increase 3 Skills and 1 Attribute (your Attributes all start at d4, your skills all start at -). After creation, you can place the remaining 1 attribute and 3 skills anywhere you see fit. Each Lifepath shows three skills. you may place all three points you gain in one of those skills, or split them up among them. At certain points along the path you will also gain hindrances and edges as indicated. You will choose one of the two options presented then. If you begin to go over your current Attribute level with your skills (as in the standard SW rules), you will need to pay two points to advance that skill. If you are only able to spend two points on a lifepath due to this (any other skills in that path would require you to spend two points), you may save those points for the end of character creation to place where you see fit.

All of these Lifepath are based on the A Time of War Lifepaths, but I basically just used the names and general ideas and built off of there. Any questions you have? Leave a comment.

Early Life

Backwoods
+1 Strength or Spirit
Shooting, Survival, Tracking

Blue Collar
+1 Spirit or Vigor
Athletics, Notice, Taunt

Born Mercenary Brat
+1 Agility or Spirit
Athletics, Fighting, Piloting

Farm
+1 Strength or Vigor
Notice, Repair, Riding

Fugitives
+1 Agility or Vigor
Notice, Streetwise, Tracking

Nobility
+1 Smarts or Spirit
Intimidation, Knowledge, Persuasion

Slave
+1 Strength or Vigor
Notice, Stealth, Survival

Street
+1 Agility or Spirit
Fighting, Streetwise, Survival

Trueborn Creche
+1 Agility or Strength
Fighting, Gunnery, Driving

War Orphan
+1 Smarts or Spirit
Fighting, Shooting, Streetwise

White Collar
+1 Smarts or Spirit
Hacking, Knowledge, Persuasion

Late Childhood

In Late Childhood, a character will choose a Hindrance between the two presented.

Adolescent Warfare
+1 Spirit or Vigor
Athletics, Fighting, Shooting
H: Heroic or Mean

Back Woods
+1 Agility or Smarts
Shooting, Survival, Tracking
H: All-Thumbs or Cautious

Clan Apprenticeship
+1 Strength or Vigor
Athletics, Fighting, Repair
H: Arrogant or Loyal

Farm
+1 Agility or Spirit
Athletics, Riding, Survival
H: Habit or Lame

Freeborn Sibko
+1 Agility or Smarts
Fighting, Intimidation, Shooting
H: Bloodthirsty or Vengeful

High School
+1 Smarts or Spirit
Driving, Knowledge, Taunt
H: Overconfident or Pacifist

Mercenary Brat
+1 Spirit or Vigor
Driving, Repair, Shooting
H: Greedy or Stubborn

Military School
+1 Smarts or Spirit
Fighting, Shooting, Mech Piloting
H: Enemy or Loyal

Preparatory School
+1 Smarts or Vigor
Hacking, Knowledge, Notice
H: Arrogant or Sheltered [SAVAGE BATTLETECH PDF]

Spacer Family
+1 Agility or Smarts
Notice, Piloting, Repair
H: Small or Quirk

Street
+1 Agility or Spirit
Fighting, Streetwise, Survival
H: Outsider or Wanted

Trueborn Sibko
+1 Smarts or Vigor
Gunnery, Fighting, Mech Piloting
H: Arrogant or Code of Honor

Higher Education

In Higher Education, a character will choose an Edge between the two presented.

CIVILIAN SCHOOLS

Technical College
+1 Agility or Smarts
Knowledge, Notice, Repair
E: Jack of All Trades or Scholar

Trade School
+1 Spirit or Vigor
Driving, Repair, Persuasion
E: McGyver or Mr. Fix It

University
+1 Smarts or Spirit
Gambling, Knowledge, Persuasion
E: Jack of all Trades or Scholar

Solaris Internship
+1 Agility or Smarts
Gunnery, Mech Piloting, Repair
E: Mr. Fix It or Luck

INTELLIGENCE/POLICE SCHOOLS

Police Academy
+1 Agility or Spirit
Driving, Shooting, Notice
E: Alertness or Investigator

Intelligence Operative Training
+1 Agility or Smarts
Climbing, Shooting, Stealth
E: Assassin or Extraction

MILITARY SCHOOLS

Military Academy
+1 Agility or Strength
Knowledge, Shooting, Persuasion
E: Strong Willed or Steady Hands

Military Enlistment
+1 Agility or Spirit
Fighting, Gunnery, Shooting
E: Liquid Courage or Nerves of Steel

Family Training
+1 Spirit or Vigor
Gunnery, Knowledge, Mech Piloting
E: Noble or Rich

OFFICER CANDIDATE SCHOOL

Officer Candidate School
+1 Smarts or Spirit
Athletics, Intimidation, Piloting
E: Charismatic or Command

REAL LIFE

Agitator
+1 Spirit or Vigor
Hacking, Persuasion, Taunt

Civilian Job
+1 Smarts or Spirit
1 to any 3 separate non-combat related skills

Clan Watch Operative
+1 Agility or Smarts
Climbing, Shooting, Stealth

Clan Warrior Washout
+1 Strength or Vigor
Fighting, Intimidation,  Survival

Cloister Training
+1 Agility or Strength
Fighting, Gunnery, Shooting

Combat Correspondent
+1 Smarts or Spirit
Investigation, Notice, Persuasion

Comstar/WoB Service
+1 Smarts or Spirit
Hacking, Knowledge, Stealth

Covert Operations
+1 Agility or Smarts
Climbing, Shooting, Stealth

Dark Caste
+1 Smarts or Spirit
Gambling, Streetwise, Survival

Explorer
+1 Agility or Spirit
Climbing, Investigation, Tracking

Goliath Scorpion Seeker
+1 Smarts or Spirit
Knowledge, Investigation, Tracking

Guerilla Insurgent
+1 Agility or Vigor
Fighting, Shooting, Stealth

Merchant
+1 Smarts or Spirit
Intimidation, Persuasion, Streetwise

Ne/er Do Well
+1 Smarts or Spirit
Gambling, Streetwise, Survival

Organized Crime
+1 Agility or Strength
Intimidation, Shooting, Streetwise

Postgraduate Studies
+1 Smarts or Spirit
1 to any 3 separate non-combat related skills

Protomech Pilot Training
+1 Agility or Smarts
Gunnery, Mech Piloting, Repair

Scientist Caste Service
+1 Smarts or Spirit
Hacking, Knowledge, Repair

Solaris Insider
+1 Smarts or Spirit
Gambling, Knowledge, Persuasion

Solaris VII Games
+1 Smarts or Strength
Gunnery, Mech Piloting, Repair

Think Tank
+1 Smarts or Spirit
Investigation, Knowledge, Persuasion

Tour of Duty
+1 Agility or Vigor
1 to any 3 separate combat related skills

To Serve and Protect
+1 Agility or Spirit
Driving, Shooting, Notice

Travel
+1 Agility or Spirit
1 to any 3 separate non-combat related skills

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So that’s the Lifepath rules. I stated earlier I would also show how to convert SW over to BT to switch between the two games.

A pilot’s skill is generally a descending skill, meaning that the lower it is the better you are. With SW, the higher your die, the better. So, when you list your piloting and gunnery skills on your BT mech sheet, you’ll need to do a simple conversion. A Savage Worlds Gunnery or Mech Piloting skill will be converted to a Battletech Piloting or Gunnery skill based on the table below.

SW: No Skill
BT: 7

SW: D4
BT: 6

SW: D6
BT: 5

SW: D8
BT: 4

SW: D10
BT: 3

SW: D12
BT: 2