TEXT: SHADOWRUN LIFE HISTORY
  Page 1
  SHADOWRUN LIFE HISTORY
  his is a set of tables intended to help players create
  backgrounds for their characters. It’s mainly intended
  for players new to the game of Shadowrun, who
  don’t have a firm grasp on the Sixth World yet, and
  for players new to roleplaying in general.
  CREDITS
  Writing: Gurth <gurth@xs4all.nl>
  Inspiration: the Lifepath tables in Cyberpunk 2020
  Version: 1.0 • 8 July 1998
  This file © 1998 by Gurth/Plastic Warriors. You may distribute
  it at will, as long as you don’t distribute modified copies or
  charge money for it. Shadowrun® is a registered trademark
  of FASA Corporation, original Shadowrun material copyright
  © 1989-1998 by FASA Corporation.
  Take a look at the Plastic Warriors WWW site at
  http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/plastic.html
  MAKING ROLLS
  The following sections give a variety of tables to roll
  on, but you’re not required to use them in precisely that
  way. If you want to pick an entry from a table instead of
  rolling up a random one, go ahead—unless the
  gamemaster has valid objections, of course. Gamemasters
  should be wary of players who try to abuse this freedom
  by picking all the table entries that give bonuses while
  avoiding those that somehow penalize the character.
  Players are encouraged to flesh out the results of the
  rolls by coming up with explanations for why those
  particular things happened, instead of just noting down
  the result.
  Unless it’s specifically noted otherwise, make only one
  roll on each table. Start at the top of each section, and
  work your way down; the end of the section tells you
  where to go next. Often, this will simply be the next
  section, though sometimes you’ll find yourself jumping to
  another section entirely.
  SHADOWRUN BOOKS
  There are references to a number of Shadowrun books
  in the text; don’t worry if nobody in your group owns
  them, though. The tables have enough information to give
  an idea of what’s going without an absolute need to refer
  to the books mentioned.
  MONEY, CONTACTS, GEAR, ETC.
  Some of the tables or explanations indicate you get
  Edges, contacts, equipment, or some other benefit. You
  should pay for these using your Resources or Building
  Points! You don’t get them for free, so if you can’t pay for
  them, you have two options: 1) roll again on the same
  table until you get something you can afford (or pick one),
  or 2) ask the gamemaster if you can have it anyway. The
  gamemaster might allow it after all, but will probably let
  you start with a debt.
  For example, should your rolls tell you that you gain a
  friend (a contact), but you don’t have the 5,000¥ to pay
  for an additional contact (remember you get two for free,
  but we’ll assume you already “used” those), the
  gamemaster will probably say no. On the other hand, if
  you get a piece of equipment costing 5,000¥ but don’t
  have the money, the gamemaster may want you to pay
  as much as you can—say, 2,000¥—and let your character
  start with a debt equal to the rest; that’s 3 grand in this
  case. Naturally, to whom you owe this debt depends on
  what the cause of the debt is.
  Related to this are things like fines—you need to pay
  them from your Resources money too, and you should
  pay them immediately; you can’t “save” them as debts
  and pay them off later. If that means you can’t buy all the
  stuff you want, that’s tough luck. The only exception
  would be if you absolutely CANNOT pay, like when you
  have 500¥ starting money and find you have to pay a
  1,000¥ fine. In this case, the same rules as above apply
  for debts.
  On the other side, sometimes you get small bonuses
  in the form of free money. Should you get one of these,
  you add it to your Resources money, and can use the
  money to buy stuff from during character generation.
  STYLE & ATTITUDE
  Everybody has certain affectations for clothing,
  hairstyles, and other things that fall under the description
  of “style.” Closely related are the things you like and
  dislike. Find out what yours are by rolling on the tables
  below.
  CLOTHING
  1D6
  Dress
  1
  Business suits
  2
  Leather (preferably real, but synthetic if you’re
  on a budget)
  3
  Jeans
  4
  Military
  5
  High fashion
  6
  Bland and average
  NEXT: Hair Style
  T
  
  SHADOWRUN LIFE HISTORY
  Page 2
  HAIR STYLE
  1D6
  Style
  1
  Buzz cut
  2
  Short
  3
  Long
  4
  Very long
  5
  Pigtails
  6
  Mohawk
  NEXT: Hair Color
  HAIR COLOR
  1D6
  Color
  1-3
  Natural
  4-5
  False natural (bleached, etc.)
  6
  Dyed in bright colors
  NEXT: Likes
  LIKES
  1D6
  Likes
  1
  Tattoos
  2
  Earrings/Piercings
  3
  Jewelry and/or (Pseudo-)magical trinkets
  4
  Body painting
  5
  Sunglasses (mirrorshades or other)
  6
  Personal electronics (phones, walkmans, etc.)
  NEXT: Family
  FAMILY
  This section establishes what kind of family you come
  from, and what your childhood was like.
  BACKGROUND
  This is mostly an indicator of what your family has
  done for most of their lives, and thus the environment
  you grew up in.
  2D6
  Background
  2
  Corporate executive
  3
  Crime syndicate
  4
  Corporate manager
  5
  Middle class
  6-7
  Corporate worker
  8
  Military
  9
  Petty criminal
  10
  Homeless or unemployed
  11-12
  Tribal
  NEXT: Parents
  PARENTS
  Roll 2D6 to decide whether anything has happened to
  one or both of your parents.
  2D6
  Parents
  2-3
  one parent dead (even = mother, odd =
  father), other parent alright
  4-10
  both parents alright
  11-12
  both parents dead
  If your parents are still alive, you can take one or both
  of them as contacts, if you are still in touch with them.
  NEXT: Brothers & Sisters
  BROTHERS & SISTERS
  You have 1D6–3 brothers and/or sisters (negative
  numbers count as none, of course); orks roll 2D6 instead
  of 1D6–3. For each sibling, roll a die to decide if they’re
  male or female: even is male, odd is female. Again, if
  you’re still in touch with them you can add one or more
  of them as contacts, if you want to.
  NEXT: Education
  EDUCATION
  Not everybody gets a chance to get an education in
  the 2050s, let alone finish one. Roll 1D6 on the table
  below, applying modifiers for the following factors:
  BACKGROUND
  Corporate Executive: +3
  Corporate Manager: +1
  Crime Syndicate: +1
  Homeless or Unemployed: –2
  Middle Class: +1
  Tribal: –1
  PARENTS
  Both parents dead: –1
  
  SHADOWRUN LIFE HISTORY
  Page 3
  1D6
  Education
  1 or less
  You dropped out of primary school; roll 1D6:
  1-3 = you get the Illiterate flaw, 4-6 = you get
  the Uneducated flaw.
  2
  You finished primary school but dropped out
  of high school; roll 1D6: 1 = you get the
  Illiterate flaw, 2-3 = you get the Uneducated
  flaw.
  3-5
  You finished high school; take the High
  School Education edge.
  6 or more
  You went to college; roll 1D6 for the edge
  you get: 1-3 = College Education, 4-6 =
  Technical School Education.
  NEXT: What Have You Done With Your Life So Far?
  WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH YOUR LIFE SO FAR?
  Now the basics of your family background have been
  established, it’s time to decide on some of the major
  events that took place during your life until this moment.
  To do this, there is a whole new set of sections which
  you’ll go through more than once (probably), and after
  each one you’ll come back here to check whether the
  present day has been reached or not.
  You start out at age 16, and first of all you roll on the
  Annual Event table, which shows you what happened that
  year, if anything. Go to the section indicated and follow
  the instructions there, then come back here and roll 2D6.
  Apply the Rule of Six to both dice, and add the final result
  to 16. If the result is higher than your current age, add 1
  to your age and roll on the Annual Event table again.
  If your 2D6+16 roll ends up less than or equal to your
  age, stop rolling on the tables. You’ve reached the current
  game year, and do not get to roll up any more important
  events; if you have Resources money left you can spend
  it, of course, but your life history has been determined.
  An alternative method is to decide on the age your
  character will be, and roll on the Annual Events table a
  number of times equal to your age, minus 16. For
  example, a character aged 22 would roll six times.
  ANNUAL EVENTS
  The table references you to the section that fleshes out
  the main events of each year of your life so far.
  1D6
  Event
  1
  Nothing worth remembering
  2
  Friends
  3
  Enemies
  4
  Wins
  5
  Losses
  6
  Roll twice, ignoring and re-rolling 6 on both
  of those rolls.
  NOTHING WORTH REMEMBERING
  As it says, nothing very important happened. You just
  spent a year doing normal things that everybody else
  does too.
  NEXT: What Have You Done With Your Life So Far?
  FRIENDS
  You made a friend! Make rolls on the tables below to
  find out something about this friend. If you have the
  resources for it, you can add him or her as a contact; if
  not, the friend probably disappeared somewhere along
  the line and you could run into them during the game.
  MALE OR FEMALE?
  On an even roll, the friend is male; an odd roll means
  she’s female.
  NEXT: Your Friend’s Age
  YOUR FRIEND’S AGE
  At the time you met him or her, your friend’s age was
  equal to (2D6 x 3) + 1D6 + 5 years.
  NEXT: The Relationship
  
  SHADOWRUN LIFE HISTORY
  Page 4
  THE RELATIONSHIP
  Roll 1D6 on the table for an idea of the way you and
  your friend think of each other.
  1D6
  Result
  1
  Like a teacher and a student; usually, the
  older will take the role of teacher, though this
  isn’t always the case.
  2
  As lovers; roll 1D6 to find out how the love
  affair worked out: 1 = the other person died;
  2-3 = you broke up for some reason; 4 = you
  both went your own ways on friendly terms; 5
  = you’re still involved with each other; 6 =
  you got married to each other.
  3
  As someone with a common interest, for
  example a hobby.
  4
  One of you has worked for the other in a
  professional capacity.
  5
  You know each other from school (or however
  you grew up if you didn’t go to school), and
  ran into each other again.
  6
  You often had business dealings with your
  friend and the friendship grew from there.
  NEXT: What Have You Done With Your Life So Far?
  ENEMIES
  Shadowrunners often make enemies simply by doing
  what they’re supposed to do; you can also have made
  enemies in other ways, though, so let’s not rule out
  anything just yet.
  If your gamemaster uses the rules for Enemies from
  the Companion, the tables provide suggested ratings for
  those enemies.
  MALE OR FEMALE?
  Roll 1D6: an odd roll means you have a female enemy,
  while an even roll gives you a male enemy.
  NEXT: Who Is The Enemy?
  WHO IS THE ENEMY?
  Enemies tend to have faces by which you can
  recognize them.
  1D6
  The Enemy
  Enemy Rating
  1
  A gang member.
  0-2
  2
  A corporate manager or executive.
  2-4
  3
  A corporate employee.
  0-1
  4
  A government official.
  1-2
  5
  A shadowrunner.
  1-3
  6
  A policlub member.
  0-4
  NEXT: What Happened?
  WHAT HAPPENED?
  Somehow, they got angry with you. Not necessarily
  for something you did, but fact is that they are. What
  happened according to them?
  1D6
  The Cause
  1
  You double-crossed or betrayed them.
  2
  You killed or injured them or someone they
  hold dear.
  3
  You insulted them.
  4
  You failed to take responsibility.
  5
  You turned them down.
  6
  They just don’t like your face.
  NEXT: What Have You Done With Your Life So Far?
  WINNINGS
  You had a stroke of luck, and something went right for
  once. Let’s find out what you got out of it…
  1D6
  Winnings
  1
  A prize in the lottery: 1D6×100¥. Apply the
  Rule of Six to this die.
  2
  A piece of equipment (your choice) worth
  2D6×100¥. Apply the Rule of Six to both
  dice.
  3
  A favor from someone (go to the Friends
  section to find out who owes you).
  4
  A formula for a spell or source code for a
  Matrix program, with a Force or Rating equal
  to 1D6. You still have to learn the spell/write
  the program to use it, though.
  5
  You get on good terms with an organization.
  Roll 1D6: 1-2 = a corporation, 3-4 = a gang, 5
  = a government agency, 6 = a policlub.
  6
  You’re discovered to be a very limited
  magician1; take one of the Magical Talent
  edges, by the roll of 1D6: 1-3 = Spellcasting
  talent (1D6: 1 = Combat, 2 = Detection, 3 =
  Health, 4 = Illusion, 5 = Manipulation, 6 = roll
  again), 3 = Summoning talent (3 points), 4 =
  Summoning talent (5 points), 5 = Astral Sight,
  6 = Poor Link.
  NEXT: What Have You Done With Your Life So Far?
                                                    
  1 Note that this roll assumes you use the edges as
  originally intended by Steve Kenson—that is to say, that
  anyone can have such an edge, not just magicians (which is
  what the Companion says).
  
  SHADOWRUN LIFE HISTORY
  Page 5
  LOSSES
  Sometimes, things start going badly. From there, it
  sometimes escalates.
  1D6
  Losses
  1
  You had an accident or were involved in
  some kind of fragged-up run; make the rolls
  necessary 
  for 
  Deadly 
  Wounds 
  and
  Permanent Damage on page 113 of SRII. Pay
  2D6×500¥ (using the Rule of Six) in medical
  fees, in addition to the costs for replacement
  body parts (if required).
  2
  You were arrested and spent 1D6–1 months
  in prison, plus you have to pay a 2D6×200¥
  fine (apply the Rule of Six to all rolls here).
  You automatically have a SIN and a criminal
  record linked to it. Take the Police Record
  flaw.
  3
  You were wounded and spent some time in
  hospital; pay 1D6×250¥ and roll for scarring
  for a Serious wound per page 56 of
  Cybertechnology.
  4
  Someone you thought was a friend walks out
  on you. Roll 1D6: 1-5 = they don’t want to
  have anything to do with you anymore; 6 =
  you gained an enemy, so go to the Enemies
  section above.
  5
  An organization is after you; roll 1D6 to find
  out who: 1 = a minor corporation, 2 = a
  megacorp, 3 = a gang, 4 = a government, 5 =
  a policlub, 6 = someone else (tell your
  gamemaster to dig up his or her copy of
  Threats). This gives you the Hunted flaw at a
  point value equal to 1D3 × 2.
  6
  Your apartment got looted or was on fire. For
  each piece of equipment and vehicle you
  own, roll 1D6: even = it’s gone; odd = it’s
  not. You don’t get any money back for lost
  equipment.
  NEXT: What Have You Done With Your Life So Far?
  AN EXAMPLE
  Here’s a lengthy example of how to uses the life
  history tables. We’re making a human street shaman
  called Jake, and have most of his game stats finished.
  Now we start at the Style & Attitude section to find out
  more about him.
  First we make the rolls for his clothes, hair, and so on.
  These end up as follows:
  Clothing: 3 — Jeans
  Hair Style: 2 — Short
  Hair Color: 1 — Natural
  Likes: 5 — Sunglasses
  So, from that we know Jake tends to wear jeans and
  shades (let’s give him the standard mirrorshades, shall
  we?), has his hair cut short, and doesn’t dye it. We decide
  on brown hair.
  Now, Jake’s family. With a 2D6 roll of 6, he grew up
  with parents who worked as wageslaves for a corporation.
  Another 2D6 roll ends up as a 3, so one of his parents has
  died; an odd roll indicates his father. We decide he’s been
  killed in an accident at the Mitsuhama electronics factory
  where he worked.
  For his brothers and sisters, we roll a 6: Jake has three
  siblings. More rolls tell us all of them are male, so Jake has
  no sisters. He still sees his oldest brother fairly often, so
  we take him as a Corporate Rigger contact.
  For Jake’s education we get a 1… Jake dropped out of
  primary school, so he gets a flaw; a 6 here means
  Uneducated, so at least Jake can read and write, though
  he doesn’t have much elementary knowledge. He spent
  most of his teens on the street rather than in school.
  Now the fun part: Jake’s life from age 16 onward. For
  the first year (age 16), we roll on the Annual Events table,
  getting a 2—Jake made a friend. A roll of 6 is a male
  friend, while for the friend’s age we get (5 × 3) + 4 + 5 =
  15 + 4 + 5 = 24. The relationship roll is a 6 again,
  showing that Jake met this friend through the petty crimes
  Jake used to commit, probably fencing the stuff Jake stole.
  Back to the section titled What Have You Done With
  Your Life So Far?, we roll 2D6+16, for 22. This isn’t less
  than Jake’s age, so we continue on to age 17. The
  following years give these results:
  17: 5 — Losses; 2 — Jake was arrested and spent 3
  months in prison. He also had to pay 2,500¥ and take the
  Police Record flaw (costing him 6 Building Points).
  18: 3 — Enemies; 6 — male; 5 — a shadowrunner; 4
  — Jake failed to take responsibility for something the
  runner thought he did. (Jake did a small shadowrun but
  pulled out when he thought it got too dangerous; the
  enemy doesn’t share that assessment.)
  19: 1 — Nothing happened. Jake didn’t do much that
  will have an impact on his later life.
  20: 3 — Enemies; 3 — female; 5 — another runner; 1
  — Jake double-crossed her. (Jake went on another run,
  but kept the money for himself instead of sharing it with
  the rest of the team. One of the is after him to get her
  share, and more.)
  21: 2 — Friends; 3 — female; age 40; 4 — Jake
  worked for her. (This is someone for whom Jake did a
  successful shadowrun, and who is pleased with his work.
  Jake adds a Mr. Johnson to his contacts.)
  22: 3 — Enemies; 1 — female; 6 — a policlub
  member;  2 — Jake injured or killed someone. (Jake got
  into an argument with members of the policlub,
  hospitalizing a few. The club’s leader is out for his blood.)
  As we now rolled 5 and 1 for the 2D6+16 roll, for a
  total of 21, we stop rolling here, since the roll is less than
  Jake’s current age. He is 22 years old and has mainly
  taken some hits in life: he went to prison and made three
  enemies who could make life difficult for him in the
  future.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Shadowrun [multi]/3rd Party/Shadowrun Shadowrun Life History.pdf