I was reading through
this (did it a couple of times for fun) Life Path for a D&D character... and thought, This would be great for shadowrun!
Except for some flavor text editing (and changing Extraplanar to Orbital?), this one actually works really well as it is. And don't think that you can't make a cool character concept. This was my first attempt:
Birth & ChildhoodPlace of Birth: Extraplanar; Raised in a plane other than the prime material (So this would need to be changed to something more appropriate, like Orbital Station or Different Continent)
Childhood Environment: Supportive; You were provided guidance and care and allowed room to grow and explore
Caretaker's Origin: On Your Own; Have had to rely on yourself for as long as you can remember.
Personal Preferences Garb: Military; Like to keep your armor on always (And is SR, who doesn't? It doesn't really have to mean military uniform, but That the character is always fully protected)
Hair: Thick Braid; An elaborate, thick braid that takes up most of your hair.
Mark: Weapon; A weapon with unusual styling (Custom Design methinks)
Fate Personal Enlightenment: Constitution; Training under a veteran or ex-mercenary, or time spent in harsh terrains, toughens you
Made a Friend: Creature with Animal Intelligence; You befriend a badger or horse, or even a random Displacer Beast you can no longer find (Pick a mundane critter, it's not a pet though).
Royalty; A member of the ruling family with pull anywhere within the kingdom, some beyond (I know, kind of odd for a mundane animal, but you've seen dogs or cats that seemed to rull the neighborhood right? Same concept).
Windfall: Long Lost Someone; You find a sibling you never knew you had. Roll on the sibling tables. Single Older Girl .
Lost Touch; It is unknown to you what became of this sibling
Made a Friend: Like a Foster Parent to You; This friend regails you with advice as well as cares for you.
Clan; Close family ties translates into an extended family all willing to lay their lives for this individual
Made an Enemy: Childhood Enemy; An old face you hoped you would never see again.
Peon; This person has no real pull, only has himself.
Humiliation; Caused the loss of face or status publicly.
Ignore; This person doesn't exist to you.
You towards the other person; The animosity is from you for them. (I interpret this to mean that this kid I once knew really embarrassed me way back when. Now he is dead to me. Even to the point where I wouldn't give him 5 Nuyen for a Soykaf. Not only that, but he's a no-body now, and probably needs that cash just to get to work on time. He may or may not care one lick about me.)
Windfall: Travel; The opportunity arises to travel to far distant lands for
11 months (Maybe this is where I went and got that "Personal Enlightenment" from earlier. Roughing it in the wilds or working a long job in say... Africa).
Tragedy: Financial blow; You manage to lose all your gold/possessions (Maybe I was conscripted into a rouge military until I could escape? Or I got robbed on that long trip?)
What do the rest of you think? I mean, we could change it to use D6s (to keep with the SR theme). I know I'm going to consider it for my next character build. Even if I don't roll randomly, which is where the fun happens.