I see in the rules that the first step in character-building (before rolling for class, political affiliation, etc.) is to choose a Motif. Indeed, looking through the rest of character-building, it seems like it would be difficult to come up with a coherent group without choosing a motif before choosing lifepaths.
But it seems equally as difficult to me to choose a motif without having any idea what the character’s backgrounds might be: a party with mixed Royalists and Frondeurs would hardly be united in a desire to bring power to the citizens of France. Likewise, a party of mixed nobles and tradesmen’s sons would come together for very different reasons than a group where all of them are from lower-class backgrounds.
Has anyone run into problems with this- creating a Motif and then rolling characters that didn’t work with that Motif? I was considering suggesting to my group that we roll Birth and Wealth and Mentalities at least (and perhaps Governing Abilities), and then choose a Motif, then Lifepaths.