I don ' t know that any systems would necessarily break down , but you ' d definitely get some weirdness here and there . More importantly , though , is that a pointbuy system and the BW lifepath system approach character creation in radically different ways . Any point buy system I ' m aware of is concerned with balance every character gets a set amount of points to spend on character creation basically , right ? Well Burning Wheel is not a game system interested in the kind of balance you ' re probably thinking of . Elves are objectively better than humans . Some lifepaths are objectively better in the sense that they give you more skills or trait points . This isn ' t a mistake or a deficiency in the design it ' s just representative of real life some people are simply better than others . That doesn ' t hurt the game at all , though . The only thing that matters in the game is character that is , characters growing and changing throughout play . Whether you ' re a king or a beggar , as long as you and the group have compelling beliefs that you fight for you ' ll be absolutely fine . Any eccentricities are a feature of the game , not a bug . Burning Wheel wants to be played a certain way , and the game feels and plays better as you achieve system mastery . Lifepaths are a core part of the Burning Wheel experience and I would encourage you to give them an honest try .