Post by stzach on Jan 15, 2016 15:27:51 GMT
Character Creation Step by Step guide for our game:
Step 1; Name:
Naming your character is typically the first but most commonly overlooked and commonly abused derivation of character design. This is not a fantasy game, this is World of Darkness. It takes place in the real world and behind the scenes, therefore your names should be real world names applicable to anyone. You, me, Joe sitting next to you on the bus. To help with this I am providing a link to a Name generator I personally use that creates names based on the US census data. Try to use names proper for where your character was born. John Smith is not a common name in Germany, but at the same time, Krull the Phantom is not a name anyone has. Deed names require why you have earned it and are known by that name to the Garou nation and ST approval. Galliards have the authority, if you fail to live up to your deed name, to strip it from you, as well as award new ones.
Link: www.kleimo.com/random/name.cfm
Step 2; Concept:
This defines your character as a whole. It will motivate their every action and the points you place on your sheet should reflect what the concept states. A properly written concept is 3-5 words, normally entirely consisting of adjectives (I.E. Thoughtful, colorful, Introspective). It should not include any specialized anything not should it include any words defined on the sheet or in world of darkness (I.E. Firearms expert, Hulk Smash Garou, Manipulative Brawler are all unacceptable concepts). This should be very vague, but it should also define the general outline of your character, like a title on a properly written A grade essay. If you are having trouble with finding the right words, please visit: thesaurus.com/ and you may find some help to be a proper wordsmith.
Step 3; Breed, Auspice and Tribe:
These three things, more than any amount of points you can spend, or more than any amount of background you could write define the flavor of your character. If you already are making concessions at this point away from your concept, it’s time to rethink the character as a whole. Please read over what you want to play carefully and make sure the combination of these three factors will fit the character you are trying to portray. Also please remember, these write ups are guidelines to help you RP along the lines. How you chose to portray them is up to you. If you will, think of it as being handed a coloring book. You can make the pictures any color you want, as long as you color inside the lines.
CURRENT RESTRICTION LISTING:
Glasswalkers (Not impossible but need a Good reason)
Black Spiral Dancers (Do you really, really, really want to get on the Staff’s bad side? Ask to play a bad guy.)
Metis (NOT ALLOWED! First time players will not be allowed to play metis. When you have played for a while and understand the flavor of the game and why, you may attempt to make one)
Cyber Wolves/Dogs (NOT ALLOWED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES! The book of the weaver in its entirety has been banned from use in this setting, even as a reference.)
Please Note:
If you create a lupine character, they must have linguistics 2 in English at least or they will not be able to speak except wolf or Garou language.
Physical Flaws must be in the minor category for first time characters. Please come in, learn the players and learn the channel before introducing a quadriplegic. They will probably get left behind and we don't want anyone complaining that they are never asked to take part in missions.
Step 4; Rank:
All new players start as either Cub or Cliath. If you achieve a promotion in game, you may make new characters at your highest ranking character equivalent. (IE If you achieve Fostern rank, you may make Fostern level characters). The guide for the added points to adjust for your increased experience is below, ontop of such, You gain the unspent experience from your previous character?
Fostern - 20 xp
Arden - 40 xp
Athro - 60 xp
Elder – 80 xp
The promotion guidelines for the channel is as follows:
Cub -> Cliath: 1 Month
Cliath -> Fostern: 3 Months
Fostern -> Arden: 6 Months
Arden -> Athro: 1 year
Athro -> Elder: 1 year 6 months
This is to give you time to increase your renown and sheet points to justify your new rank. Achieving rank doesn’t mean much if you can’t back it. It is very important that you can back up what you are trying to achieve with your new rank, and the promotion tasks will reflect the difficulty that will go along with your new rank. Keep this in the back of your mind at all times.
Step 5; Attributes:
These represent those core skills everyone has. Every man woman and child has these core abilities within them. The break down for point allocation at creation is 7 primary; 5 secondary; 3 tertiary. 7/5/3. Primary means it’s what you’re naturally good at. You were born and excel in these skills. Secondary, you’re not half bad at them, but could use some. Tertiary means you are very blasé about these innate abilities. (IE Who needs to throw a football? I can quote LOTR trivia!)
Characters Cannot have more then 1 attribute at 4 , and 1 attribute at 1 at creation
Step 6; Abilities:
These represent what you know how to do. Are you good at sports? Are you good with computers? Have you studied law? Politics? Are you an actor? All those different flavors are represented here. The break down for point allocation at creation is 13 primary; 9 secondary; 5 tertiary. 13/9/5. The maximum ANY skill can be at creation is 3 before freebie points.
Step 7; Merits and Flaws
These add much needed flavor and context to the character. Many of them add enormous benefits and the flaws make the characters much less Susy and John Q public. Flaws are also used by the ST team to involve your character in certain story lines, or let us know where your character has a weak spot, so we can create ways for those characters to grow. Merits are brought with freebie points as mentioned below, You may always take more flaws then 7 points worth, but only 7 points will count for freebies.
Step 8; Backgrounds:
These are what your character has with them, or is special about them. Resources, allies, contacts, mentors, and more fall into this category. Please check your tribe, many backgrounds must be taken to be part of a tribe or many others may never be taken by a tribe. Please closely adhere to these policies. Fetish items and spirit companions also fall into this category, but before you can take any of these on your sheet you must go through the approval ST and get pre-approval before it can be added to the sheet. Failure to do this will result in delay of approval while it is discussed. 5 points are allotted here.
You may find a good backgrounds guide here: www.thesubnet.com/portal/wod/wta20/CreationBa.html
House Rule
Packs/Totems: You may take points in totems, but the actual process of forming packs and gaining totems will be resolved in character. This is to give us a chance to set up stories for you to gain these with. Please leave what your totem points go towards blank.
Concerning rites background:
About rites: Rites are a cascade earned thing, Like magic from D&D. Use the following chart:
1 point in Rites background: 3 minor rites and 3 lvl 1 rites
2 points in Rites background: + 1 minor rite; +1 lvl 1 rite; +1 lvl 2 rite
3 points in Rites background: + 1 minor rite; +1 lvl 1 rite; +1 lvl 2 rite; +1 lvl 3 rite
and so on until you hit 5 points
An approved listing of rites may be found here: www.thesubnet.com/portal/wod/wta20/RitesList.html
Step 10; Gifts:
There’s no other way to say it, so I will just say it. These are super powers. Flat out, plain and simple. Taught to you by spirits these, by far, offering the largest benefits of the game available. These are cheat codes to the universe, within the WoD setting limitations anyways.
www.thesubnet.com/portal/wod/wta20/GiftsList.html
Step 11; Renown and Traits:
Renown is your primary vehicle for tracking your progress to your next rank. It is not the end all be all of rank, however. At creation your character starts with the minimum renown needed for their rank, this means cubs start with 0 across the board. Please keep this in mind and read the renown section write ups contained here: www.thesubnet.com/portal/wod/wta20/CreationRe.html
Your traits include your rage, gnosis and willpower. Starting rage is decided by Auspice. Starting Gnosis is decided by breed and starting willpower is decided by tribe. A guide for what correlates to what can be found here:
Breed: www.thesubnet.com/portal/wod/wta20/CreationBr.html
Auspice: www.thesubnet.com/portal/wod/wta20/CreationAu.html
Step 12; Freebie points:
Characters start with a base 15 freebie points, plus the 7 from flaws, if you took 7 points worth of flaws for a total of 22. These may be spent anywhere across your sheet. The values below show how much each of these cost:
Freebie Point Costs
Attributes 5 per dot
Abilities 2 per dot
Backgrounds 1 per dot
Gifts 7 per Gift (Includes out of breed/auspice/tribe gifts)
Rage 1 per dot
Gnosis 2 per dot
Willpower 1 per dot
You may gain additional freebies for the following.
+10 Freebies if they submit a backstory
.
+5 Freebies if they come in connected to another PC, One time Only.
Step 13; Gear:
This is the section where you will place the character’s belongings that they start with. If you have any weapons, fetish items, place them and describe them here. This does not need to include simple things like clothing, but anything bigger than and cell phone needs to be noted here, otherwise your character is assumed not to have it and must obtain it IC.
Melee Weapons: www.thesubnet.com/portal/wod/wta20/RolePlayCMW.html
Ranged Weapons: www.thesubnet.com/portal/wod/wta20/RolePlayCRW.html
Firearms: www.thesubnet.com/portal/wod/wta20/RolePlayCF.html
Armor: www.thesubnet.com/portal/wod/wta20/RolePlayCA.html
Step 14; Age, Description and Background:
Age has been an issue in the past, so this will be stated plainly and clearly now. No character under 18 is allowed. , no characters with NPC children in hand are allowed. No characters with children willing to be played by other players are allowed. It is a sept at war and no place for children of any kind. Anyone found to be knocked up, will be sent away to a safer place for child rearing. Additionally Cub characters should not be older than 20-21, even as late changers. Cubs are not cubs for long, so spending 5 years from your first change as a cub is totally unreasonable. Unless of course you are a Lost cub, in which case, you will need to discuss what that means for your character with the STs. Lost cubs are often not entirely whole after being left to their own devices after their first change.
There has been some confusion as to what we want from descriptions and backgrounds so I'm going to lay it out nice and clearly here.
The description portion should be detailed enough that you would use it as a real text based introduction to your character to someone who knows nothing about it. It should be as descriptive as possible. Eye color, hair color, height, build, weight, normal clothing, visible weapons, hair style, visible tattoos. Anything we need to know about the description of how you want your character presented. 2 sentences will not cut it.
Background: your background is the defining thing of the entire sheet. it tells us why your character is set up the way there are. Am I expecting a novella? No, but I am expecting some key points to be touched on. Those points are as follows:
Childhood and upbringing, Normal? Abnormal? How so?
First Change, more detail is better here. It's a defining moment of garou.
Where did they learn to be garou? From whom? Also defining and sets the characters Ideals.
Why did they choose their tribe? Did the tribe choose them? Where the born into it? Naturally this one should go where appropriate.
How did they learn about our Sept? Why are they coming here?
Step 1; Name:
Naming your character is typically the first but most commonly overlooked and commonly abused derivation of character design. This is not a fantasy game, this is World of Darkness. It takes place in the real world and behind the scenes, therefore your names should be real world names applicable to anyone. You, me, Joe sitting next to you on the bus. To help with this I am providing a link to a Name generator I personally use that creates names based on the US census data. Try to use names proper for where your character was born. John Smith is not a common name in Germany, but at the same time, Krull the Phantom is not a name anyone has. Deed names require why you have earned it and are known by that name to the Garou nation and ST approval. Galliards have the authority, if you fail to live up to your deed name, to strip it from you, as well as award new ones.
Link: www.kleimo.com/random/name.cfm
Step 2; Concept:
This defines your character as a whole. It will motivate their every action and the points you place on your sheet should reflect what the concept states. A properly written concept is 3-5 words, normally entirely consisting of adjectives (I.E. Thoughtful, colorful, Introspective). It should not include any specialized anything not should it include any words defined on the sheet or in world of darkness (I.E. Firearms expert, Hulk Smash Garou, Manipulative Brawler are all unacceptable concepts). This should be very vague, but it should also define the general outline of your character, like a title on a properly written A grade essay. If you are having trouble with finding the right words, please visit: thesaurus.com/ and you may find some help to be a proper wordsmith.
Step 3; Breed, Auspice and Tribe:
These three things, more than any amount of points you can spend, or more than any amount of background you could write define the flavor of your character. If you already are making concessions at this point away from your concept, it’s time to rethink the character as a whole. Please read over what you want to play carefully and make sure the combination of these three factors will fit the character you are trying to portray. Also please remember, these write ups are guidelines to help you RP along the lines. How you chose to portray them is up to you. If you will, think of it as being handed a coloring book. You can make the pictures any color you want, as long as you color inside the lines.
CURRENT RESTRICTION LISTING:
Glasswalkers (Not impossible but need a Good reason)
Black Spiral Dancers (Do you really, really, really want to get on the Staff’s bad side? Ask to play a bad guy.)
Metis (NOT ALLOWED! First time players will not be allowed to play metis. When you have played for a while and understand the flavor of the game and why, you may attempt to make one)
Cyber Wolves/Dogs (NOT ALLOWED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES! The book of the weaver in its entirety has been banned from use in this setting, even as a reference.)
Please Note:
If you create a lupine character, they must have linguistics 2 in English at least or they will not be able to speak except wolf or Garou language.
Physical Flaws must be in the minor category for first time characters. Please come in, learn the players and learn the channel before introducing a quadriplegic. They will probably get left behind and we don't want anyone complaining that they are never asked to take part in missions.
Step 4; Rank:
All new players start as either Cub or Cliath. If you achieve a promotion in game, you may make new characters at your highest ranking character equivalent. (IE If you achieve Fostern rank, you may make Fostern level characters). The guide for the added points to adjust for your increased experience is below, ontop of such, You gain the unspent experience from your previous character?
Fostern - 20 xp
Arden - 40 xp
Athro - 60 xp
Elder – 80 xp
The promotion guidelines for the channel is as follows:
Cub -> Cliath: 1 Month
Cliath -> Fostern: 3 Months
Fostern -> Arden: 6 Months
Arden -> Athro: 1 year
Athro -> Elder: 1 year 6 months
This is to give you time to increase your renown and sheet points to justify your new rank. Achieving rank doesn’t mean much if you can’t back it. It is very important that you can back up what you are trying to achieve with your new rank, and the promotion tasks will reflect the difficulty that will go along with your new rank. Keep this in the back of your mind at all times.
Step 5; Attributes:
These represent those core skills everyone has. Every man woman and child has these core abilities within them. The break down for point allocation at creation is 7 primary; 5 secondary; 3 tertiary. 7/5/3. Primary means it’s what you’re naturally good at. You were born and excel in these skills. Secondary, you’re not half bad at them, but could use some. Tertiary means you are very blasé about these innate abilities. (IE Who needs to throw a football? I can quote LOTR trivia!)
Characters Cannot have more then 1 attribute at 4 , and 1 attribute at 1 at creation
Step 6; Abilities:
These represent what you know how to do. Are you good at sports? Are you good with computers? Have you studied law? Politics? Are you an actor? All those different flavors are represented here. The break down for point allocation at creation is 13 primary; 9 secondary; 5 tertiary. 13/9/5. The maximum ANY skill can be at creation is 3 before freebie points.
Step 7; Merits and Flaws
These add much needed flavor and context to the character. Many of them add enormous benefits and the flaws make the characters much less Susy and John Q public. Flaws are also used by the ST team to involve your character in certain story lines, or let us know where your character has a weak spot, so we can create ways for those characters to grow. Merits are brought with freebie points as mentioned below, You may always take more flaws then 7 points worth, but only 7 points will count for freebies.
Step 8; Backgrounds:
These are what your character has with them, or is special about them. Resources, allies, contacts, mentors, and more fall into this category. Please check your tribe, many backgrounds must be taken to be part of a tribe or many others may never be taken by a tribe. Please closely adhere to these policies. Fetish items and spirit companions also fall into this category, but before you can take any of these on your sheet you must go through the approval ST and get pre-approval before it can be added to the sheet. Failure to do this will result in delay of approval while it is discussed. 5 points are allotted here.
You may find a good backgrounds guide here: www.thesubnet.com/portal/wod/wta20/CreationBa.html
House Rule
Packs/Totems: You may take points in totems, but the actual process of forming packs and gaining totems will be resolved in character. This is to give us a chance to set up stories for you to gain these with. Please leave what your totem points go towards blank.
Concerning rites background:
About rites: Rites are a cascade earned thing, Like magic from D&D. Use the following chart:
1 point in Rites background: 3 minor rites and 3 lvl 1 rites
2 points in Rites background: + 1 minor rite; +1 lvl 1 rite; +1 lvl 2 rite
3 points in Rites background: + 1 minor rite; +1 lvl 1 rite; +1 lvl 2 rite; +1 lvl 3 rite
and so on until you hit 5 points
An approved listing of rites may be found here: www.thesubnet.com/portal/wod/wta20/RitesList.html
Step 10; Gifts:
There’s no other way to say it, so I will just say it. These are super powers. Flat out, plain and simple. Taught to you by spirits these, by far, offering the largest benefits of the game available. These are cheat codes to the universe, within the WoD setting limitations anyways.
www.thesubnet.com/portal/wod/wta20/GiftsList.html
Step 11; Renown and Traits:
Renown is your primary vehicle for tracking your progress to your next rank. It is not the end all be all of rank, however. At creation your character starts with the minimum renown needed for their rank, this means cubs start with 0 across the board. Please keep this in mind and read the renown section write ups contained here: www.thesubnet.com/portal/wod/wta20/CreationRe.html
Your traits include your rage, gnosis and willpower. Starting rage is decided by Auspice. Starting Gnosis is decided by breed and starting willpower is decided by tribe. A guide for what correlates to what can be found here:
Breed: www.thesubnet.com/portal/wod/wta20/CreationBr.html
Auspice: www.thesubnet.com/portal/wod/wta20/CreationAu.html
Step 12; Freebie points:
Characters start with a base 15 freebie points, plus the 7 from flaws, if you took 7 points worth of flaws for a total of 22. These may be spent anywhere across your sheet. The values below show how much each of these cost:
Freebie Point Costs
Attributes 5 per dot
Abilities 2 per dot
Backgrounds 1 per dot
Gifts 7 per Gift (Includes out of breed/auspice/tribe gifts)
Rage 1 per dot
Gnosis 2 per dot
Willpower 1 per dot
You may gain additional freebies for the following.
+10 Freebies if they submit a backstory
.
+5 Freebies if they come in connected to another PC, One time Only.
Step 13; Gear:
This is the section where you will place the character’s belongings that they start with. If you have any weapons, fetish items, place them and describe them here. This does not need to include simple things like clothing, but anything bigger than and cell phone needs to be noted here, otherwise your character is assumed not to have it and must obtain it IC.
Melee Weapons: www.thesubnet.com/portal/wod/wta20/RolePlayCMW.html
Ranged Weapons: www.thesubnet.com/portal/wod/wta20/RolePlayCRW.html
Firearms: www.thesubnet.com/portal/wod/wta20/RolePlayCF.html
Armor: www.thesubnet.com/portal/wod/wta20/RolePlayCA.html
Step 14; Age, Description and Background:
Age has been an issue in the past, so this will be stated plainly and clearly now. No character under 18 is allowed. , no characters with NPC children in hand are allowed. No characters with children willing to be played by other players are allowed. It is a sept at war and no place for children of any kind. Anyone found to be knocked up, will be sent away to a safer place for child rearing. Additionally Cub characters should not be older than 20-21, even as late changers. Cubs are not cubs for long, so spending 5 years from your first change as a cub is totally unreasonable. Unless of course you are a Lost cub, in which case, you will need to discuss what that means for your character with the STs. Lost cubs are often not entirely whole after being left to their own devices after their first change.
There has been some confusion as to what we want from descriptions and backgrounds so I'm going to lay it out nice and clearly here.
The description portion should be detailed enough that you would use it as a real text based introduction to your character to someone who knows nothing about it. It should be as descriptive as possible. Eye color, hair color, height, build, weight, normal clothing, visible weapons, hair style, visible tattoos. Anything we need to know about the description of how you want your character presented. 2 sentences will not cut it.
Background: your background is the defining thing of the entire sheet. it tells us why your character is set up the way there are. Am I expecting a novella? No, but I am expecting some key points to be touched on. Those points are as follows:
Childhood and upbringing, Normal? Abnormal? How so?
First Change, more detail is better here. It's a defining moment of garou.
Where did they learn to be garou? From whom? Also defining and sets the characters Ideals.
Why did they choose their tribe? Did the tribe choose them? Where the born into it? Naturally this one should go where appropriate.
How did they learn about our Sept? Why are they coming here?