Post by Timba on May 4, 2015 4:53:42 GMT
For a easy and quick character creation Guide please visit: www.thesubnet.com/portal/wod/wta20/index.html
Otherwise follow the steps below.
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. 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. 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.
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.
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. At this point I encourage everyone to read the Expanded setting information provided by Tameh. 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 RESRICTED LISTING:
[*]Black Spiral Dancers (Do you really, really, really want to get on the Staff’s bad side? Ask to play a bad guy.)
[*]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.)
[*]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.
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).
Fostern - 25 freebie instead of 15
Arden - 75 Freebie instead of 15
Athro - 125 Freebie instead of 15
Elder – 175 Freebie instead of 15
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!)
At level 4 in any attribute, you get an attribute specialization for free. You may only have 1 specialization per attribute and each one correlates to a broad range of skills and situations but not all. You may take as many of these as you have level 4 or 5 attributes.
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. These are normally paired with the primaries and secondaries from attributes, but not always. The maximum ANY skill can be at creation is 3 (The only exception is making Arden or above characters). This means you should not have ANY skill specialties at creation. Keep in mind that if you are making an Arden level character, ability specialties are NOT free, even at creation. They cost the same as an additional dot. Specializations give a character -2 DC checks related to that skill.
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. No characters will be approved without merits or flaws. Up to 7 points of drawbacks add to your freebie points. You may always take more flaws then 7 points worth, but only 7 points will count for freebies. We have a couple game sanctioned merit and flaw resources for your convenience.
For Werewolf specific Merits/Flaws: www.scribd.com/collections/2372592/Werewolf-Merits-and-Flaws
I also use this page in conjunction with the above link. www.deathquaker.org/gaming/meritsflaws.html
Step 8 - Backgrounds:
Totem Background is restricted to 2 points upon character creation.
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 per-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.scribd.com/doc/24493496/Backgrounds
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
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: darkforcesmush.wikia.com/wiki/Garou_Rites
Step 9 - Lore:
PCs are allotted starting Lores based on their Rank. Additional Lores can be bought at character creation. All Lores AFTER creation must be taught by a PC or an NPC Mentor (3pt Background Minimum). Lores cost 2 freebies per dot at creation and 3xp per dot after.
[*]Cubs start out with 1 dot in Garou and Tribal Lore to show their first learning
[*]Cliath start out with 2 dots in both Garou and Tribal Lore and 1 additional dot of their choosing.
[*]Fostern start out with 2 dots in both Garou and Tribal Lore and 2 additional dots of their choosing.
[*]Adren start out with 2 dots in both Garou and Tribal Lore and 3 additional dots of their choosing.
Step 10 - Gifts:
Gift are the powers granted to Garou by the spirits. They allow the Garou to do their duties as given by Gaia. As such, Players can lose access to their gifts if the spirits feel they are abusing their power. Everyone is allowed 1 breed, 1 auspice, and 1 tribal gift PER RANK. This means if you make a foster you should have 1 each level 1 gifts, and 1 each level 2 gifts. Others may be bought with freebie points at the freebie point costs.
Special Note on Tribal Gifts: Tribal Gifts are secrets held by those tribes, and are rarely taught without those tribal elders knowing. A player must have ST approval to have a tribal gift not of their tribe. These gifts will be closely monitored and the Tribal Elders can petition the spirits to redress wrongs caused by these gifts.
A very well laid out and searchable list of gifts may be found here: www.arsimagica.net/~eccles/roleplaying/werewolf/gifts/
OR
www.wyrmfoe.com/werewolf-gifts/
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.
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: shadesofgrayi.tripod.com/wta/renown.html
Step 12 - Freebie Points:
As previous discussed in the ranks section, the freebie points given are dependent on your rank. Please see the rank section about for what this means for you. New characters at the cub/Cliath ranks are allowed 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:
Fostern - 25 freebie instead of 15
Arden - 75 Freebie instead of 15
Athro - 125 Freebie instead of 15
Elder – 175 Freebie instead of 15
Freebie Point Costs (At Character Creation Only)
Attributes: 5 per dot
Abilities: 2 per dot
Lore: 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
Ability Specializations: 2x current rank
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.
A weapons damage chart may be found here: www.scribd.com/doc/24453632/Weapons-Chart
Step 14 - Age, Description and Background:
Cub characters should not be younger then 18, older than 20-21, this of course is subject to ST descression or in the event a merit or flaw says otherwise (See flaws Age, and Child). 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.
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: Please see the forum post titled Character Finishing Touches.
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? What do they hope to accomplish by joining the Hunted hunters? This sets the foundation for the rest of your play here. VERY IMPORTANT! Are they carrying baggage with them, emotional or physical? Are they on a quest? Do they want fame? Do the like to fight? Does it seem like we're doing the real Garou mission here and you want to be a part of it? All very important questions to ask yourself.
Extra information can be found in the links below
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~READ ME / CLICK ME~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Creation guide I have found to date! It cuts straight through to the heart of it all.
www.scribd.com/doc/13035485/Werewolf-the-Apocalypse-Character-Creation-Chart....-Creation-Chart
Kinfolk character creation Guide/Template:
www.scribd.com/doc/24439784/Character-Creation-Chart-Kinfolk
A very good Gift list can be found Here:
www.arsimagica.net/~eccles/roleplaying/werewolf/gifts/
For a very good list of WTA merits and flaws please visit:
www.scribd.com/collections/2372592/Werewolf-Merits-and-Flaws
A solid backgrounds guide:
www.scribd.com/doc/24493496/Backgrounds
Otherwise follow the steps below.
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. 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. 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.
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.
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. At this point I encourage everyone to read the Expanded setting information provided by Tameh. 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 RESRICTED LISTING:
[*]Black Spiral Dancers (Do you really, really, really want to get on the Staff’s bad side? Ask to play a bad guy.)
[*]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.)
[*]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.
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).
Fostern - 25 freebie instead of 15
Arden - 75 Freebie instead of 15
Athro - 125 Freebie instead of 15
Elder – 175 Freebie instead of 15
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!)
At level 4 in any attribute, you get an attribute specialization for free. You may only have 1 specialization per attribute and each one correlates to a broad range of skills and situations but not all. You may take as many of these as you have level 4 or 5 attributes.
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. These are normally paired with the primaries and secondaries from attributes, but not always. The maximum ANY skill can be at creation is 3 (The only exception is making Arden or above characters). This means you should not have ANY skill specialties at creation. Keep in mind that if you are making an Arden level character, ability specialties are NOT free, even at creation. They cost the same as an additional dot. Specializations give a character -2 DC checks related to that skill.
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. No characters will be approved without merits or flaws. Up to 7 points of drawbacks add to your freebie points. You may always take more flaws then 7 points worth, but only 7 points will count for freebies. We have a couple game sanctioned merit and flaw resources for your convenience.
For Werewolf specific Merits/Flaws: www.scribd.com/collections/2372592/Werewolf-Merits-and-Flaws
I also use this page in conjunction with the above link. www.deathquaker.org/gaming/meritsflaws.html
Step 8 - Backgrounds:
Totem Background is restricted to 2 points upon character creation.
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 per-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.scribd.com/doc/24493496/Backgrounds
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
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: darkforcesmush.wikia.com/wiki/Garou_Rites
Step 9 - Lore:
PCs are allotted starting Lores based on their Rank. Additional Lores can be bought at character creation. All Lores AFTER creation must be taught by a PC or an NPC Mentor (3pt Background Minimum). Lores cost 2 freebies per dot at creation and 3xp per dot after.
[*]Cubs start out with 1 dot in Garou and Tribal Lore to show their first learning
[*]Cliath start out with 2 dots in both Garou and Tribal Lore and 1 additional dot of their choosing.
[*]Fostern start out with 2 dots in both Garou and Tribal Lore and 2 additional dots of their choosing.
[*]Adren start out with 2 dots in both Garou and Tribal Lore and 3 additional dots of their choosing.
Step 10 - Gifts:
Gift are the powers granted to Garou by the spirits. They allow the Garou to do their duties as given by Gaia. As such, Players can lose access to their gifts if the spirits feel they are abusing their power. Everyone is allowed 1 breed, 1 auspice, and 1 tribal gift PER RANK. This means if you make a foster you should have 1 each level 1 gifts, and 1 each level 2 gifts. Others may be bought with freebie points at the freebie point costs.
Special Note on Tribal Gifts: Tribal Gifts are secrets held by those tribes, and are rarely taught without those tribal elders knowing. A player must have ST approval to have a tribal gift not of their tribe. These gifts will be closely monitored and the Tribal Elders can petition the spirits to redress wrongs caused by these gifts.
A very well laid out and searchable list of gifts may be found here: www.arsimagica.net/~eccles/roleplaying/werewolf/gifts/
OR
www.wyrmfoe.com/werewolf-gifts/
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.
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: shadesofgrayi.tripod.com/wta/renown.html
Step 12 - Freebie Points:
As previous discussed in the ranks section, the freebie points given are dependent on your rank. Please see the rank section about for what this means for you. New characters at the cub/Cliath ranks are allowed 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:
Fostern - 25 freebie instead of 15
Arden - 75 Freebie instead of 15
Athro - 125 Freebie instead of 15
Elder – 175 Freebie instead of 15
Freebie Point Costs (At Character Creation Only)
Attributes: 5 per dot
Abilities: 2 per dot
Lore: 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
Ability Specializations: 2x current rank
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.
A weapons damage chart may be found here: www.scribd.com/doc/24453632/Weapons-Chart
Step 14 - Age, Description and Background:
Cub characters should not be younger then 18, older than 20-21, this of course is subject to ST descression or in the event a merit or flaw says otherwise (See flaws Age, and Child). 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.
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: Please see the forum post titled Character Finishing Touches.
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? What do they hope to accomplish by joining the Hunted hunters? This sets the foundation for the rest of your play here. VERY IMPORTANT! Are they carrying baggage with them, emotional or physical? Are they on a quest? Do they want fame? Do the like to fight? Does it seem like we're doing the real Garou mission here and you want to be a part of it? All very important questions to ask yourself.
Extra information can be found in the links below
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~READ ME / CLICK ME~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Creation guide I have found to date! It cuts straight through to the heart of it all.
www.scribd.com/doc/13035485/Werewolf-the-Apocalypse-Character-Creation-Chart....-Creation-Chart
Kinfolk character creation Guide/Template:
www.scribd.com/doc/24439784/Character-Creation-Chart-Kinfolk
A very good Gift list can be found Here:
www.arsimagica.net/~eccles/roleplaying/werewolf/gifts/
For a very good list of WTA merits and flaws please visit:
www.scribd.com/collections/2372592/Werewolf-Merits-and-Flaws
A solid backgrounds guide:
www.scribd.com/doc/24493496/Backgrounds