Setting:
Spoiler (click to show/hide):
This campaign will be entirely different. Think of the year 1903 where magic is fused with technology, and where magic is a practice shared by many. Floating buildings exist, anthropomorphs live next to humans, and mages are uncommon and well respected.
You all will start in or around Suteris of the country Phoris.
Suteris has a population around 100,000 people. It's got two districts: industrial and commercial. People live in the city where there's space, but many live in small residential sections outside of the city. The commercial sector is smaller than the industrial, and the river divides the industrial sector from the commercial sector. The industrial sector has both magical and typical manufacturing facilities. This city is a major trade route.
Not everything is good, however. The poor live in squalid conditions and war is brewing between your country Phoris and its neighbors Denda and Manzania. Racism and discrimination exist, and there are “purists” who consider anthropomorphs to be an abomination.
This campaign will be entirely different. Think of the year 1903 where magic is fused with technology, and where magic is a practice shared by many. Floating buildings exist, anthropomorphs live next to humans, and mages are uncommon and well respected.
You all will start in or around Suteris of the country Phoris.
Suteris has a population around 100,000 people. It's got two districts: industrial and commercial. People live in the city where there's space, but many live in small residential sections outside of the city. The commercial sector is smaller than the industrial, and the river divides the industrial sector from the commercial sector. The industrial sector has both magical and typical manufacturing facilities. This city is a major trade route.
Not everything is good, however. The poor live in squalid conditions and war is brewing between your country Phoris and its neighbors Denda and Manzania. Racism and discrimination exist, and there are “purists” who consider anthropomorphs to be an abomination.
Culture
Spoiler (click to show/hide):
Religion: polytheistic primary, one polytheistic secondary (different names, some different gods), and monotheistic. There's a large amount of discrimination against the monotheistic religion, and there's a lack of respect for the secondary polytheistic religion.
Races: There are a large number of races. Many are “pure” races like Humans, but many are mixed races. Those of mixed race are sometimes referred to as “Keras”, and this is a discriminatory term. Other discriminatory terms are used for certain common mixes such as “Ailouro” (cat morph) “Alupek” (fox) “Thoos” (dog) “Ipedon” (horse) “Kerthios” (alraune)
Racial mixing (mechanical): Racial mixing works by giving the mother race a random but weighted set of non-fatal features from the father. Size discrepancy would be ignored, but limbs, internal organs, and sensory organs would be possible choices. Common choices are skin type, sensory organs like ears and reproductive organs.
Racism: Racism is a problem in many places. Suteris is a Human city, and some of these humans are racist. Other settlements have more of other races than they have Humans, and these settlements have the same shortcoming. In general, minorities have problems because of persistent low level discrimination against them. “abominations” are people whose pairing is considered wrong. Bird morphs, fish morphs, and similar combinations are considered abominations, with a more intense term for them: “Otugema.” These races have suffered more than the others, and they receive racism from both their mother and father races.
Magical discrimination: Many people are jealous of mages, and this manifests in a manner of ways. One of these is overt discrimination, with mages being shunned by their peers in school. Outside of school there are many areas where mages are incredibly valuable, so employers will hire mages readily. Mages typically wear jewelry, and this can also bring on violence in certain cases.
Magic crimes: Crimes committed by mages against normal people have a higher penalty than other crimes. This increase isn't set in stone, instead it manifests as a different set of crimes. For example, murder by magic carries a 20 year minimum sentence, whereas murder without magic carries only a 15 year minimum sentence. Crimes committed by regular people against mages also carry a higher penalty; mages are protected because of their great value to society.
Sexism: The typical household is mostly the same as ours; women take more care of children with men doing work to pay bills. However, this society is a long shot from ours. Magical ability is more prevalent in women than in men, and this combined with their ability to carry children makes them significantly more valued than men. In overt terms, this translates to their style of marriage; the woman's name is used to refer to the family unit, and the woman holds the rights to the house and to divorce. For couples where the woman is more skilled or where the woman has magical ability, she'll be the one to work. In these cases, the husband is typically embarrassed of the fact, and these men are referred to as “weak” men. The right to vote and hold office is held by both sexes, and political office is held mainly by women (about an 80-20 split). In married families, the family is given two votes that are turned in by the wife.
Sexual deviancy: A relatively repressive society, Phoris outlaws brothels and people are socially opposed to people (especially men) having frequent sex out of marriage. Of course brothels are still prevalent, but many police forces leave them alone.
Drug legality: For various reasons, many drugs come into and out of legality in countries. In Phoris, these are drugs to know about:
Alcohol: legal – v. high
Cannabis: illegal - high
Cocaine: legal - low
Opium: illegal – medium
Diazepam (valium): legal - medium
Sporting events: Fariza is a sport involving two teams, three balls, and two goals. The rules vary by location, but in all games the two teams try to get their own ball and the neutral ball into the opponent's goal. It's typically played as a contact sport with painted corkwood balls. The team colors are typically yellow and blue, though orange and purple and yellow and red are also common. The neutral ball is always black or white.
Schooling: Schooling is optional, and parents must pay for their children to join most schools. Typically if children go to school they'll be enrolled at 10 years of age, and they typically spend 5 years learning at a school and 10 at an apprenticeship. Children who are admitted to magical schools typically spend 8-12 years there. Children skilled in magic tend to be accelerated in their schooling, which leads to many problems getting along with classmates. Magic schooled children are typically finished with school at the ages 16-20 depending on their proficiency. After this they often become apprentice mages for another 8-10 years.
Religion: polytheistic primary, one polytheistic secondary (different names, some different gods), and monotheistic. There's a large amount of discrimination against the monotheistic religion, and there's a lack of respect for the secondary polytheistic religion.
Races: There are a large number of races. Many are “pure” races like Humans, but many are mixed races. Those of mixed race are sometimes referred to as “Keras”, and this is a discriminatory term. Other discriminatory terms are used for certain common mixes such as “Ailouro” (cat morph) “Alupek” (fox) “Thoos” (dog) “Ipedon” (horse) “Kerthios” (alraune)
Racial mixing (mechanical): Racial mixing works by giving the mother race a random but weighted set of non-fatal features from the father. Size discrepancy would be ignored, but limbs, internal organs, and sensory organs would be possible choices. Common choices are skin type, sensory organs like ears and reproductive organs.
Racism: Racism is a problem in many places. Suteris is a Human city, and some of these humans are racist. Other settlements have more of other races than they have Humans, and these settlements have the same shortcoming. In general, minorities have problems because of persistent low level discrimination against them. “abominations” are people whose pairing is considered wrong. Bird morphs, fish morphs, and similar combinations are considered abominations, with a more intense term for them: “Otugema.” These races have suffered more than the others, and they receive racism from both their mother and father races.
Magical discrimination: Many people are jealous of mages, and this manifests in a manner of ways. One of these is overt discrimination, with mages being shunned by their peers in school. Outside of school there are many areas where mages are incredibly valuable, so employers will hire mages readily. Mages typically wear jewelry, and this can also bring on violence in certain cases.
Magic crimes: Crimes committed by mages against normal people have a higher penalty than other crimes. This increase isn't set in stone, instead it manifests as a different set of crimes. For example, murder by magic carries a 20 year minimum sentence, whereas murder without magic carries only a 15 year minimum sentence. Crimes committed by regular people against mages also carry a higher penalty; mages are protected because of their great value to society.
Sexism: The typical household is mostly the same as ours; women take more care of children with men doing work to pay bills. However, this society is a long shot from ours. Magical ability is more prevalent in women than in men, and this combined with their ability to carry children makes them significantly more valued than men. In overt terms, this translates to their style of marriage; the woman's name is used to refer to the family unit, and the woman holds the rights to the house and to divorce. For couples where the woman is more skilled or where the woman has magical ability, she'll be the one to work. In these cases, the husband is typically embarrassed of the fact, and these men are referred to as “weak” men. The right to vote and hold office is held by both sexes, and political office is held mainly by women (about an 80-20 split). In married families, the family is given two votes that are turned in by the wife.
Sexual deviancy: A relatively repressive society, Phoris outlaws brothels and people are socially opposed to people (especially men) having frequent sex out of marriage. Of course brothels are still prevalent, but many police forces leave them alone.
Drug legality: For various reasons, many drugs come into and out of legality in countries. In Phoris, these are drugs to know about:
Alcohol: legal – v. high
Cannabis: illegal - high
Cocaine: legal - low
Opium: illegal – medium
Diazepam (valium): legal - medium
Sporting events: Fariza is a sport involving two teams, three balls, and two goals. The rules vary by location, but in all games the two teams try to get their own ball and the neutral ball into the opponent's goal. It's typically played as a contact sport with painted corkwood balls. The team colors are typically yellow and blue, though orange and purple and yellow and red are also common. The neutral ball is always black or white.
Schooling: Schooling is optional, and parents must pay for their children to join most schools. Typically if children go to school they'll be enrolled at 10 years of age, and they typically spend 5 years learning at a school and 10 at an apprenticeship. Children who are admitted to magical schools typically spend 8-12 years there. Children skilled in magic tend to be accelerated in their schooling, which leads to many problems getting along with classmates. Magic schooled children are typically finished with school at the ages 16-20 depending on their proficiency. After this they often become apprentice mages for another 8-10 years.
You enter this world as mages, the rare and skillful who use their powers to shape the elements. What you do in this world is up to you to decide.
This is a mechanical system based on White Wolf's New World of Darkness. I'll be handling all of the rolls and checks behind the scenes, but you'll still need to understand some concepts. A lot of this information is in the WoD core rulebook, the pdf of which I can share with you privately.
World of Darkness mechanics
Spoiler (click to show/hide):
World of Darkness is a d10 system. Rolls are made with a multitude of d10s, with 8s, 9s, and 10s counted as successes. 10s are also rerolled, with any further successes added and any further 10s rerolled.
In this system, there are three types of damage. Bashing, Lethal, and Aggravated. Bashing damage may be inflicted by a fist or a tire-iron, and it's the quickest to heal. If your health bar fills with bashing damage, you may fall unconscious. Lethal damage is inflicted by bullets and swords, and if your bar fills with lethal damage you instantly lose consciousness, and begin to bleed out. Aggravated damage is the most severe, and in many cases if you take aggravated damage you suffer permanent injuries such as missing fingers, limbs, or organ damage. If damage is added to a bar already filled with that level of damage or higher, the damage will roll over to the next level. For example, if 3 bashing damage is dealt to a person with only 2 health remaining, the first 2 bashing damage will go on the bar and the last one will roll over into lethal damage.
Willpower is a resource that doubles as a measure of your character's strength of will. As a resource, it can be spent to add 3 dice to a roll or to resist certain forms of mental or social attacks. Willpower doesn't regenerate over time, instead a character must act according to their virtue or vice in order to regain lost willpower.
Morality is a concept that measures your character's moral fiber. If they steal and murder on a whim, their morality will suffer greatly. If a character falls to 0 morality, they go insane and the player loses control of them permanently. If a character loses morality due to evil acts, but then changes their ways and lives to a higher code of ethics than their morality otherwise indicates, their morality will slowly rise to match that change.
World of Darkness is a d10 system. Rolls are made with a multitude of d10s, with 8s, 9s, and 10s counted as successes. 10s are also rerolled, with any further successes added and any further 10s rerolled.
In this system, there are three types of damage. Bashing, Lethal, and Aggravated. Bashing damage may be inflicted by a fist or a tire-iron, and it's the quickest to heal. If your health bar fills with bashing damage, you may fall unconscious. Lethal damage is inflicted by bullets and swords, and if your bar fills with lethal damage you instantly lose consciousness, and begin to bleed out. Aggravated damage is the most severe, and in many cases if you take aggravated damage you suffer permanent injuries such as missing fingers, limbs, or organ damage. If damage is added to a bar already filled with that level of damage or higher, the damage will roll over to the next level. For example, if 3 bashing damage is dealt to a person with only 2 health remaining, the first 2 bashing damage will go on the bar and the last one will roll over into lethal damage.
Willpower is a resource that doubles as a measure of your character's strength of will. As a resource, it can be spent to add 3 dice to a roll or to resist certain forms of mental or social attacks. Willpower doesn't regenerate over time, instead a character must act according to their virtue or vice in order to regain lost willpower.
Morality is a concept that measures your character's moral fiber. If they steal and murder on a whim, their morality will suffer greatly. If a character falls to 0 morality, they go insane and the player loses control of them permanently. If a character loses morality due to evil acts, but then changes their ways and lives to a higher code of ethics than their morality otherwise indicates, their morality will slowly rise to match that change.
Character Creation:
Spoiler (click to show/hide):
This is a mechanical setting, and therefore your characters will have attributes, skills, and powers. The character creation process is fairly involved, including many choices and moderate understanding of the setting and the nature of the attributes, skills, and powers that you're choosing. To ameliorate this process, I'd like to give players a choice between directly choosing attribute points, skill points, and powers or describing the character to me so I can lead you through the process of creating the character.
Regardless of which route you choose, the first thing that you should be concerned with is your character concept. Do you imagine a fit soldier just back from war, or do you imagine a crafty magician, a scholar, or a young noble? This choice will shape your character, and is the most important to get right.
The best characters have a full life, and their personality will change throughout it just as a typical person's would (or in a way that fits the character properly). Even so, this process is very involved and requires a great deal of patience, understanding, and effort. Don't feel forced to fit your character into cliches. If you're having trouble figuring out a fitting childhood, for example, you can choose to leave it out (but don't give them amnesia
).
Next give your character a virtue and a vice. These should fit your character, and they're what recharge your willpower. Indulging in your vice recovers a willpower point, and living up to your virtue recovers all willpower points.
Virtues:
Charity: Compassion and mercy.
Faith: Belief in universal order and divine will.
Fortitude: Perseverance and courage.
Hope: Belief in the goodness of people.
Justice: Righteousness and fairness.
Prudence: Wisdom and restraint.
Temperance: Moderation and balance.
Vices:
Envy: Jealousy and paranoia
Gluttony: Addiction, hedonism
Greed: You want it all.
Lust: Just what it says on the tin.
Pride: Arrogance, ego.
Sloth: Laziness, apathy.
Wrath: Anger, sadism.
(WoD CR pg 42) Attributes, skills, and powers have six levels of power: 0 (unskilled) through five (master). Each additional dot costs one more than the last. For example, buying the third dot in a stat would cost three times the base value. Attributes all start at 1 dot, but skills start at 0. A skill at 0 dots gives a penalty to all rolls using that skill.
There are 9 attributes, 3 mental attributes, 3 physical attributes, and 3 social attributes. Keep in mind that these attributes aren't linked to magical ability. The attributes are as follows:
Intelligence: Intelligence determines your ability to mull over difficult concepts.
Wits: Wits are your ability to make split-second decisions.
Resolve: Resolve is your tendency to make firm decisions and stick to them.
Strength: Strength lets you hit harder and lift heavy objects.
Dexterity: Dexterity helps your aim and allows the user to perform sleight of hand.
Stamina: Stamina lets you take a beating, and it determines your ability to keep going even when a normal person would collapse in exhaustion.
Presence: Presence is your social presence. An intimidating person or a natural leader would have great presence.
Manipulation: Manipulation lets you subtly change people's perceptions. Lawyers, con-men, and politicians have great manipulation.
Composure: Composure determines your ability to stay calm in stressful situations.
You must choose a primary, secondary, and tertiary skill category. For example, a character could be primarily mental, with a secondary focus on social attributes. You are given 14 dots in the primary category, 11 dots in the secondary, and 9 dots in the tertiary.
There are many skills available, the descriptions of which are in WoD CR pg 54. If you'r confused about any skills, please feel free to ask me.
Mental:
Academics
Crafts
Investigation
Medicine
Magic
Politics
Science
Physical:
Athletics
Brawl
Drive
Firearms
Larceny
Stealth
Survival
Weaponry
Social:
Animal Ken
Empathy
Expression
Intimidation
Persuasion
Socialize
Streetwise
Subterfuge
You choose Mental, Physical, or Social separately for skills than for attributes, though many choose to keep both the same. You get 26 dots for your primary category, 16 for your secondary, and 10 for your tertiary.
Merits are in the CR on page 108. I'd be happy to assign merits if you're not sure which ones to choose, or to help you through the process of choosing appropriate merits.
This is the WoD Mortal template. In addition to this template, I add three things:
New Advantage: Arcane Power
Arcane power determines the strength of a mage. One with a high arcane power is capable of amazing feats, but even users with low arcane power are capable of impressive magical abilities. All characters start with 1 arcane power.
New resource: Mana
Mana is a quickly replenishing power source that mages use. It allows them to manipulate the elements. Mages with more arcane power are capable of storing more mana and recharging their mana quicker.
New Advantage: Elements
Mages use the elements as tools of war or convenience. By default, a mage is given 0 dots in every element, showing that they're unskilled in its use. As a mage becomes skilled at using an element, they're more capable at using that element. During the character creation process, the player is given 6 dots to spend on elemental skills. These six dots are spent on elemental points, the second dot in an element costing 2 dots and the third dot costing 3 dots.
This is a mechanical setting, and therefore your characters will have attributes, skills, and powers. The character creation process is fairly involved, including many choices and moderate understanding of the setting and the nature of the attributes, skills, and powers that you're choosing. To ameliorate this process, I'd like to give players a choice between directly choosing attribute points, skill points, and powers or describing the character to me so I can lead you through the process of creating the character.
Regardless of which route you choose, the first thing that you should be concerned with is your character concept. Do you imagine a fit soldier just back from war, or do you imagine a crafty magician, a scholar, or a young noble? This choice will shape your character, and is the most important to get right.
The best characters have a full life, and their personality will change throughout it just as a typical person's would (or in a way that fits the character properly). Even so, this process is very involved and requires a great deal of patience, understanding, and effort. Don't feel forced to fit your character into cliches. If you're having trouble figuring out a fitting childhood, for example, you can choose to leave it out (but don't give them amnesia
). Next give your character a virtue and a vice. These should fit your character, and they're what recharge your willpower. Indulging in your vice recovers a willpower point, and living up to your virtue recovers all willpower points.
Virtues:
Charity: Compassion and mercy.
Faith: Belief in universal order and divine will.
Fortitude: Perseverance and courage.
Hope: Belief in the goodness of people.
Justice: Righteousness and fairness.
Prudence: Wisdom and restraint.
Temperance: Moderation and balance.
Vices:
Envy: Jealousy and paranoia
Gluttony: Addiction, hedonism
Greed: You want it all.
Lust: Just what it says on the tin.
Pride: Arrogance, ego.
Sloth: Laziness, apathy.
Wrath: Anger, sadism.
(WoD CR pg 42) Attributes, skills, and powers have six levels of power: 0 (unskilled) through five (master). Each additional dot costs one more than the last. For example, buying the third dot in a stat would cost three times the base value. Attributes all start at 1 dot, but skills start at 0. A skill at 0 dots gives a penalty to all rolls using that skill.
There are 9 attributes, 3 mental attributes, 3 physical attributes, and 3 social attributes. Keep in mind that these attributes aren't linked to magical ability. The attributes are as follows:
Intelligence: Intelligence determines your ability to mull over difficult concepts.
Wits: Wits are your ability to make split-second decisions.
Resolve: Resolve is your tendency to make firm decisions and stick to them.
Strength: Strength lets you hit harder and lift heavy objects.
Dexterity: Dexterity helps your aim and allows the user to perform sleight of hand.
Stamina: Stamina lets you take a beating, and it determines your ability to keep going even when a normal person would collapse in exhaustion.
Presence: Presence is your social presence. An intimidating person or a natural leader would have great presence.
Manipulation: Manipulation lets you subtly change people's perceptions. Lawyers, con-men, and politicians have great manipulation.
Composure: Composure determines your ability to stay calm in stressful situations.
You must choose a primary, secondary, and tertiary skill category. For example, a character could be primarily mental, with a secondary focus on social attributes. You are given 14 dots in the primary category, 11 dots in the secondary, and 9 dots in the tertiary.
There are many skills available, the descriptions of which are in WoD CR pg 54. If you'r confused about any skills, please feel free to ask me.
Mental:
Academics
Crafts
Investigation
Medicine
Magic
Politics
Science
Physical:
Athletics
Brawl
Drive
Firearms
Larceny
Stealth
Survival
Weaponry
Social:
Animal Ken
Empathy
Expression
Intimidation
Persuasion
Socialize
Streetwise
Subterfuge
You choose Mental, Physical, or Social separately for skills than for attributes, though many choose to keep both the same. You get 26 dots for your primary category, 16 for your secondary, and 10 for your tertiary.
Merits are in the CR on page 108. I'd be happy to assign merits if you're not sure which ones to choose, or to help you through the process of choosing appropriate merits.
This is the WoD Mortal template. In addition to this template, I add three things:
New Advantage: Arcane Power
Arcane power determines the strength of a mage. One with a high arcane power is capable of amazing feats, but even users with low arcane power are capable of impressive magical abilities. All characters start with 1 arcane power.
New resource: Mana
Mana is a quickly replenishing power source that mages use. It allows them to manipulate the elements. Mages with more arcane power are capable of storing more mana and recharging their mana quicker.
New Advantage: Elements
Mages use the elements as tools of war or convenience. By default, a mage is given 0 dots in every element, showing that they're unskilled in its use. As a mage becomes skilled at using an element, they're more capable at using that element. During the character creation process, the player is given 6 dots to spend on elemental skills. These six dots are spent on elemental points, the second dot in an element costing 2 dots and the third dot costing 3 dots.
Example of how to make a character:
Spoiler (click to show/hide):
I spent about 30 minutes making this character. I don't care all that much about him, but I think he makes a good NPC. If you find yourself spending an hour or multiple hours on a single character, that's normal. I've made 4 characters in WoD, one for Vampire: the Requiem, one for Werewolf: the Forsaken, one for Hunter: the Vigil, and one for Mage: the Awakening. The quickest character out of those four took 2 hours. The longest was the mage at around 6 hours. Most of that time was spent learning the system.
Step 1: Concept, name, and appearance.
Eric the Kleptomaniac
Eric is 17 years old. He's got blue eyes and light brown hair, and he is 5'10” in height. He weighs 158 pounds. He's thin but fit. He tends to slouch.
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Step 2: History + Virtue/Vice
Birth + early childhood: Eric was born at the tin mines south of Suteris to a poor mining family. He has an older and younger sister. His father and mother both love him, but with their difficult lifestyle and his siblings vying for attention, he felt oft neglected.
Late childhood: As he grew he became reticent, slowly shrinking away from his family. He felt his lot in life was unfair and as he grew he resented those with more money or power than him. Only a few years before he left his house he discovered his latent magical potential. He kept this secret from his family, intending to leave them behind to seek riches.
Friends: Not a very social kid, Eric didn't make too many friends. He had two very close friends from childhood; Tom and Martin. These two were partners in crime, as it were, and the three of them got into a lot of trouble as they grew up together. Other than those two, Eric had little trust for other kids.
Schooling: Eric went to a small schoolhouse in the mining town where he learned history, grammar, science, and magical theory. He went to school with Tom and Martin, and the three of them were beaten almost monthly for speaking out of turn or causing trouble around the school.
Wrap-up: It's only been a few months since he used his savings to take a train to Suteris. It was much harder to find a job than he thought it would be, and for the past few months he's been living on the streets. He's been stealing food, pinching wallets, and otherwise getting by through petty theft. He's made several friends amongst the homeless, a few of them willing to share meals with him. Maybe this is due to his young age, or maybe it's because he's been willing to return the favor. Either way, it's helped him make it to today.
Virtue: Charity
Vice: Envy
Step 3: Attributes
P/S/T: Social/Mental/Physical
Intelligence: 3
Wits: 3
Resolve: 1
+1
Strength: 2
Dexterity: 3
Stamina: 2
Presence: 2
Manipulation: 3
Composure: 3
+2
Step 4: Skills
P/S/T: Social, Mental, Physical
A: 2
C: 2
I: 1
Me: 1
Ma: 3
P: 1
S: 1
A: 2
B: 1
D: 0
F: 0
L: 2
St: 2
Su: 0
W: 0
A: 0
Em: 4
Ex: 2
I: 1
P: 2
So: 0
St: 2
Su: 3
Step 5: Mage Template
Arcane Power: 1
Elements:
Fire: 0
Ice: 0
Lightning: 0
Sound: 1
Stasis: 1
Light: 0
Dark: 1
Attraction: 2
Repulsion: 0
Step 6: Merits
Ambidextrous: 3
Common Sense: 4
Step 7: Special Considerations
Eric will start with 6 morality due to his history of petty theft. This choice will give him 5 bonus experience, which is left unspent.
As you can see Eric changed quite a bit from his concept. I was meaning to make a thief, but his back-story flowed together differently than I expected. He turned into more of a jack-of-some-trades, master of none.
I spent about 30 minutes making this character. I don't care all that much about him, but I think he makes a good NPC. If you find yourself spending an hour or multiple hours on a single character, that's normal. I've made 4 characters in WoD, one for Vampire: the Requiem, one for Werewolf: the Forsaken, one for Hunter: the Vigil, and one for Mage: the Awakening. The quickest character out of those four took 2 hours. The longest was the mage at around 6 hours. Most of that time was spent learning the system.
Step 1: Concept, name, and appearance.
Eric the Kleptomaniac
Eric is 17 years old. He's got blue eyes and light brown hair, and he is 5'10” in height. He weighs 158 pounds. He's thin but fit. He tends to slouch.
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Step 2: History + Virtue/Vice
Birth + early childhood: Eric was born at the tin mines south of Suteris to a poor mining family. He has an older and younger sister. His father and mother both love him, but with their difficult lifestyle and his siblings vying for attention, he felt oft neglected.
Late childhood: As he grew he became reticent, slowly shrinking away from his family. He felt his lot in life was unfair and as he grew he resented those with more money or power than him. Only a few years before he left his house he discovered his latent magical potential. He kept this secret from his family, intending to leave them behind to seek riches.
Friends: Not a very social kid, Eric didn't make too many friends. He had two very close friends from childhood; Tom and Martin. These two were partners in crime, as it were, and the three of them got into a lot of trouble as they grew up together. Other than those two, Eric had little trust for other kids.
Schooling: Eric went to a small schoolhouse in the mining town where he learned history, grammar, science, and magical theory. He went to school with Tom and Martin, and the three of them were beaten almost monthly for speaking out of turn or causing trouble around the school.
Wrap-up: It's only been a few months since he used his savings to take a train to Suteris. It was much harder to find a job than he thought it would be, and for the past few months he's been living on the streets. He's been stealing food, pinching wallets, and otherwise getting by through petty theft. He's made several friends amongst the homeless, a few of them willing to share meals with him. Maybe this is due to his young age, or maybe it's because he's been willing to return the favor. Either way, it's helped him make it to today.
Virtue: Charity
Vice: Envy
Step 3: Attributes
P/S/T: Social/Mental/Physical
Intelligence: 3
Wits: 3
Resolve: 1
+1
Strength: 2
Dexterity: 3
Stamina: 2
Presence: 2
Manipulation: 3
Composure: 3
+2
Step 4: Skills
P/S/T: Social, Mental, Physical
A: 2
C: 2
I: 1
Me: 1
Ma: 3
P: 1
S: 1
A: 2
B: 1
D: 0
F: 0
L: 2
St: 2
Su: 0
W: 0
A: 0
Em: 4
Ex: 2
I: 1
P: 2
So: 0
St: 2
Su: 3
Step 5: Mage Template
Arcane Power: 1
Elements:
Fire: 0
Ice: 0
Lightning: 0
Sound: 1
Stasis: 1
Light: 0
Dark: 1
Attraction: 2
Repulsion: 0
Step 6: Merits
Ambidextrous: 3
Common Sense: 4
Step 7: Special Considerations
Eric will start with 6 morality due to his history of petty theft. This choice will give him 5 bonus experience, which is left unspent.
As you can see Eric changed quite a bit from his concept. I was meaning to make a thief, but his back-story flowed together differently than I expected. He turned into more of a jack-of-some-trades, master of none.
The Elements:
Spoiler (click to show/hide):
Fire: This element is the embodiment of heat. Fire is the most common element, most people being proficient in it. Skilled users can cause blasts of heat, instantly vaporizing most materials and causing a small blast from the expansion of air.
Ice: Ice is the antithesis of fire. The use of this element removes heat from the surroundings. Powerful users can chill the air to freezing point, causing a snow of frozen air and ice.
Lightning: This is the creation of electric potential. This can induce strong currents in conductive materials, and skilled users can fire bolts of lightning through the air. Electric lamps have been set up in a couple of large cities, drawing from lightning nodes to supply the required power.
Sound: Sound is the vibration of particles. Skilled users can turn large slabs of concrete into dust.
Stasis: This element is very rare, and its function is quell all vibration in particles. In its extreme, this results in the halt of all movement in a target. Stasis isn't deadly as it only stops movement. This skill is best used for protection and law enforcement. Skilled users can freeze limbs and sections of the torso.
Light: Light releases white light. Skilled users can produce a blinding flash.
Dark: This element absorbs light. Skilled users can absorb the light of many lamps or torches or darken a small sunlit area.
Attraction: Attraction is an act of force, pulling objects from afar and compressing materials. Skillful users can pull objects from afar or collect many small objects into a ball.
Repulsion: Repulsion is the opposite of Attraction. Skillful users can cause small explosions in the air.
Fire: This element is the embodiment of heat. Fire is the most common element, most people being proficient in it. Skilled users can cause blasts of heat, instantly vaporizing most materials and causing a small blast from the expansion of air.
Ice: Ice is the antithesis of fire. The use of this element removes heat from the surroundings. Powerful users can chill the air to freezing point, causing a snow of frozen air and ice.
Lightning: This is the creation of electric potential. This can induce strong currents in conductive materials, and skilled users can fire bolts of lightning through the air. Electric lamps have been set up in a couple of large cities, drawing from lightning nodes to supply the required power.
Sound: Sound is the vibration of particles. Skilled users can turn large slabs of concrete into dust.
Stasis: This element is very rare, and its function is quell all vibration in particles. In its extreme, this results in the halt of all movement in a target. Stasis isn't deadly as it only stops movement. This skill is best used for protection and law enforcement. Skilled users can freeze limbs and sections of the torso.
Light: Light releases white light. Skilled users can produce a blinding flash.
Dark: This element absorbs light. Skilled users can absorb the light of many lamps or torches or darken a small sunlit area.
Attraction: Attraction is an act of force, pulling objects from afar and compressing materials. Skillful users can pull objects from afar or collect many small objects into a ball.
Repulsion: Repulsion is the opposite of Attraction. Skillful users can cause small explosions in the air.
Gems:
Spoiler (click to show/hide):
Certain gems store magical energy. This energy can be siphoned out by mages, or piped through magical devices. The list of the elements with their associated gems is below.
Fire: Ruby
Ice: Sapphire
Lightning: Topaz
Sound: Zircon
Stasis: Moonstone
Light: Diamond
Darkness: Onyx
Attraction: Amethyst
Repulsion: Citrine
Certain gems store magical energy. This energy can be siphoned out by mages, or piped through magical devices. The list of the elements with their associated gems is below.
Fire: Ruby
Ice: Sapphire
Lightning: Topaz
Sound: Zircon
Stasis: Moonstone
Light: Diamond
Darkness: Onyx
Attraction: Amethyst
Repulsion: Citrine
Equipment:
Spoiler (click to show/hide):
It's 1903, so many of our modern weapons aren't around. Below are a list of some specific weapons that you'd have access to. Feel free to think up other weapons that fit the timeframe.
VS Model 1212: This rifle is a breech-loading single-shot .39 cartridge rifle. It's used mainly by hunters.
K&B 39: Built in 1239, this is a .47 breech-loading single-shot carbine. It is used by sportsmen and hunters.
Keller Standard: This is a famous rifled musket from the six years war. Its accuracy and stopping power make it a favorite when accuracy counts.
Cole Arms Law: This revolver is a great weapon to have on your hip for when your rifle won't do it.
M1185 Dragoon: This antique dragoon has all the stopping power of a full size musket, but you'd better be close enough to hit them.
Army Single Action: An antique single-shot pistol, this was used in Denda for about 50 years.
Blunderbuss: A large bore musket loaded with shot, this weapon will blow people away.
Saber: Expensive but effective, the saber is a fine blade.
Bayonet: Given a bit of extra cash, you can have one of these mounted on any rifle.
Combat knife: About 8 inches long, this dagger is designed for cutting.
For other equipment, choose things that would be relatively inexpensive in 1900. If you're not sure, pass it by me first.
It's 1903, so many of our modern weapons aren't around. Below are a list of some specific weapons that you'd have access to. Feel free to think up other weapons that fit the timeframe.
VS Model 1212: This rifle is a breech-loading single-shot .39 cartridge rifle. It's used mainly by hunters.
K&B 39: Built in 1239, this is a .47 breech-loading single-shot carbine. It is used by sportsmen and hunters.
Keller Standard: This is a famous rifled musket from the six years war. Its accuracy and stopping power make it a favorite when accuracy counts.
Cole Arms Law: This revolver is a great weapon to have on your hip for when your rifle won't do it.
M1185 Dragoon: This antique dragoon has all the stopping power of a full size musket, but you'd better be close enough to hit them.
Army Single Action: An antique single-shot pistol, this was used in Denda for about 50 years.
Blunderbuss: A large bore musket loaded with shot, this weapon will blow people away.
Saber: Expensive but effective, the saber is a fine blade.
Bayonet: Given a bit of extra cash, you can have one of these mounted on any rifle.
Combat knife: About 8 inches long, this dagger is designed for cutting.
For other equipment, choose things that would be relatively inexpensive in 1900. If you're not sure, pass it by me first.
I hope everyone will enjoy this campaign, and I will probably be amending this post in the future to fix mistakes or to clarify.
Changelog:
2014-04-22: added Setting tag; added information about Suteris.
2014-04-23: Added Culture tag; information about religion, the races, discrimination, and schooling.
2014-04-24: Added weaponry and gave more info about them.
2014-04-26: Made a character and listed the steps involved. Reference that if you're wondering how to make a character for this.
just need help making it :3
