Steps in character creation:

Step 0: READ

PLEASE read ALL of the following pages BEFORE filling out a character template:
http://www.shadowsoverthesouth.net/wiki/index.php?n=Site.CharacterCreation
http://www.shadowsoverthesouth.net/wiki/index.php?n=Site.ExampleOfSubmissions
http://www.shadowsoverthesouth.net/forumdisplay.php?fid=41 - ALL OF IT
http://www.shadowsoverthesouth.net/wiki/index.php?n=Site.NotesOnChangelingCharacterCreation
http://www.shadowsoverthesouth.net/wiki/index.php?n=Site.NotesOnMummyCharacterCreation
Vampire Creation Notes
Hunter House Rules & Notes on Character Creation
Wraith House Rules
InfoTech Rules

THANK YOU

This will save us and you time, and so we can both run ahead to the fun part: playing the character!

Sheets:

Ok character sheets. Before you freak out about templates being txt based, understand something. That template, is NOT your sheet. It's what we, the ST's use, to MAKE your sheet on our wiki. You are more than welcome to submit a normal pdf sheet to the STs in addition to the txt based template. Because the template is just that. A TEMPLATE.

The end sheet will live on this wiki, with a what you see is what you get editor that allows you to present and manage your character as you wish, so long as it is not a pdf. We cannot track changes to a PDF sheet, and therefor we cannot prevent cheating with it. As such we do not allow PDF Sheets. Sorry, not changing, don't ask.

Step 1: Concept.

The first task to creating a character is coming up with a basic concept that you can give to the ST's, or storytellers. The STs run the game, and manage the introduction and growth of characters.
Collect and idea of:

  • What you want to play
  • Who you want to play
  • Basic info such as personality and goals

First character made must be from the options presented in the Core books: Mummy the Resurrection (Rev), Hunter the Reckoning, Vampire 20th An., Hunter's Hunted 2, Mage 20th An, Changeling 20th An, Wraith the Oblivion 20th An. Strange, obscure, stretched, rare or otherwise non-core character types will only be approved as a second character, after 2 months of good consistent play, on a case by case basis, pending ST pre-approval. You wanna play an obscure bloodline? A type of Fae that died out a millennia ago? Prove you're worth the great investment of time by the STs required for such a character through good role-play and good OOC etiquette.

Once you have those things, talk to an ST, preferably the ST responsible for your character's game. If the concept fits within the rules they will have you move on to generating a character. You will have a set of pages made for you on the wiki and a template will be copied into one for you to use to build the character sheet.

Templates:

You will also need a template to use to submit your character. These templates are .txt documents and should be edited with a basic text editor. This is to make them small, and to allow us to have a uniform set of templates for all character types, which can vary wildly.

Any submissions in any other format will not be accepted.

You may find the templates on the templates page.

Step 2: Creation:

You will want to have filled out a character sheet text, only in notepad (substitutes will not be considered for review). Follow the rules in the book(s) that pertain(s) to your character, as well as any restrictions, if any. You will also need to track the way that you spent freebie points.
Below, you will find a general chart for Freebie Expenditure track.
The format is not to be changed, however. Don't reinvent the wheel. Any slight change means that we have to spend even more time going over your character. That means that it will take longer to approve you for play. Follow these steps. Write them out using the exact same method, and use the exact same format, without deviation. Again, this does make the character approval process a hell of a lot easier, and that's good for everyone. Thank you for your consideration in this matter!

This mistake has become so common it merits a huge poster, so I want to be absolutely clear: you get points for abilities in stage 2 or 3, and in that stage: NO ABILITY ABOVE 3. 4th and 5th points must be bought with Freebie points, as clearly stated in EVERY BOOK.

V20 W20 MtR M20 HtR C20 DtF WtO20

House Rules

We try and minimize the amount of house rules so that players can be relatively free to just stick to the books. However, in such a multy-system game, questions naturally arise, and our House Rules come to answer them.

  • Merits and Flaws (WIP)
  • Technology is a Skill, in all system types.
  • Research is a Knowledge, in all system types.
  • Certification is now optional for all systems. See link for details.
  • Limit yourself to Merits and Flaws of your own venue. Exceptions will be approved case-to-case and very rarely.
  • The Property Merit (M20 Book of Secrets) was cut-out. We use resources as "enough justification" to own property.
  • 'Dodge' was nixed entirely in all 20th Anniversary systems. If your splat does not have a 20th Anniversary version and uses Dodge, just ignore it entirely. We use Dexterity + Athletics for all Dodge rolls.
  • You cannot gain more than 7 Freebie Points from flaws. You can take more flaws than that if you want for the sake of flavor/difficulty, but you cannot gain more than 7 Freebie Points, for a total of 22 Freebie Points.
  • In that same vein, you can take as many merits as you can afford, but: We have a soft limit on 7 points of merits. Any Merits taken beyond that will require a particularly stellar character sheet with substantial justification. STs reserve the right to limit merits for any reason, including and especially preserving game balance.
  • Notes on Changeling Character Creation
  • Notes on Mummy Character Creation
  • Hunter House Rules & Notes on Character Creation
  • Wraith Guild Notes
  • Wraith House Rules

Step 3: Submission

Once you have a completed text document with your character ready, submit it with the following link
Character Submission
Simply reply to the thread and you will be taken to a form to submit your character for review and approval.

Our effervescent Head ST likes his submissions in the following way:

  1. . Please note the number of dots gained from Freebies in the parentheses of each category (not individual trait).
  2. . Specialties should be written in-line like this: "Alertness (Sight): 4". And not in any other way.
  3. . Please explain any Background, Merit or Flaw in the NOTES section, and not in the dots section.
  4. . Mummy Players: Please separate "mortal" from "supernatural" Backgrounds. Since stage 1 reflects your mortal self, there is a minimum of 3 mortal background points.
  5. . See Example of submissions.
    (no, really, go ahead and actually look at those!))
  6. . FB per category, not individual trait.

(Chart 1: Example FB countdown)
Freebie points (15):
-02: Merits (2) - Flaws (4)
03 - Willpower + 3 (from 5 to 8)
05 - Attributes + 1
03 - Backgrounds + 3
06 - Abilities + 3