Cairo After Dark :: Chronicles of Blood & Shadows

Character Creation Restrictions
In order to try and keep the characters in a somewhat early stage at character creation, no players are allowed to raise any stat above 3 before the freebie point stage. I realize that this is in line with the standard White Wolf rules, but the next part is my alteration. During freebie points and Merits & Flaws, the only stats that may be raised above 3 are Attributes and Backgrounds. All other stats are limited to a max of 3 dots through the entire character creation period.

Stories vary in power, and thus the players within the plot - the PC's - must also vary in strength. In the case of a low-power game (of which I am very fond, both as a player and a Storyteller), you may sometimes need to restrict some aspects of character creation. Mummies, even starting ones, can be pretty powerful. In the time that I've been running, I've heard a lot of disgruntled mumbles specifically dedicated to backgrounds. You can often maximize a background or two and make up for any limitations that result from being a fairly young PC.

Note: Characters coming from Free Forum Chronicles, will be required to start a fresh character sheet according to White-Wolf stats. No points will be carried over from your Free Forum game.

NO starting character, unless an extensive 10,000 word history is given, can take any rites but starting creation rites and one other. If a extensive history is give character maybe granted stats, rituals, rites and etc.

Concept:
The Concept is quite important, so give it some thought before you move on. Stay away from obvious combat oriented concepts.
Choose Amenti, Nature/Demeanor and Inheritance.

Attributes:
Attributes: 6 | 4 | 3
Attributes of 4 and higher need special approval at this point.

Abilities:
Abilities: 11 | 7 | 4
No ability above 3 at this point, but you can raise it using Freebies later.

Secondary Abilities:
First off, before we get too far into this, be aware that unlike the default abilities on the character sheet, all Seconday Abilities must be approved by the Storyteller before purchasing.

Secondary Abilities are used exactly as standard abilities are, only because of their specialization and limited purpose, cost less than standard abilities. The cost to buy a Secondary Ability is two (2) experience points. To raise a Secondary Ability costs current rating in experience. Again, be sure that the Secondary Ability is available to you before you purchase it.

Backgrounds:
Backgrounds: 3

These Traits describe advantages of rebirth (and/or second death), circumstance and opportunity: material possessions, social networks and the like. Backgrounds are external, not internal Traits, and you should always rationalize how you came to posses them, as well as what they represent. Who are your contacts? Why do your allies support you? Where did you meet your retainers? How exactly do you make enough money to justify your four dots in Resources? If you've put enough detail into your character concept, selecting appropriate Backgrounds should be easy.

Although it's uncommon to make roll involving Background Traits, the Storytellers might have you do so to see if you can obtain information, goods or favors. For example, you might have to roll Wits + Resources to keep your stock options healthy, or Manipulation + Contacts to wheedle that extra favor from your smuggler "associate".

Second Death/Rebirth:
Write circimstances of Second Death and then your Rebirth.
These dots must go into the clan specific Disciplines.

Merits & Flaws:
Only 7 points can be spent in Merits and Flaws.
No additional Freebie points can be gained from Merits & Flaws.
Restricted Merits & Flaws: None at given time.

Merits and Flaws are optional Traits that the Storyteller may choose to include, or prohibit, in his/her chronicle. Properly used, Merits and Flaws help players create and individualize their characters. Merits are special abilities or advantages that are rare or unique in the general Kindred population, while Flaws are liabilities or disadvantages that pose challenges to a character's nightly existence. These Traits can provide player characters with added depth and personality, but the Storytellers should be careful to ensure that any Traits chosen will not adversely influence the course of the chronicle or give one character an unfair advantage over the rest.

Finishing Touches:
Record Balance (1), Willpower (1) and Sekhem (1).
No character can have a starting Balance rating higher than three.

History:
History is as important as always and since you will only have a handful character its recommended that you spend some extra time on it. Not only does a great background earn you more freebies, it also define your character and give the staff something to work with during the games. Your history should explain who you are, what has formed you to that person and an explanation of all the odds and quirks that makes up your character.

Freebies:
The player may now spend 10 Freebie Points to purchase additional dots in Traits. These points may be spent however the player chooses - thus the term "freebie". Each dots has variable freebie point cost based on which type of Trait it is - consult the chart below for freebie point spending of Traits. Remember that disciplines purchased with freebie points need not come from the character's clan disciplines (although purchase of some disciplines may require explanation about how he/she acquired them).

Special Notes: Botching Initiative
When a player rolls a '1' for initiative, they then roll a second time. If the second roll comes up as anything other than a '1', they simply add 1 to their initiative rating and go during that phase. However, if the player rolls a second '1' then they have botched their initiative. This results in that player doing nothing for that round. They can perform simple reflexives, soak damage, etc. They may not, however, dodge, use disciplines, speak (IC), or move.

Note: Players are people, no matter how hard they try to get into character. Often times there are things they don't wish to say to the group aloud.

After reading the rules section, it's obvious that I tend to find lots of ways to limit the progress of my characters. So I felt that I needed a way to focus their learning to compensate. I looked to the Trinity system for inspiration. A character in Trinity can buy multiple specialties in both abilities and attributes (to a maximum of three), whereas in the World of Darkness, you earn a specialty when you reach 4 dots in something. I decided then that rather than letting the characters get more powerful, I would try to let them get more specialized.

Specialties
Some character are especially good at particular applications of their Traits. For example, a painter might be particularly good at portraits, a baseball player might be adept at catching fly ball, and a brawler might be infamous for his/her low blows. To represent this, characters with scores of 4 or higher in Attributes and Abilities may choose specialties for those Traits.

A specialty is a particular subcategory of an Attribute or Ability - thus, a character with a Strength 5 might choose to be especially adept in "dead lifting," while a character with Investigation 4 might be a whiz at "ballistics". Whenever a player makes a die roll involving an activity in which his/her character has specialized, she may take any die that comes up "10", tally the success normally, then re-roll that die in attempt to accumulate extra successes. If the re-rolled die also comes up "10", he/she may continue to roll for still further successes. This process continues until no further "10s" are rolled.

Multiple Specializations
In order to develop laterally and to enhance their abilities without becoming all-powerful, characters can specialize in specific skills and abilities.

As per the standard rules, when a character reaches 4 dots in an ability or attribute, he may choose a specialization for that attribute or ability. For example, with 4 dots in firearms, the character may specialize in handguns. From that point on, the player may re-roll 10's to acquire additional successes on any roll involving that quality or specialization. But with all the time in the world, couldn't a vampire learn not only to specialize in handguns, but also rifles?

Thus, I bastardized the multiple specialization rules from Trinity. Upon reaching the 4th dot in an attribute or ability, a character earns a free specialization, as expected. If the player wishes the character to broaden their talents, they may later spend experience to buy a second specialization. If again the player wishes that the character become even more knowledgeable, more experience may be spent to buy a third specialization, but only after buying a fifth dot in that ability. No more specializations may be purchased beyond 3. This may be done in both attributes and abilities to a maximum of 3 specializations per attribute or ability.

I like skills, no kidding, I really like skills. There aren't nearly enough skills, talents, or knowledges on the character sheet so as a result, I'm a big fan of secondary skills (as offered in the Players Guide for 2nd Edition or the Storytellers Companion in Revised Edition). Unfortunately, both sources only give rules for buying secondary skills at character creation so I had to come up with my own system for buying them with experience, because I think (for example) anyone can learn Area Knowledge after they've been in a city for a while. I offer this option mostly because people are not aware of Secondary Skills at the time that they are creating their characters.

New: Automatic Weapons
I'll be honest here. We don't like 'em. But I'll also admit people with connections CAN get a hold of these. So instead of putting a flat ban on automatic weapons, we'll just make it tough to get one. If your char wants an automatic weapon, then he/she needs to have a streetwise of 4. A final note: even though the World of Darkness in Cairo is larger, it's not New York City. There are consequences to letting loose with an automatic weapon--from the cops, as well as ...other... people. This list is an attempt to be exhaustive. Likely, however, it isn't. Thus, we reserve the right to make additions. Players will be informed when such additions are made.