Deadman Productions

 


Character Creation Guidelines
~ updated 06/13/05 ~

I. Contact the storytellers about your interest in playing in the chronicle. You can send an email to the following address [deadman@ruined.net]. There is a chance that certain Vampire Clans will not be available, due to the numbers in the game. We will try to keep the available clans posted on the website, but you will always want to get a final word from the STs.

II. Arrange for Generation to be drawn. You can draw it at game, or you can make arrangements with us to either meet away from game or for us to draw for you. The draw signifies the generation that you are allowed to purchase down to. You are not required to spend the points for generation at all.

III. Follow the character generation guidelines as per the Revised ed. of Laws of the Night. There are a few changes to this system listed below. On most cases, follow the book. If you are unsure, feel free to email us with any questions.

A. Attribute Traits: 9-Primary/7 Secondary/ 5 Tertiary.
Your selection of Primary/Secondary/Tertiary attributes will have an effect on the power level of your character throughout the chronicle. Instead of all three having the same maximum levels as in Laws of the Night Revised, Your Primary limit will be the generational maximum + 1, the Secondary limit will be as it is printed in the book, and the Tertiary limit will be the generational maximum -1. (Example: if you make 12th gen Toreador and have a generational maximum of 10 traits and took Social as your Primary, Mental as your Secondary and Physical as your Tertiary, your new trait maximums would be Social (11) Mental (10) Physical (9)).

B. Ability Traits: 7 points (maximum of 3 per ability at the start, before clan bonuses)

C. Discipline Points: 5, which must be selected from in-clan BASIC disciplines. You can buy REASONABLE out-of-clan disciplines (a VERY good reason and ST approval will help). Players can never purchase an out-of-clan discipline higher than their highest clan discipline. Also, we are NOT allowing the merit that allows you a fourth in-clan discipline.

D. Background points: 7 points to be put towards purchasing backgrounds.

E. Freebie Points: 5 as per the Laws if the Night Revised. Generational limits still apply.

F. Negative Traits: No more than -5 total in negatives that can be taken. The Negative traits come from a combination of Negative attribute traits, derangements and/or lowered Humanity. These are considered different than the points you get from Flaws.

G. Merits and Flaws: No more than 7 points worth of flaws. The storytellers must approve all merits and flaws before play. Many of the merits and flaws published in the Revised Clan books are available for characters, but it is good to ask an ST first.

H. Influences: Available actions as per Laws of the Night Revised. New document included for influence usage, located here. There are caps on all influence levels, so you will likely encounter problems trying to start the game with a 4 or 5 in a respective influence. As always, backstory helps.

IV. Send characters via email (or hand them in if on site) to deadman@ruined.net. Submissions should be in either Microsoft Word format as an attachment, or plain text in the body of an email. The ST who receives the characters will forward them to the appropriate Storyteller. Alternately, you may send them to the Storyteller in charge of that clan using the contacts listed below. If so, please copy the above address on the email so the character may be entered into the database.

V. The Cardinal Rule: The Storytellers as a group have the final say on whether or not a character is approved for play within the Deadman chronicle.

VI. With all of that said, here is a disclaimer of sorts. We at Deadman love a variety of characters. But every character does not need to be drastically different from the norm. We know everyone wants to play something that interests them, and it's possible that certain players may have tried every available Clan. But that doesn't mean the only way to have fun is to play the last survivor of that weird bloodline that died out in the Dark Ages. We have restricted the Clans to eleven choices more for continuity of story and frankly, to cut out on a lot of the weird rare stuff appearing all at once. Having four people play Warrior Salubri in one city when there are only a handful left takes a lot of the mystique out of the clan. The choices are limited, but with eleven to choose from, that still leaves a lot of options.

And that is just clan. To us, character concept is king. People tend to overlook that there can be so many different types of Ventrue, when that is only the clan that embraced the character. Yes, they gravitate towards the persons with similar motivations for embrace, but they are not carbon copies of one another. Clan, and many other of the numbers on the character sheet should be secondary to the type of character one wants to play and what concept clicks in a player's head. We're here to tell an enjoyable story, and that doesn't depend on the stats of your character.

We are currently only accepting concepts for Camarilla and Independantly-aligned Vampires and Ghouls belonging to the same sects. We are not accepting submissions for Sabbat vampires, non-Kindred (ie. Garou, Mages, Mummies, Hunters, etc.), or vampires from the following clans:

  • Lasombra
  • Tzimisce
  • Salubri
  • Gargoyles
  • Kiasyd
  • Daughters of Cacophany