This quickstart guide and worksheet will help you create a player character (PC) for a Minds Eye Theater Chronicle set in the World of Darkness. Follow the instructions below and fill in the fields as appropriate. Once you have completed this worksheet transfer the information to a character sheet and submit both to the Storyteller for approval. You should have a copy of Mind’s Eye Theatre (MET) (Core Rulebook)handy, or a friend who’s very familiar with this book. Check with your Storyteller for approval of characters concepts.

STEP 1: CONCEPT

Pick a concept for your PC; this can be something as simple as‘intrepid adventurer’ or ‘angst-filled loner’, or something more elaborate.

A few things to think about at this point:

• Why has your character come to Saskatoon, and why will they stay here? Saskatoon can be a pretty strange and unfriendly place in the World of Darkness. Unless your character has a solid reason to come here, you might find that they simply desire to turn around and leave again, which isn’t very much fun for anyone.
• Who is your character connected to? This ties into the first question in many ways. Your character must have heard about Saskatoon from someone, right? If you can establish a connection to one(or, better, several!) of the characters already in play, you’ll provide yourself with hooks into the game and characters you already have the beginnings of a story with.
• How will your character fit in? Antisocial characters can be fun, but the brooding loner who stands in the corner and does nothing is pretty boring to play in a predominantly social game. You’ll spend most of your time interacting with other characters, so give some thought to the types of interactions you’ll be having.
• How will your character stir up trouble? Fitting in is good, but if you never get into trouble you’ll probably have a pretty boring existence. What dangerous interests or vices does your character have? If she is going to become involved in exciting stories and perilous plots, give her a reason to dive in headfirst!

STEP 2: ATTRIBUTES

Pick your Attributes and distribute character creation dots by darkening in the dots. Prioritize your Attributes: the primary category (e.g. Social) gets five (5) dots to spend amongst the three Attributes in it, the secondary gets four (4), and the tertiary three (3). The first dot in each Attribute is free and darkened, but to get the fifth dot in an Attribute costs two (2) of your character creation dots. (See MET p. 43) You may not normally start with any Attribute above five.

STEP 3: SKILLS & SKILL SPECIALTIES

Select Skills and distribute character creation dot by darkening in the dots (unlike Attributes, the first dot of a skill is not free). Prioritize your Skill categories: the primary category gets eleven (11) dots to spend in it, the secondary gets seven (7) and the tertiary gets four (4). The fifth dot in any Skill costs two (2) character creation dots. Next take three Skill Specialties (e.g. Lockpicking as a specialty of Larceny; see MET p. 58) of your choice and write them below the appropriate category’s column. More than one Skill Specialty may be taken per Skill. Skill Specialties add +1 to any challenge in which that particular Skill Specialty comes into play; however you may never gain more than +1 to any single challenge due to Skill Specialties. You may not normally start with any Skill above five.

Step 5: Advantages, Virtues & Vices

Advantages are traits derived from your character’s attributes (See MET pg. 99). Your character’s Virtue and Vice determine the best and worst elements of her nature – if you successfully roleplay out your Virtue and Vice, you may have an opportunity to regain Willpower traits that you have used. During character creation it is possible to trade in dots of Morality for starting Experience Points. A character may trade in up to two (2) dots of Morality for five (5) starting Experience Points per dot (thereby starting at 5 or 6 Morality). This reflects heinous past behaviors that she has engaged in and learned from (gaining XP), though leaving her scarred (losing Morality).

STEP 6: MERITS, FLAWS & DERANGEMENTS

Merits:

Select seven (7) character creation dots worth of Merits (up to 6 of which can be spent on Blood Potency dots 2 and 3, see Blood Potency above). Merits are listed by category with base dot cost. Prerequisites are also listed where applicable with a ‘†’ followed by what the character requires before the Merit can be purchased. Some Merits are ‘Creation Only’ (marked with a ‘‡’ below), which means that unlike other Merits, they may only be purchased with the 7 Merit character creation dots. If a Merit is labeled ‘special’, you will need to talk to your Storyteller about details pertaining to taking it, e.g. who/what your Allies are and what they do. Merits that have multiple components have each component purchased as a separate Merit (e.g. Haven, which has three components, would be three separate five-dot Merits, not a single fifteen-dot Merit). For any Merits (listed here or in newer books) which offer variable dot costs, the fifth dot costs two (2) character creation dots to purchase. You may not normally start with any Merit above five. See Chapter 5 of MET for more information on Merits.

Complications:

Instead of having Flaws or Hindrances or what have you that give points at character creation, instead we’ll be using Complications – facets of your character that yield experience points when they significantly hinder or complicate your character’s life.

You can have up to three Complications at any one time. If you have less than three Complications, you can add one by speaking to the Storyteller. Complications can be elements you want to bring into the story, or story elements that you want to take ownership of so to speak – if a particular NPC that has been harassing you really appeals to you, you can make him a more central aspect of your character by taking him as an Enemy Complication, for instance. It doesn’t mean that you can’t have bad stuff happen to you that doesn’t involve Complications – that will probably happen all the time – but it does mean that the Storyteller will give more care and attention to Complications. A jealous husband NPC whose ire your character attracts might normally be distracted or driven off by random events – but if he’s a Complication, he’ll stay on you until he’s dealt with and even then, you might find he had friends willing to take up the torch, for example.

Once you’ve got a Complication, there are three ways to get rid of it again:

• If it has never been used(ie: you’ve never gotten any XP from it) and hasn’t been written into the plot you can just ask the Storyteller to remove it. Sometimes the Storyteller will suggest this if he doesn’t think he’ll be able to work a given Complication into play(”Sorry Jim…I know you took the ‘Abducted by the Greys’ Complication, but I just can’t see myself bringing that into the story…you may as well remove it.”).
• If the Complication has been resolved as part of a story, you can speak to a Storyteller and get rid of it. If you kill your hated rival in a dramatic showdown, it makes sense for you to discard the “Hated Rival” Complication (although you do, of course, have the option of leaving it open for someone to take your rival’s place).
• If the Complication has already seen play but hasn’t been resolved in story, you can “buy it off” for 1 XP. This doesn’t mean the Complication magically disappears, but it does mean the Storyteller will be less focused on it and probably looking for ways to write it out. This is the option to take if a Complication just plain bores you.

The prime benefit of taking Complications is as a signal to the Storyteller about what sort of plots you’re interested in for this particular character. In addition to that, however, any month in which your character’s life is significantly hindered by one of your Complications, you get an extra experience point. If multiple complications affect you, you still only get one experience point however. If a Complication enters play but doesn’t really have a significant hindering effect, there is no experience reward – if you have the “Lame – limps on one leg” Complication, you’ll probably be roleplaying it all the time, but not get any experience. If, on the other hand, you have to chase down an important item in a foot race and lose out because of your reduced movement, then you get the point… Ideally, this means we don’t have to worry about balancing Complications relatively to each other.

You can potentially make anything you wish into a Complication – just run it by the Storyteller. There is no one complete list that will encapsulate all possibilities. That being said, you can probably think of Complications as of coming in three “flavors”. Active Complications are Complications that require you, the player, to bring them into play – mental defects and the like often fall into this category. I won’t get after you for not roleplaying them, but of course unless you roleplay them they can’t get you in trouble, and if they don’t get you in trouble, you don’t get any experience points. Passive Complications are ones that will generally be in play all the time – for instance, being blind, or having a curse on you that means you can’t work magic indoors. You’ll still only get the experience when they significantly hinder you, but they’re around all the time just because of who you are. Lastly, there are Triggered Complications – these are things that you generally have to wait for the Storyteller to bring into the plot. Examples of this are being hunted by an enemy, or having a dark secret that might get leaked to your enemies. These categories aren’t ironclad, but just give you an idea of the different types of things you might think up.

To get you started, here is a list of example Complications, some of each type. Feel free to post suggestions or ideas in the forums if you want.

Addiction

Your mage suffers an addition to some substance, such as nicotine, alchol or some hard drug. Some substances might be trivial and easily obtained, while others might be illgeal, dangerous or liable to cause health or psychological problems. If you don’t get your fix, you might go into withdrawl.

Aloof

Your character is uncomfortable in social settings and avoids crowds and interaction as much as possible. She dislikes being the center of attention and recoils from center stage.

Amnesia

Your character can’t remember anything about his past, his history or the events of his life. If you choose, you might also give the Storyteller permission to make up additional Complications for you which you are unaware of…

Behavior Blind

Your character doesn’t really understand human behavior and is blind to common social cues that communicate other people’s basic feelings. Maybe he was raised by wolves or terrible parents, but he is socially maladapted. He can’t tell when others use sarcasm or innuendo, or if he’s boring them.

Coward

Your character is afraid to confront unknown situations, and hesitates when he should act boldly. This Complication is often as relevant to heated social situations as it is to actual physical combat.

Cursed

You suffer from a severe curse given to you by some great supernatural power. Maybe you stutter uncontrollably when you try to say something important. Maybe you are doomed to be wounded in every battle you participate in, or maybe you’ll die if you ever refuse hospitality offered to you.

Dark Secret

Some terrible past haunts your character. Perhaps he turned on his mentor, or is secretly in love with a Scelesti. Either way your character’s secret can range from causing embarassment or trouble all the way up to a secret that could get you killed…

Defective Sense

One of your sense is dulled or abnormally damaged in some fashion. Perhaps the character is hard of hearing, has limited taste receptors, is color-blind or is correctably nearsighted and will suffers penalties to rolls involving that sense. Maybe you only have one eye or on ear. Or maybe you go all the way and make a character who is blind or deaf…

Disfigured

A hideous disfigurement makes your character’s appearance disturbing, probably imposing a penalty on rolls relating to social interactions.

Deep Sleeper

Snore, toss and ignore the alarm – your mage sleeps like a force of nature. You are prone to sleeping in, and suffer penalties when you need to wake up suddenly.

Enemy

Somewhere along the line you have made a powerful enemy and they seek your destruction – maybe phyiscal, maybe social or mental.

Forgetful

Your character doesn’t have actual amnesia, but she does have trouble remembering particular details. What was the name of that cursed book I was supposed to rescue from the library?

Lame

Due to an unhealed injury or missing limb, your mage has trouble walking. The character has a pronounced limp and a slow stride, and he must use some means of support to walk like a cane, leg braces, or magic. The character’s movement speed is halved, and running is impossible.

Nightmares

Horrid nightmares afflict your mage, whether due to a natural condition like night terrors, a curse, or perhaps a vivid replaying of a terrifying event. Your character has trouble getting enough sleep, and he often wakes up horrified, soaked with sweat and exhausted. You might suffer dice penalties after particularily intense nights of terror..

Noteriety

Your character, like O.J. Simpson or Michael Jackson, is renowned for some heinous deed, regardless of whether he committed it or not. THis Complication could derive from his infamous family or from his association with a scandalous organization such as the Mob or a company known for enviornmental infractions. If recognized, he inspires a negative reaction in others.

Oath

You have sworn some oath or vow – maybe you’ve sworn never to take the Lord’s name in vain, or maybe you have vowed to never allow the innocent to be harmed in your presence.

One Arm

Your character is missing an arm, which makes it hard to perform many tasks.

Phobia

Some simple stimulus engenders an overwhelming fear in your mage. Your character might be afraid of snakes, heights or large crowds of people. When confronted with hsi fear, your mage might retreat from the situation or even flee completely out of control.

Racist/Sexist

Your character has biased opinions of the other races, genders, gener-preferance groups or cultures. Unfortunately, he also has trouble keeping those opinions to himself, even in the presence of such people. He can expect to be confronted, dimissed, ignored or even attacked for his baises.

Short Fuse

Your mage is quick to anger. Whenever anybody ticks off your character, you might flip out and go on the offensive.

Shy

Large groups of people make your mage uncomfortable, and although he doesn’t necessarily panic and flee from crowds, he has trouble dealing with such gatherings. Your mage has trouble speaking and presenting himself when the world’s watching.

Soft-Hearted

Your character cannot stand to watch others suffer. Your mage avoids any situation that involves causing someone physical or emotional pain.

Vengeful

Someone pissed your mage off, and he plans to get even. Your mage wants to even the score with one individual or group. This victim may or may not be an enemy – the subject may not even be aware of the percieved slight – but your mage takes it seriously and counts it as a major part of his life.

Ward

You have someone dependent on you for his or her well-being – like an elderly aunt, a young child, or the innocent and naive love of your life. They will undoubtedly be targeted by your enemies should they discover this weakness in your armor.

Weakness

Your character has a weakness for a class of thing or person, and in the face of it all other duties or obligations are forgotten. Maybe your weakness is for music, fine wine, or just a pretty face.

STEP 7: STARTING EXPERIENCE

Determine starting Experience points (if any) by talking to your Storyteller (See below). You can spend your Starting XP according to the costs listed adjacent; you may not acquire more than five dots in any Attribute, Skill or Merit without Storyteller approval.

To purchase multiple dots in most things like Attributes, Skills, Disciplines, Merits or Morality (e.g. from 0 dots to 3 dots or from 1 dot to 4 dots) you are required to pay the cost for each intervening dot. For example, to go from Intelligence 3 (●●●) to Intelligence 5 (●●●●●) costs 45XP (20XP + 20XP, the cost of the 4th and 5th dots). When buying Merits there are two types: Incremental and Simple. Merits like Boxing are Incremental and you must pay for the cost of each intervening dot (as above). Simple Merits have a fixed number of dots and the cost is a flat per dot of the Merit (e.g. Inspiring ●●●● costs 2XP x 4 dots = 8XP). Incremental Merits may be purchased one dot at a time, but Simple Merits must be paid for all at the same time.

Experience Point Costs:
Attribute	New Dots x5 (10/15/20/25)
Skill	New Dots x3 (3/6/9/12/15)
Skill Specialty	3 Experience
Merit	New Dots x2 (2/4/6/8/10)
Willpower	8 Experience per Dot

Note:

The character sheet includes two addition attributes. These are Attunements and Gifts. They will be explained at a point in the future after the chronicle is running. A few characters may be randomly picked based on their answers on the Player Details Sheet. Limited explanations will be provided to these players before the start of the first game.

Starting Experience:

5 points - Submitting a written background of no longer than two pages. It can be in point form, in the form of a timeline, narrative, whatever. I am less interested in flowery prose than the who, what, when, where, why and how of your character.. I should also have an idea of your family and friends outside of the other PCs. Every background should also answer two questions that I consider mandatory for every character in this chronicle: Why/how did they come to Saskatoon? And why will they stay in Saskatoon when the going gets tough(or worse)? (because, you know, it will – that’s part of the point)

5 points - Filling out a ‘Details’ information sheet I’ll make available when I have it finalized. Those who played in TaODV have an idea of what I mean – I’ll be asking for the basics like where you live, what your identity amongst the Sleepers is like, etc.

5 points - Submitting a short (no more than 200 words) webpage write-up for your character, and having a photo of your character up on the webpage. As far as the photos go, you’ll probably have plenty of opportunities at games for me to snap a shot of you for the webpage, so mostly you just need to worry about the write-up. Information for the webpage should mostly only be common knowledge stuff.

5 points – Submitting a brief description (1 to 2 paragraphs) describing a strong NPC relationship. This should be someone who elicits a strong reaction from your character. This can be a positive or negative relationship. You are giving the Storyteller full permission to use and abuse this NPC in anyway they see fit. As this is the world of Darkness do not expect this NPC to bring you great amounts of joy in the long run even if they are the love of your life.

5 points – Having connections to other characters. You can gain these points from a few different types of connections, up to a combined total of 10 points (you can have more connections, of choice, but that’s the maximum points):

• 5 points - A major connection with a character, one you are possibly willing to kill or die for. Close family, lovers, a hated enemy, friend for life, etc.
• 2.5 points (rounded down if necessary) – A minor connection with a, such as a good friend, a cousin, roommates in College, a minor rivalry, etc.

0 Points – You do not gain any points for lowering your morality at the beginning of the game. Everyone starts with 5 (see House Rules)