An intro to nWoD

[Hawkfrost000]

Hi Playground,

So i've been reading some of the nWoD stuff on the internet and i got some PDF copies of rulebooks and i have to say i am very interested in what i see.

I am particularly interested in Mage and Vampire, and i was wondering if the playground could give me some pointers and advice about the systems.

specifically i am looking for charecter creation advice and some general tactics and Do's and Dont's for the game system.

Thanks

DM

[Ichneumon]

Well, mechanically, characters are always created by first creating a "mortal" character and then adding a supernatural "template" to it, so for example vampire, mage or werewolf. By the book, you can't add more than 1 template. So you can make vampire werewolves.

Personally, when making a character, I try to find a balance between making a super specialised "one-trick-pony" and a "jack of all trades, master of none". Usually, try to find 2 things you're character is good at, for example investigation and social maneuvering and build your character around that, spending merits and skill points on stuff that's either good for those two things or fit the background of your character very well. It's almost impossible to spend points on stuff that will absolutely never come in handy, but don't spend points on skills or merits that only fit the character and not the way you want to play. I am just saying, know what your style of play is and what you want to do with the character (what would you enjoy most) and design your character with that in mind. You can make a great politics orientated vampire, but if you end up always in combat because that's just the way you roll, you'd have done better building a character who's good at those things. Most of the time I play more social manipulator, negotiator types, so I keep in mind that I usually enjoy that style of play best and make sure my character are at least moderately good at doing that, if it's not their specialty.

So, think of what you'd like your character to do and what kind of concept you like and build your character accordingly, making sure your character has a few different options to deal with difficult situations. It's also very important, especially when choosing powers, to see what the other players in the group are doing. Although similarities are fine, if you have to vampire computer nerds who specialize in hacking and in mind control, you mind feel you're limiting each other.

I really like the World of Darkness and now play it exclusively. One other thing that's important when reading the books and fleshing out your character is that the different clans and factions in the games are just one facet of your character. To describe a vampire as a "Invictus Daeva" doesn't describe him any better than "Afro-American Democrat" describes anyone in the real world. Sure, it's important, but how much it is, is different for each character. To some, their clan and political ideology is very important for their identity, to others it's not.

[Fouredged Sword]

First and formost - have a good idea of WHO your character is.

I generaly start at the top of the sheet and work top -> down / Left -> Right, starting with concept and vice/vertue.

As for stats, be wary of a 1 dot stat, as they are a major weakness if you have a skill with no dots and are forced to roll a chance die.

Also beware of leaving yourself no easy path for advacement. It is easier to advance if you are great at one thing and ok at another than if you are good at both. The starting dot system encourages specialisation at character creation, don't resist it to hard. It's a good thing so long as you cover your bases.

Put a dot in empathy, socialize, and bluff. You need them, just do it.

Other than that, a good way to think of your character is this person was this "x" before he changed, and he turned into "y" and then chose to join "Z"

With X being your mortal life, Y being your clan or watchtower, and Z being your afiliation.

One is history, one is out of your control, and the last is choice. They are very important.

[TheCountAlucard]

So you can make vampire werewolves.Umm, typo? :smalleek:

[Ichneumon]

Umm, typo? :smalleek:

ROFL, yes! Terrible typo...:smallredface:

[Shadowknight12]

As for stats, be wary of a 1 dot stat, as they are a major weakness if you have a skill with no dots and are forced to roll a chance die.

This isn't actually true. A 1-dice pool is not a chance die. A chance die occurs ONLY when penalties would reduce the dicepool to 0 or less. Then, you roll a chance dice.

If you're talking about untrained penalties, then that advice is not that useful, since Mental skills have a -3 penalty. You could have an Intelligence of 3 and still roll a chance dice if you have no dots in Politics or Science.