Become a Denizen of Gotham

Character Creation

Monster as I was, I was bound by laws. Hell has its commandments, too.
- Elliot (Pinhead). Hellraiser III

Ok here is the walkthru for Character creation in Sodium Noir. I also suggest you read the Crossover guide before you make your final choices on Character creation. While I can't reproduce the entire Storyteller system, lists of Abilities, Archetypes and backgrounds can be found here, this page also has the charts for Freebie and Experience point costs and Spikes lil nuances such as house rules. Finally Pen and paper is an expert site that contains lists of everything you need to create ANY character for Sodium Noir. The relevant information is in PDF format and has no details or actual rules but you can get complete lists of Legacies, Disciplines etc.

CHARACTER CREATION GUIDELINES
Create characters as starting level characters from the usual core books with the following guidelines. If you have to make a choice between an original ruling and the Revised rules, avoid Revised editions if possible please, I detest them. We default to the 2nd Edition rules except for Wraith (I only have 1st Edition) and Mummies (which can be from any edition, True Undying from 1st or 2nd Edition or the new Ammenti from Mummy: The Ressurection.)

I'm afraid I cannot allow existing Characters to be ported in from other games at higher than starting level due to issues of fairness and balance. If you have a previously played Character try one of these options.

1 - Use this opportunity to play the character as a 'what if'. An alternative universe version of the Character if you will. Allow them to grow within this setting and see what would have happened if you had taken different paths. That being said, if you continualy pester me with what other storytellers allowed or how you ruled on stuff, you'll piss me off and find survival damn near impossible.

2 - Assume the Character has been in Torpor, Bedlam, Undone, Quiet, Harrowing, Harano, Dead or Coma for a number of years and is slowly regaining strength and relearning forgotten and rusty abilities.

3 - Play a student, Childe or reincarnation of the favoured Character.

This form is for you to submit a Character to play in Sodium Noir. It assumes that you have read Character creation on the rules page, and that you own at least the Core book for the Character type. The Form is generic and does not contain specific differences for Different Splats, hence no Legacies for Changelings or Generation for Vampires. Use the last feild for all these Kinky specifics.

This page does not support any save options so we suggest you create your Character in Word or NotePad or on paper and then Copy and paste it here.

Sodium Noir supports the lumping together of points, so rather than a 7/5/3 split for Attributes, you have 15 points to add to the starting dot in Strength, Charisma, Perception etc. The same with Abilities, instead of the 13/9/5 split, you have 27 points. Ignore the 'no starting trait above 3' rule as PbEM works better with a few high traits instead of an even spread. Even Mortals get this slightly raised figure. Everybody gets a whopping 20 Freebie Points [so thats a possible maximum of 27 with a full deck of flaws]

The upper limit for flaws is 7, but you buy as many merits with your Freebie points as you wish.

Fill in as much as possible, but dont worry if you can't complete every field. We can work out the details later by E Mail

Character Name (True name)
Player Name
Player Age
E-Mail
AKA or Alias, known name etc.

RACE AND SPLAT
A Character will be one of only Seven Races. Either a Vampire, a Were-creature (Bete/Fera), a Mage (tradition or Craft), a Wraith, a Changeling (inc Gallain), a Mummy (Reborn/Undying/Ammenti) or a Mortal. Within each of these Races are further definitions such as the Vampire Clans or the Changeling Kiths. These definitions are the Characters Splat (A Horrible term derived due to the ideograms and Sigil's used in the World of Darkness).

Race
Splat

NATURE AND DEMEANOUR / LEGACIES
A Characters Nature and Demeanour are both chosen from the same list of Archetypes, however they fulfil different roles. A Characters Nature is the True aspect of her personality, Basically the real Persona. Demeanour is the mask or face presented to the outside world. A Characters Nature determines how she recovers Willpower spent during the game. Changelings use Court and romantic Legacies instead but I have merged the two lists together here as its all the same concept really. Explanations can be requested from Spikey. You are free to create and invent new Archetypes.

Nature/Demeanor

SPLAT SPECIFICS
Each Race has its own list of specific headings and areas of information. It's up to you to include your Vampires Haven and Generation, your Werewolf's Auspice, Mages Foci or your Changeling's seeming.

ATTRIBUTES
Each of these Attributes is measured on a scale of 1 to 5. Each Attribute starts with a single dot in it and players have a further 15 points with which to raise the traits. Therefor starting characters all have 24 total points of Attributed (9 + 15), even Mortals. Do not worry about choosing Primary, secondary and tertiary attributes in Sodium, simply place the dots wherever you wish. The larger space allows you to include specialities for any Attribute of 4 or 5.

Physical
Social
Mental

ABILITIES
There are 27 points to spent on Abilities. Its usually not important to separate Talents, Skills and Knowledges unless you intend to buy merits or flaws that effect them, Merits such as Jack-of-all-trades and flaws such as Uneducated will mean you will have to use the standard 13/9/5 spread. Please don't feel the need to be limited to the Abilities on each Races Character sheet, because then all citizens of Gotham will be almost identical. There is no such thing as secondary Abilities in Sodium, just a list of abilities from which to choose. Feel free to have as many different and specialist Abilities as you want, so long as you don't chose any that are specific to a certain group or race. I have no problem with specialities. In fact in a PbEM I prefer them. Feel free to blow points to give your characters high scores in one or two abilities so people know what it is that makes them different.

I can't list all the varied Abilities from the 100's of White wolf books here as it would contravene the fair use policy. However a good start can be found here. Its far from complete but is a good guide. There is no such thing as Secondary Abbilities, Brawl is no different to Brewing.



BACKGROUNDS
Characters begin with 5 points in Backgrounds. So long as it makes sense for the Character all Backgrounds can be considered generic. So although a Mage cannot buy Generation, a Vampire may buy Arcane or Talisman. Again a basic list can be found here



POWERS
Are specific to each Race. A Vampire uses Disciplines and gets 3 points to spend, a Were creature gets three level one Gifts (Tribe, Breed and Auspice restrictions lifted at character creation). Mages begin with a free dot in their Tradition Sphere and have a further 5 Points to spend on their Spheres (remember the Arete rule). Wraiths get Arcanoi, Changelings get 3 dots to spend in Arts and 5 in realms. Mummies Get Hekau depending on which edition rules are used and Mortals may buy Numina with Freebie points if they want to be extra special but lose the benefits of being a 'Mundane'.



MERITS
Merits are the little quirks that make a Character unique. As with all things, some are Race specific so use your intelligence here. And don't all plump for Unbondable and the other power Gamer Merits. Use some thought and try to have your Merits match your character and her background. The list of Merits from the White wolf Books is huge, and I see no reason not to allow any of them.

A good but not exhaustive list can be found at darknexus.com



FLAWS
The Negative Quirks that make our Characters more fun to tell stories with. A Flawless Character is a two dimensional Character and won't be much fun to play. Flaws are optional and only seven points worth may be bought. These 0 - 7 points worth of Flaws add to the final freebie points allotment. Again, a good but not exhaustive list of Flaws can be found at darknexus.com

I really dont like characters with no flaws. This is just a personal quirk as I like realistic characters with depth. I will utilise merits and flaws in my stories in the same way I will use bits from your character backgrounds so be prepared.



VIRTUES
Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE uses the Vampire Virtues. Well, Ok nearly everyone.The only exception to this rule are the reborn Mummies (who have thier own system in some editions). Each of the three virtues begins with a single point already and there are 7 more points with which to raise them. With the first two Virtues it is important to choose whether your Characters soul is of a darker or lighter aspect. Humane Creatures Have Conscience and Self Control, Beasts have Conviction and Instinct. Don't forget that just as with Attributes and Abbilities, any score of 4 or 5 means you may choose a speciality.

Conscience or Conviction	The Conscience trait provides the character with the ability to remain true to your sense of right and wrong. It determines the level of guilt you will feel about certain actions taken by your characters and by others. The Conviction trait governs her ability to keep control when faced with desire by accepting her nature. It determines how well you can do what must be done, rather than what you think should be done.
Self control or Instinct	The Self control trait provides the ability to fight your darker nature and keep it at bay. It allows you to deny the Beast and to react in a human or controlled manner. Instinct instead governs how much control can be exerted while going with these urges. How well you have mastered your beast and its Will to power.
Courage [Morale]	Self explanatory. The ability to resist terror, panic and fear.

For Vampires and Mortals, Courage or Morale trait determines your starting Willpower. Other races use the normal Willpower rules from your own core book.
For all Characters, Your Conscience or Conviction added to your Self-Control or Instinct traits determines your Humanity (or path rating for Vampires who are on a path besides Humanity).

Conscience/Conviction
Self-Control/Instict
Courage

WILLPOWER
Is used to determine a Characters strength of Will. Sometimes it is used to resist the effects of Supernatural powers, at other times it can be spent to guarantee a success in a certain action. At any time a player may opt to spend one of her Temporary Willpower points to ensure success in a single action. That is, something that would require a Dice Roll in a Table Top Game. The expenditure of a Willpower point will nearly always mean the Character succeeds through a supreme effort of Will. Willpower is very difficult to recover and so should be used sparingly. Willpower is recovered at the rate of one point per 'Game day' and by the usual ways of fullfilling the requirements of Nature/Legacy.

SPLAT SPECIFIC VIRTUES
Each Race has its own list of specific headings and areas of information. It's up to you to include your Vampires Path, your Werewolf's Rage, Gnosis, Wisdom, Glory and Honour, Your Mages Arete and Quintessence, your Changeling's Glamour and Banality and your Mummy's Balance and Unique virtues.

FREEBIE POINTS
All players (including Mortals) get 20 Freebie points (plus any points gained from buying Flaws, up to a maximum of 7 points). Freebie points are used to raise traits at the following costs.

The Cost of Traits in Both Freebie points and experience points can be found here


PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
This, along with any picture you provide, will be the primary means by which you make your first physical impression. Its helpful to mention styles of dress if you have one in mind, height, build, hair colour and adornments. This feild should also include the charachters sex and age. Changelings and Shapeshifters with more than one form should include both here.

PERSONALITY & MANNERISMS
As with Physical description, this will be part of your characters Bio page and so you should feel free to describe as much or as little as you please but do not include secret information. This feild is most useful for other players if they wish to use a simple action in thier post. Rather than waiting for your character to say yes or no, or other reactions, they can check this and make a judgement call.

STORY
This is the Character History that you wish to share to with other players. It will appear on your Bio page and so be careful not to reveal anything you wish to keep secret.

HISTORY
This feild is for Your extended and scret history. Anything included in this feild will NOT be shared with other players and is for my eyes only.

CHARACTER DIRECTION
I would like you to consider where your character is headed, what does his destiny hold if all runs smoothly. Also a few notes about what you want out of the game and how you want your story to unfold would help. Include such things as 'I want him/her to seek and find the answers to her questions' or 'I simply like to get into character and interact'. Anything that will help me craft the story for you and let me know what you really enjoy when I get a little lost for direction.

ANYTHING ELSE
OK there is bound to be something I missed or something else you want to add and so here is the space to do just that.

Where did you Find Us?