ToD: Detroit -- Mage Character Creation

World of Darkness
Mage Character Sheet Zip
Click above link to download a template
character sheet in both .doc and .txt format.

Name: This is a fairly obvious one. This is the name of your character, First, Middle (if they have one) and Last. Names do a lot to define a character, giving them their own life, and personality. Never take naming your character lightly. If you have trouble picking a name, baby namers are an excellent place to find ideas.

Nature: Nature is the character's real self. This is the self that is kept hidden from the rest of the world, the way a character truly is at the core of their being. This is their inner most thoughts, and secrets, their hidden desires, and deep seated needs and ideals. Natures are taken from a list of premade ideals, or, with Storyteller help, a new, unique Nature can be created for your character.

Essence (Avatar Archetype): Although mages guide their powers through enlightened will and belief, they are still influenced by the patterns of the universe echoed in their own souls. Each mage's Awakened Avatar grants the mage the gift of magical power, but it also shapes that mage's approach to magic. Therefore, the Essence is a roleplaying aspect that determines the direction of the character's magical inner self. This Essence influences the mage's path to Ascension. Note that Essences seem to follow set categories. It is easier to choose one of the listed ones than to try to make up a unique Essence. Avatar Essence can be found here.

Demeanor: Demeanor is the way a character presents herself to the outside world. It is the "mask" she wears to protect her inner self. A character's Demeanor is usually different then its Nature, though it doesn't have to be.

Tradition: Once Awakened, most mages train in a particular style of magical arts. These heritages determine the sorts of magic that the mage uses, but they shape the mage's outlook on ethics, philosophy, belief, science, worldly matters and metaphysical theory as well. The heroic mages of the Traditions hope to keep magic alive — at least for a few individuals — out of a desire for diversity, wonder or just something better than a banal world. Check out the Traditions and decide on one that seems reasonable for your character. Remember that the Tradition influences the character's beliefs and guides her magical style, but your character is also an individual who may break from the Traditional "norm" in some ways.

Depending on the nature of the chronicle, the Storyteller may disallow or encourage the presence of certain Traditions, so be sure that you work with your Storyteller in this process. Obviously, not all mages are Tradition mages. The exceptions fall into several different camps including the Technocracy, the Marauders, the Nephandi and the Disparates. Most of these groups are covered in other source material. However, if you want to make up your own mage's belief systems and magical practices, you can determine how your mage learned and developed a hodge-podge eclectica of magic. Simply note that the character is an Orphan instead of following a particular Tradition.

Residence: This should be an obvious one. The Residence is the home of the person. Be it an apartment complex, or a compartment in a Condo, or something similar. An address would be nice, but, it isn't specifically needed, more or less just 'House' or 'Apartment' or something similar will do for this, unless you'd like to include the name of the building.

Concept: The Character Concept. A list of sample character concepts can be found here, or, if you have something else in mind, and aren't really sure if it would fit, ask a Storyteller for assistance.

Once you've decided on your mage's identity, you can "run the numbers" to define the character. Your mage's Attributes reflect her inherent qualities and personal characteristics. Like other Traits, Attributes are rated with dots, usually on a one-to-five scale. Mage characters have nine Attributes in three categories: the Physical Attributes of Strength, Dexterity and Stamina; the Social Attributes of Charisma, Manipulation and Appearance; and the Mental Attributes of Perception, Intelligence and Wits. Obviously, Attributes depend on the base concept that you established earlier. An industrial worker or Third World miner is likely to be pretty strong and tough (with good Physical Attributes), while a university professor or computer scientist will probably have high Mental Attributes. A politician or revolutionary probably has good Social Attributes. Then again, some people manage to get past limited natural talent with lots of work, but you can't be good at everything, so choose well. Unless your mage is exceptionally unfortunate, she'll have at least one dot in each Attribute. When you begin the character-creation process, you divide up the three Attribute categories — Physical, Social and Mental — and assign a priority to each area. In your character's primary area, place seven additional dots; in the secondary area, five; and in the tertiary category, three. These Attributes can go up to five dots, the maximum human capability, although you're more likely to have a mage who's competent in most areas and better than average in a few. An explination of what the attributes are, as written in the Vampire the Masquerade book, can be found here.

Abilities are the traits used to describe what your character can do in a proficent manner. Attributes, are used as your raw potential, while abilities are ways you've learned to use that potential. When a storyteller rolls dice for you, they pair an Ability, with an Attribute, sometimes this helps you resist certain powers, when it doesn't seem otherwise possible. Dice rolls help cut arguments, which is why its good to have a sheet. ^.~

There are 30 abilities in total, at character creation, and these are 'general' abilities that a human can have at the onset. These are basic potentials for a human being, and you typically don't start with any more then what's listed s available to you. Beyond being available to you, there are Secondary Abilities, which will be discussed in the next section. For certain abilities, (Expression, Crafts, Performance, Academics, Science), it is best to pick a specialty of some sort (this can honestly be anything) even if the character's rating in the Ability isn't at 3. A total of 13/9/5 dots are divided amongst these next sections. These dots are divided in a similar fashion as the Attributes, however, there is no automatic dot in these sections. The Abilities listed below are examples, and a section from which more Primary Abilities can be seen, can be found here. Abilities that are white, can be used for every character, abilities that are red, are for supernatural use only.

Example Given: Susanne is working on a project for her business, it needs a special look, and has to be hand crafted. Susanne has a Craft rating of 2, and while she's good in most things, such as drawing, sculpting, and other similar things, she excels when it comes to bead work, which happens to be her proficent Craft. She makes a successful roll in Craft, the project turns out beautiful, and her presentation is accepted, and approved for movement onto market.

Alertness
Athletics
Brawl
Dodge
Empathy
Expression
Intimidation
Leadership
Streetwise
Subterfuge

Animal Ken
Crafts
Drive
Etiquette
Firearms
Melee
Performance
Security
Stealth
Survival

Academics
Computer
Finance
Investigation
Law
Linguistics
Medicine
Occult
Politics
Science

Secondary Abilities are purchased after character creation. Some of them are specific to one certain breed, and many of them have prerequisits which must be met before they can be purchased. Secondary abilities are bought by using Freebie Points. An almost complete list of Secondary Abilities can be found here

These Traits describe advantages of birth (or rebirth), circumstance and opportunity; material possessions, social networks and the like. Backgrounds are external, not internal, Traits, and you should always rationalize how you come to possess 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.

You're given 7 dots to spend in backgrounds, but make sure you can justify their having a specific background. Backgrounds can be selected from here.

Foci: Each mage has a different way of looking at and invoking magic. The Traditions teach fairly unified theories, but the individual practices are unique from mage to mage. Choosing foci — the tools and techniques used to perform magic — for a given mage is an important individual step. You don't place points into foci. Instead, you pick a signature focus for each Sphere of magic. That focus is the method or item with which your mage is most comfortable and familiar when invoking that form of magic. Thus, you'll have a different item for each Sphere, but each item will fit in some way with your Tradition's beliefs on what works and what doesn't. The advantage is that, when using the signature focus, it's a little easier to perform magic, as long as you can work out a way that your character would use the focus in the spell. Your character can still do magic without her signature focus for a Sphere, but she'll have to rely on other trappings of her Tradition. Without any appropriate focus, she can't do the magic at all — she simply doesn't believe that it's possible to do magic other than the way she's learned already. As your character grows in enlightenment, she may overcome her dependence on props, removing the need for foci. However, that day won't come for a long time. For now, make a note of the signature focus used for each Sphere of magic, with items or techniques as suggested in the Tradition descriptions.

Spheres: Each of the nine Spheres of magic describes a fundamental key to reality. By studying the Spheres, a mage gains power over them. The mage can perform feats of will that bend the Spheres to her whim. Combining the Spheres allows a mage to affect greater portions of reality. All mages start with one dot in a "specialty Sphere," the one Sphere that the mage best understands and for which the character has the greatest affinity. This specialty is determined by the character's Tradition and action . Furthermore, you can spend five additional dots to improve your character's Spheres — but don't do so yet. No Sphere rating can exceed the character's Aret e, so you'll need to spend freebie points first, to raise Arete, if you want any Sphere better than the rudiments. Note that if your character's faction teaches a different Sphere than the Tradition, you should still put a dot in the Tradition's specialty Sphere to represent "basic training." Some Orphans, especially Hollow Ones, have no specialty Sphere. These characters learn all Spheres equally and get six dots in whichever Spheres you please. You can find Spheres here.

Arete: As a mage's magical will, enlightenment and connection to the universe, Arete measures one's fundamental understanding and ability to control magical forces. Upon Awakening, every mage gains at least a small measure of enlightened vision. Reflect this fact by noting that your mage has one dot of Arete. You can purchase additional levels of Arete with freebie points. This option is important because none of your character's Spheres can exceed her Arete. Your mage's practical ability to manipulate magic is limited by her basic theoretical understanding of magical principles. Normal humans do not have an Arete rating. After Awakening, mages gain Arete through special visions and quests called Seekings. This road to enlightenment is a difficult and dangerous one, so only the most exemplary mages have a high Arete. Thus, a normal mage character starts with just one dot of Arete. You cannot raise it above a total of three dots with the expenditure of freebie points.

Willpower: Mages are headstrong and willful beings, as they must be in order to change the cosmos. The Willpower Trait measures that inner confidence and drive. All mage characters start with a Willpower of at least five dots. You may add additional dots by spending freebie points, and doing so can be crucial in the quest for Ascension. However, remember that Willpower, like other Traits, must bow to the concept of the character. Only the rarest, most devoted and most fanatical of individuals have Willpower scores of nine or 10. Quintessence and Paradox Rare and valuable, Quintessence is the raw energy of Creation. A mage can channel Quintessence to aid in many magical feats. Your character starts with Quintessence equal to his Avatar Background rating, and no Paradox points. Of course, once your mage has gotten into a little trouble, these numbers tend to change quickly! You can buy a little extra Quintessence for your mage with freebie points, in order to give her a bit of a magical edge at first. Later, Quintessence is regained through the use of Prime arts and meditation at Nodes.

Resonance: Near the bottom of the character record are spaces for three Resonance Traits: Dynamic, Entropic and Static. Pick one Trait for one type of Resonance, and rate it with one dot. This rating reflects the sorts of emotions and drives that affect your mage's magic. Each Trait needs to key in with the appropriate type of Resonance. Check out the descriptions of Essence and Nature and Demeanor (you did pick those in the first step, right?) to get a handle on your mage's personality and motives, and then choose Traits for a style of Resonance as appropriate. You can make up any sort of description; it's just an adjective that flavors your character's magic. Later, Resonance may increase as your mage becomes more powerful or more hell-bent on a certain style of magic, but for now, this step is just a minor sort of characterization to magic.

Merits & Flaws: A list of merits and flaws for your character can be found here. Some merits and flaws are Vampire, or other race specific. If you need help selecting appropriate flaws and merits for your character, please ask a Storyteller for help. No character may purchase more then 7 points worth of flaws, in total, though flaws may be awarded by a storyteller if the storyteller feels they are appropriate for ones character. Awarded flaws gain you no extra points for your Freebie Points pool. Merits, similarly, should not be purchased at character creation, exceeding 8 total merits. (This may not be true for all storytellers, but is the way the game in Detroit is run)

Freebie Points: These are granted to you after character creation, and are used to purchase Merits and Flaws, as well as being used for raising stats you think are too low. Always find a way to justify the way you raise your stats. At the time of creation, you're granted a total of 20 freebie points to spend, because of the obvious differences in Online gaming, as compared to table top gaming. The costs of different sections is as follows.

Trait	Cost
Attribute	5 per dot
Primary Ability	2 per dot
Secondary Ability	3 per dot
Sphere	7 per dot
Background	1 per dot
Arete	4 per dot
Virtue	2 per dot
Path/Humanity	1 per dot
Willpower	1 per dot
Quintessence	1 for 4 dots

Age: Preferrably between 8 and 70, in human years
Hair: Hair color
Eyes: Eye color
Date of Birth: The month, day, and year you were born.
Weight: How much you weigh.
Height: How tall you are.
Gender: Male, Female, Transexual, Hermaphrodite, etc.
Nationality: Your ethnic background

A brief description of your daily appearance, and perhaps items which can be found constantly on your person.

This section explains and defines the history of your character, how they lived in the past, how they live now, and important events in their life that sometimes affect the Backgrounds, and Abilities they possess. Exceptionally well done Histories can sometimes earn extra freebie points, at Storyteller discretion.