I have always suffered from two problems when it comes to my player’s creating characters. These aren’t mutually exclusive.

1. Wrong sort of players for the game
2. Wrong sort of characters for the game

I have also been a soft touch when it came to character generation, allowing too much that would derail concept, theme and mood.

This time I worked in advance what I wanted and didn’t want. Here are my guidelines…

Character Themes

Redemption, Vengeance, Ambition, Greed, Absolution/ Forgiveness, Escape, Obsession, Addiction, Survival, Golconda

I asked each of the players to define the ‘theme’ of their character, using this list as a guideline. This helped ensure the characters would be tinged with noir.

Attribute Maximum = 3 dots (before template)
Attribute Dots
Dots Talent
1 Poor. Unexercised, unpractised or inept.
2 Average. The result of occasional effort or application.
3 Good. Regular practice or effort, or naturally talented.
4 Exceptional. Frequently applied, tested and honed, or naturally gifted.
5 Outstanding. The peak of normal human capability. Continuously exercised or naturally blessed.

I didn’t want exceptional people. I wanted Lee Marvin ‘normal people’, hence I capped the attributes at 3. I allowed the Clan bonus after as this just ‘made sense’

Skills Maximum = 3 dots (1 skill per category 4)
Skill Dots
Dots Proficiency Level
1 Novice. Basic knowledge and/or techniques.
2 Practitioner. Solid working knowledge and/or techniques.
3 Professional. Broad, detailed knowledge and/or techniques.
4 Expert. Exceptional depth of knowledge and/or techniques.
5 Master. Unsurpassed depth of knowledge and/or techniques. A leader in the field.

Similarly I didn’t want broad experts so I made sure that only 1 skill per category could have 4 dots in.

Merit Maximum = 4
Free dot Shared Sire’s Haven 1 (Needs locating and describing)
City Status Unavailable

This followed on the logic of exceptional people. I gave one dot of Haven for free (to ensure they had ‘somewhere’ and tie in the sires as prominent NPCs)

Disciplines
Only Clan available, maximum of 3
Covenant disciplines maximum of 1

Clan Difficulty
Ventrue; Daeva; Mekhet EASY
Gangrel MEDIUM
Nosferatu HARD

Covenant Difficulty
Lancea Sanctified; Invictus; Carthian EASY
Ordo Dracul; Unbound MEDIUM
Circle of the Crone HARD

This seems very computer game like but because of the setting certain Clans and Covenants would have it easier than others so wanted to make sure players were aware of how their character choice would impact their game play.

Humanity minimum = 6
Must choose minor derangement

I defined a minimum Humanity as I wanted the character’s someplace to go but I wanted to tie in the idea of mental instability that runs under the surface of many noir stories.

Background
Before starting to stat out the character I had certain points I wanted to ensure were covered in the background.

• One ‘living’ job
• One damaging secret
• A minimum of one living friend
• A minimum of one living family member
• A sire who would be a living NPC
• Describe the past year in the Requiem
• Describe your Beast alter-ego (included with this was the question as to whether the player was comfortable ‘messing up their character’ when in frenzy)

I gave the players 15 XP to start off with to cover their sires tutelage.