Developing a Quick Character
Developing a character for a game like this can be a bit daunting if you are new to the game. There are all these rules, people who seem to know so much about what they are doing, combined with any previous knowledge or game in the same genre you may have played before. How do you go from completely new person to active player participating in the make believe world and making new friends?

The first and most important step is to take a bit of advice from an old classic, “DON’T PANIC”. Relax; we’re all here to help you have a good time! We want to welcome you into our make believe, world, we want more players, more colorful characters to add to the ever growing world we have here. So don’t stress and don’t be afraid to ask questions.

We have developed a quick survey that will allow us to build a basic character sheet for you, but what do you do next? Build the heart of the character. What is that you say? It’s the who of the character. Who is the person you are going to portray? How did they become a vampire or werewolf? What events shaped this person?

A technique I like to use for developing a character fast to get into play (which who doesn’t’ want to jump right into playing?) is to develop three to four ‘key’ events. Major turning points that shaped the character into the person they are. These are the moments in a person’s life that shape their view of the world, we all have them, but usually they are smaller. I like to make them big, huge outstanding moments on which the characters view will hinge.

Example:



1. Bill grew up during the Viet Nam Era. He served his country there well, doing three tours. During his last tour, his patrol was pinned down by enemy fire for days, under siege they fought for their very survival. He watched his friends being picked off or going insane under the pressure.
2. On patrol, days out into the jungle, they come across a village that is suspected of harboring Viet Cong. Someone opens fire and all hell breaks loose, by the time it is over, they’ve killed every man woman child in the village.
3. Home in the States, Bill is spit on and called a baby killer, which he knows inside he is, but he is given a medal of honor for his service. He takes to drinking, trying to erase the memories of what he has done. One night laying with a woman, he has a full on flash back, seeing the dead bodies lying all around him, he kills the woman.
4. Bill is found in a gutter, still seeing old enemies, by the creature that will be his sire. This degenerated Malkavian feeds Bill’s madness, inciting him to greater acts of anger and frustration, until he snaps and begins attacking things that are not there, all to prepare him for the embrace.

Four points, all major moments in this character “Bill’s” life. You can enter play with this and have a framework to hang a character around. You can imagine how this would color his world view, you can refer back to it as a start point.

Ideally you want to flesh out a full history, the more you know about your character the better your experience in myworldofdarkness.com will be, but there is no need to wait or to write a novel, get something started and let it develop as you interact with the other colorful characters we have to offer!

-Jim Horton