Character Creation: Werewolf:

I thought about doing Scion today, but I haven't really read it (I bought it because my buddy Tom teased me with a promise to run it, and then changed his mind), so instead, I shall do a game with which I am highly familiar.

The Game: Werewolf: The Apocalypse Revised
The publisher: White Wolf
Degree of familiarity: OMG. I honestly can't remember how many times I've run this game, much less played it. My longest Werewolf game ran more than a year of weekly play. That'd be To End All Wars, the premise of which was my topic for chronicle creation in the Revised Werewolf Storytellers Handbook.
Books required: Just the core. I have both the first edition and the revised core, so I'll be using the latter, thanks. I still have quite a few of the sourcebooks (seeing as how I worked on every second book for the line after Revised), so I might grab one or two.

 
You know, I don't miss the eco-crusader angle in Werewolf, but that's only because I got so much play-time in with the game the first time around. By the time we were ready to start on Forsaken, I was ready for a change. But I still love OWoD Werewolf, and if someone ran it, I might play. Wonky-ass system and all.

Step One: Character Concept. Well, I honestly don't have much in mind. I could choose randomly, but...well, let's do it this way. I made a lupus character for Dark Ages: Werewolf. I made a human-born character for Werewolf: The Forsaken (not that there's another choice, though it might interest you to know that in the original design of the game, we kept the breeds; they weren't removed until we decided that the template system was more important than that particular wrinkle). So I'll make this character metis. That means I'm the cursed spawn of two werewolves, and that I'll need to pick a deformity. Since it might inform the rest of the character, I'll do it now.

OK, I got it. My deformity is Tough Skin. The character's body is covered with this leathery, unpleasant-to-touch scabby kind of stuff. In human form, it looks like he's got a skin condition (which he does, I guess), but in hairy forms, he's missing a lot of fur and looks kind of mangy. His parents were both Glass Walkers, and were both of the opinion that there needs to be more soldiers for Gaia now, and screw the Litany since it's holding us back. And along came little Reynold (as his parents called him), or "Skin Deep" to other Garou. I think he joined his parents' tribe, but he's bitter about the fact that a lot of Glass Walkers are rich, sleek and beautiful...and then there's him.

Auspice...hmm. I could make a case for any of them, really. I'd like for Skin Deep to be struggling to gain any respect among the Glass Walkers because of his deformity, and that kind shoots Ahroun out the window. Let's go with Galliard. Skin Deep wants to be a storyteller, but he's fuck-ugly, and among another tribe that might not matter. Among the Glass Walkers, though, it's a pain, what with their Armani suits and all. Fuckers.

OK, that sets my Rage at 4, my Gnosis at 3, my Willpower at 3, and my Renown at 2 Glory, 1 Wisdom.

Step Two: Select Attributes. I'll make Mental secondary, Social tertiary (it would be secondary, but I don't have to spread out the points as much since I can't put dots into Appearance) and Physical primary.

Physical: This guy's tough. Soaking machine (man, I don't miss soak rolls). I'll put two dots into Strength, one into Dexterity and four into Stamina. I'll specialize Stamina in "Tough."

Mental: Two into Perception and Wits, one into Intelligence. Skin Deep isn't dumb, but he's not great at deduction. He's pretty good at noticing and assimilating details, though.

Social: One into Charisma, two into Manipulation. I think he's good at words, which is a shame, because with his looks he'd be better as the "howling" kind of Storyteller.

Step Three: Select Abilities. I think we'll go Talents first, then Knowledges (his parents' influence), then Skills.

Talents: Three into Primal-Urge (he's metis, he should have it) and Brawl (Dad's an Ahroun). Two into Athletics, Expression and Intimidation, and the last one into Alertness.

Skills: One into Animal Ken, Drive and Performance, and the other two into Stealth. Mom's a Ragabash, and showed him how to get around sneaky-like.

Knowledges: One into Computer, Enigmas, and Science, and two into Investigation, Occult and Rituals. Well-rounded education, courtesy of mom and dad homeschooling their ugly son.

Step Four: Select Advantages. I get 5 Backgrounds, but I can't take Pure Breed, Ancestors or Mentor...that's fucked up. Why can't I take Mentor? Weird. As an ST I'd houserule that. Anyway, if I were doing the pack thing, I'd take Totem, yadda yadda, but since I'm not: Resources 2 (parents gave him a trust fund), Rites 1 (and maybe more with freebies), and y'know what? I can't think of a single good reason not to take Mentor. So I am. Screw the book. Two dots, for now (I'll need more, because the Mentors are, of course, my parents).

I get three Gifts, one breed, one tribe, one auspice. I'll take Sense Wyrm (both parents probably agreed it was too handy not to have), Perfect Recall from Book of Auspices, because I wrote it I think memory is something Skin Deep would struggle with, and Control Simple Machine (because the other Glass Walker Gifts just don't fit this character).

Step Five: Finishing Touches. I'm rank 1, and I've got 15 freebies to throw around. No Merits & Flaws in this book and I don't feel like digging out the PG to the Garou, so there.

I'll put four points into Gnosis to bump it up to 5, and three points into Willpower to bump it to 6. I'll throw three points into Mentor, because I reckon Skin Deep's parents take a keen interest. I'll buy a dot of Streetwise for two points, and put the other three into Rites, for a total of four dots.

OK, for rites, I'll take Cleansing, Binding and Voice of the Jackal. The first two his folks taught him. The last one...well, Skin Deep is bitter, and he's always looking out for an excuse to get called up to perform the rite on a sept-mate, one of the fuckers who mocked his appearance.

And that's it! I think Skin Deep would be a fun character. His story arc would probably involve rebelling against his parents and then learning how much they've really helped him. I can see him "rebelling" by becoming a real purist for the Litany (which they broke, deliberately, by having him), maybe even changing tribes.

And that's me done with this'n.