Although, I would like to say that I don't trust my game group with anything more roleplaying intensive that 40k. Which is not so much as a low bar as a non existent bar.
And I would also like the game lines, now I think about it. Which is pretty much me voting for all the options. Heh.
Also chuckling at the format you used. To funny.
Okay, hum.
Well, mechanics first. It's a relatively simple system, and if you're looking at Exalted, some of this will be familiar.
You have Attributes, and you have Skills. Attributes are your base abilities, and these are generally not made to be *too* granular in the sense that you don't have fifty different stats for different elements of it. It's a very simple thing, instead.
1=Below human average, deficient.
2=Average for a human.
3=Above average for a human.
4=Exceptional for a Human.
5=Peak Human limit.
One thing to note is that while Exalted, or so I'm told, gets fiddly with 'mortals are limited to X dots in skills or something' this is open for everyone. Now, supernatural beings have all sorts of advantages, but until you reach a high level, or until you're a vampire, just base out of the gate being better than a human being at the basics (instead of at the 'I can kill you with my mind' and such) isn't necessarily one of them.
Physical Attributes:
Strength--No, not just strength, despite the name, but physical capacity. Overall fitness. Yes, an athlete and a boxer might in theory be equally fit but have different builds/focuses, but Strength overall tries to focus it on 'How physically fit are they in general' and thus there's less division.
Dexterity--Here too, there is a simplification that I think is necessary. It is both quickness, reaction times, and manual dexterity. It's used for shooting guns, with Strength for how fast you can move, and the lower of it and Wits=Your Defence (more on that later).
Stamina--Toughness, and how far one can push the body. It'd be both the stat for adding up for Health dots and the stat for prolonged physical labor.
Mental Attributes:
Intelligence--Pure, raw brainpower. Intelligence is pretty damn straightforward.
Wits--Thinking fast on your feet. If you're quick on your feet (Dexterity) and think quick on your feet, then you're pretty hard to deal with. Wits is also how you notice details, how you keep calm when all the shit is piling up around you, and how you react to fast situations.
Resolve--This is your long-term dedication. This is your mental fortitude, your ability to push through everything and keep on going. Your leg's broke, fuck it, you made a promise. It's the Attribute that is vital in resisting mental powers, and in driving a character, having it below average would probably be a *sign*
Social Attributes:
Presence--The life of the party. This is the Power stat of social. It's what makes you a social dynamo, your bearing and ability to socially impose your will upon the world.
Manipulation--Charm, Persuasiveness. When the door won't be kicked down, when all the smiles in the world come to nothing, sometimes you need to be deceptive, sometimes you need to ooze through the cracks of the doors, find a social window and break in. That is what manipulation does.
Composure--This is, put hilariously, your On. Your ability to not freak the fuck out every time someone makes you angry. A composed person keeps their cool and doesn't allow themselves to be riled. Combined with Resolve, it's what makes your willpower pool.
These three categories are the very basis of so much, and can themselves be divided into three other categories, which can also be used for quick-creation. Power, Finesse, Resistence. Strength, Intelligence, and Presence are your physical, mental and social power. They are the big guns that you can bring to batter down the enemy. Dexterity, Wits, and Manipulation are your finesse. Your alternate tools. "I am Indiana Jones, so I just shoot the sword-fighter", "Oh god I didn't prepare for the test I'll make up a bunch of bullshit right here and now" and "Sooo, perhaps we have a deal?" And Resistence is your ability to just endure. People taunt you and you smile, people punch you and you don't even flinch, and you walk through life's challenges never wavering from your path.
So, in a theoretical character creation...yeah, since I'm doing this, I might as well actually do this. I'm taking over this thread. Nobody move, and you won't get hurt.
We. Are going to make a character.
So, let us start at the start.
Concept. Concept is really, really simple. At this stage, don't even think of magic. Magic doesn't exist, David Bowie is dead, all joy and light has gone from the world, because you're going to be making a normal person. They can be a cop, a firefighter, a tax attorney, a bank robber, but you're going to make them.
So, give me a two or three word concept. An occupation, role, or the like is a good start, and then maybe a personality trait. Alcohol Lawyer is one. Back-Alley Doctor is another.
The next step is Virtue and Vice.
Now, 1e and 2e do this different ways. 1e has the Christian Virtues and Vices. Hopeful, lustful, charitable, greedy. Bo-ring.
2e Virtues and Vices are a lot more broad. A virtue is something you adhere to even when it costs you, a vice is something you indulge in.
Virtues are your higher callings, the things that in theory are your best aspects. Teacher could be a virtue, or Rebel could be one, fighting against the broken systems of a broken world. Or Rebel could be a vice, because you can't help but kick over the system and be all 'I'm a rebel dad, you can't understand me' even when it's not the best thing.
Whenever you follow a Virtue despite it costing you too much, you regain all Willpower. Whenever you follow a vice during a scene, at the end you regain one willpower.
But most of all, virtue and vice represent a way to define character. The politician whose virtue is administrator and whose vice is patience is very good at managing other people, very good at carefully setting things up, and yet sometimes he just wants things *now*, he wants the bill passed through Congress yesterday.
There's many ways to skin the same cat, but when you go with the Virtue and Vice, it's important to think it through. Virtues are difficult to follow, but are the better nature, vices easy to follow, yet turn you away from that.
Which brings us...back to Attributes.
Simply put, all people start with a 1 in each Attribute, and then they get to prioritize and spend how they will from there. Simply put, assign Physical, Mental, and Social as primary, secondary, and tertiary. The Primary Attribute gets 5 dots to spend however you want. If Mental is Primary, you could be an Intelligence 4, Wits 2, Resolve 2 person, or a Intelligence 3, Wits 3, Resolve 2, or however you want to spread it. Having a one is okay, but understand it's going to be a problem and will likely have to have an explanation and consequences in one sense. A person with Resolve 1 is a wet noodle ready to fold. So an Intelligence 5, Wits 2, Resolve 1 would be the really smart person who not only has no motivation, but gives up all the time.
The secondary gets 4 dots, same rules.
The tertiary gets 3 dots, which means that there's no reason why someone can't at least be average in all Attributes.
Once you've done all three, if you want to participate (Pulp Fiction reference aside, this is all voluntary), I'll get to the next step.
Now, you might ask, to finish this up: When are the gamelines coming in? Well, patience grasshopper, because every single supernatural template is just that. A template. You can build someone the normal way through almost half of character creation, stop, and say, "I want to build a Vampire...no...a Mage!" and have it mostly work. Now, there are limits and complexities to some of the processes in terms of choosing skills based on magic, but it at least mechanically works.
So *takes a breath, arm is hurting a bit* are you ready to try?
