Character Creation
Step One: Choose a Venue
At this time, you may have THREE PCs on Eternal Noire.
We currently are offering ONE setting with six distinct Venues:
- Beast the Primordial
- Changeling the Lost
- Deviant the Renegades
- Hunter the Vigil
- Mage the Awakening
- Vampire the Requiem
In addition, Mortals are also being accepted in all venues.
In the future, we may add more venues depending on book availability and expanding our Story Telling team! If you’re interested in seeing a venue we don’t currently have in play, please feel free to apply for staff!
Step Two: Obtain a Character Sheet
- Click one of the following links to access the appropriate character sheet.
- To make a sheet, copy the sheet into your own Drive account so you can edit it.
- To fill in the dots, simply type a ‘.’ in the box and it will automatically fill it.
- See the ‘Help’ tab for other options such as changing the dot color to reflect free dots, etc.
Step Three: Creation & House Rules
On Eternal Noire we are using Chronicles of Darkness (nWoD 2e) for our setting, with the following exceptions:
- EN House Rules
- HtV Translation
- Approved Book List
- MCIs: No MCIs at character creation.
Otherwise, we will be using the basic creation rules located in the core Chronicles of Darkness pages 24-60. Each venue will be using their basic creation rules in their respective books, but to summarize:
- Name & Concept
- Anchors: Vice/Virtue (or equivalent, if any)
- Attributes: 5/4/3
- Skills: 11/7/4
- Specialties: 3
- Merits: 10 (even for mortals)
- Starting Integrity: 7 (or appropriate level for your character type)
Step Four: Add Your Template
Once you have a basic sheet ready, you’ll need to add your template. Each venue has their own creation specific rules, so you’ll have to check their creation sections below.
BtP
Beasts
Please refer to pg 77 of the Beast corebook for basic template creation rules.
- Please define your Horror’s specific hunger at creation.
- You may begin with any of the alternate Birthrights, please indicate this in your notes section, otherwise it will be assumed you took the default.
- Regardless of starting Lair, you may only begin play with your Heart and one other Chamber.
- Per the book, you may start with just your Heart for 2xp (this still counts toward any and all XP caps).
- You may take one dot in a Clique for free
- Players may begin with one Family Tie to either another PC or a generic NPC. Please describe the nature of this relationship, and if a generic NPC, provide a few sentences describing the NPC.
- Primordial Cults are allowed at creation and are capped at 3. Your Herald may be an NPC or a PC.
- Obcasus rites must be earned in-game, similarly, Guidance must happen in-game to count towards being able to learn Obcasus rites.
- Any merit that doesn’t have Beast as a prerequisite is considered general and open to all characters.
Heralds
- Heralds must be tied to a PC beast
- Any mortal in the Beast venue may become a Herald if sponsored by a PC Beast.
- To sponsor a Herald, a Beast must have a Primordial Cult.
- Heralds may join their Beast’s Clique.
- Heralds benefit from their Beasts Primordial Cult merits.
- Heralds may supernatural merits, but not quarter splats.
- Should a Herald’s Beast die or desanction, another PC Beast may claim them, the Herald’s Legend will adjust to match their new Beast.
- Should a Herald go one month without finding a new Beast, the player may choose to either become a Beast or become a Mortal.
- If the player chooses to become a Beast, they are able to manifest any Family and Hunger.
- If the player chooses to become a Mortal, they retain Unseen Senses: Primordial Dream; all other Advanced and Epic merits fall under Sanctity of Merits rules.
Mortals
- While vanilla mortals are allowed, keep in mind the complications of being totally out of the know with no way for Beasts to find you. Mortals in Beast are intended to act much like Wolfbloods do in Werewolf – expect to still be tied to the Begotten. For further guidance, please see chat policies regarding getting involved in plots.
- The following quarter templates are allowed: Atariya, Infected, Psychic Vampires, and Skin Thieves. Shadow Occultists from Shunned by the Moon can be earned in-game if the criteria are met.
- Supernatural Tolerance is capped at 1 at creation.
- Quarter splats cannot become Heralds, but other mortals in the venue are considered to have a deep enough connection to the Primordial Dreams to become Heralds.
- Mortals may be Devoured if the plot calls for it, by making a mortal in the venue, you agree to the possibility.
- A player may request to be Devoured after a month of play.
- Mortals may join a Clique with a PC sponsor.
Approved Book List
- Beast the Primordial
- Beast Player’s Guide
- Any Atavisms or Nightmares from any other official book
- Dark Eras
- Dark Eras 2
- Dark Eras Companion
- Shunned by the Moon (just the Shadow Occultist stuff)
CtL
Creation Rules
Please refer to pg 89 of the Changeling corebook for basic template creation rules.
- If you would like to “Bank” Mantle 1 that Changelings receive for free, you can instead use it to purchase Court Goodwill at 1.
- No Player-Submitted Custom Content can be submitted until after sanctioning. The Exception to this rule is for Player-Created Custom Kiths.
- Anything on the EN Changeling & Universal Custom Content Pages is fair game!
- You may bank your XP until after sanctioning if you REALLY want something custom.
- Talk with us, let’s have a conversation and work it into your personal plot together. We like outside-the-box thinking.
- Mentors and Allies in the established courts and their NPCs are ENCOURAGED.
- For the list of NYC’s current Courts, their Mantle effects, and reskinned Contracts, click here.
- Fae-Touched are allowed.
- Merits in the Goblin Markets (1e) book are allowed.
- Mortals and all mortal templates from Hurt Locker are allowed.
Restrictions
- No Mantle above 2
- No Court Goodwill above 1
- No Mundane Status above 3
- No Baubles
- No Tokens above 3
- No Wyrd above 3
- No Slave Merit, Use Retainer instead
Approved Book List
- Changeling the Lost 2e
- Oak, Ash, and Thorn
- Goblin Markets (1e); Merits allowed.
- Exception: Slave Merit is not in use, use the Retainer Merit instead.
DtR
Creation Rules
Deviants
- The Deviant corebook is set to publish in August 2021, however we are open to character submission for those who have backed the Kickstarter and obtained the backer preview.
- Please refer to pg 73 of the Deviants corebook for basic template creation rules.
- We are using a modified version of Threat Level 1. You get two Variations, and you can set them at whichever Magnitude you desire, but still have to take a scar of the appropriate Magnitude. You also still get your one free unentangled Magnitude of the Variation your Origin gives you.
- You may spend XP to purchase additional Variations at creation, subject to rules above.
- No Unentangled Scars at Creation.
- If you are going to play a Transmissible, you must receive players consent before affecting their character with the disease.
- You may exchange one of your Loyalty dots for a Conviction dot with a backstory reason, and vice versa.
- No PC Devoted are allowed.
- You gain a free dot of Status within one of the Secret Societies if you choose to join one. If you choose to be unaligned you get a free dot of Anonymity.
Mortals
- Mortals on some level have a connection to one of the Secret Societies when they exist in the Deviant venue. Whether they realize it or not, they’ve been brought a little closer to the Societies for their own safety or the safety of others.
- You gain a free dot of Status within one of the Secret Societies if you choose to join one. If you choose to be unaligned you get a free dot of Anonymity.
- If a Mortal isn’t in the know, they are required to have a single dot of Status in one of the Secret Societies to represent their connection to whichever society is protecting them.
- If the Mortal is in the know, they may be unaligned.
- The following quarter templates are allowed: Atariya, Lost Boys (Neverlanders), Lost Heroes, Psychic Vampires.
- A player may go through a Divergence if the plot calls for it, by making a mortal in the venue, you agree to the possibility.
- A player may request to go through a Divergence after a month of play.
Approved Book List
- Deviant the Renegades
- Dark Eras 2
HtV
Character Creation
Please see the Hunter Translation Guide for basic template creation rules.- Hunters will start with 10 dots of Merits instead of 7. This does not affect the free dot of Professional Training or dot of Compact/Conspiracy Status.
- Hunters cannot use extra build XP to purchase additional dots of their Endowments.
- Hunters cannot start with unapproved Custom Content. If it is in the Manuscript Translation or posted on the wiki, it can then be taken at Character Creation.
- Players can start as “Ex-Compact/Conspiracy”, but cannot take any Endowments that those Conspiracies would grant.
- Compact and Conspiracy Status is limited to 2 dots total at CC.
- Mortals and Hunters may take supernatural merits.
- Quarter-splats are not available for PCs.
- No Slashers or Slasher merits are available for PCs.
Approved Book List
MtA
Creation Rules
Please refer to page 82 of the Mage corebook for basic template creation rules.
- Choose your Path.
- Choose your Order.
- Describe your Nimbus.
- Choose your Dedicated Magical Tool.
- Determine your Arcana by Path and then distribute 6 dots of Arcana. You must have at least one dot in each Ruling Arcana and you cannot use these free dots to obtain dots in your Inferior Arcana.
- Choose 3 Rotes.
- Determine your Gnosis – you may have a maximum of 4 at CC.
- Determine your Obsessions.
- Choose a Praxis for each dot of Gnosis
- Choose your Free Resistance Attribute: Composure, Resolve, or Stamina.
- If you choose to start in an Order, add a free dot of occult.
- Order Status is capped at 2.
- Additionally: Gain 2 free dots of Shadow Name. Please note that Shadow name and your theme as a mage will be very important in this game. To read more about Shadow Names see page 67 and 292 of the Mage corebook.
- No Legacies at creation.
Mortals
- Not currently allowed.
Merits
- Shadow Name has been increased from 1-3 to 1-5 and counts as a free reflexive yantra that does not count toward Yantra limits or reflexive yantra limits.
Approved Book List
- Mage the Awakening 2e
- Signs & Sorcery
- Nameless and Accursed (Case by Case)
- Contagion Chronicles Players’ Guide (With some adjustments, Details coming)
VtR
CONCEPTS
Please see pg 79 of the Vampire corebook for template creation rules.- New York is an insular city, and its Kindred are wary of strangers. If you choose to play a non-Local Kindred, you will face heightened character restrictions until you have proven your good intentions (or at least your inoffensiveness to the status-quo) to the All Night Society of the City That Never Sleeps. These restrictions for non-Local Kindred apply only at Character Creation.
- Due to the actions of the city’s previous Archbishop and his Anointed, members of the Lancea et Sanctum face distrust and disenfranchisement in New York. However, those Sanctified who remain in the city are often highly-respected among their Covenant, and thus may begin play at Covenant Status 3.
- Bloodlines are permitted at Character Creation, with ST approval.
- Ghoul PCs are permitted, but are required to have an active PC regnant.
- Mortal PCs are permitted, but are required to be both aware of and involved with the All Night Society. Supernatural Merits are permitted for Mortal PCs, but some merits may bring unpleasant attention if used in the presence of Kindred.
- Dhampir and Quarter-Templates are not permitted as PCs in the Vampire venue.
ATTRIBUTES and SKILLS
- Attributes at 1: No restriction, but you may not raise an Attribute from 1 to 2 more than once per three months, and may not raise an Attribute this way before three months have passed since character sanction.
MERITS
- City Status: Capped at 1 for non-Locals, 2 for Locals, and 0 for Sanctified.
- Clan Status: Capped at 2. Members of the Five Families are capped at 3.
- Covenant Status: Capped at 1 for non-Locals, 2 for Locals, and 3 for Sanctified.
- Dynasty Membership: Capped at 2, and requires membership in one of the Five Families. The exception to these requirements are player-character Dynasties, which will require three player-character members, one of whom may have this Merit at 3 dots.
- Feeding Grounds: Capped at 0 for non-Locals, 2 for Locals, and 1 for Sanctified Locals.
- Mystery Cult Initiation / Mystery Cult Influence: No player-created Mystery Cults will be permitted at Character Creation. Other restrictions may apply, based on the Mystery Cult in question.
- Lineage: This Merit requires membership in one of the Five Families.
- Sworn: Player-knowledge of the workings of their character’s Oath in the Ordo Dracul is required.
- Alley Cat (Secrets of the Covenants): This is now a General Merit
- Toss That Shit Right Back (Secrets of the Covenants): This is now a General Fighting Merit.
- Prestigious Sire (Secrets of the Covenants): This is now a General Vampire Merit. This Merit requires Allie Whitechapel, Eva Visser, Max Adrestos, or Mother Maggie as a Sire and Mentor.
- Tech-Savvy (Secrets of the Covenants): This is now a General Merit.
- Twilight Judge (Secrets of the Covenants): This Merit is banned at Character Creation. Player-knowledge of the workings of Ordo Dracul legal systems will be required for the purchase of this Merit.
DISCIPLINES and BLOOD SORCERY
- The Coil of Zirnitra and the Coil of Ziva: These Mysteries and their related Scales are banned at Character Creation. The knowledge of these Mysteries and/or their related Scales is highly-illegal under Prince Kavinsky’s Praxis, and known possession of either will carry heavy in-character consequences, including a tremendous risk of character death.
Approved Book List
-
- Vampire the Requiem 2nd Edition
- Secrets of the Covenants
- One Thousand Years of Night
- Blood Sorcery
- Dark Eras 2 (Crochan only, currently)
- 1e Covenant and Clanbooks (Fluff only, where it does not contradict 2e sources)
- Better Feared: Nosferatu
- False Gods: Ventrue
- Sin Again: Daeva
- Strange Shades: Mekhet
- Wild Hunt: Gangrel
Step Five: Add Bonus XP
We are offering 10 Bonus Starting XP that you may spend in any way that complies with each venue’s creation rules. This is to help flesh out your PC so that you can give it more of an individualistic feel.
Step Six: Background & Questionnaire
Writing a background can feel a bit daunting, especially when you don’t know what to expect from the staff. At Eternal Noire, we want to encourage PCs to be as creative and thorough with their backgrounds as possible. We encourage tie-ins to the setting, and our Story Telling staff will read your background thoroughly no matter if it’s a bullet list, or a well written short story to set your PC up for how they ended up in the here and now of sanctioning. We don’t expect a ton of justification, but if you have any outliers on your sheet in terms of very high or very low dots, it’s a good chance to explain how that happened to our team here.
Sanctioning is a conversation. Our Staff is here to help you make your creative ideas work within the game and setting we have prepared.
OUR PROMISE: WE WILL READ YOUR HISTORY, and we will USE the story hooks and ties you give us.
What we Require from Backgrounds:
- Questionnaire Answers
- These are personalized for each venue, and they’re usually short questions that the STs will be looking for to assist in the sanctioning process.
- Check the individual Creation Pages for your venue for more information.
- These are the MINIMUM requirements to help flesh out your characters.
- Character History: A Bullet Pointed List, or short story/novella about your PC.
- 3 “Story Hooks” for your character.
- These will help the team tie your personal character into the storyline and get you involved in the ongoing plots more quickly.
- These also give the story tellers a chance to give you personal story arcs, along with the overarching venue arcs.
- These are NOT “Role-play” Hooks, these are PLOT and SETTING hooks.
- No more, and no less than 3.
- Examples:
- “New to NYC”
- “Daughter of So-n-So NPC”
- End-Game Goal(s) for your character.
- These can be IC or OOC goals for your PC. At least 1, no more than 3.
- Anything from “Get to Status 5 Government” or “Find my parent’s killers”, or even “Be Batman”.
- These help YOU get a good idea for your Character’s direction and helps the STs know what kind of things to help nudge your towards.
Step Seven: Make a Character Thread
Make a new character thread in the appropriate venue’s Awaiting Sanctioning thread.
Step Eight: Await Sanctioning
Logging on during an ST’s available time is the fastest way to get Sanctioned. Some teams may also prefer to do this via Forum Private Messaging (FPM), especially if there is a scheduling conflict.