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World of Darkness
Step Two : Traits
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In this stage of character creation, you assign the numerical values that represent your character’s Attributes and Abilities. You are given a specific number of points to purchase levels of efficacy in each of the various types of Traits. How you divide them these points between them determines where your character’s strengths and weaknesses lie.
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| Attributes | |
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A character’s Attributes define her inherent characteristics. These are the Physical, Social, and Mental capacities with which she was born. The most basic of all other Traits, they deserve more thought than any other.
Physical : These traits describe how strong, nimble, and sturdy your character is. They define the strengths and weaknesses of the body; action-orientated characters usually have these as their concentration.
Social : Your character’s Social attributes measure her appearance and her ability to relate to others. They are the primary concentration of political oriented characters.
Mental : Mental Attributes represent your character’s thought capacity, including such things as memory, perception, learning potential and the ability to think quickly. Characters who are smart or intellectual concentrate on these.
Before you start to spend points on Attributes, you must first prioritize the three attribute categories: Physical, Social, and Mental. Think about whether your character is accomplished in problem-solving or prefers to let her fists do the talking. Is she a social creature or a brainy wallflower? She will be good in the primary category, average in the secondary category, and poor in the tertiary category. The priority you establish determines how many points you have to spend in each category.
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| Spending Points | |
| Once you have prioritized the Attribute categories, you are ready to begin spending the points. When you do, you will be purchasing “dots” in the Traits listed under each category. One point buys one dot in a Trait.
Primary: You may distribute 7 points among the Traits listed under your character’s Primary ability.
Secondary : You may distribute 5 points among the Traits listed under your character’s Secondary ability
Tertiary You may distribute 3 points among the Traits listed under your character’s tertiary ability
All characters start with one free dot in each Attribute. Divide your points within an individual Attribute category based on your character concept. Later you may change your mind about these ratings, or have to change them due to other aspects of your character. Worry about that when it comes due – for now, just focus on setting your character’s ratings according to your concept.
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| Abilities | |
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Abilities define what your character knows and can do rather than how strong, personable or smart she is. They describe Talents, Skills, and Knowledges for which she has aptitude or training.
Talents: These Abilities are intuitive and internal. Most of them cannot be practiced, studied, or learned from a book, although there are exceptions. More often than not, they are gained through direct experience.
Skills: This category include any Ability that must be learned through practice hands-on application. It takes more practice and trial-and-error to learn more.
Knowledges: These represent Abilities that require the rigorous application of mind. Generally, a character has learned them through school, books, and mentors. On rare occasions, they can be self-taught.
As with Attributes, you must prioritize between the three categories of Abilities (Talents, Skills, Knowledges). Consider what type of expertise your character would be most proficient in (primary), in which she will be average (secondary) and in which she will be below average (tertiary).
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| Spending Points | |
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Once you assigned a priority level to each of the categories of Abilities, you are ready to begin spending points. When you do, you are purchasing the dots in Traits listed under each Ability category. One point buys one dot in a Trait. Unlike attributes, you may not, at this time, give your character more than three dots in any one Ability trait. Later, you will be given the opportunity to raise them, but for the sake of balance, you must abide by a ceiling of three dots in each Ability Trait.
Ability Points
Primary: you may distribute 13 points among the Traits listed under your character’s primary Ability category.
Secondary: you may distribute 9 points among the Traits listed under your character’s secondary Ability category.
Tertiary: you may distribute 5 points among the Traits listed under your character’s tertiary Ability category.
You may divide your points within an individual Ability category however you see fit as long as you put no more than three dots in any one Ability. Later you may change your mind about these ratings and your initial ideas become more fleshed out.
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The above information was taken from the Changeling : The Dreaming Second Edition book. All of this information here has been copyrighted to White Wolf Publishing.
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