Questionable Character Concepts

BANNED CONCEPTS

• Cubs: Rank 0 of any shifter species. While seemingly an "easy in" to a sphere you don't know well, playing a Cub requires other PCs to take on the role of teacher in order to educate you on how to play the game they themselves showed up prepared to play. This is rarely fun for anyone -- nobody likes roleplaying The Rulebook at you -- and the social limitations on cubs (no leaving the Bawn, no taking a mate, no getting into trouble, no autonomy, et cetera) make playing them a chore. Players looking to join the Shifter Sphere are advised to simply read the core rulebook first and apply as a Cliath when they're sure they know how to do so. Experienced players wishing to play a cub or Rank 0 Fera may discuss the matter with Staff, but should have no expectation of being granted permission to do so.

• Kinmagi. There is currently a moratorium on Kinfolk who are also Awakened Mages. Always intended to be a rarity, this obviously-popular combination of the Mage and Werewolf spheres has historically lead to more inter-sphere conflicts than any other single concept and has perhaps the highest body count of on-screen PVP kills in City of Hope history, and has thus been disallowed for the foreseeable future. Shifters do not generally do "divided loyalties" well, and Mages are always viewed as a threat to what Gaians hold sacred.

• Triatic Aligned Demons. Firstly, the Demons of Demon the Fallen are not part of the Triat. Nor did they create it or have any knowledge of it. It is completely foreign to them. Their presence in a Triaticly influenced world can be blamed on their God spilling his reality on the way out the door. The Torment mechanics make it impossible for a Demon to work with the Wyrm, Pentex, or the Sabbat in any active way without quickly imploding due to Torment gain.

QUESTIONABLE CONCEPTS

This is a (non-exhaustive) list of character concepts that you may want to discuss with staff before creating a character around them. These are allowed, but more likely than usual to run into complications, and in some cases the existing player base is burnt out on them because they've already been done repeatedly and badly.

• Anything directly involving multiple game lines - though some combinations are far more likely to be viable than others. If in doubt, ask staff. See +rules multiclass.

• This goes double for extending an existing character into a second (third, etc.) game line. You need to work out how that happened ICly, which is simpler for some things than others (e.g. ghoul vs. kinain).

• Consider creating a new alt instead. +policy alts intentionally does not impose any quantitative limits.

• Loners. Others aren't obligated to get you involved; give them a reason to want to.

• Showing up and immediately declaring that other PCs are doing things badly and should follow your lead. If you were there first and someone else did that, would you want to follow their lead?

• An ICly obvious maverick/misfit/screw-up in an authoritarian faction, e.g. Garou Nation, Technocracy, Camarilla. This specifically includes (but is not limited to):

• Being sarcastic or otherwise antagonistic toward anyone higher up on the chain of command (e.g. kinfolk vs shifters, shifters vs elders, ghouls vs vampires). This will typically draw a response that would be disproportionate in normal society but fits the canon of that group (though it should still be OOCly civil, and so should you).

• Someone who ICly turned away from the group, but continues to interact significantly with individuals who remain loyal to it. This puts pressure on them to protect the group by either bringing you back in or shutting you out completely.

• Someone who was just recently brought into the group and is still freaking out about it - especially if you're not very familiar with the group OOCly.

• Playing the damsel in distress (regardless of gender) without OOCly coordinating with your rescuers ahead of time.

• Backstory of severe demotion - e.g. shifter who lost two or more ranks.

• Being utterly different from what's normal for your clan/tribe/whatever.

• You don't have to be a complete stereotype; 'typical member except for this one quirk' is reasonably common, and fine.

• But if you're utterly different, then why are you ICly in that clan/tribe/whatever in the first place? If they choose their members, why were you chosen? If you're born into it, why haven't they thrown you out?

• That's not a rhetorical question. There may or may not be a coherent answer; if there is, it may or may not lead to fun RP.

• Utterly lacking a stat that your character would normally have at a significant level - e.g. surgeon with no dots in Medicine.

• People who are quick to decide that other PCs should die. See +policy risk and +policy PTMD.

• Shifters with Rage whose day job involves lots of in-person contact with and/or visibility to a variety of mortals - (e.g. police, military, talk show host), and who expect to hold said day job for any significant length of time. Some of those NPCs will be jerks and trigger Rage checks.

• Such day jobs are far more appropriate for kinfolk, another reason why your (canonically rare) kinfolk are so valuable.

• This does not apply to Ananasi/Nuwisha because they don't have Rage.

• Shifters whose First Change occurred unusually late in life. (WtA 104: usually 14-18, sometimes as late as 21; 2-3 for lupus, 8-10 for metis.) Later changes can occur, but are far less common.

• Teaching Lore about your race to someone outside your game line(s) for no coherent reason, especially if it seems like you're trying to give sneaky assistance to your own alt.

• Obscure splats. They're obscure for a reason, and that reason may cause them to be disallowed as PCs. Example: Harbingers of Skulls are explicitly described (GttSabbat 61) as overpowered compared to PCs. Anything that only appeared in 1st edition is also iffy at best.

People whose intended schtick is to...

• Pro-actively antagonize other PCs. See +policy antagonist.

• Do ICly dumb things. See +policy village idiot.

• Sit around in a public place and scan other PCs with Auspex/whatever just because they're PCs. See +rules sniping and +rules in public.

• Become invisible using Obfuscate/whatever and spy on other PCs. While ICly you can do this, OOCly we don't have invisibility code and aren't adding it; we consider protection from OOC spying to be more important.

• Use supernatural powers with no risk of detection. See +rules awareness.

• Look and/or act under 18, especially in a suggestive fashion. What you do behind closed doors is your own business, but please don't push this in public. There are other games where it's expected and you should do it there instead.

• This does not apply to characters who actually are under 18 (e.g. lupus Garou), but look and act like adults.

For things involving targeting another PC:

• They probably also apply to targeting a NPC that another PC has personally invested in (e.g. Allies, Contacts, Retainers).

• They do not apply to NPCs invented for PRPs.