Character Writeup

There’s no real need for a complex character sheet, because there are so few standardized pieces of information about your character. The best thing is to write the whole character up on a computer so it can be posted by email for general reading. Please feel free to post characters on our wiki; be sure to mark these as “inventions.”

The Mask

This is made available to all players in the game.

• Name: Include any titles, and advice on pronunciation if necessary.
• The Mask: A paragraph or two giving a complete description of the character as he or she appears. Include anything that would become apparent to a reasonably observant person after seeing and talking to you for an hour or so, and state the indicators of this.
• Address: Work out an appropriate district to live in, and pick a street.
• Occupation: Be as clear as is appropriate.
• Place of Work: If appropriate.
• Knowledge: A word or phrase will do.
• Hobby: Again, a word or phrase.
• Brief History: Give a brief account of your history, as it would be known or become known among people who know you socially.
• Points of Contact: List every PC and your point of contact with each.
• The Ripper: What interests you about the Ripper murders? Officially, anyway.
• Group Motivation: Explain, in your own words, why the character is sticking together with the group and why the group is sticking together. Avoid the temptation to read others’ versions of this before writing yours; it’s quite useful and potentially dramatic to find that others do not see this common motivation in the same way at all.
• Bonds: Explain to whom you are bound, and why if that’s public information.
• Other Information: Anything else from the Compleat Mask that you feel should be available for public consumption.

The Compleat Mask

This is open only to you and the Host. Everything here can be made public, or any part of it, at any time. You may include any part of it in the Mask description as you prefer.

Skills

For each skill that seems to warrant it, give a brief description—a word or phrase that clarifies what you mean by it. This is most important with Interpersonal skills and Occult skills, but it can be useful with any skill.

• Combat: Shooting, Stabbing, Hitting, and Restraining People
• Interpersonal: Trusting, Deceiving, Caring (about), and Dominating People
• Occult
• Other

The Abyss

For each entry here, and note that you will probably not have entries in every category, give a brief explanation. In many cases, a brief paragraph will be necessary; in others a phrase will cover it. Some of this information may well be public, but you may decide on a case-by-case basis.

• Drives
• Passing
• Education
• Military Service
• Class
• Money
• Vices

Compleat Mask

Explain, in a paragraph or two, what hints and “tells” there are about your person that suggest these deeper layers. Really think this through. Gestures, fashion accessories, tics of speech, eccentricities of manner—all these can be useful.

Detailed History

Allow yourself a few paragraphs, or a couple of pages. Really get into detail. Give dates, names, places. Interpret this as well; don’t just give a dossier, but explain what certain events or people mean or meant to you. Your character is not a newborn but an adult with a complex history and background. This is the place to lay that out.

The Kicker

Don’t put this in your public Mask, because it’s more fun to surprise the other players at the start of the first session. But write it down clearly, so the GM can run the scene effectively. If it isn’t obvious, write down where and when the event occurs and how you want it framed as a scene.

The Bonds

Explain your bonds in detail. What kind are they? Why are they so important?

The Ripper

What does the Ripper mean to you? Is that the same as your “official” reason for interest? What is it that you hope to achieve by being involved in the investigation, at whatever level?

{Last Thoughts <--> Play}

-- ChrisLehrich^? - 23 Dec 2004