Before submitting an RTJ make sure you have read the entirety of this thread, and the Rules and Guidelines thread.

Players will be making characters of greater power than a starting neonate, putting them on par with the younger ancillae.  This can mean one of two things, depending on how you want to build your character and their background. Either your character is older, possibly a century or more, and hasn't done much in his unlife (yet), or he's a younger vampire who was an exceptional human, or had a very eventful early unlife.

Players will be brought together through story arcs to eventually form a loose coterie of sorts.  Players could also begin play as a coterie if they prefer, or multiple small groups that drift together.  Players will need to be ok with new players joining, and working together toward the common goal, whether they were initially part of a coterie or not.

The first thing you will need to submit is a general idea of what type of character you want to play.  This needs to at least include:

name (this doesn't have to be permanently set, but it gives me something to work with)
clan/bloodline
Road/Path
general description of personality
general physical description
general idea of goals for the character in terms of what the player might want
(ie. a Nosferatu who seeks to build a network among the sick and outcast to spy in the city, or a Toreador who wants to cultivate a harem of the city's wealthy and bored)
rough idea of what sort of skills and disciplines the character would focus on
rough background, including where the vampire was embraced (whether or not they are native to Venice, or have arrived relatively recently)


This will lead to a back and forth with the ST to flesh out the idea.  The ST will then look at all of the submitted, flesh out ideas and choose those that best fit the story and best fit each other.

If you have more than one character idea, it is ok to submit multiple, but make it clear which ones you prefer over the others.  This might also be a good idea if your primary idea is an unusual or rare type that might not be allowed in game. (If you don't make it clear which you prefer, it makes it a lot harder for the ST to choose your character over others)

-Restricted Bloodlines/Clans- Ravnos, Tzimisce, All other bloodlines.  A player asking to be one of these groups will need to work with the storyteller to find a background that makes their presence make sense, and even that does not guarantee entrance if the character is simply unfitting.  The burden will be on the player to convince the storyteller their idea has merit, and won't unduly disrupt the game.

-Forbidden clans/bloodlines- Baali, Salubri, Kiasyd, Niktuku.  These groups are just not compatible with the game or are built around themes/ideas that don’t gel well with the game.

-Restricted roads- Path of Veils, Road of Sin, Road of Set, Road of Paradox, Road of Blood.  These paths all inherently include conflict with other vampires.  Since this game is designed around a certain level of cooperation between players, these roads would be very difficult to include.  Players who insist on taking these paths will have to understand that cooperation with other players comes before your characters road.  If a choice between the two has to be made, a player will be expected to suffer the penalty of breaking his road, not be allowed to openly begin pvp conflict.

Restricted backgrounds/Merits-

Status- this background is limited to 2 dots, since the players are not of importance in the city structure at the beginning of the game.

True Faith will not be allowed at the start of the game, but may be allowed as something the player gains as the game progresses.

Merits like Domain, Allies, Contacts, and Influence are all subject to Storyteller approval, and will be limited in scope at the beginning of the game.  The city of Venice has many powerful vampires, so the players will not have significant control over mortal affairs.  Having control of a small convent, or influence in the city guard is ok, but do not expect to have agents in the Doge's palace, or control the intake of the docks.  Those things are controlled by older, more influential vampires.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:08, Fri 26 Feb 2021.

Once your character has been accepted into the game, you will begin to work on your character sheet using the template the ST provides.

the normal starting points will change as follows.  This is intended to both show that your characters are a bit older than fledglings, and also to emphasize the inherent supernatural power of a vampire.

Character Creation statistic changes:

Attributes: 8/5/4
Abilities: 15/11/7
Disciplines: 10 dots, no discipline may begin higher than 3 unless player has express permission of the ST.  Disciplines at 4 will likely be allowed once we discuss why you want them, but disciplines at 5 will be rare.
Backgrounds: 7 (again, none may start higher than 3 without ST permission, but these will be easier to get with a good background explanation)

Freebie points: 20

No background or discipline may be raised above 3 without approval by the ST.

Players are allowed a maximum of seven points in flaws, and they will be looked over by the ST before the start of play.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:40, Fri 26 Feb 2021.