Creation Guide: Idea Area

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Creation Guide: Idea Area

This is built to help people get ideas going for the character that would take to long in the character guide for Whistle.  In this guide there are idea spawns for Skills, Weaknesses, Flaws and Phobias, and Mutant (and Magic) powers. 

These are to give you ideas, not limit your thinking. Please keep in mind the "Creation" Rules however! If you want to discuss character creation, Seru loves talking to people. Or you can leave a PM with anyone of our helpful staff for assistance! 

Skills Overview

Are listed by Physical, Social and Mental to go with the character sheet. By and large they are to give you ideas, if you don't see something you'd like, you can always ask a staff member if it's possible to take it. Remember, just because you ask doesn't mean it's an automatic Yes.  

Please note that you need to say how good you are (scale of 1 to 5) on the skills. Fours and Fives are things that take active work for many years to accomplish and aren't just over night. You should have a general "reason" and "logical base" for the reasons why your characters would have the skills and know ledges you want them to have. 

1. Beginner- You've done something once or twice... enough to have an idea of how to work or do it. 
2. Practiced: You've practiced it often. 
   
3. Competent: You have a good idea on how it works, and it’s almost second nature. 
4. Expert: It’s second nature to do or work whatever you've accomplished. 
5. Master: You are at the top of your field, if it’s a sport; you are probably an Olympic Medalist 
   

Weaknesses Overview

This list is NOT extensive, nor is it “the only options out there”- it is just a small attempt to get people’s brains working for ideas. It is borrowed, lovingly, from Laws of the Night- a VtM larp book…

Weaknesses can change throughout the course of your character’s life… a character ‘can’ (and probably WILL grow out of some of these weaknesses… or adopt and change and get different or new ones due to the course of the storyline… For instance, someone may temporarily pick up the Physical Weakness “Sickly” as they have caught a nasty flu bug… but after the course of the illness and a few nasty shots, they are cured and loose the temporary weakness.  Again, it’s up to the player to define exactly what they mean… You can go with “Clumsy: Lacking Physical coordination, balance, and grace. You are prone to stumbling and dropping objects..” OR you can tweak it and put something like:

Clumsy: Whistle tends to be pretty clumsy on land, lacking coordination or balance when running and often bumps into things when in a hurry. This is due to the fact she’s used to being in water where there is less gravity pull. In water, Whistle is not clumsy at all!
(More examples of twisted Weaknesses can be found on Whistle’s Character Sheet Guide.)

PHYSICAL SKILLS 

Alertness	This is your basic knack for noticing things that go on around you, even when you’re not actively looking for them. Alertness describes the attention you pay to the outside world, whether otherwise occupied or not.
Athletic	Athletics concerns all forms of running, jumping, throwing, swimming, sports and the like; however, it doesn’t cover basic motor actions such as lifting weights, nor does it govern athletic feats covered by another Ability (such as Melee).
Archery	Ability to use Bows and arrows, including cross bows
Blowgun	Ability and training to use blowguns
Brawl/ Martial Arts*	Is the skill in unarmed combat, whether from formal martial-arts training or simply from plenty of experience either type can make you a dangerous adversary. Effective brawlers are coordinated, resistant to pain, quick, strong and mean; the willingness to do whatever it takes to hurt your opponent wins plenty of fights. *must choose appropriate style... Some styles are much easier to learn then others!
Boat handling	Ability to sail, maintain and care for boats.
Carpentry	Make stuff out of wood.
Climbing	The walls, as needed
Cooking	So you don’t starve after getting foods.
Dancing	You might not have two left feet!
Dodge	Dodge entails taking cover, ducking punches or any other methods of getting out of harm’s way.
Drive	Ability to drive and operate cars, bikes and trucks. <o:p></o:p>
Fishing	Fresh Fish! You want em we got em!
Firearms	Ability to fire, clean and properly care for (and target with!) guns…
Gunsmithing	Ability to make guns
Hunting	Food is good on land too
Leatherworking	Ability to make creations out of leather
Lock Picking	No Door is safe!
Mechanic	You build stuff, and most of the time, it works! (Pending ST approval ;P )
Melee*	Ability to use weaponry such as swords, axes, daggers, maces, bo staves, etc. al. Must state which weapon(s) you have training in.
Pickpocket	No wallet is safe!
Pilot	Can operate planes and helicopters
Ride	Ability to ride animals
Singing	The ability to sing (very very well)
Sleight of hand	This covers a variety of switching and quick fingered tricks not for getting this from pockets, but for moving things everywhere.
Stealth	Sneaky Ninja time
Swimming	You are able to swim at least enough to keep yourself afloat, and maybe a little more.
Throwing	You know how to throw things in general, and how to use various types of thrown weapons — anything from spears to hatchets to knives to baseballs (yes, if thrown hard enough, they make fine weapons).
Tracking	The ability to try to find Logan..
Traps	Trapping is an older skill set, but if you watched a lot of Scooby Doo, It’s fun too!

PHYSICAL WEAKNESSES

Clumsy	Lacking physical coordination, balance and grace. You are prone to stumbling and dropping objects.
Cowardly	In threatening situations, saving your own neck is all that is important. You might even flee when you have the upper hand, just out of habit.
Decrepit	You move and act as if you are old and infirm. You recover from physical damage slowly, you are unable to apply full muscular strength and you tire easily.
Delicate	You lack physical persistence, and you tend to submit rather than fighting long battles.
Flabby	Your muscles are underdeveloped . Youc cannot apply your strength well against resistance.
Lame	You are disabled in one or more limbs. The handicap can be as obvious as a missing leg, or as subtle as a dysfunctional arm.
Lethargic	Slow and Drowsy. You suffer from a serious lack of energy or motivation.
Puny	You are weak and inferior in strength. This might be due to diminutive size.
Sickly	Weak and feeble, your body responds to physical stress as if it were in the throes of a debilitating illness.

Just to restate, these are just "ideas" they are not the end all, be all of any sort of list. If you have a physical inability to stand water, sunlight or the presence of honey bees, those are also "physical" weaknesses. They can, but don't have to, tie into your mutations.

Other Ideas: Short, Bad Sight, One Eye, a Child, Deaf, Mute, Blind- an intolerance to some physical substance like an allergy

SOCIAL SKILLS

Acting	Not just the ability to lie, now you can take on entirely new personalities and even, at higher levels pull them off naturally.
Debate	Get that point across!
Diplomacy	You have the ability to deal with people of all types and creeds. Even when handling touchy subjects, you are able to get results without ruffling too many feathers.
Empathy	You understand the emotions of others, and can sympathize with, feign sympathy for, or play on such emotions as you see fit. You are an easy hand at discerning motive, and might be able to pick up on when someone’s lying to you. However, you may be so in tune with other people’s feelings that your own emotions are affected.
Fast Talk	Get that point across… FAST
Fortune Telling	You may or may not have the gift to tell accurate fortunes, but you can make people believe you do
Haggling	You are skilled at bargaining and can reduce another’s price, or get some other concession, under most circumstances.
Instruction	You have a knack for imparting information and skills to others. You can explain things and demonstrate techniques in such a way that anyone who listens to you can easily learn.
Interrogation	You are able to extract information from people by fair means or foul.
Intimidation	Intimidation takes many forms, from outright threats and physical violence to mere force of personality. You know the right method for each occasion, and can be very....persuasive.
Leadership	You are an example to others and can inspire them to do what you want. Leadership has less to do with manipulating people’s desires than it does with presenting yourself as the sort of person they want to follow.
Psychology	The inner workings of the mind… Yeah it could be mental, but it’s really social in application..
Public Speaking	You are able to mold the emotions of a crowd by making a speech. This might be at a political rally, in a courtroom, at a lecture or even at the barricades once the revolution is underway.
Streetwise	The streets can provide a lot of information or money to those who know the language. Streetwise allows you to blend in unobtrusively with the local scene, pick up gossip, understand slang or even dabble in criminal doings.
Subterfuge (Lying)	You know how to conceal your own motives and project what you like. Furthermore, you can root out other people’s motives, then use those motives against them.
Theology	Talking to God(s?) is a personal past time.

SOCIAL WEAKNESSES

A word of Caution...

Social weaknesses make it hard to interact with other people... however, that doesn't give you an excuse why you can't play or be near other people in threads. These weaknesses and mental weaknesses are weaknesses for characters to work on overcoming- NOT use them as crutches of why they can't be apart of the group.  

Bestial:	You have started to look like an animal, or something just ‘not’ human (traditionally? Animal.) You may have claw like fingernails, heavy body hair, or just a really feral glint in your eyes. You definitely seem “inhuman” to those just casually looking.
Callous:	You are unfeeling, uncaring, and insensitive to the suffering of others.
Condescending:	You just can’t help it; your contempt for others is impossible to hide.
Dull:	Those with whom you speak usually find you boring and uninteresting. Conversing with you is a chore. You do not present yourself well to others.
Feral:	The animalistic predator in you is evident in your actions. You scratch yourself, sniff at people or otherwise behave in a primitive fashion.
Naïve:	You lack the air of worldliness, sophistication, or maturity that most carry.
Obnoxious:	You are annoying or unappealing in speech, action or appearance.
Repugnant:	Your appearance disgusts everyone around you. Needless to say, you make a terrible first impression with strangers.
Shy:	You are timid, bashful, reserved and socially hesitant.
Tactless:	You are unable to do or say things that others find appropriate to the social situation.
Untrustworthy:	You are rumored or perceived to be unreliable, whether or not you really are.

Other ideas: Mistaken Identity (Explaining why this is a huge deal), Foreigner (Your obviously not from anywhere in the United States- or ... even Earth?), are you being hunted by a specific group of individuals that might appear in Eden (?) do you have a specific enemy (same?) Can you not stand the sight of someone in pain and are soft-hearted, compelled to act regardless of consequence? 

MENTAL SKILLS

Academics	This is a "broad" overview of an education. One level in this is represents roughly a highschool education. Two levels represent a college education, Three levels is a master's student, four is a doctorate and five levels is a scholar, someone the top of their particular field.
Animals & Animal Training	Ability not to get bitten by dogs, cats n birds… not to mention horses- and train them to do stuff!
Artistic Expression	You have the talent to produce works of art in various media. You are able to sketch a reasonably accurate rendition of a place or person.
Computers And Computer Hacking	These are really two different skills. One is the basic use of computers, and in the upper levels the ability to build complicated ones and use multiple computer languages. Computer hacking is the art of splicing code together and hacking into mainframes. In our timeline, "typical" people on the street are not as fluent at computers in the 1990s, as they are today.
Herbalism	The ability to tell what herbs and plants are good, and which ones will kill you… at later levels, the ability to use them effectively…
Investigation	The ability to investigate, track and locate clues as well as to make plausible inferences.
Law	The study of law and politics as they relate to society and humanity.
Medicine	The study of the human body and how to fix it's various ailments.  Medicine can be as complicated as nursing or being a doctor or as simple as basic first aid and CPR.
Occult	This covers all religions and traditions in the "occult" aspects. While some aspects are less useful when ti comes to magic (Christianity tends to burn at the stake then experiment for example) one man's occult is another man's religion.
Scan	You are practiced at noticing small details and changes in the environment when you purposely look at or listen to what is going on around you. This Ability can only be used when you specifically say you are attempting to notice if anything is amiss--if you aren’t concentrating, this Ability will do you no good.
Science	The various studies of various sciences, you should be specific about the type of science(s) you explore.
Search	You know how best to go about looking for someone or something in a small area, where you can concentrate your perceptions. You can search for anything from a lost ring in your bedroom to the assassin who is hiding in the garden.
Sense Deception	Over the years, you have developed the ability to know instinctively when people are not telling you the truth or not telling you the whole truth. There is a way they look, a tone of voice, a movement of the eyes.
Speed Reading	Getting books read faster, and faster… (Level 1: New your times newspaper in an hour, three: a text book in 2 or 3 hours.. level 5: War and Peace in 2-3 hours…)
Writing	Writing ^.^ Poetry, Stories, Novels, Nonfiction, Journals, Blogs, Newspaper articles...

MENTAL WEAKNESSES

Forgetful:	You have trouble remembering even important things
Gullible:	Easily deceived, duped or fooled.
Ignorant:	Uneducated, or misinformed, never seeming to know anything
Impatient:	Restless, Anxious, and generally intolerant of delays. You want everything to go your way—Immediately!
Oblivious:	Unaware and unmindful. You’d be luck if you noticed an airplane flying through your living room.
Predictable:	Because you lack originality, or intelligence(?) even strangers can figure out what you intend to do next.
Shortsighted:	Lacking foresight, you rarely look beyond the superficial; details of perception are usually lost on you.
Submissive:	No backbone; you relent and surrender at any cost rather than stand up for yourself.
Violent:	An extreme lack of self-control, you fly into rages at the slightest provocation.
Witless:	Lacking the ability to process information quickly, you are foolish and slow to react when threatened.

Other Ideas: Flashbacks, Territorial, Guilt-wracked, short tempered, phobias, deep sleeper, nightmares, vengeful?