Character Creation

Step One: Concept
Choose Concept (Roles as presented in the books are not being used), Shade, Lament, Nature and Demeanor. Ghosts may not have died before January 1st, 2005.
All characters must be in the employ of the Orpheus Group; Independent Spooks and those working for one of Orpheus' competitors are not being accepted at this time, and any character that leaves the company will no longer be available for play.

Core book Shades are unrestricted, Phantasms and Marrows will be tightly capped (with 2 slots available for each), so if you wish to play one of these popular Shades, be sure to have a good, solid background ready. Orphan Grinders are not being accepted at this time.

Crucibles will consist of between 4-6 agents. One person in the Crucible must be the Lead Investigator responsible for the in-character actions of the Crucible. Crucible ID numbers (CID) will appear in your equipment list so that other staff members know which characters can use Crucible related abilities. Crucibles may only consist of player characters.

Step Two: Attributes
Attributes are the most useful things in the game. They are broader than Abilities, and more representative of a character's strength and weaknesses. No 5's will be sanctioned at creation. 4s and 1s will require good explanations, and more than 1 of each may be denied without any reason given.

Step Three: Abilities
For chat-wide simplicity, Orpheus characters will be using the Dodge talent. All characters gain the Knowledge Spook Data 1 for free at creation. Three or more 4's may be denied without reason given. 5's will not be sanctioned at creation.

There are no inherent requirements beyond the basic creation rules to determine if a character is an agent or not. Characters who have Orpheus Status 0 are considered agents who simply have not made a name for themselves. Recommended abilities include one dot in each of the following, but are not required at creation: Academics, Science, Medicine, Finance, Investigation.

Step Four: Advantages

Backgrounds - The '2 Standard + 2 Orpheus' background requirement is being waived. Anything above 2 will require a good explanation.
Arsenal - Capped at 1
Artifacts - Weapons (and artifacts evoking offensive/combat horrors) are capped at 2.
Destiny - Your character's destiny is to be included in their background and agreed with the STs. Re-rolls are on a per month cycle.
Fast Reflexes - Unavailable at creation.
Personal Trainer - Banned
Resources - Minimum 1 for living agents.

Stains - Due to the high difference in power between Core Book stains and those in Shadow Games, there will be a limit on what proportion of a Spook's stains come from outside the Core book as follows; 3-5 Stains: 1, 6-8 Stains: 2, 9+:What the hell are you doing, anyway?

Willpower - Capped at 9 or Base +1, whichever is lower.

Horrors - Only 1 out-of-shade Horror may be bought at creation. This must, obviously, be a first-tier horror. The tier 2 horror for your shade is fine, but Third and Fourth tier horrors are not available for Player Characters at this time.

Players may only select Merits or Flaws from Crusade of Ashes. Banned Merits and Flaws will not be granted to any player characters. All other Merits and Flaws will be considered restricted, are granted on a case by case basis, and may be denied without reason given. One crucible merit may be purchased by characters submitting their characters as a preformed crucible. In all other instances, crucible merits and flaws are banned at creation, and may only be purchased after demonstrated activity on behalf of the whole crucible.

Banned Merits and Flaws
Devastating Punch, Fast Learner, Iron Will, Natural Aptitude, Nine Lives
Bad Sight (The 1-pt version of this flaw is banned, the 3-pt is allowed), Addiction (common substances such as Nicotine, Alcohol, or Medicinal Drugs), Foreign, Lustful, The Veil, Sleep Projector

Mortal Creation
Anyone wishing to create a mortal employee of the Orpheus Group, or a mortal character intended to become a projector, must use the above creation rules. All 'supernatural' aspects of the character will be left off the sheet and kept on record by the ST team until the character becomes supernaturally active.
Only mortal characters made by these rules will have the option of becoming ghosts after death.