World of Darkness is a very simple system supporting a maximum of role-play and a minimum of rule-play. You can basically generate a character without any book. Please download character sheet.
http://mrgone.rocksolidshells.com/pdf/NWOD/NWoD_13thPrecinct_2-Page_Editable.pdfThe basic rules for character creation are all at the bottom of the sheet, but I will explain it a bit.
* We're all inspectors of the Detroit PD
* Abilities, Skills and Merits are rated in dots from 0 (no skill), 1 (basics) to 5 (best in the world).
* You can't have any 5 dots in anything unless the storyteller permits it. 4 is already the level of a highly trained expert in the field.
* Abilities and skills are divided in three groups: Mental, Physical and Social. You have to decide which one is your strongest and which your weakest. For skills and abilities it doesn't have to be the same.
* For abilities you may spend 5 in your best group, then 4 and 3 in your weakest. Abilities all start at 1 dot, this first dot is for free.
* For skills it's 11, 7 and 4, and they start at zero. You can also choose three specializations, which give one extra die if the specialization applies. Most people take (Firearms->Pistols; Medicine->Emergency care; Empathy->Detect lie; Athletics->Running; Investigation->Crime Scene)
* Merits: You get one dot for the merits Status: Police and Resources additionally to your 7 dots that you may spend as you wish. The merits give more individuality to your character, there are special fighting styles and other perks. Quick draw for one dot is a no-brainer, if you don't need that point very urgently elsewhere, go for quickdraw.
* Equipment: Precinct 13 is horribly underequipped, but the guns are not bad. You get a Beretta which gives 3 dice, range 20/40/60, and has a clip of 15. You also get a can of mace. Everything else (even a cellphone!) is up to gamemasters approval.
That's it basically. There are some strategies when you make a character which are more useful then others, but you need not to worry about it. Barry will allow to remodel you PC after the first game. There is a slight power creep with the books Armory and Armory Reloaded, if you want to make a combat based character, but the only book you would otherwise need is the World of Darkness Core Rule book.
Attached find a sample character...
