[1] Forfeited PCs Rebuilt

If you lose a character because the STs confiscated it for any reason, you may not build another one similar to it. If you build the same genre of PC, the new one must differ significantly enough to not be mistaken for a remake of the lost PC (at least half the stats must be different, the avatar must be significantly different, the associations IC must be different, etc.) STs have the final say in if the rebuild is too similar or not.

[2] Inigo Montoya Rule: No Vengeance Characters.

If your character dies, don't create a long lost brother / cousin / clanmate / packmate, etc. to avenge your death. In fact, we will specifically reject  newly-created PC's of the same Clan/ Tribe, etc. as the dead PC, or with BG ties to the lost PC, even if the sheet is otherwise 100% legal. No same contacts/friends, working for the same people, any of that.

If such a new character or connection is not already in play before the character’s death (as in, in the PC's BG), it will not get approved after the fact no matter how much you insist they already existed.  

[3] Legal PCs will still not be accepted from Banned Players.

Any characters from Banned players will not be accepted at any time, even if the sheet is otherwise legal & proper. Playing here is a privilege, not a right, and getting banned forfeits that right.

[4] Mafia Characters.

Mafia characters are forbidden outright. They simply do not exist in DC, being the seat of the FBI and all. You may have ties to a Mafia NPC outside of DC that will just be a dot on your sheet.

[5] Non-Modern-Day/Obsolete Character Classes.

You may not play anything that only existed long ago, or that is officially extinct by the modern century. There will be no special snowflake exception hold-outs.

[6] Non-New World of Darkness Character Classes.

We are not AD&D. We are not Cyberpunk. We are not ShadowRun. We are not Highlander. We are not In Nomine. We are White Wolf's New World of Darkness ONLY. 

Just because some idiot with a PC was savvy enough to load a web site with conversion rules, doesn't make it balanced or legal, and we have no interest in setting precedent by accepting it. If it is not in an official World of Darkness 2.0 published gaming item, it doesn't exist.

[7] NPC-only classes played as PCs.

You may not use character classes specified as NPC only, as PC's (example: VII, NPC's from a WW Book). Having a clan/tribe book issued for it does not automatically mean it is a PC-Class character. Refer to "Restricted" sections of the individual sub-rules pages for more specifics.

[8] Player-Created Clans/Tribes or "Web Clans/Tribes".

If it does not appear either at www.white-wolf.com or in a book they've published, it does not exist. The exception to this rule was removed in March 2002. There are now NONE.

[9] Previously-Used PC Names or Character Pics.

There is a list of names and pics that are already associated with someone else. This list is HERE. Any name or celebrity on this page is blocked from use by anyone other than the person who first claimed it. Please choose another. 

[10] Underaged PCs.

Do not make your character under the age of 18. They are a burden on the STs, shut out of many IC RP venues and unlikely to be relevant to the story. This includes emancipated minors.

[11] "Yourself as a WOD PC"/Self-Insert Characters.

We all put pieces of ourselves into the characters we make. However, we will not accept PCs that are clearly representations of the players in real life. If you want to base it on yourself and then change or expand it significantly, then fine, but PC's designed to be "You in the World of Darkness" will be thrown out. 

Restrictions are things that are legal by the book but for game balance or other reasons, the STs want more strict control over how much it is in play in this game. The below are not allowed. Forbidden means not ever; restricted means we have in the past or we may in the future but not now.

NOTE: Restrictions specific only to a particular genre (such as Clans, Tribes, etc.) are posted on the Sub-Genre Rules Page for that genre.  

The following character classes are considered restricted for all character types. 

[1] Converting Mortals to Supernaturals to Solve RP Commitment Issues

If your mortal PC is not meeting the participation requirements posted HERE (IC 1x per week, Downtimes in on time biweekly), you may not convert this PC to a supernatural class by choice *OR* by RP, until that PC is in good standing for the two months prior to conversion (in other words, you have taken them IC no less than 8 times (1x per week for 8 weeks) and submitted 4 Downtimes ON TIME.). You must establish a pattern of being able to handle running and keeping up with the character as a mortal before you further complicate things with extra powers. 

We do not want the players to believe that "if I only made my PC a *BLOT*, they would be a lot easier or more fun to play." That is an issue of player discipline, not PC build.

All this means is you have to demonstrate that you can keep up with playing your PC as a simple mortal before you get to tinker with it. Changing character classes is not the key to making a character fun. Good design and good RP ethic are. Any build of any character can end up stagnant, boring or hard to play, if it is designed a certain way. Any character can also be fun to play, or powerful; again, if it is designed a certain way. We want you to solve these things by getting coaching from the STs and using the tools we give you (such as the Big Four BG, or Coaching classes) to identify what you could be doing, rather than relying on "kewl powerz" to make RP interesting.

[1] Excessive Pairing Up of Multiple Characters with the Same Player.

When the same two players pair up multiple PCs, it ends up being cliquish and deprives other players of opportunities and resources (a mortal they can control, peers they can interact with, partners, enemies, etc.) 

At most, any two players should have no more than two pairings of characters (sire/progeny, vampire/ghoul, were/kinfolk, romantic relationship, boss/employee, ANY kind of pairings.), but really we prefer just one. If anyone seems to be clinging to one player or ST constantly as an RP partner, we reserve the right to reject a legal character concept simply to stop this from happening. The game is large enough to where, even with other players being unsuitable, there are still multiple people that could partner with you. 

[2] Evil or Infernal-type characters of any sort not covered elsewhere. 

These are one-trick ponies and should be NPCs. If your character becomes infernal or otherwise inhumanly evil through RP, that is a separate matter which is allowed.

[3] Gang Characters.

Gangs do not exist inside DC proper, but "Crews" do (see the PRIMER for definitions/explanations). If you insist that your character be in a gang, your character must be home-based in one of the VA or MD suburban neighborhoods known to house them.

[4] Misfits-By-Design: 

There are PC designs that are legal, but may not be safe here at all IC, because they are an outsider or instigator by design. We do NOT guarantee your safety just because we allow your sheet; that is your responsibility as players to handle through RP or Character Design. If your ST feels your PC is going to attract more than the usual ration of IC hassle, they may point this out and suggest that you alter it. If you insist on playing it anyway, they will not stop other PC's from turning on you if you bring in someone they would naturally loathe IC. 

[5] OOC/IC Exclusionary Teams. 

We will not approve paired up by-design PCs for OOC/IRL friends, or Boy-Girlfriend / Spouse teams. Give your PC an existence outside of your friend's PC, or they will not be accepted. Should one of the pair or group die or vanish, or one player in your OOC group quits, you are expected to continue to RP as normal. If you already know you won't abide by this, do not play here. We don't want some kind of mass exodus drama if one player has an irresolvable issue.

[6] Out-of-Element Characters.

Some characters just wouldn't logically be in this City (for cultural or geographical reasons). If it specifies they only exist in a specific other region or under conditions that do not exist in DC, you may not play them in DC.

[7] Promiscuous Bi-Sexual Female PCs Run By Male Players. 

Get your cyber jollies elsewhere. Really. It's tiresome.

[8] Rehashed Characters from Elsewhere.

Please don't send us a sheet for a Character you are currently playing elsewhere, just altered slightly to pretend to be another char. What usually happens is that people try to submit characters using another game's format, or info that doesn't exist in our game. 

The other problem is that players lose sight of whose game they are in, when they are constantly playing iterations of the same PC all the time, and mess up their IC agendas or the PC's design by forgetting which version plays here.

Even after acceptance, if you have a persistent problem remembering "what version" you have in our game, we may ask you to shelve the PC and make another.

[9] "Secret Society" Characters (such as Inquisition, etc.)

There are valid character concepts that are secret society archetypes, but do not make that the entirety of the concept, or the character will be unplayable. See also "video-game PCs".

[10] "Video Game" PCs: 

Anyone who is an Assassin, Hitman, Master Thief, Ninja, Green Beret, Blackwater Covert Ops, etc. Also, obvious Combat Whore/Sword Jock designs. This is not XBox. 

There are certain legal character types where a SMALL level of this is acceptable, but do not make it the entire design of the character. A cardboard cut-out James Bond/Jason Bourne character will not see any action in this storyline. 

All Gaming Sourcebooks & Materials for this chronicle are © 2004-2010 White Wolf Publishing, Inc.  All rights reserved.