Everyone else in Washington D.C.
Creatures of darkness move through the night, and pull the strings of man, forcing them to dance to their tune like an invisible puppeteer. Vampires feed upon them, using them as cattle. Werewolves culled them for thousands of years during the Impergium. Mages seek to alter and control their very mindsets. And yet, for all this, the mortals represent the greatest threat to the supernatural entities, from their vast numbers and breadth of control. The vampires have the Masquerade, the werewolves the Veil, the mages the Code of Damian. In each case, the supernatural societies have rules that prevent them from alerting mankind as to their existence, for man is like a slumbering giant, and once roused collectively, the wrath of man would be too great for any supernatural entity to withstand.
Mortals are the lifeblood of any World of Darkness game. Supernatural running around, interacting with nothing but other supernaturals, leads quickly to an unrealistic and boring game. This is why Shadow Games' policy is that a player must play a mortal if they also play a supernatural character. Don't fall into the trap of assuming that mortals are boring, and that the only fun one can have is by playing a supernatural character. Most of us have dreams of what we'd like to do in the Real World. To be a doctor, or a movie star. A stage magician, or a great writer. Playing a mortal character allows us to realize those dreams. To be whatever it is that we've wanted to be. In addition, there's certain mortal concepts which, by their very nature, are roleplay magnets, and a player with one is likely to find a high level of roleplay just by being what they are. Below are some tips on some character concepts that we need, and ones that would do well, and conversely, a number of ones that don't fit in well and are likely to end up rejected.
The following concepts are ones that would work particularly well for the city, and that are more inclined to be accepted, over others.
Washington D.C., the capital of not only the United States of America, but of the 'Free World' itself. As such, there are more political minded people in this city than in any other in the world.
Students are the lifeblood of the city. The population of the various Universities are a large part of the population of the city. They give a reason for a person from any part of the world to be in the city. However, the Universities accept only the best students. To apply for a student character, your character should have an Intelligence of at least 3, and an appropriate Academic skill at 2, as a bare minimum. The Universities have programs for graduate and undergraduate students, as well as schools in medicine, dentistry, business, natural science, music, art, engineering, and others.
Given schools with so many students, and given the fact that the Universities also handle certain Department of Defense research projects, there's a need for scientists, and teachers. All must qualify as per students, above, and should exceed those standards, except in the case of Teaching Assistants.
D.C. was involved in the birth of the Internet, and is still one of the most net-connected places on the planet. As such, there are a number of people who make their living through computers, either working for one of the Universities, or an Internet service provider, or one of the many computer-based companies in the area.
Every city is chock full of homeless types, many of whom take up spots near the high-traffic areas and who aren't afraid to approach and ask for money. There are a number of social help programs for them.
D.C. has a plethora of large and small businesses. As such, we need owners and operators (and employees), for all those shops we have on our grid. If you're interested in running a business, please, get in touch with Cyndi Lauper.
D.C. has a number of banking interests, and business interests. As such, bankers and corporate employees all have an excellent reason to be in the area, and a pre-established job. Good for those higher-resources characters.
There's always a need for trained doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel. In addition, players are always getting hurt, meaning there's good RP possibilities there.
The following concepts are ones that don't really fit in well with the area or theme, have some factor that makes them undesirable, or have been overplayed. This list will grow as time passes, and we get enough of certain concepts. Concepts on this list may still be approved, but it will be harder, and the application will need to be very good.
Kids are something that's vastly overdone on most WoD games. Think about a few things. First of all, if you're a kid, you're going to get almost no RP after sun-down. The police will take you in, and shop owners are likely to call them, if they see an unescorted child. The "poor orphan kid" concept? Not likely. There are social services that handle that, and when they do, you'd be in school in the day, and in an orphanage at night. Even kids who have PC parents face the problem that if they're not in school during the day, truant officers will deal with it, and so they can only RP at night, and then, only when their parents are on. Better to save the grief, and make someone 18+.
Cyndi Lauper -- Mortal Wizard
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