Should you have any questions about any of the
information provided below, please first click on our FAQ's link. If you find
your query is not covered or you have any suggestions please feel free to
contact us.
Converting characters generated using the old Skills system
Download a Character Sheet here
Generating a character for a Dark Door game is intended to be easy for both the
novice and veteran of LARP games alike. To
take part in a game you will need to complete a Character Sheet in which you
should detail your character, providing information on his/her name, occupation,
and personal background, which can be as simple or as elaborate as you wish.
Against this you will also need to furnish your character with appropriate
skills, indicate any weapons they intend to use, and calculate their sanity
score. Many
experienced Live Role-players will notice the absence of any reference to 'Hit
Points' on the character sheet; this is because we feel they would go against
our philosophy of minimal rules and regulations. The effect of an attack on your
character, be it by claw, tooth, knife, gun, or even tentacle, is left to the
referee's judgment. Below are further details and booking information,
along with tips that will be helpful to you in creating your character,
completing the character sheet, and preparing for a game: To secure your place on a game
you must submit your character sheet/booking form and non-refundable deposit
before the booking deadline. We regret that no bookings can be accepted nor a
place reserved for you on the game unless we have received both your deposit and
your completed character sheet. You can choose to either book by post or through
our secure on-line booking. Please also be sure to read our booking conditions
and ensure that you fully understand them. To book by post simply download
a booking form and character sheet and complete these in full, before posting
them to the address shown on the booking form, enclosing your cheque for the
deposit payable to The Dark Door (please do not send cash). To book on-line please select
the “Book On-Line” link and follow the instructions given. You must fully
complete all stages of the on-line booking process in order to reserve
your place on the game. Secure on-line payment is arranged through Paypal and
can be made using a debit or credit card, or by bank transfer.
The character sheet is used to provide information about your character and to detail their skills and abilities. To download a copy of the character sheet click here. The Character Sheet is divided into two halves:
On the left hand side of the character sheet are sections for entering
information about the character you will be playing during the game. On this
side of the character sheet, starting from the top down, you will find sections
for your character’s name, their occupation, background, and typical quote.
Completing the information required is left purely down to your own imagination,
though some hints and tips are provided below to assist you.
The right hand side of the character sheet is where the skills and
abilities of your character will be entered and completing these sections is of
a more technical nature. Working from the top downwards you will see sections
for
Sanity, then
Skills, and lastly
Weapons Use. To
complete the sections on this side of the character sheet you will utilise Skill
Tokens. Skill Tokens are primarily used for generating your characters Skills
and allocating a Skill Level to each one, but if you wish they can also be used
to “purchase” the use of a weapon and any ammunition required for that weapon.
When you first generate a character you are allocated 10 Skill Tokens to
distribute amongst your Skills and Weapons Use as required.
While the term
Occupation is used in this section of the character sheet, it is merely intended
as a convenient term for your character's lifestyle as they may of course be a
person of private means who does not work, or even perhaps a criminal. In The
Dark Door we do not have any pre-set character classes that you must choose from
so, within reason, players can create their own investigator as they please.
Examples of the type of character you may wish to consider are: journalist,
historian, archaeologist, priest, private detective, a member of the armed
forces, dilettante, explorer, hunter, author, para-psychologist, scientist,
psychic, mystic, nurse, doctor, etc., the list could go on! Often the theme of
the game will help inspire you.
This is of course
linked to your Character's Occupation. In this part of the character sheet it is
not necessary for you to provide a detailed biography from birth; all that is
required is an outline of your character to give the referee an idea of the sort
of person they are. As a guide you will perhaps want to concentrate on those
details of the character's background that are most closely related to the game.
This section of the character sheet is really just a bit of fun, but we would ask that all players complete it as this will encourage you to think about how you intend to portray your character and it does give the referee a good insight into your character's personality.
Most of the actions and abilities of your character will of course be
limited only by your own. However, for practical reasons and because the
character you choose to play may possess knowledge or skills you yourself do
not, handling some skills requires a different approach. For these you will need
to select a minimum of four key skills appropriate to your character, though you
may choose more. You will then need to allocate a Skill Level to each one to
identify how competent you are. For this we use four "descriptive" Skill Levels;
Basic, Good, Skilled and Expert, each representing your characters understanding
of, or level of skill in, a given ability. The referee will then use their
discretion based on the Skill Level allocated to decide on your character's
success or otherwise. Any skills you select for your character are only
acceptable at the discretion of the referee and so on rare occasions you may be
asked to alter your choice of skills.
To select a Skill Level for each skill you choose, you are allocated 10
Skill Tokens that are then used to purchase the Skill Levels concerned. The
number of Skill Tokens that must be spent to buy a particular Skill Level is
shown on the table below:
Skill Level
Skill Tokens required
Basic
1 Skill Token
Good
2 Skill Tokens
Skilled
3 Skill Tokens
Expert
4 Skill Tokens
Your chosen skills should then be listed on your character sheet under
the column marked "Skill" with the selected skill level shown to the right under
"Level".
It is down to you to state those skills that you believe your character
would posses, but you are encouraged to pick skills that fit in with your choice
of character, for example an archaeologist must perhaps have History amongst his
skills. Equally the type of character played will dictate the Skill Level
required, for example a Doctor would not be allowed to select only a "Basic"
level First Aid skill. Where you plan to bring a piece of equipment that would
have required some kind of special training or experience to use, your character
would be expected to have the appropriate skill selected to do so.
Additionally it is not usual to allow
purely physical type skills (e.g. Hide, Dodge Blow, etc.), as these are
difficult to portray in a LARP setting. Unless the player concerned is actually
able to perform the physical skill for real it would interrupt the game play
while the referee explains to everyone present that a certain player skulking in
the undergrowth in full view cannot actually be seen as he has a Camouflage
skill, or that as another player has a Dodge Blow skill, a particular sword blow
did not actually hit them even though it clearly did!
If you are unsure what skills would be
appropriate for your character or whether a skill would be required to operate
any equipment your character may intend use, please feel free to discuss this
with the referee before the game, equally the referee may wish to discuss your
skills choices with you if they feel any are inappropriate.
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The Dark Door does not have any pre-set skill types from which to pick. However
to assist you we have provided below an alphabetical list of some suggested
skills;
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Accounting Anatomy Anthropology Archaeology Astronomy Biology Botany Chemistry Diagnose Disease Electrical Repair Explosive (use) First Aid Forensics |
Geography Geology History Hypnotism Language (state which) Law Medicine Mechanical Repair Navigation Occult Knowledge Pharmacy Photography
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Pick Lock Psychoanalysis Psychology Restore Artefact Survival Surgery Treat Poison Theology Topography Track Treat Disease Zoology
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Should your character wish to have the use of a weapon during a game you
must “purchase” the use of that weapon, and any applicable ammunition, by
expending some of the 10 Skill Tokens you are allocated. Spending 1 Skill Token
in this way buys the use of one weapon. A rifle, pistol, or shotgun, etc. are
treated as separate weapon types and cannot simply be grouped together under
“Gun”, so a character wishing to use a rifle must state “Rifle” under Weapons
Use and may then only bring and use a rifle on the game.
When selecting the use of a gun, a character automatically gets 10 rounds
of ammunition in addition to the use of the specified gun. Additional ammunition
can be “purchased” by expending further Skill Tokens. Each extra Skill Token
spent buys an additional 10 rounds. Where more than one type of gun is used the
extra ammunition must be specified, i.e. “pistol rounds”, “rifle rounds”, etc.
Your weapon of choice should be listed
on the character sheet on the left hand column of the section marked Weapons
Use. Each new weapon, or additional 10 rounds of ammunition, must be listed
separately on each row. In the right hand column is a “count down” of the Skill
Tokens to be deducted from your total of 10, so if two weapons were listed this
would indicate –2 Skill Tokens. For game balance the maximum number of weapons
and/or additional ammunition re-loads a player can have is limited to 5.
Once a character has been generated with
a Weapon Use, and any applicable additional ammunition, they will then start all
subsequent games (should they survive) with those same weapons and ammunition
available to them.
You need only purchase the use of purpose built weapons whose main design
or use is as a means of fighting and inflicting (imaginary!) bodily harm, such
as guns, knives, swords, etc. Impromptu “weapons” such as shovels, cricket
bat’s, etc. that are not designed as weapons and ordinarily have an innocent
non-violent use can be brought to the game by a character and then subsequently
used as a “weapon” without restrictions applying.
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Example;
John decides his Hunter would own and
use a hunting rifle and knife. To be allowed to
bring these to the game he will need to spend 2
Skill Tokens under Weapons Use. John therefore
decides to reduce his Set Trap and Survival
skills by one Skill Level each, to “Skilled” and
“Good” respectively, so he may then spend the
Skill Tokens he has saved on his Weapon Use. He
spends one of the Skill Tokens to allow him the
rifle along with the standard 10 rounds of rifle
ammunition, and the second Skill Token is spent
to allow the Hunting Knife. |
Sanity
As your character progresses through the game they will encounter many
horrors, bear witness to unspeakable deeds, read macabre books and parchments
and take part in arcane rituals, all of which will take their toll on his or her
mind. You will therefore find your characters sanity slowly reducing throughout
the game signalling their descent into madness. To represent this is game terms
your character will have a Sanity Score that changes constantly during the
course of a game and this is used to track your characters slide into insanity.
Although your current score at any one time will not be revealed to you, the
referee will keep tally and advise you of the effect on your character's mind,
which in extreme cases can be as disabling to your character as any physical
wound.
Sanity scores range from a starting score of 100 down to “0”. A Sanity
Score of 100 therefore effectively represents the “usual” level of sanity for
the average man or woman, and obviously the higher the score your character has
at the start of a game the better as this makes your character's mind more
resilient and so they will be less likely to go insane.
When first generating your character (but not at any other time), you can
exchange Sanity points for Skill Tokens should so wish. For every 15 Sanity
Points you deduct from the starting score of 100 can be exchanged for 1 Skill
Token (minus 15 Sanity Points = 1 Skill Token). This additional Skill Token can
then be used to increase your skills or purchase additional weapon or
ammunition.
However, no starting characters Sanity Score is allowed to fall below 40
points, so this means that no more than a maximum of 60 Sanity Points can be
exchanged for Skill Tokens in this manner (4 X 15 Sanity Points = 4 Skill
Tokens). In addition to this any starting Character with a Sanity below 70
points will be allocating a personality flaw by the referee, such as quick to
anger, nervous disposition, highly strung, etc, to reflect that their mind is
already somewhat fragile. In these circumstances the games referee will advise
you of this prior to the game.
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Example;
After selecting the skills for his Hunter
character, John remembers that in the last game
he played he ran out of ammunition at a crucial
point, which left him to be mauled and killed by
an attacking zombie. He therefore decides that
this time around he wants to increase his rifle
ammunition to avoid finding himself in the same
predicament. While this will leave him more
vulnerable to going insane, he considers that
being alive and mad are preferable to being a
sanest corpse in the cemetery! He therefore
exchanges 15 Sanity points for an additional
Skill Token, reducing his Sanity Score down to
85. John then uses the extra Skill Token to
purchase 10 further rounds of ammunition,
entering this in the Weapons Use section of his
character sheet. |
As Dark Door games are set in the 1920's you will need to wear period style clothes so as not to detract from the atmosphere. It is not necessary to do any detailed research to ensure your clothing is perfectly accurate; rather you need only wear a costume that is suggestive of the fashions worn in the 1920's. You should also remember to include any equipment and props that will help enhance your character. Any weapons must be safe foam/latex weapons. The referee will check equipment before a game to ensure it is safe to use and appropriate for the game and your character.
Where you plan to bring a piece of equipment that would have required some kind of special training or experience to use, your character must have the appropriate "Skill" selected to do so. If you are unsure if this would apply to any equipment your character may use, please feel free to discuss this with the referee before the game.
You may wish to equip your character
with a firearm for some games. Blank firing replica guns are generally allowed
so long as they are .22 calibre and in keeping with the period, (i.e. no
AK47's!). However you should also keep in mind the character you are playing and
the setting for the game; would you really bring a gun to a society garden
party? Guns rarely have any effect on the various nameless horrors you will
encounter anyway!
If you do intend to equip your character with a gun, then you must list
the weapon and the applicable ammunition, under Weapon Use and utilise the
correct number of Skill Tokens (see Weapons Use above).
Any guns must be physically represented during the game. They must also
work adequately and make a recognisable gunshot sound (preferable by firing
blanks) in order that it will be clear to all concerned that the weapon is being
used. Please follow the Game System link for guidance on safe weapons and the
safe use of blank firing guns.
Should your character be fortunate and
survive a game, Skill and Sanity bonuses will apply so that your character can
develop over time. 2 Skill Tokens are awarded to survivors and the player can
then spend these on increasing their characters Skill Levels. A player can only
increase a skill one stage at a time (i.e. only 1 bonus Skill Token can be spent
on any one skill). Alternatively, should you wish you may use one or both of the
Skill Bonus to purchase the use of new weapons or additional ammunition, even
where your character did not previously own a weapon – perhaps their character
may now feel the need for such protection following the events of the previous
game! Post game Sanity bonuses will be awarded separately at the referee's
discretion.
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Example:
Against all the odds, John's Hunter
character manages to survive the game, though
his Sanity Score takes a battering, leaving him
with only 25 points. After the game he receives
his 2 bonus Skill Tokens.
John feels
that a higher First Aid Skill and an extra
re-load of ammunition would come in handy on his
next game. He therefore decides he will spend
one bonus Skill Token on his First Aid skill,
increasing this from "Basic" to "Good". He then
spends the second bonus Skill Token on a
further10 rounds of ammunition for his rifle.
After
consideration the Referee awards John a Sanity
Bonus of 20 points: 10 for surviving and 5 each
for defeating the evil cultists and returning
the nameless horror they had summoned back to
the dimension it came from.
These are
now the Sanity Score, Skills, Weapons and
ammunition with which John’s character will
start the next game. |
While it may seem that it would not take the example character shown above long before he is an "Expert" at all his skills, it should be borne in mind that few player characters survive a game and even less survive more than one game, so this does not prove a problem. At the end of the day The Dark Door is not about having the most powerful character in the game, but just the fun of taking part. Many regular Dark Door players often drop surviving characters, preferring to create a new one from fresh for the next game..
Converting over characters generated using the old Skill and weapon systems
Those of you who have been to previous games may have characters that were created using either the old skill or the old weapon systems. Two simple methods have been devised in each case to convert these characters to the new descriptive skills and weapons use approach.
In respect of the old Skill System a characters Sanity Score can simply be transferred straight over. For all other skills the following conversion chart should be used:
Current Skill Rating Descriptive Skill Rating
0 - 25% Basic
26 - 50% Good
51 - 75% Skilled
76 - 90% Expert
All characters using the old style weapons skills approach will need to be converted over to the new Weapon Use rules. For characters generated under the old skill system you will first need to covert the weapons skills over to the descriptive skill system using the above chart before following the guidelines laid out below.
To convert any “Gun” skills over to the Weapons Use system you need to take the current descriptive Skill Level for the gun and then use the number of Skill Token’s that were spent in selecting the Skill Level (e.g. “Skilled” = 3 Skill Tokens) to “buy” the use of the gun and any appropriate additional ammunition (e.g. a “Skilled” Pistol Shot allows 1 pistol to be listed under Weapons Use along with the basic 10 pistol rounds, plus X 2 additional 10 pistol rounds of ammunition - so the character will have a total of 30 rounds to use with the pistol). Other weapon skills (swords, daggers, clubs, etc.) will just convert to 1 of each appropriate weapon type (the equivalent of having spent 1 Skill Token for each weapon in question) regardless of the Skill Level previously held by the player. In the interest of fairness any excess Skill Tokens can be redistributed amongst the characters other Skills, or Sanity Score, or even to select further weapons or ammunition (up to the maximum of 5). It may be that some players subsequently find that they now have less them the minimum 5 Skills required under the current rules – this will clearly have to be overlooked in these cases.
The conversion of old style Weapons Skills over to the new Weapon Use approach may perhaps be something of a fudge, but it seems to be the most practical and fair approach to take. In the end the particular games referee will have to judge what is appropriate and acceptable when a player is converting their character over and redistributing any excess Skill Tokens amongst their current skills and sanity score.
