Character Creation

I built a brain, but I dont known if we have any charisma kids?

Found some images that I am reluctantly not using for my character.

I'm thinking of a Verbena, a social, talkie character.

Mom:
Mom is the beating heart of connection, family friends and anyone visiting knew mom.
An incredible speaker and often highered intermediary between various parties. And always right, at least anything she said sounded right, no matter who was listening. And she was always right about you. She always knew what her kids, neighbors, friends, family, were doing, what they meant or needed.
Always aware, Torrence learned from her to be aware too.

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Dad

Never overspoken, never needing to prove himself because he had nothing to prove, and he had no need to waste effort convincing the blind.
And he was always there when he was needed. Anywhere he was needed, he was there to a surprising degree. For family and friends. A pillar to rely on.
He was the one who was an example of focus and reliability..

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Mother

"A woman out of time who never seemed to run out of time." As it was once said, and then sometimes referenced, about her. She seemed to float from event to event, from group to group. Never staying anywhere longer than she needed ro, and never needing more time than she spent. The family library (where Torrence's library was mostly pilfered from inthe short time he had to move out) was all actually her library.

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Older Brother

Good at everything
Is something many younger siblings think of their older siblings. In this case it is right. Currently at university with partial academic and a partial sports scholarship (the rest, of course, paid by their parents), and also able to thrive socially. A constant reminder of how, despite Torrence's intellect, there is always room to round out your skills, and the benefit of doing so.

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Older Sister
The artist of the family. Commissioned and published works, and a few meuseum pieces. A current dual major in Fine Arts and Economics with several published articles (and a documentary too) on the thuths behind the economics of the art workd and how it is manipulated by the upper echelons of society.
A constant reminder that there is always unseen connections to what you are living, and unseen effects to what you do.

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On that note, I think I have the final draft of my starting character done..

you got a mom and a mother?

Kyle Murphy is shared publicly for review and feedback.
Orphaned by the tragic loss of his parents Kyle now lives with his uncle and doesn't quite fit in with most kids when those with similar interests. On top of that weird things keep happening recently making harder than ever to fit in. The most notable is the drone that started as a school project but now seems to be able to act independent and even self modify itself when he's not looking and where are the parts coming from? Kyle isn't sure how to handle what he had been able to do lately and it's looking for answers. The cryptic hints flashing or scrolling on the small LCD screen the done somehow added to itself are not quite comforting.

Questions Is an Arete of 1 an issue?

Jonathan Wyck: Ashford High's resident thorn in everyone's side.

He could be one of the top athletes at Ashford; he thinks sports is a hollow pursuit. The Jocks hate him.

With his 'hot goth boyfriend' looks and edgy personal magnetism he could be one of the social elites; he's the bane of every 'I can fix him' attempt anyone's ever made. The Elites hate him.

While he's definitely not an Honor Roll student, he does tend to point out the strong 'Gifted Student to Fast Food Employee Pipeline'. The Academics hate him.

He doesn't piss everyone off, not all at once anyway, but he's the constant target of a revolving cadre of people who he's embarrassed or offended in some way, shape or form. It's not that he's manipulative or vengeful, it's that he's unwaveringly, brutally honest. And if it's one thing that really gets under people's skin in the post-truth age of 'Image is Everything' , it's the unvarnished Truth.

The Wyck household

• Jonathan is technically an orphan; both his father and mother were killed during, what official records report as, a wild animal attack while hiking. What gets left out of the reports is the where, the when and especially the crime scene photos.
• Rather than ending up in state custody, he was remanded to the care of a legal guardian. No one really questioned the sudden appearance of a man with all the legal papers to take custody of Jonathan on the midnight of his parents' brutal demise.
• Jonathan resides with his guardian, a vaguely Asian man on the downside of middle age, whom he calls "Uncle Dudley". The pair live in an average detached track home with a garage that Jonathan uses as an art studio. There is nothing remarkable about the home beyond its occupants.

Still working on a revised concept after agreeing that my original Akashic-Verbena bookworm was far too angry and hard to integrate with others. Unfortunately the changes seemed to rob the idea of its galvanising spark until I had the idea of the character being a Medium (as the 2-point Merit in BoS p69) with some Dream and one or more ancestor spirits looking out for him/ helpfully meddling (Spirit Mentor, BoS p74).
I haven't entirely let go of any of the original ideas, just sifting the mix; A Verbena and an Akashic for parents, one now deceased; an Avatar with a history involving the Burning Times and some consequent anger issues (Short Fuse flaw, BoS p50); bookworm /academic nature focused on history, Occult and maybe Esoterica; a foreign student (to explain why I don't know a thing about Boston); Attributes are Mental>Physical>Social, Abilities are Knowledges>Skills>Talents.
(Dual Affiliation BoS p79 as a 7 point merit is right out despite being basically appropriate - it seems ridiculously overpriced for what it does.)
I'm throwing these thoughts out there now, partly to reassure everyone that I am working on a character, and partly to check whether anyone is liable to take offence; I have no personal connection with Buddhism, Shinto, shamanism, medicine practices or any other form of real-world spirit or ancestor veneration, and I don't want to upset anyone who does possess any such beliefs when I try to play any such character off the back of some superficial online research.
If this is anyone here, please let me know and I'll think of something else. PM me if you don't want to reply publicly.

What is everyone's character's main skill categories?
I see two other int based characters, and while that fits the student theme, I see us needing a rounded group.
Even if our specialties vary some in the Int based department we are heavily leaning one way so far.

Honestly, getting full coverage isn't needed. Sometimes overcoming the dysfunctionality is party of the fun/challenge. Variety is a bonus. However, I understand some prefer balanced teams. so . . .

Kyle is basically a science, tech, computer, geek (4)
Attribute: P 5 / S 3 / M 7 // Abilities: T 6 / S 10 / A 14
But due to his childhood and hobbies he has a bit of research, athletics, awareness, investigation (2)
With low social ability and graceless flaw. Nice enough likable but but lacks awareness and social grace.
Resources 2, sanctuary (lab) 2, arcane cloaking 4
I have a bit of wiggle room. Adding a few more points to stealth or brawl wouldn't break the character. Or I can shift abilities points to help the group of anyone had requests/suggestions.

Myra has access to a esoteric libary and that is reflected in her skills
Physical 3, Social 5, Mental 7
Talents 5, Skills 7, Knowledge 13

@runekyndig : You seem a bit short still : Prioritize Abilities as above (13/ 9/ 5). Looks like you can add more skills?

Yeah I did similar as all above
M>P>S
K>T>S

I will do a rebuild for a charisma based character if we think thats a good idea?

I am not sure if we need that spread. Unless Bedzone II indicates we navigate ourselves into the wrong problems when we do not have at least one social character - I would say we all should play what we are the most comfortable playing.

And I mean, if we don't navigate ourselves into any trouble, Bedzone II hasn't done his part - it's WoD in the end, right - not "we are the always good and always victorious heros.

Jokes aside, Wren is also a M>P>S build. If she ain't notice something, nobody will.

I believe we have a Dreamer who can in a pinch boost to a social skill. Seems like a good use of their ability

An alternative to collaborating builds is to leave a few points unspent for in game character development. This can reflect our still developing nature as teens. (As long as @BedzoneII is fine with points being spent to improve characters mid game) Ex: make an attempt and regardless of pass/fail player decides character will use that ability in the future and improves it.

I'd say he agreed already, that even already spent build points could be rearranged if we realize things don't play out as intended. That's not exactly what you have in mind I suppose, but an angle that doesn't even require us to "save points for later".

I don't think it's essential to have all our bases covered character-wise. BZ is great as a GM/Storyteller and I don't feel like it'd be a huge obstacle in the game if we came up against something 'we didn't prepare for'. Playing the character we want to play, I feel, is a more important factor than optimizing the party spread.

Jonathan is a P>S>M character, if that helps the mix.