Post to look for a new players.

Guys this is a suggjestion for a post I planned to make on a few RPG groups and on my Facebook wall to try to get another player or two, see what you think and if something should be changed or added.

Hi I ST a Mage: The Ascension Play by Post game set in Boston. The game have been running for nearly 6 years now, however after a long time player had to leave I am looking for one or two new players for the game.

The setting is 2 ed, we never had the Avatar Wind and metaplot in Revised happening, we use M20 rules though. The game is high fantasy with allot of Chantries and plitics between said Chantries. The player Characters live at a mixed Tradition Chantry named Steelhaven Hall. So far the Cabal have been dealing with Nephandi plots for two stories and shut down two Labyrinths and now a trip to Horizon is planned for the next story.

The game is mostly investigation and politics based and it is heavy leaning towards roleplaying over combat. There is a strong horror theme though and quite a few horrible things have happened to the player characters and the NPCs, off course personallimits will be respected but be aware that there have both been a good amount of gore here and also quite a bit of personal horror this might not be the game for the most delicate.

You should be aware that I am writing in a second language and I have dyslexia so some spelling and grammar errors will happen, if you can not tolerate this then this is also not the game for you. We try to have a friendly, casual tone to the game.

Please feel free to reply to this post or PM me with any questions if you are interested.

In no particular order [I've done these requests before and all that...]

- Put in a link to here and encourage possibles to take a look at the playstyle etc.

- Mention we're a Euro-dominant board, including ST. [This is important because I've had timezone issues with American STs].

- Mention that we're currently in November 2015.

- Lay out 'creation rules'. If I'm not wrong Colin was made with 2/3E, while Serge and Nick 4E. Therefore I would say keep Colin grandfathered in, but stipulate all new players use 4E [M20] as the guide. Demanding they use a book which is around 20 years old will be rather... limiting.

- Speaking of which, is there any no-nos creation wise? Will you shoot down any concept which threatens to 'steal the thunder' of a current PC? [I spied on the current PCs to make sure Nick didn't - it's why I made her much more the soldier]. How about crossover characters? You don't need to spell out all eventualities but it's good to at least mention anything you'd instantly reject.

- Consider the possibility of throwing in a dollop of extra 'starting XP' and/or dots in lieu. My records show she's currently Base + 96 XP, I assume Serge is on similar [as they started at the same time] and Colin must be perhaps Base + 200-250 XP now. This means that any new PC will be so comparatively weak they'll almost be the 'kid sidekick' to the other PCs. A few players might like that, but others won't. And due to the way XP is earned, there's almost nil chance of the Newbie catching up.

- Mention what you expect from the person/character. For example, posting frequency. It's not rude to request that any new player generally keeps pace with the rest of us, so at least once a day during weekdays? I think this is one of the reasons we lost Tane.

In no particular order [I've done these requests before and all that...]

- Put in a link to here and encourage possibles to take a look at the playstyle etc.

That is a good point.

- Mention we're a Euro-dominant board, including ST. [This is important because I've had timezone issues with American STs].

Well it is a play by post so pepole can post when they have time during the day it is not so important exactly when they post I do not expect them to reply as soon as a post have been made.

Mention that we're currently in November 2015.

I will for those who are interested, who will be told about the campaign in grater detail. I did not not want the post to be to long.

Lay out 'creation rules'. If I'm not wrong Colin was made with 2/3E, while Serge and Nick 4E. Therefore I would say keep Colin grandfathered in, but stipulate all new players use 4E [M20] as the guide. Demanding they use a book which is around 20 years old will be rather... limiting.

M20 is base but you can use anything that do not contridict it from any edition.

Speaking of which, is there any no-nos creation wise? Will you shoot down any concept which threatens to 'steal the thunder' of a current PC? [I spied on the current PCs to make sure Nick didn't - it's why I made her much more the soldier]. How about crossover characters? You don't need to spell out all eventualities but it's good to at least mention anything you'd instantly reject.

This is not maily a combat game so overlapping combat skills is fine, but generally do not make a copy of another character. Light crossover is fine, as in kinfolk, someone with fae blood and so on but not actual spupernaturals from other splats it is a Mage game so you can not play a vmapire or a Werewolf. However such thigns will also probably be most relevant once someone is interested.

Consider the possibility of throwing in a dollop of extra 'starting XP' and/or dots in lieu. My records show she's currently Base + 96 XP, I assume Serge is on similar [as they started at the same time] and Colin must be perhaps Base + 200-250 XP now. This means that any new PC will be so comparatively weak they'll almost be the 'kid sidekick' to the other PCs. A few players might like that, but others won't. And due to the way XP is earned, there's almost nil chance of the Newbie catching up.

Off course I had planned to give new chaeacters a healthy dose of exp or freebie points to catch them up to the rest.

Mention what you expect from the person/character. For example, posting frequency. It's not rude to request that any new player generally keeps pace with the rest of us, so at least once a day during weekdays? I think this is one of the reasons we lost Tane.

I agree I am thinking I will say that they should probably be prepared to post at least once each day during the weekdays but that the game is flexible and off course real life happens.

Nicole wrote:- Consider the possibility of throwing in a dollop of extra 'starting XP' and/or dots in lieu. My records show she's currently Base + 96 XP, I assume Serge is on similar [as they started at the same time] and Colin must be perhaps Base + 200-250 XP now. This means that any new PC will be so comparatively weak they'll almost be the 'kid sidekick' to the other PCs. A few players might like that, but others won't. And due to the way XP is earned, there's almost nil chance of the Newbie catching up.

I've been pretty meticulous with tracking, and Colin's only received 131 XP, far as I can tell. A few other "freebies" here and there, but not so much as to justify a 200-250 tier. Maybe 150-160, tops.

Though, I'll allow, Colin could probably start justifying a number of dots in the Ally and Contact backgrounds, but those aren't presently allotted points toward. I suppose I should consider doing so...

Vel yes we sort of have a record. I am nto sure if we should give new character just as much exp as those who have been played for years, but enough that they do not lag far behind at least.

- I meant use the 4E/M20 character sheet. If nothing else, I actually hold that it's superior to 2E/3E's and with Secondary Abilities, can fill in any gaps left. But hey, that's my personal preference, I don't have to deal with the resulting sheet headaches....

- I meant skill-sets in general, Great One. I noticed that you didn't have a PC who was versed well in 'Sleeper combat' and therefore, gave Nick a tweak so to provide the widest range of 'uniqueness'.

After all, how many times have you been playing PC games where you end up pretty much ignoring one or more of your companions merely because their skill-sets were so similar? Like if you're playing Dragon Age and you never use Morrigan / Wynne because your PC is a mage and well, it's usually best to go into combat with two tanks...

Plus, merely avoiding overlap between PC's is just polite.

- With the timezones, the further 'out' from the ST you are, the harder it is to 'keep up' - I'm speaking from experience here. I have made a chart to illustrate.

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Athens

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Oslo

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London

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New York

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Seattle

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Sydney

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As you can see here, the 'Euro' players have the greatest scope for 'interaction', as most of our 'peak periods' [green] overlap, meaning we can move quite fast if all are present. US players have more difficulty if they're unable to post during their 'day' [yellow], with those on the West Coast very limited [literally, one-two posts a day, max].

This may feel to be 'too slow' for some players. It's only fair to warn them.

- As with the XP, well Great One was a bit free with the XP with Serge and I at the start, if I recall [he's on 97 total]. I just took the fact Colin's been in play for 6y while the other two 3y. So... about 170 - 200 XP? Though I didn't add on the 'dots in lieu' for Nick, which I think is about 10 XP in total. So let's call it 100XP between friends.

Speaking with my ST hat on for a second, I suggest Base creation + 20 - 30 XP. Enough to not be a completely green character but not enough to buy your way to Adept rank straight off. Plus, spending opportunities are somewhat limited [due to format; need some downtime to increase attributes etc] and a brand-new character can often get away with acting on 'informed ability' until they get the chance to back-fill the actual dots. [I basically spent Nick's first 35XP doing this].

- Also, I would personally suggest we only recruit one new PC. What if Strife wants to come back in say, three months time? Can you handle six PCs, Great One?

I meant use the 4E/M20 character sheet. If nothing else, I actually hold that it's superior to 2E/3E's and with Secondary Abilities, can fill in any gaps left. But hey, that's my personal preference, I don't have to deal with the resulting sheet headaches....

Well yes sure I can ask them to use a M20 character sheet that works.

- I meant skill-sets in general, Great One. I noticed that you didn't have a PC who was versed well in 'Sleeper combat' and therefore, gave Nick a tweak so to provide the widest range of 'uniqueness'.

After all, how many times have you been playing PC games where you end up pretty much ignoring one or more of your companions merely because their skill-sets were so similar? Like if you're playing Dragon Age and you never use Morrigan / Wynne because your PC is a mage and well, it's usually best to go into combat with two tanks...

I will let potential new players know about what PCs are in play but I will probably not make a rule about skillsets for that would at least make me second guess myself about everything about if my character is to close on some thing and so on. It is very rare for someone to come up with a character who is basically a copy of another anyway.

- With the timezones, the further 'out' from the ST you are, the harder it is to 'keep up' - I'm speaking from experience here. I have made a chart to illustrate.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Athens X X X X X ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? X X X
Oslo X X X X X X ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? X X
London X X X X X X X ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? X
New York X X X X X X X X ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Seattle ? ? X X X X X X X X ? ? ? ? ? ?
Sydney ? ? ? ? ? ? X X X X X X X X ? ?


As you can see here, the 'Euro' players have the greatest scope for 'interaction', as most of our 'peak periods' [green] overlap, meaning we can move quite fast if all are present. US players have more difficulty if they're unable to post during their 'day' [yellow], with those on the West Coast very limited [literally, one-two posts a day, max].

This may feel to be 'too slow' for some players. It's only fair to warn them.

The whole point of doing somethign as a play by post, instead of using chat or some voice chat system which would let the story flow much faster is that one can post when one can, it is easy to just a slip a post in between doing somethign else or write one up int he background while watchign a movie or something, as such the players do not need to be on at the same time, like I said I do nto expect immediate response for any player, so I do not see how time zones are relevant here. I have been in plenty of play by posts where the majority of players are American no problem.

- As with the XP, well Great One was a bit free with the XP with Serge and I at the start, if I recall [he's on 97 total]. I just took the fact Colin's been in play for 6y while the other two 3y. So... about 170 - 200 XP? Though I didn't add on the 'dots in lieu' for Nick, which I think is about 10 XP in total. So let's call it 100XP between friends.

Speaking with my ST hat on for a second, I suggest Base creation + 20 - 30 XP. Enough to not be a completely green character but not enough to buy your way to Adept rank straight off. Plus, spending opportunities are somewhat limited [due to format; need some downtime to increase attributes etc] and a brand-new character can often get away with acting on 'informed ability' until they get the chance to back-fill the actual dots. [I basically spent Nick's first 35XP doing this].

- Also, I would personally suggest we only recruit one new PC. What if Strife wants to come back in say, three months time? Can you handle six PCs, Great One?

The reason why I say recruiting more than one new player is that we are realistically not going to keep them all, there is always allot of drop out in play by post games so if we recruit three chances are we get to keep one long term, and if it turn out to be two and Strife comes back it might be a little tight but it will work out.

I have given 3 exp for some threads and 2 for most so you can just count them, sometimes I have given a bonus to one character or antoher for different reasons. A new character made with extra exp or freebie points would not need an excuse for how they elarned that as it will not be new knowledge for them they just start play more experienced.

- With timezones, I feel you're wrong - it *is* relevant. However, 'relevant' does not automatically mean 'dealbreaker'. Which is why I suggest 'mention we're a Euro-dominant board' and leave it at that.

- With the 'backfilling dots', I mean that generally speaking, basic creation doesn't really have enough alone to cover the level of skill you'd expect from a normal adult, even less so if they're explicitly a 'skilled worker' or older. [Such as the fact Nicole was in fact unable to perform her own job for perhaps the first six months of her existence here].

In this respect, giving an extra starting dollop of 20-30 means the character doesn't have to go through the bare-bones, borderline competent stage.

It also means the gap between Newbie(s) and Nick/Serge will be less, as there's no real conceivable way that the new people would be able to earn more XP to catch up.

- With timezones, I feel you're wrong - it *is* relevant. However, 'relevant' does not automatically mean 'dealbreaker'. Which is why I suggest 'mention we're a Euro-dominant board' and leave it at that.

Why would it be relevant? It is a play by post, the reply to a post can come many hours after it was made, that relaxed phace which is easy to fit into one's day is why we do play by post here and not text or voice chat.

With the 'backfilling dots', I mean that generally speaking, basic creation doesn't really have enough alone to cover the level of skill you'd expect from a normal adult, even less so if they're explicitly a 'skilled worker' or older. [Such as the fact Nicole was in fact unable to perform her own job for perhaps the first six months of her existence here].

Yeah I noticed, just for fun I made mysekf using World of Darkness rules once, I had for to many dots for attributes but for skills and backgrounds there was just not nearly enough, the system is a bit uneven there.

In this respect, giving an extra starting dollop of 20-30 means the character doesn't have to go through the bare-bones, borderline competent stage.

It also means the gap between Newbie(s) and Nick/Serge will be less, as there's no real conceivable way that the new people would be able to earn more XP to catch up.

That might work. What do you think Warp how much starting exp should new players get?

Why would it be relevant? It is a play by post, the reply to a post can come many hours after it was made, that relaxed phace which is easy to fit into one's day is why we do play by post here and not text or voice chat.

In short; when your time-zone is radically different from your prospective ST's, you need to work out whether you'll be able to keep up both your posting speed and interest level.

I know WoD PBP players who would consider 'one post a day forever' to be unbearably slow, esp with combat rounds and/or if they had to consult with you before making the decision. PBP combat is slow enough as it is.

It is only politeness - in my book - to mention this issue [just a 'ST and two of three players in Europe' note] so the prospective player can consider whether this was an issue for *them* or not.

In short; when your time-zone is radically different from your prospective ST's, you need to work out whether you'll be able to keep up both your posting speed and interest level.

Yeah here is where I do not get you. We are for most of the players talking a one to perhaps five posts a day, no one expect rapid fire posting so evenn if your post comes eight hours after the GM's what is the problem, it is PBP it is meant to be post when you can and no stress gaming. If someone loose thier interest if they can not have constant rapid fire posting with me then this is not the game for them as I do have other things I do in my life and I am nto always on nor do I always have the time to post.

I know WoD PBP players who would consider 'one post a day forever' to be unbearably slow, esp with combat rounds and/or if they had to consult with you before making the decision. PBP combat is slow enough as it is.

A: No one is saying they can not post more than once a day, but I will put try to post once a day in the requirements, it is a minimum not a maximum. B: Combant is rare for this game so it really is not a problem. C: Like I said if they expect me to constantly be on and rapid fire post with them all they they will ahve to find another game. I feel I am pretty active and yet I am not on all day, i do nto ahve the time for that. If thye want speedy gaming there are other formats.

It is only politeness - in my book - to mention this issue [just a 'ST and two of three players in Europe' note] so the prospective player can consider whether this was an issue for *them* or not.

I just do not see this as an issue that is worth mentioning in an post trying to advertise the game to new players as it need to be fairly short and sweet, more information can be given for those who are interested, also like I said it is a play by post, it will go slow and I do nto expect more than one or two posts out of a player a day, sometimes mroe posting takes place and that is cool but the norm is that a play by post is a slow game format where you fit a post in when you ahve the time. If you are going to sit down and game for hours then doing a voice chat settion is far easier.

I'm actually with Nicole on the time zone issue - prospective players might want to know that there's a potential time zone issue; someone in the US or Australia, for example, might want to play a campaign where they can expect the ST to have roughly the same hours as themselves. This is one of those cases where it might not be an issue for us, but it could be a dealbreaker for them if not advertised in advance.

On another note, I should set Colin up on a proper character sheet, I guess - the one I'm using in the forum is a little on the clunky side.

Very well I am sure I can mention it, though after all I mean I have no set time when I post I just get a post in when I am able during the day if I have unanswered posts. I try to get one in during the morning. I start my day writing up my dream that night, making coffee and then i put down a youtube video about some occult topic to listen to in the background while I write a post for this game, check my mail and a few such things while I wake up and get ready to start my study routine for the day. But other than that morning post I only squeeze in posts here and there when I find the time.

- Let me put it this way, Great One; this is a detail that costs you nothing to mention and hopefully reduces the chance of you having to waste your time with flake/ghost players because the ones where the time-zone issues are important will know not to bother you.

- If 'advert space' is an issue, you can leave it for the blurb you send them when they request 'more details' via PM or whatever.

- Oddly enough, Australian/NZ players aren't so bad time-wise as their clocks are completely inverted. As long as they're the sort who can post in [their] mornings. I've played with a couple in the past and they in fact were 'easier' to play with than many American ones.

- You want a [clean] copy of the character sheet, Warp? In fact, perhaps we should post one in the forum as a template...

- Let me put it this way, Great One; this is a detail that costs you nothing to mention and hopefully reduces the chance of you having to waste your time with flake/ghost players because the ones where the time-zone issues are important will know not to bother you.

Fair enough, I can include it.

If 'advert space' is an issue, you can leave it for the blurb you send them when they request 'more details' via PM or whatever.

That works.

- Oddly enough, Australian/NZ players aren't so bad time-wise as their clocks are completely inverted. As long as they're the sort who can post in [their] mornings. I've played with a couple in the past and they in fact were 'easier' to play with than many American ones.

- You want a [clean] copy of the character sheet, Warp? In fact, perhaps we should post one in the forum as a template...

I have played with allot of Americans and I still do not see the problem as one have to wait for replies anyway but as both you and Warp think I should include the information I will trust that it is a good idea and do so.

I was thinking of filling in a PDF sheet or something, and just post a "view-only" link on the character blurb.

I'll see what I decide on. Got some options at hand.

Well, I've got a plaintext format for here, and use a Excel spreadsheet for my 'interactive' one.

A PDF sheet might be cool but you can just write it as text as well.

I tried to post my spreadsheet-sheet in a post here, but turns out it's 'too long'. However, you can simply use this instead;

Name:
Nature:
Demeanour:
Essence:
Affiliation:
Sect:
Concept:

Attributes
Physical
Strength: -
Dexterity: -
Stamina: -

Social
Charisma: -
Manipulation: -
Appearance: -

Mental
Perception: -
Intelligence: -
Wits: -

Abilities
Talents
Alertness: -
Art: -
Athletics: -
Awareness: -
Brawl: -
Empathy: -
Expression: -
Intimidation: -
Leadership: -
Streetwise: -
Subterfuge: -

Skills
Crafts: -
Drive: -
Etiquette: -
Firearms: -
Martial Arts: -
Meditation: -
Melee: -
Research: -
Stealth: -
Survival: -
Technology: -

Knowledges
Academics: -
Computer: -
Cosmology: -
Enigmas: -
Esoterica: -
Investigation: -
Law: -
Medicine: -
Occult: -
Politics: -
Science: -

Spheres
Correspondence: -
Entropy: -
Forces: -
Life: -
Matter: -
Mind: -
Prime: -
Spirit: -
Time: -

Backgrounds

Willpower: -

Arete: -
Quintessence: -

Paradox: -

Resonance
Dynamic: -
Entropic: -
Static: -

Merits/Flaws:


As for PDFs... I assume you've looked at Mr Gone?

https://mrgone.rocksolidshells.com/

Mr Gone's sheets are pretty good.

But yes that text one works as well.

The advantage of the text one is that it can be edited where needed, for example shoving on Hobby Skills etc.

That is true it is practical then again the PDF one looks good.

But will the .pdf one continue to 'look good' even when you've tried to squeeze on all the extras Colin has? The advantage of my .xls is that it's completely versatile in this regard and I'm able to keep all the old sheets in the same book [simply add a new page at the front whenever something changes; Nick is currently on sheet #34].

This conversation reminds me of when I started playing PBP games and I used to keep my character sheets on .bmp files. Hmm, I wonder if I've still got them somewhere?


Now, with the 'starting extras' options, I think we have three main different options. [Numbers merely for example].

#1: More dots! Example; instead of the classic 13/9/5 Abilities mix, they're allowed 15/11/7 and so on.

#2: More Freebies! Instead of 15, they're granted 30.

#3: More XP! Starting dollop of 30.

Now, the first option has the main bonus to somewhat restricting the newbie on *how* they spend their extra goodies without looking like you are. WoD players have a marked tendency to run straight for the 'bling' - the powers, the Gen/PB/Avatar while ignoring the mundanely useful Abilities [Nick in fact is a good subversion of this; in many ways she's rather akin to a 'spellsword' or 'arcane warrior' build, the magic being the add-on to mundane stuff, providing the coolness]. The main minus is that it can be overly restrictive at times.

The second option has the advantage that it's very easy to simply 'drop in'. Main minus is that this may simply result in people rushing for 'more bling', which at least in my book is not the desired outcome.

The last option has the benefit that it allows unspent XP to be banked. Main minus is similar to above, with the added sheet creation headaches and 'optimisation' [I've done this method before, and it's very possible to 'lose' between 5 and 1 XP in creation merely by how 'efficiently' you balance your dot/free/XP spend.]

Therefore, I personally discount #3 as being 'too much of a headache' to implement [as the submitted sheets will have to be in three parts; dots, freebies & XP] and relies on the ST stamping on min-maxing. I discount #2 for the latter reason for #3, though feel it's better overall. I personally favour #1.

Now, how much to grant?

I've quickly looked at Nick's previous sheets and concluded that it cost 29 XP [a year's earnings] to get to the point where she could actually *perform* the feats her story demanded. However, said sheet had nearly all said spend on Abilities, ending up with a 15/13/8 mix.

So, my idea for the new character is this; character creation as stated in M20 book [save the changed costing as decided long ago], except Abilities are 15/13/9 rather than 13/9/5. Between this and the fact they don't have to buy Backgrounds like Node, Chantry etc I personally feel this 'generous enough' for a new character.

Plus, Abilities are what all WoD players understand. Spheres etc are much more harder to grasp, esp players who have only experience of the 'off shelf powers, press-and-it-works' of some parts of VtM etc will need basically, tutoring in it.

But will the .pdf one continue to 'look good' even when you've tried to squeeze on all the extras Colin has? The advantage of my .xls is that it's completely versatile in this regard and I'm able to keep all the old sheets in the same book [simply add a new page at the front whenever something changes; Nick is currently on sheet #34].

This conversation reminds me of when I started playing PBP games and I used to keep my character sheets on .bmp files. Hmm, I wonder if I've still got them somewhere?

That is fair enough.

Now, with the 'starting extras' options, I think we have three main different options. [Numbers merely for example].

#1: More dots! Example; instead of the classic 13/9/5 Abilities mix, they're allowed 15/11/7 and so on.

#2: More Freebies! Instead of 15, they're granted 30.

#3: More XP! Starting dollop of 30.

Now, the first option has the main bonus to somewhat restricting the newbie on *how* they spend their extra goodies without looking like you are. WoD players have a marked tendency to run straight for the 'bling' - the powers, the Gen/PB/Avatar while ignoring the mundanely useful Abilities [Nick in fact is a good subversion of this; in many ways she's rather akin to a 'spellsword' or 'arcane warrior' build, the magic being the add-on to mundane stuff, providing the coolness]. The main minus is that it can be overly restrictive at times.

The second option has the advantage that it's very easy to simply 'drop in'. Main minus is that this may simply result in people rushing for 'more bling', which at least in my book is not the desired outcome.

The last option has the benefit that it allows unspent XP to be banked. Main minus is similar to above, with the added sheet creation headaches and 'optimisation' [I've done this method before, and it's very possible to 'lose' between 5 and 1 XP in creation merely by how 'efficiently' you balance your dot/free/XP spend.]

I think I prefer the extra freebie points thing, that is what I give out for writing up backgrounds in many games and such and it allow the players to spend them on what they want rather than restricting them to one category.

ow, how much to grant?

I've quickly looked at Nick's previous sheets and concluded that it cost 29 XP [a year's earnings] to get to the point where she could actually *perform* the feats her story demanded. However, said sheet had nearly all said spend on Abilities, ending up with a 15/13/8 mix.

So, my idea for the new character is this; character creation as stated in M20 book [save the changed costing as decided long ago], except Abilities are 15/13/9 rather than 13/9/5. Between this and the fact they don't have to buy Backgrounds like Node, Chantry etc I personally feel this 'generous enough' for a new character.

Plus, Abilities are what all WoD players understand. Spheres etc are much more harder to grasp, esp players who have only experience of the 'off shelf powers, press-and-it-works' of some parts of VtM etc will need basically, tutoring in it.

Spheres are still pretty central to mages so even a new player will have to learn how they work, and a player might have wanted to spend their exp on spheres or attributes or backgrounds I think that is why giving more exp or freebie points allow for far more flexibility for the new players.