Character Generation is essentially standard, using the core rulebook, However, one rule is critical.

Common backstory. The players have to work together on a backstory which brings the characters together.

The troupe can choose how close-knit they want the party to be. They may or may not have a common purpose other than surviving. However, the common backstory will decide on the precise setting and the initial stories, and therefore it is important.

Background

The players need to declare what the character has been doing during the Schism War. This will determine how the saga starts. There are many possibilities.

• Some magi have been part of the war, accompanying their parens.
• Some may come from a tribunal which escaped the war, and just come to Stonehenge to rebuild it.
• Some may have been scavengers, looting battle fields.
• Some may have gone underground, living as hermits. A Jerbiton could have sought refuge in a mundane household.

If the magi were trained at a covenant in Stonehenge, it has been sacked in the war.

The players have to decide collectively what history they share. This may be something simple, such as having met recently in a hoplite camp, or been the only survivors after a major confrontation. They may be a task force with a mission. Or they may have a more complex background and purpose.

The magi may have formed a covenant without land, that is a pact between the members, probably with the intent to find somewhere to settle to form a covenant in the regular sense.

Some Specific Rules and Interpretations.

1. The Diedne Magic virtue is allowed, but should not be taken lightly. A solid backstory is required.
2. The Tremere do not join multi-house covenants at this time, which may mean that Tremere is not appropriate for player characters.
3. If the characters decide to play older magi, core rules apply. The magi will not have had access to a lab or a library after gauntlet, so advancement will always be 30xp or spell levels per year.
4. Each magus starts with some resources using the Covenant Dowry system. The player has to declare how these resources were obtained, as part of their background. It may well be loot from the war.
5. Characters should be built using the Core Rulebook and the appropriate chapter of Houses of Hermes. Any other book is subject to troupe approval.