I'm planning on running a one-off game of octaNe using the Blood & Steel supplement at an upcoming con. I'm not sure, though, about how to hande the character generation. My gut feeling is to create the characters ahead of time so it's easier for people to jump right into things, but I think that takes away from the player's ability to really get into their characters and create interesting backgrounds for them. The game "slot" will be four hours. Any suggestions?

Timothy

Keep a sheet of "hints" but allow the players to create their own characters. That way, if one of 'em gets stuck you'll have some pre-made "suggestions."

Of course, I'm betting that a group chargen session of no more than 1/2 or so will kick lots of good ideas into the air.