Hook Templates

A hook template is a set of story rules, game mechanics, and other information pertaining to a particular hook. They're often used to describe "stock" character types--especially classes and species--and are a handy way of establishing exactly how a particular trait works in the game being played. They also allow GMs to create "bundles" of character traits that would be difficult or impossible to model in an a la carte fashion using the core character creation rules. This both keeps restricts such abilities to characters who possess appropriate hooks (you can't buy Dwarven Battle Frenzy as a hook; the only way to get it is to be a dwarf) and allows for especially powerful abilities to be balanced out with disadvantages and plot complications (if you want Dwarven Battle Frenzy, you better be ok with being a short, hairy alcoholic from a repressive culture who can't use magic unless it involves a forge).
When and weather to use templates depends both on group preferences and the nature of the game you're playing. Character class templates, for instance, are nearly unavoidable in the "fantasy RPG" genre, but you can easily skip them if you're going for more of a pulpy, free-wheeling sword & sorcery vibe. While classes and species are the most common types of templates, you can use them for just about anything that needs to be clearly defined in terms of story rules, game mechanics, or both. The sidebar lists a few examples.
There's not set format for templates, but there are some basic types of information that they commonly include:

• Requirements: Some templates are only available to characters who meet specific qualifications. These requirements can be mechanical (only characters with a Combat score of d10 or higher can be Blade Barons) or story-based (only pilots who have shot down at least five enemy planes are considered for training in the Ace Squadron). Additionally, some templates can only be taken during character creation (it's unlikely that you'll become a Vulcan as the story unfolds), while others (especially those with story requirements, like elite orders and secret societies) may be forbidden to starting characters.
• General Traits: Information about the character type that doesn't require specific rules but that the GM may take into account when setting Target Numbers. These are often just things that the template is known for being good or bad at, but an also include unusual or notable traits, like the fact that vampires don't cast a reflection. Sure, the GM might give the vampire a better chance of shoplifting because the clerk can't see him in the mirror, but in most cases the reflection thing is going to affect how the story unfolds (people freaking out when they notice the character casts no reflection) rather than dice rolls. This section (especially for templates that represent organized groups) can also include things like organizational symbols, costume design, preferred weapons, codes of conduct, rituals, and political entanglements.
• Advantages: This section covers traits that do have specific rules associated with them. While some rules--like how quickly a character with regeneration recovers from damage--are purely matters of game mechanics, others place story or meta-game restrictions on how or when an ability can be used in order to keep them from dominating the game or worse, becoming boring.
• Disadvantages: The flipside of advantages, this section includes both drawbacks that have mechanical component (how much extra damage a werewolf takes from a silver weapon) and obligations, codes of conduct, or role-playing guidelines that are enforceable wither mechanically (a paladin who commits a major sin is wracked with guilt and gets an extra challenge dice on all rolls) or through story (a gang member who betrays the gang is marked for death).
• Special Rules: Some templates have special rules for template-related activities or situations. These could include things like special spellcasting rules for a particular type of magic user or rules for when a berserker wants to resist succumbing to battle frenzy.
  

Template Examples

• Classes like Ranger, Barbarian, Magician, Thief, Cavalier, and Acrobat are probably the most common type of template. 
• Species templates for fantasy races, aliens, robots, mutants, monsters, and such are also very common. 
• In a game lousy with werewolves, those who get bitten and survive acquire the Lycanthropy template. 
• If a character becomes a vampire's servant, the Blood Bond template describes the supernatural benefits and drawbacks, along with guidelines for attempts to resist the master's commands. If their master actually makes them a vampire, they get to trade it in for the Vampire template (not you, Guillermo). 
• All four houses in a kid wizards game would have their own template. 
• House loyalty (in this case to noble houses) might also be represented by templates in a Boobs & Swords game. 
• Characters in a martial arts game choose a fighting style or school.
• In a Deathrace or Mad Max-inspired game, players may choose between several different post-apocalyptic roadster templates: Road Runner, Porcupine, Baracus Tank, Machinegunmobile, Battering Ram, Duff Warrior Platform, Psycho Cycle, Ornithopter, etc. 
• Likewise, power armor or mech suit templates could describe the rules and mechanics associated with each model. 
• In the World of Insufficient Light, each supernatural species is divided into factions based on some combination of political affiliation, ancestry, and subspecies.