Welcome to Gaia! ::

Want to help me put a profile together?

I can do that. What sort of a character did you have in mind?

Alright. Well, there are a few clans that have sword skills, the main one being the Daimyo from Hidden Katana. They make their own swords, which can have special abilities, like your character's made-up techniques. A medical shinobi would be a long-term goal, mostly because all of the various shinobi job categories are under construction/revision. Beyond that, Kabuto's line has some healing techniques.

There is a brief description of all the different clans you can choose from, in one of the announcement threads.
http://www.gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php?page=1&t=19356313#255867097

Do they make nodachis?

Technically, their 'katanas' can be any sort of weapon you want. One of my characters made a scythe, someone else made a pair of chakra pistols. The shape of the weapon is largely detail/fluff, what matters is getting the abilities approved. (That and your own custom techniques, both go in the made-up thread, for the mods to look at.)

Simply put, the words you type in the various villages are the currency you use to buy techniques. If a technique is listed as 800 skill points, then you'll need to type up 800 words to 'purchase' it. Once you do, you can post a TC/Training Completion, and once its checked, the mods will add it to your profile in the village you belong to.

You begin with one free made-up slot, and earn more with every 15,000 you attain. (You do not have to type 15,000 words to get it!) You can also get free made-up slots or techniques from guild events, such as participating in SLs/Story Lines.

Your rank determines your chakra/skill point cap. While you're an Academy Student (everyone starts here!) you have a pretty small cap, but you can leave the Academy once you learn any one technique. I'd recommend learning the main five, though. They're all useful.

Once you are done posting in the Academy, you can post in the Docks to declare your next destination. Usually this will be your character's home village, to learn their clan/family techniques.

And it just continues from there, as long as you aren't maxed out you can continue posting and learning techniques almost indefinitely.

Did that cover it?

The 15,000 is just a checkpoint that gives you access to making another custom technique. (So you get one at the start, then another when you pass 15,000, and another at 30,000 and so on.)

If you meant 1500 instead of 15,000 that would refer to the bonus starting words you have to spend if you make a character that isn't from the three biggest villages. If you do that, you can have your character start with 2300 worth of techniques from their clan and village, rather than the 800 of someone from the big three.

To actually get your sword, what you do is earn the pieces the same way as learning techniques. You choose which handle, blade, sheath and so forth, and then you can cover your sword's specific details in its custom techniques. These are gained when you learn the Emitter for your sword, it gives you two custom sword techniques. (A Daimyo can make more than one sword, anyone else can only make the one blade, not counting Special Items or other options.)
One of the other options is using a regular made-up slot to create a sword. It will only have the one made-up ability, rather than the two from a Katana blade. But you don't have to 'learn' the pieces to a blade with this method. So its a trade-off of sorts.

As long as your character does not come from Hidden Cloud, Hidden Leaf or Hidden Sand, then yes, you can choose your beginning technique(s) to a total of 2300. Usually that will be two to four techniques, depending on what clan you choose. For instance, if you were to make a Daimyo from Katana, you could have your character start with: Basic Hilt, Standard Safety, Standard Blade, Basic Trigger and Leather Sheath. The only other part you would need to finish your sword would be the Emitter. Or you could choose more expensive components for a more stylized blade.