The Basics

No Physical Contact

In the interests of keeping player conflict to a minimum (as opposed to character conflict, which should be rampant) as well as avoiding any possible public scenes or confrontations, players should seriously limit the amount of physical contact they have with other players during the course of the game. While this does not mean that you can't shake hands with another player, it does strictly prohibit any kind of violent action towards anyone during play. All combat and other kinds of physical exertion will be handled by challenges. In short, give the other players a lot of space. This rule has a number of important implications, which I will discuss individually below.

No Outrageous Physical Activity

By "outrageous", we mean any kind of physical action you wouldn't normally perform in a public place. This includes, but isn't limited to: jumping, running, climbing, throwing things, smashing furniture, wrestling, etc. Basically, use your common sense with this one. If you're thinking of performing some kind of physical action that could injure yourself, someone else, or some inanimate object, don't do it.

No Weapons

Don't bring anything to a session that could cause serious bodily harm to anyone else. In addition, don't carry or use any props or cunning replicas of real weapons. You might think it would be really cool to carry fake pistol to represent your character's Colt Peacemaker, but I doubt innocent, ignorant spectators would see it the same way. All weapons will be represented by special cards for use in challenges, so leave the toys at home.

As a final note on this subject, any violation of the rules above will result in immediate expulsion from the game. The Storytellers will determine what constitutes a violation and our decision is final.

New Player Registration and Character Changes During the Game

If you are a new player interested in joining the LARP or if you want to initiate a friend or associate, you must have your request for admission approved by the Storytellers. A finished character, which includes a background along with a character sheet, must be given to the Storytellers for consideration. The Storytellers reserve the right to refuse admission for any reason (excluding, of course, race, gender, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, or ethnicity) as well as the right to reject any individual component of a player's character. Any player whose admission has not been approved by the Storytellers will not be considered to be officially playing and her/his actions will not be counted as part of the game's story.

Likewise, any major changes a player wants to make in her/his character after play starts must be discussed with and approved by the Storytellers. Major changes include: any alteration of a permanent statistic on a character sheet, a significant modification in a character's background or Influences, any important activity performed by the character during "dead time" (i.e. outside of an official gaming session), or a complete character change. Upon approval, the suitable changes will be made and, if necessary, the other players will be immediately informed. ALL CHANGES MUST BE REPORTED TO THE STORYTELLERS AT LEAST THREE DAYS BEFORE THE NEXT GAMING SESSION. Any player caught cheating in any way, such as changing a character sheet without approval, lying about a character's abilities, etc., will be immediately ejected from the game.

IC/OoC Distinctions: Dealing with the Storytellers and the Other Players

This section of the packet deals with a number of important guidelines for dealing with both the other players and the Storytellers as a part of the LARP, either at sessions or via e-mail. These guidelines are designed to eliminate a great deal of confusion which took place in the early stages of this game. In particular, methods of determining whether other players are IC or OoC and details about contacting the Storytellers are explained below.

IC/OoC Differentiation

Before getting into the details of the policy on this topic, it should be clear that the acronym "IC" means "in-character", meaning that whatever actions you are taking are directly mirrored by your character in the Story environment. "OoC" means "out-of-character", meaning that the actions you are taking are not mirrored in the Story universe. This is a fairly obvious distinction, but an important one to avoid any confusion during this discussion.

Since the beginning of this LARP, there have been a lot problems with the IC/OoC issue. This problem almost always involves players becoming confused about whether a conversation or communication is IC or OoC. Since the Storytellers cannot present for most of the role-playing that goes on in this game, accurate determinations cannot be made about whether a scene is in-game or not. Therefore, the following regulations are used to avoid any further problems with this issue.

The first concern is IC/OoC stuff during sessions. All players will go IC at the beginning of each session. Players will remain in-character for the duration of the session and only drop OoC at the close of the session. Both the beginning and the end of the session will be clearly indicated on the invitation. Players should attempt to arrive at the session a half an hour early to ensure that they will be present for the beginning of the game. If players arrive late, they should expect the game to have started without them and should be prepared to jump into character immediately.

During the course of a session, the only officially acceptable reasons for being out-of-character are for challenges, Storyteller-approved actions, or personal emergencies. Otherwise, players should always assume that anything that is said or done during a session is in-character. If there is any confusion about any event that takes place during a game session, the Storytellers will conclude that the event took place IC.

There is one exception to this rule. There may be times in which a Storyteller is forced to engage in OoC descriptions or activities which require discussions with players in an official capacity for an extended period of time.

The problem of IC/OoC distinctions has also come up involving LARP mail. Therefore, the following policy has been implemented. If a letter is sent to a character IC, then this should be indicated the subject heading, e.g. "IC from Pignose" or "Thursday Night (IC)". Otherwise, it should be assumed that an unmarked letter is OoC. If the letter contains both IC and OoC information, the transition between these two conditions should be cleared indicated. So that a uniform system of denotation can be established, I would suggest that OoC statements be made in double parenthesis "(( ... ))" and any messages therein preceded by the acronym "OoC:"

Contacting the Storytellers

Procedure for contacting the Storytellers using e-mail is fairly simple. Unless you specifically name an NPC you wish to speak to, it will assumed that any messages received are intended for us, The Storytellers, Out-of-Character. If you wish to speak to an NPC, you should name that NPC in the subject line so it is clear what the message is concerning. You should also date and time any in-character messages (such as discussion with NPCs, dead time activity, etc.) you send to us with in-character dates and times (e.g. "Pignose's conversation with Sebastian is going to take place tomorrow at 11pm") somewhere in the letter so their place in the game's timeline is clear. If you do not provide this information, it will assumed that the actions that place WHEN THE MESSAGE IS READ, not when the message was sent. The Storytellers will respond to any questions you have as soon as possible and is willing to provide any information you may need about the game provided that this information does not compromise the consistency or fairness of the game in any way.

Character Summaries

This is another topic that has caused a great deal of trouble. Just so everyone's clear on the policy, this is the way summaries work. By the Monday after every gaming session, the Storytellers should receive a summary of every character's action at that session. This summary can be as long as the player wishes and may include whatever the player feels is important, but the player must at least describe all of the important events that the character took part in or witnessed during a session.

If you cannot get your summary in on time for any reason, you should send the Storytellers a short letter by the Monday after the session informing him that the summary will be late. The summary should then be sent as soon as possible, a week after the session at the latest. We understand that people have other things in their life that require their attention and that other events could easily suck away someone's time, but a two- sentence letter telling me you can't send a longer summary is not too much to ask. If for some reason you don't get your summary in or you can't respond to a IC letter for five days, the Storytellers will go ahead and run the event. While this may seem harsh, it has to be done to allow the other players to continue their role-play. If you are having a server problem that prevents you from sending any e-mail, please let the Storytellers know as soon as you can. Players who repeatedly fail to send in summaries will be punished. Punishment will consist of players losing the extra experience point they would have gotten for handing in the summaries. If you are incapable or unwilling to get summaries in, then you will be removed from the game.

In addition to summaries, whatever IC conversations take place via e-mail should also be forwarded to the Storytellers. Reading these conversations allows for a better picture of everything that is going on in the game and allows for more appropriate and consistent Storyteller responses. If there is any confusion about exactly to whom the letter is addressed, the Storyteller will assume the message is not intended to be delivered to any NPCs unless it is clearly indicated in the letter that any particular NPCs should receive it. Obviously, your out-of-character discussions are private and no one has any intention of asking you to share them with anyone. If anyone has a problem with this policy, please contact the Storytellers.

Session Attendance

I can't stress enough how important it is to attend every session. On those nights you can't make it, please contact us. We want to start a session on time as well as make sure no one is waiting around for a scene to start.

Obviously, these policies are rather strict and, in some cases, are either very difficult or impossible to implement. Obviously, there will be moments when players are out-of-character during sessions or when summaries cannot come in on time. Nonetheless, please keep in mind that these policies will be used by the Storytellers as the standard method to handle any confusion that may result in-game. If there are any questions or problems with this policy, feel free to contact the Storytellers with your concerns.

Published White Wolf Material and the LARP Universe

Because of our own theories about game consistency and our own ideas about atmosphere and theme in this LARP, much of the information found in various White Wolf rulebooks and sourcebooks does not apply or is contradictory in this game. Therefore, it is important to speak to the Storytellers about any published material you wish to use in game before you mention it to another character or attempt to use it at a session. In the case of rules systems and interpretations, this packet and the Storyteller's decisions always take precedence over anything found in any published material.

Challenges and Conflict Resolution

Challenges between players can and may be performed without a Storyteller present, as long as both players agree to the nature and results of the challenge. If the players cannot come to a resolution, a Storyteller should be called over to make a judgment. Again, the Storyteller's decisions are final.

Basic rules on how to resolve a challenge, such as combat with another character, use of a Discipline, or any other conflict, have been provided in this rules packet. Players will be expected to have a good working knowledge of these rules before the game starts. Please note that the rules provided in this packet differ in many ways from the rules from the Masquerade system. In case of any discrepancy, the rules in this packet and the Storyteller's decisions take precedence. Any questions or problems with the rules of the game should be addressed to the Storytellers.