JULY 24, 1999

Hello, hello, and welcome again to another month of Saskatoon by Night!  As you can see, we've included the Sunrise/Sunset times for the sensible vampire on the go.  Keep in mind that the in-character time will be based off these statistics, so it is very likely that in-character events will start fairly late in the evening, probably shortly after twilight's end. So for tonight, OOC time is 7:30 pm, IC time is 11:30 pm.  Advance your time scales by 4 hours!

TAKING A BREAK…

I will be taking a break from the LARP for a bit, primarily because Amy and I are getting married on August 21st!  Aside from that, I also want time to work on other personal projects.  As of August 1st I'll be taking a break from gaming in general, and will likely not return until mid-September.  During this time, you can direct all scene requests, etc. to Jill and David.  I will still indirectly be involved by conversing with Jill and David about whatever questions they have, but other than that… it can wait until I get back!

THE AUGUST GAME

Because of the aforementioned wedding, the August game will NOT be on August 21.  Instead, it will take place on August 28, the last Saturday of the month.  The location is to be determined.

GANGREL ALTHING

There was some talk of having a Gangrel Althing sometimes in the near future.  What is an Althing, you may ask?  Paraphrased from The Guide to the Camarilla: An Althing is a gathering of Gangrel, often called by the eldest clan member in a particular region (a smaller gathering is called a thing), and the recounting of deeds and tales that occurs at such gatherings is reminiscent of the Viking brag.  Althings occur on the equinoxes of any given year, and the next upcoming Althing would be September 23rd.

Precedence at a gathering of Gangrel is determined by a series of individual contests of dominance.  Most such challenges are just staredowns, but a few graduate to brawl status.  Such combats are vicious but are rarely fatal; there aren't enough Gangrel for them to go around killing each other at meetings.  Such duels for primacy occur whenever Gangrel meet on their own and for the first time, even if it's just two clanmates coming across each other in the woods.  Once precedence is established, the pecking order is fixed and there's no need to repeat the process every time the same Gangrel meet.  The only exceptions come when someone on the losing end of a prior encounter decides he's in line for a promotion, and tries again.  The winners of such combats gain prestige within the clan, while the losers are reduced in standing (and usually beaten to a pulp as well), which does keep the number of frivolous challenges down.

Once precedence has been established, the leader begins the recitation of names and deeds, plus whatever other information she feels needs to be passed along.  If there's no discussion, the floor is then yielded to the second in command, and so on.  All in attendance, regardless of whether it's an althing or just two clan members, are expected to remember what they are told, and to pass on the important and particularly interesting tales to other Gangrel not in attendance.  Thus heroes are made of some Gangrel and laughingstocks of others, but the news that needs to travel somehow gets spread.

SYMPATHETIC INK

Next month will herald another edition of Sympathetic Ink, so get your submissions in to Jill! Artwork, essays, fiction and poetry are all cheerfully accepted.

SBN T-SHIRTS!

Amy has taken on the task of handling the printing of the new Saskatoon by Night t-shirts!  Although we were unavailable to get them printed for this month, we are chatting with Reg from Eye of the Needle (who is notoriously difficult to get a hold of), and so t-shirts should be available by next month (cross your fingers!).  Requests for sizes and cost should be directed to Amy.  Huzzah for Amy!

INFLUENCE FAQ'S.

Q: Can I have more than one slot at any given level, e.g. two Health 3 slots?
A: Yes, you can. There are several ways to do this:
- You can steal the contact from someone another character for NPC.
- Another character or NPC can permanently loan a contact to you. If you alter the means by which that contact is controlled, it is effectively the same as stealing it.
- You can start another 'leg' of the pyramid for yourself. For example, if you have Health 4, and you want another Health 3, you could start a new 'leg' at Health 1 and buy your way up to a second Health 3. You would then have Health Levels 1+2+3+4, *AND* an additional Health Levels 1+2+3. This technique may be especially useful if slots above you are blocked, and you want to continue to accumulate influence in a domain that interests you.

It is technically possible to monopolize an *entire* Influence Pyramid, but this would take a lot of time and XP, not to mention prudent assassinations.

FINANCE 4 SLOT AVAILABLE

A coveted Finance 4 slot has become available. It is no great secret that this slot has been blocked for some time. I will award the slot to a player demonstrating a combination of the following:
- Most interesting contact background.
- Greatest likelihood, in my opinion, to use the contact regularly. In the case of new characters, this will not necessarily be based on past records of use. New characters are encouraged to apply.

Please apply by e-mail or in writing at tonight's game. The successful applicant will receive an answer in time to use the contact for next game.

SBN MANUAL

So where the heck is this beast, anyway?  Well, it's been another busy month, and we've been unavailable to get the final editing and printing done before the Elysium.  Suzi has graciously offered her skills to format the manual, and has also offered the family business to give us a good rate on the printing.  Huzzah for Suzi!

Something to consider before we go to nutz with the printing tho'; the new LARP rules for Mind's Eye Theatre will be coming out in September.  This release supposedly addresses a lot of the problems encountered with the vampire LARP since it's inception.  While I really doubt this will be a stellar publication, it may come up with some half-decent solutions to some of the problems we encountered with LARP in the past.

So this brings us to a couple of options.  Option 1: We can print the SbN manual as is, and put out a supplement regarding any rules changes after the Laws of the Night Revised Edition comes out.  This may result in extra printing costs, and at the same time, spreads rules over multiple manuals instead of having it in just one.  Option 2: We wait until September for the MET revised edition, and make changes accordingly, THEN print the manual.  In the interim we would post the SbN manual on the web, and have a copy or three floating around the Elysiums.  Incidentally, I posted a final draft of the SbN Manual at:
 http://home.members.net/mosiondz/sbn/sbn_v2.html

DEADGUY SPEAKS

By Richard E. Dansky
This is a reprint from MET Journal #2, from an article called: I'll Stay Up in the Helicopter While Jim Goes and Wrestles the Twink to the Ground or Funny How Everyone Knows One of These Guys, Ain't It?  In the article, Richard goes into detail about the different types of LARPers out there.  The spotlight for this month: everyone's favorite player to hate: the Twink!

The Twink

Quote: I use Forces 3, Entropy 9, Celerity, my twin silver-handled katanas and my Crinos form to cut to the front of the line and order a cheeseburger.

Character Concept: Bigger, better, faster, more!  Umm, and some more after that!

Appearance: The Twink doesn't usually bother with much in the way of costuming.  After all, he's got Massive Cosmic Powers at his beck and call, so he doesn't need to dress up.  When you're the ultimate force of destruction, you can dress casual and get away with it.

Natural Habitat: Elysium.  Why?  Because if the Twink has managed to finagle a way to get his Risen Euthantos Mokole kinfolk character past the local Storyteller (usually by hitting said Storyteller on the back of the head repeatedly with a skillet and taking the wobbly bobbing motion that results as a nod of approval), he knows that someone else has done it, too!  And that someone else might be able to, somehow, in some way, defeat his Immortal Kuei-jin Diabolist Baali-Tremere crossbreed.  Ergo, he's going to stay where it's safe.

Notes: The Twink is motivated by two forces: the desire to avoid character death at all costs and the desire to let everyone else know how butch his character really is.  As a result, you will often see the Twink using Disciplines left, right, and center to do things like open doors, rearrange geraniums and the like.  Mysteriously, though, he never runs out of Blood or Willpower Traits by doing so.  Fascinating.