SEPTEMBER 20, 1997

CHARACTER CONSISTENCY
There are times when a character just doesn't feel right, you feel uncomfortable playing them, etc. Please give the character a fair chance; try to play him or her out for at least 3 months. There tends to be a lack of continuity when characters pop and up and then disappear shortly after for no good reason. Aside from screwing up character consistency, it tends to upset other players when carefully laid plans go awry because of a turnover of characters.

EVENTS AT COOL PLACES
There were people that were commenting on the same location at Kirk Hall all the time... so we've been looking around the city, checking out alternative venues. One thing we are thinking of doing is having alternate months held at locations outside the University -- clubs, older-style buildings, etc. The trouble with these venues is that they cost money. So, if enough interest is out there, we'd like to collect the cash for the venue beforehand for people attending in order to cover the cost of the place and not have to worry about coming up short. More to follow...

NEW SHARED UNIVERSE MANUAL DRAFT AVAILABLE
The new Shared Universe Manual Final Draft is available for perusal now. You can download it off the Shared Universe Web Site. The major change is the removal of the House Rules - they'll be coming out with supplemental rules in the near future. When the completed Manual has been put together, we'll make it available to all the Saskatoon by Night players.

NEW REGINA BY NIGHT CHRONICLE - CRUSADE
Regina by Night has finished up their Revelations Chronicle, and will be starting up a new one. Crusade has made its debut during the last Regina Elysium Night last week. Incidentally, Regina will be now hosting two games per month, during the second and last weekends of the month. Check it out if you can!

SUGGESTIONS WANTED!
If you have any bright ideas on how we can improve the LARP, let us know! Let us know what you want to see, and we'll take it into account at our brainstorming sessions. Together, we can make a really cool story!

THE STATUS OF STATUS
Here's a little blurb on Status from one of the Shared Universe Organizational Crew Members, David Creighton. It's pretty good; it pretty much sums up what Status is all about.

The chief problem I've seen with defining status is a fundamental discrepancy between two views of status.

The first view is that status accurately represents how a Kindred is thought of in Kindred society. Hence only Kindred other Kindred are afraid of should be 'Feared.' Hence a Kindred who a lot of other Kindred know should be 'Famous' or 'Well-known'

The second view (which I subscribe to) is that status is a purely arbitrary social system. Rigidly enforced with set out defined rules. Status is a carry-over form a court-based system where ruling monarch assigned titles at their discretion. Status can only be granted or stripped via the rigid social rules (i.e. the rules of Mind's Eye Theatre with a few additions for the SU). A Kindred no one is afraid of may be granted "Feared." A Kindred everyone knows may be neither "Well-Known" or "Famous" (Bern Darkmore anyone?). Clearly when granting status a Kindred should try to grant it wisely lest they find themselves derided by the Harpies (who are able to strip status).

Ok. First thing I'll say is table-top status works the first way, while I feel LARP works the second. Anyone who wishes to argue that LARP and table-top are not very different games may forward all mail to my trashcan. I'm not going to spend time arguing that point.

So that being said why do I feel LARP works the second way?

1) We have, in LARP two types of status. Sabbat and Camarilla. Sabbat status is clearly defined as being given out for deeds not by award. Why show that distinction so clearly except to set it against Cam status?

2) There exists a complicated mechanism for granting status rather than simply allowing STs to award it based on how a Kindred really is.

3) Titled positions always gain the same status traits regardless of the manner they are fulfilled or gained.

4) If anybody who was known well was "Well-known" then anarchs would have status (Tommy Lee anyone?). All Sabbat would have at least one "Feared" status trait in the Camarilla.

5) Status is, in LARP, a game mechanic. It is not in tabletop. Status adds to social traits and can be bid. Malkavians have a clan advantage revolving around ignoring the use of status. If status accurately represented how people felt about you these mechanics would not be necessary.

6) Status may be purchased at character gen. How can a new character expect to be known well if they take 'Well-known"?

As far as I'm concerned if properly used the status system of MET works well.

A few rules are important to add however:

1) You cannot grant status to someone that will give them the same status as you. (SU manual)
2) Status above ten must be cleared by the SU Org Crew to monitor levels between cities. (SU manual)
3) Status above 5 should be checked by the local ST team to ensure the rises are appropriate for the situation. (Previously posted as an SU rule but not carried over into the new draft manual at this time)

For myself, if the best ass kissers gain high status then the Harpy can strip it for any minor scandal. If the offender is in good with the harpy and it's a serious problem the Primogen can change the Harpy. If the Prince doesn't like that the Prince can change the Primogen. If the clans don't like that the clans have a way of changing the Prince. Seems to me it all works out in-game and creates interesting role-play.

David Creighton, SU Org Crew

RULE CLARIFICATIONS

Starting Influences
Just a reminder to people who create new characters, you cannot start with an Influence higher than three.

Fortitude
There have been some changes going on with Fortitude in nearby SU cities. To clarify the SbN ruling on the Intermediate Fortitude: Resilience; you can take a Simple Test to reduce damage from Aggravated to Normal, or from Normal to nothing. If you succeed in the Challenge, you must spend an appropriate toughness-related Trait. If you fail the Challenge, you take damage as normal, and you do not have to spend the Trait for the Simple Test.

Ability Variations
We've been tossing around the idea of making Ability Traits more important in the game. As it is, Ability Traits allow you to do perform a specific task, allow you a retest on a Challenge, or represent how much knowledge you have in a particular area. We were thinking of making Ability Traits more relevant by expanding what they allow you to do. Questions? Comments? Please submit any ideas or remarks to the Suggestion Box; you can tell us, but unless it's written down, we tend to forget. Now what was I talking about... (Incidentally, the current cost for Ability Traits is 1 per Trait, to a maximum of 5).