So what is One World by Night? Written by Duncan Wyley with assistance by Joyce Summers, Matt Giezentaner, Ross Anderson and Lance Larsen. Originaly Published in Mind's Eye Theater Journal #2 by White Wolf Publishing. One World by Night (OWbN) is just that – One World. One World of volunteers that form a grassroots not-for-profit organisation of loosely knit Chronicles spanning the entire globe. One World of opportunities for our members to play their home Chronicle characters at games just a few hours away, in many of our neighbouring cities, or, for example, in far flung exotic places like New Zealand or Brazil! One World of emphasis on a story that is meant for the enjoyment of the players, giving them whatever pleasures it might. Overall, One World by Night is a not for profit organisation dedicated to creating links between White Wolf's Mind's Eye Theatre LARP games around the world. By combining the various stories of member Chronicles, OWbN hopes to enhance the enjoyment of its members by expanding local plots to the world, truly creating a World of Darkness. Well, so much for the glib introduction ripped straight from our website. Allow me now to sit back, sup at my glass and tell you a little bit more about us than you might find on the Internet. Firstly, allow me to introduce myself. My given name is Duncan Wyley (although most of my friends call me Dunx), and I’m the Head Coordinator of OWbN (strangely, often pronounced “Obi-Wan” – just don’t tell Lucas). I’ll have been in this position for about a year by the time you read this. Before that I spent about two and a half years StoryTelling in my local Chronicle, during which time I discovered the pack that I now lead. And before that was about 17 long years of gaming that I won’t bore you with right now… Over the course of the following year or so I met, via the Internet, some of the sharpest minds and finest gamers it has been my privilege to know. During my involvement in the scope and development of an organisation of this scale, these people have taught me many things. Primarily they have shown me that there are a large number of enthusiastic people who believe in the development of our hobby on a grand scale. No longer content to restrict themselves with a city, these people wish to encompass the world in their passion. We’re trying … no, we are fostering and encouraging relationships between MET games internationally. We’re working to encourage and develop the people involved in our hobby in the skills of roleplaying and live theatre. And we’re having some fun along the way! OWbN would like to grow and we are still accepting and processing membership applications at present. Our website at www.owbn.com has more information for readers who might be interested…c’mon… you know you want to… Bwa-hah-haaa! Soon ve shall rule za verlt! No, seriously… We’re working towards become an expansive community of camaraderie and roleplay. In some small way, we are contributing to both ourselves, in terms of fostering plots and friendships, and to the gaming community as a whole, in terms of awareness and acceptance by a number of social groups. Many of our players are involved in the business and social communities in our respective towns and countries, and the friends we make in these organizations come to accept that what we do is a harmless pastime. In both ways, our hobby is fostered. This is, in my opinion, a Good Thing. To ensure our enjoyment, we’ve constructed an organization that is easy to join and participate in, with only a few restrictions to keep things comparatively sane. One World isn’t a domineering hierarchy that costs our Chronicles anything to join or stay with. The main thing we ask is that our Chronicles emphasize stories that are meant for the enjoyment of our players and for any players that may travel from around the world to be enraptured by and entrapped within the intricacies of another shadowy corner of our One World. We’re not a small group of individuals that change our Chronicles to suit their needs. OWbN’s founding idea was that all games have a strong degree of autonomy– essentially ‘your game is your game’. This philosophy has yielded a veritable melting pot of styles and personalities. With no central over-riding theme, and no dominant personality, other than that we try to be generally accepting of all styles of games, we appeal  to all types of gamers. When we encounter situations that involve crossover interaction between the Chronicles, we encourage the Storytellers of those Chronicles to communicate and elaborate the plots for the enrichment of both (or all) the games involved. We are not some industrial bureaucracy that forges and legislates our Chronicles into carbon copies of one another.  Chronicle diversity is essential. We all build upon one another – good ideas spread – bad experiences are shared in order to keep other Chronicles from facing similar problems. Individuality is the heart of our organization. One World isn’t limited. The only limitations are those that we place upon ourselves and those that are required to administer the organization. With the addition of every Chronicle we add to the experience, wisdom and creativity necessary to expand and enhance the ever-unfolding story that is our One World by Night… Hmm… Perhaps a little background is in order. One World by Night started in Chicago, Illinois, USA in March of 1994, at a local role-playing convention by the name of Concentric. Hey… neat! We’re five years old this year. Maybe we should throw a worldwide party or something… Anyway, a game was held between a local gaming group in Chicago and another group from Indianapolis, IN known as The Beautiful and the Damned. After the convention – the game never ended. The convention’s plots were incorporated into the new Chicago game (started by Mario Bonassin) and the original story line for One World by Night was born. The Chicago game’s size grew quickly as they played within the Excalibur nightclub, the actual model for the Succubus Club of White Wolf’s Chicago by Night fame. In addition to Chicago players such as Dave Gill – other non-native Chicagoans joined the game. John Flournoy was running the Lafayette game at Purdue University, IN. and amongst his players were two students from the East Coast, Bill Hyatt and Rich Devine, two of our earlier Head Coordinators. When some of these players left for their respective home cities an idea of an intertwined World of Darkness arose. The focus would be a shared story, not a shared rule system. One night at a Chicago game in the top floor of a bar called the Morseland, Dave Gill and Bill Hyatt put forward their ideas for a shared game, but not like the Camarilla and not the Shared Universe system. The focus would be a shared story, not a shared rule system. Bill had the exact same idea and even had a name for the concept. The first Mid-West shared game was created between Lafeyette, IN and Chicago, IL. After 3-4 months Bill and Rich went back to NVA and we thought it would end. On the contrary our little experiment proved it was possible but that it needed work. It needed a charter so that all ST's would know what they were getting into first. One that clearly outlined that your game was your game, and even if you wanted to go through the entire book and rewrite it (as we all did several times over) no one would stop you. But also goofy-ray-gun-wielding-Mummies were not any way to have a part in the shared story. Bill named One World by Night and became the Coordinator, creating a web site and being a contact for other games.  He talked to them about our project and marketed the organisation’s focus, "your game is your game". We soon recruited Jake Holub and San Francisco, who are with us still. We became national, spanning coast to coast, in a matter of a few months. Concentric 95 in March was the first OWbN Conclave, where we found how different our rules really were and polled the players to find if they wanted some universal rulings. It was an overwhelming affirmative. Not only were they telling us they enjoyed being a part of it, but that they were confident and comfortable with us making these universal decisions. GenCon 95 was the organisation’s first official sanctioned event (although unofficial to the Con) and the first meeting of the Chronicle Representatives. This was the first occasion where we firmly decided on some of the Articles that now comprise most of the Charter rules. No Chronicle would be allowed act against or outside of these rules, for it was our common belief that we had the plan for creating a successful network of LARP Chronicles.  From that there was written hints and models on how to start a successful Chronicle, optimum conditions and where to look for renting sites. OWbN had created a kind of manual for running your own game and keeping it afloat. Since then OWbN has grown to encompass over 60 Chronicles, mostly in the USA and Brazil. Other countries, such as Spain, Brussels and New Zealand, also have member Chronicles. We recently ran another convention LARP at GenCon 98, the world’s largest gaming convention held annually in Milwaukee, WI. The attendance was phenomenal, exceeding 240 players. The latest event was the Mid-Atlantic Conclave - held in Baltimore at the end of October. It included the cooperation of three different games in the area, a monumental organisational feat that was pulled off flawlessly. Characters and Storytellers from thirteen different Chronicles from California to Chicago to New Zealand attended. That’s right – New Zealand. Little agricultural country. That’s where I live. I had a great time. I digress… OWbN is administered primarily through a series of Coordinators and Council Members drawn from the various Chronicles. Each Chronicle has a voice on the Council through their Council Member, who is selected by the players and STs in that Chronicle. The Council Member is responsible for representing their Chronicle’s interests in OWBN, and for keeping the Council appraised of any situations that may arise of regional or international significance, as well as voting on any matters that may arise in Council, such as the admission of new Chronicles to OWBN. Council Members are also primary contact points (alongside the STs) for other Chronicles wanting information or updates on current plots in their local Chronicles. In a majority of cases, Council Members are also StoryTellers (although this is not always the case) and can give immediate answers – otherwise they direct the querent to the appropriate person or ask them on the Council’s behalf. A set of Coordinators is elected each November to hold positions of specific responsibility in OWbN. The Head Coordinator (HC - me) oversees the entire operation of OWBN, and is assisted in the task by, naturally, an Assistant HC. Alongside these two, an Admissions Coordinator tracks new applications for OWbN and keeps tally of the membership. These three people form the core of OWbN’s administrative team for out-of-character issues. The HC is primarily responsible for overseeing the progress of OWBN as an organisation, for dealing with matters arising in regard to the OWBN Charter, and for maintaining some sort of order in amongst the chaos. The HC also assesses disciplinary situations that may require OWbN’s attention, and dispenses advice to Chronicles as requested.  If he’s a good boy, he gets a pat on the back occasionally. He (or she – although we are yet to see a woman be insane enough to stand for the position, I believe, so please forgive the male pronoun) is also responsible for supervising the other Coordinators as a group. He selects the Coordinators each year (subject to a verifying vote of confidence for each by the Council) and thus hopefully assembles a team that can work together for the betterment of the games in general. The Assistant Head Coordinator (Joyce Summers) is responsible for maintaining the sanity of the Head Coordinator by dealing with the administrative minutiae of OWbN, such as voting procedures. This year will see the further expansion of the scope of this position, to encompass maintenance and regular contact of our more distant Chronicles, and assisting in the redevelopment of a number of our organisational systems. Matt Geizentaner, our Admissions Coordinator, will continue to receive and assess the initial admissions applications, along with myself, to assist new and existing Chronicles in their applications for One World by Night. Matt is available for consultation with anyone considering joining OWbN, and can answer most questions you may have, or direct you to someone who can. His contact information can be found at our website. Speaking of which, OWbN is strongly tied to the Internet as a primary mode of communication. There’s no way I’d be running it if I had to pay all those toll calls to the States every time I needed to see what was going on… So if you’re interested in joining up, please bear in mind that you will need people in your group who have regular access to the Internet - at the very least your Council Member must be able to receive Council mail. OWbN has a number of e-mail lists operational that allow for quick and easy communication between our members, IC or OOC. This system provides another level of interaction, a challenging and informative method for players to share in the loves and lives of each online characters’ shadowy existence. Many players are accessing them daily, and there are some people we just can’t shake off the web… We’ve found that this sort of international interaction has really helped characters in their recognition of each other, and encouraged cross-Chronicle interaction - even if it is just travelling across the entire country to give a rowdy Ravnos a Puissance wedgie. All Chronicles are also strongly advised to have a website and to (try to) keep it updated with the latest news and game information, so that others in the area can check out when they can attend their neighbours’ games. Keep a copy of your House Rules there as well, so potential visitors can read up on the local variances to reduce interruption in the flow of the game. Moving on… As OWBN has grown, the need for specific Clan Coordinators has developed. At present OWBN has Coordinators for the more specifically structured clans, Assamite, Giovanni and Tremere. This concept may soon be expanded to encompass other clans. Additionally, we have a Coordinator for Sabbat activities, and another for the Garou players. As OWBN continues to grow, and other styles of Chronicle join in, the structure of OWBN will adjust appropriately. Additionally, to centralise and control the flow of information and clan activities, we have Coordinators for each of the seven NPC Justicars. These people act as clearinghouses for the various and nefarious wheelings and dealings of these ancients, and give many of OWbN’s players both a focus for their gameplay, and appropriate fear to their characters. The “JustiCoords” maintain regular contact with the STs of OWBN as required and assist in resolving plot issues involving their Offices We generally keep actual Justicarial appearances at games limited to Conclaves. Archons or Secretariats to the Justicars are preferred forms of Camarilla enforcement if intervention or contact is required. Recent events in the OWBN continuum have seen a marked increase in the numbers and calibre of Archons appearing in Camarilla Domains. The death of Xavier, until recently the Justicar for Clan Gangrel, has obviously shaken the heretofore-impervious Justicarate, and there is visible evidence of their unease… Voting itself is a simple matter – in most cases a proposal to the Council is presented and (hopefully) seconded. A period of discussion is allowed and then a vote is called for. Each Chronicle is allowed one vote, as are the HC and AHC. Generally, a majority of the received votes will indicate success for the proposal. The Council also votes on applications for Chronicle Membership, and the Admissions Coordinator may cast a vote in the case of a tie in these situations. With the continued expansion of OWbN, we are slowly refining our internal management processes. 1999 should see some very progressive steps in this direction. The improvement of our operations should streamline a number of issues. Therefore, OWbN has an infrastructure that exists to support all those associated within. StoryTellers have access to many other storytellers to inspire and be inspired by. Players have access to thousands of other players to interact with, plot with and generally breathe life into what we call our One World by Night… Well, that’s pretty much how we run the organisation, but you’d probably prefer to hear about the Chronicles. OWbN is dominated at present by Camarilla-based Vampire games. There are exceptions to this – a few games are primarily Sabbat or Garou in focus, a couple are Anarch in nature, and some mix’n’match genres as they see fit. The primary rulebooks we use are The Masquerade Second Edition and Laws of the Night. Other books see inclusion as the StoryTellers see fit, and as discussed by the Council – for example, some aspects of Laws of Elysium have been generally considered in OWbN to be restricted to NPCs rather than open to players. OWbN’s Vampire games are primarily directed at the younger Kindred. There are restrictions on the play of “true” Elders of OWbN, and on some of the types of Kindred permissible in any Chronicle, ie. True Brujah or Salubri. Similar rules will apply to other supernaturals as they are developed and enter OWbN. Variants on the White Wolf MET rulebooks are permitted within reason. We recommend that Chronicles stick fairly closely to the WW products so that there is some internal consistency in the way the game is played. It was very pleasant to find that most of the rules I encountered in Chicago and Baltimore worked much the way they work way over here in Hamilton. Variations in the interpretations of the rules also opened my eyes to the possibilities of other interpretations that I hadn’t considered. I never claimed to be a “rules lawyer,” but I found some of the ways the systems were played was very educational. Never discount a learning experience. Most of our people are happy to share their ideas, and while we have our fair share of squabbles over some things, any idea that might enrich your game or your gameplay is important. Many of our Chronicles adopt systems that they have heard of from others in OWbN. We hope to expand our horizons beyond Vampire. With the release in 1998 of a number of White Wolf’s MET products, we now have a considerably greater scope in which to work and play and flourish. This will involve some changes in our internal structure, but we bid Flexible on that matter. Our Garou Coordinator, Krissy Ryan, is busily working on further integration of Garou Chronicles into the fold. At the time that I’m writing this we recently welcomed another Garou game. The Kenosha: Bad Moon Rising game had been played alongside Kenosha: The Eternal Aria for some time, and was gladly given admittance, as they had played by OWbN rules for some time, and had remained in regular contact both in and out of character. This stood them in good stead when their number came up. At present, Matt and myself are discussing possibilities with a Changeling game. We’re not adverse to a Wraith game joining in – but can see some difficulties arising interaction-wise due to the Shroud. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it, I guess. In numbers, our games range wildly and widely, some Chronicles are less than a dozen people, others number around a hundred regulars, including visitors from nearby games. We don’t have an accurate count of our total membership, but estimates place us at over 2000 players in over 50 games in 6 different countries. At present, OWbN is slightly fractured due to language barriers between some of our Chronicles. With the advent of translation sites on the Internet – my personal favourite is babelfish.altavista.com - I hope to see much of that barrier crumble over the next year, and this should encourage a wider scope of interaction all around. OWbN tries to hold at least one Conclave a year. In 1998 we held two fairly large Conclaves (Chicago and Baltimore) as well as running a huge game at GenCon in August. These games are organised by enthusiastic ST teams with too much time on their hands and too much caffeine in their systems. More large gatherings of this nature are on the cards for 1999, although details are still being worked on. We’ll post all upcoming major events on our website. In between such events players are often road-tripping to other cities for the hell of it. Travel the world, see the sites, play a little vampire and make a lot of new friends. And you don’t have to travel to other games to necessarily affect them – email communications and expenditure of Influence or use of city contacts through the StoryTellers can have as much of an impact as being there. Travelling between OWbN cities is an experience in itself – meeting new people both in and out of character and experiencing the unique flavour of that game. Often this can prove a refreshing and eye-opening experience. It has been my personal pleasure to attend the two American Conclaves this year, and I am proud of the efforts of all concerned in the organisation and execution of the events. I would like at this time to formally thank all of you who invited me and forked over for the plane tickets… twice… I’m still very humbled by that experience. Some of our Chronicles are also in contact with various independent games in their area. While our “official” stance is that these games don’t necessarily ”exist” in our continuity (at least, until they join OWbN, he smiles) we in no way discourage our people from talking with other games and other groups. After all, we don’t have all the answers to all the questions – why limit our opportunities to learn? OWbN is developing a good relationship with White Wolf, and we are pleased to have been of assistance in the past in terms of playtesting and opinion. A few of their staff are present, either as friends or accomplices and we acknowledge the help that they have given us in the past. We hope to continue this productive and convivial friendship in the future. I guess the opportunity given me to write this article means we must have some degree of respect in their eyes (heh). OWbN is perhaps very reflective of the World of Darkness as given us by White Wolf. We don’t slavishly follow the books as written in terms of NPCs or source books (or our Milwaukee and Chicago would be very different games…) but are instead working on our own continuity, using much of the WW sources to fill in the gaps. As an example, we took the opportunity in 1997 to echo the 13-year meeting of the Inner Circle to change several of the Justicars. Clan Toreador kept Madame Guil from Diablerie: Britain and Clan Malkavian kept Justicar Lucian from the card game. The Ventrue opted to choose Tai Pan Robert Pedder as their next lawmaker. Other than that the other Justicars (Masako - Clan Brujah, Kharel – Gangrel, Ctarinov – Nosferatu, and Malaphar – Tremere) were created in OWBN to fill those positions. New concepts presented by White Wolf (such as the many alterations to the WoD as presented in Vampire Revised) are discussed amongst the Council and the StoryTeller teams before anything is introduced to the mainstream of the games. However, OWbN’s in-character politics do have a natural progression that is shaping very similarly to a number of things that White Wolf has presented. So what’s happening in One World by Night as the Millennium approaches? Some Kindred truly believe the Final Nights are drawing near as the numbers of the Caitiff grow and the Clans of the Camarilla become more fractious each week. The Elders seem aloof and uncaring, the Justicars play unknown games behind closed doors, the Sabbat are around each corner – in many cases well rooted in place amongst their unsuspecting opposites. Meanwhile the Garou struggle to preserve their heritage as their own enemies plant themselves more securely than ever in the Vampire-dominated cities and drive them from their cairns. Their war against the Wyrm continues unabated at this time. The Gangrel of America face desperate times as their Elders are stripped from them slowly by negative forces. The loss of many of their Elders in recent times has shaken their dedication and loyalty to the Camarilla. The Brujah struggle to remain a cohesive whole, torn between their loyalties to the Camarilla and their Clansmen. Browbeaten by their Elders and tongue-lashed by their Anarch brothers, their loyalty also sways. Clan Tremere fights to maintain a united front whilst dealing with public ridicule and suspicion. They often find themselves leaned upon to provide solutions to matters of the supernatural, and then discarded unceremoniously by the other Clans once they are no longer useful. Clan Ventrue endeavours to stand proud and aloof as certain elements undermine their efforts at dominance - the prevalence of Ventrue Princes in the Old World is far from echoed in the New, an embarrassment at best. The Nosferatu… well, nobody really knows what they are up to, but there is some evidence that they may be closing ranks for some reason. The decadence of these last decades has distracted many of Clan Toreador. Has true Art died with the rest of the world? Many of them ask that question in this twilight of the Muses. And the Malkavians? What of them? They’re changing…but from what and to what? Who can tell, anyway? OWbN is set in the modern day, very much so. Many of our Chronicles utilise the real world’s activities as tie-ins for their plots. Our players are enthusiastic and energetic and many small plots spill from city to city. Mix in a little StoryTeller magic, and our World of Darkness slowly comes to life. Would that I could tell you all of some of the awesome plots going on, but I think I’d get lynched… We have our own character “personalities” developing – (in)famous names and coteries, such as the NWO in Baltimore, the First Family in Chicago, the dubious House Malice, the dread Archon Uma Nottingham, the Legion Sisters, Maddy Zurich, Dana Stone, Archbishop Santiago, the irrepressible Malkiepoos ... The list goes on, and I could probably talk for hours, but I’m not quite up to writing the sourcebook yet. In closing, I would like to thank Joyce Summers, Matt Giezentaner, Ross Anderson and Lance Larsen, amongst others, for their contributions to this article. I’d also like to thank One World by Night – while you motley lot may be a pain in the neck at times, you’re all wonderful people this side of the Masquerade.   Back to the Links