Chapter One: Beta Draft

[christopher buser]

The Games Without Borders Membership Handbook

White Wolf, World of Darkness, Vampire the Requiem, Werewolf the Forsaken, Mage the Awakening, Geist the Sin-Eaters, Changeling the Lost, Promethean the Created, Hunter the Vigil, Vampire the Masquerade, Werewolf the Apocalypse, Mage the Ascension, Wraith the Oblivion, Changeling the Dreaming, Hunter the Reckoning, Demon the Fallen, and Minds Eye Theater are trademarks of White Wolf Publishing, Inc. The products referenced deal with the supernatural in a fictional setting for entertainment purposes. T

 he mention of or reference to any company or product in this document is not a challenge to the trademark or copyright concerned.

Credits: 

Revision: Alpha Draft (prototype First Edition)

Revision Date: XX-XX-2013

Chapter One: The Club

Who We Are:

Games Without Borders is a gaming society comprised of members who tells stories in the Worlds of Darkness of White Wolf Publishing, Incorporated. Through both Live-Action Role Playing (or LARP) in parks, homes, and convention halls, as well as Internet Role Playing (or IRP) via email, IRC, and other electronic forums, we interact with our fellow members both across the street, and across the world. Members of our club can also interact with members of clubs hosted in other nations, creating new friendships while participating in one of the largest Global Chronicles ever created.

In addition to who we are, it is important to note who we are not. As the core Mage: The Awakening book puts it, "We don't assume that players will abuse loopholes in the system, that a player and the Storyteller are enemies, or that a game is a competition between the interests of its participants. Get those thoughts out of your head right now." and those are words we live by. While the characters we portray may often find themselves at cross-purposes, at the end of the game we are all equal members, participating in a collaborative effort to create a majestic tapestry of interwoven story through the individual interactions of our characters. We are not a club based around realistic combat wargaming, hostile interpersonal politicking, "rules-lawyering", or immature and/or unethical behavior, and prospective members seeking such are well advised to seek alternative venues.

What We Do:

Our major focus is in telling stories set in the Worlds of Darkness. Whether you like the "Classic World of Darkness", home to Caine, Vampire the Masquerade, and her sister games, or of the "New World of Darkness", home to the Unholy, Vampire the Requiem, and her sister games (or both!), you will find like-minded peers sharing your fandom. 

[Spaceholder: We could likely flesh this out a bit with how members will share secondary interests, such as costuming, historical research, languages, charity fundraising, etc. We're here because we're fans and we want to play together, and while that's the primary reason, it's by no means the only reason. Etc.]

The Global Chronicle:

Imagine an art gallery, with an infinite number of wings, with an infinite number of rooms per wing, each with several stunning paintings, statues, and other works of high culture. The Global Chronicle is in many ways an art gallery of the mind, built by the collaborative interaction of every player who participates in it. 

Each Domain could be seen as a room, and in this room you could find the various venues that this Domain has chosen to host. One Domain may play Requiem and Ascension. Another may play Awakening and Apocalypse. Still others could focus on a specific genre, either Old World of Darkness or New, and others yet may host them all, depending on the size of the Domain and the determination of those who play therein.

Domains that share a common locality could be grouped together into Regional hallways. The Regions, in turn, form National wings. And when you put each of the wings together, you have the completed building. Art gallery, museum, exhibition hall... all metaphors for a world-spanning chain of interlinked venues sharing a common continuity: The Global Chronicle.

[Spaceholder: This is where we would mention that we have hundreds (thousands?) of members in our various National Affiliates playing in the Global Chronicle, portraying PCs across three (four? five? six?) continents across the planet. If we actually come up with a name for the Global Chronicle, or for the meta-aspect of the club, the way 'The Camarilla' referred to the whole club instead of one specific affiliate, this is a good place to introduce the term. All of this will likely be known at a later date, but this is where it goes.]

--
Buser

(resubmitting the Alpha Draft in a different font, after I got thoroughly chastised for using Comic Sans)