Proposal: Raising the Bar - Tremere Lords

I propose under Coordinator Bylaws 3.b.2.c.ii: that the Tremere Genre Rules be changed from:

2. Character Regulation
i. No PC may elevate to the rank of Lord, Pontifex, or Councilor.
ii. In addition to the R&U policy any character who has a Tremere mentor that is considered regional must be approved by the OWbN council and/or the Tremere Coordinator.
iii. A Tremere's superiors must be in the same area as they are stationed unless approved by the Tremere Coordinator and/or OWbN council. (Your PC is assigned to the local Regent or Lord and are not attached to some office in Vienna for example).
iv. Any character that is "shelved" or travels to a chantry other than one in an OWbN chronicle for more than a month must be reported and approved by the Tremere Coordinator and or OWbN council. (This is to cut down on the number of Tremere that are “coming in and out of Vienna” and other major Tremere havens constantly without the Coordinator’s prior knowledge.)

To:

2. Character Regulation
i. PCs may become Apprentices, Regents, and Lords.
i.a. No PC may become a Lord without the approval of the Tremere Coordinator's Office and their corresponding NPCs.
i.b. All PC Lords must have a binding agreement with the Tremere Coordinator.
I.b.i. This Binding agreement must detail limitations of power, consequences of failure, and the rights of all parties involved.
i.c. All PC Lords must be physically based within the region in which they are the Lord of, unless they are a non-regional Lord.
i.d. Prior to the assignment of a regional PC Lord, every chronicle that would be involved will be asked for their permission by the Tremere Coordinator's office in writing. Should permission be denied, then that chronicle will not be subjected to the PC's authority and alternate arrangements will be made.
ii. No PC may elevate to the rank of Pontifex, or Councilor.
iii. In addition to the R&U policy any character who has a Tremere mentor that is considered regional must be approved by the OWbN council and/or the Tremere Coordinator.
iv. A Tremere's superiors must be in the same area as they are stationed unless approved by the Tremere Coordinator and/or OWbN council. (Your PC is assigned to the local Regent or Lord and are not attached to some office in Vienna for example).
v. Any character that is "shelved" or travels to a chantry other than one in an OWbN chronicle for more than a month must be reported and approved by the Tremere Coordinator and or OWbN council. (This is to cut down on the number of Tremere that are “coming in and out of Vienna” and other major Tremere havens constantly without the Coordinator’s prior knowledge.)

My reasoning:

At the time that this was written for the glass ceiling, OWbN was considerably more fractured. Many other regional positions, such as Lictors for the Ventrue, Hierophant, were also NPC only. We have grown, become more unified, and it is generally understood that we all play within a shared universe. It is my belief that Vampire: the Masquerade is about many things. Personal horror is certainly on of those things, but it is not the only one. Characters who have survived, succeeded at their tasks, and earned their place among the more powerful of their tasks, should be given the opportunity for such advancement in the clan.

Being powerful and being in charge of more people does not take away from the personal horror. Personal horror isn't always about wallowing in misery at being a vampire, acting like Louis and Edward. I think it can just as easily apply here. The Tremere clan is not a happy one. It is neither kind nor forgiving. Those who aspire to be Lords will under constant threat of usurpation by their underlings, being stepped on by their peers, and being given difficult to nigh impossible orders from their superiors. For a failed Lord, the best that a Tremere may hope for is a demotion. For others, those who fail spectacularly, final death awaits them.

Further, with the addition of Player Characters withing the regional management realm, it should both increase role-play and decrease NPC theatre, which I believe should be limited solely to that which is necessary and adding to the enrichment of Player Character's stories.

I do not feel that this gives any Player Characters who achieve this level of success any sizable authority that cannot be found in at least one position of most hierarchal clans. Nor do I believe that it would cause serious disruptions with games.

Finally, the Tremere Coordinator's office already authority over who does and does not become Regents and largely, their actions within the clan. This is given to us by canon and enforced by our genre packet. Regents must be appointed by Lords. Regents are given their orders by their Lord. As we are not global storytellers, we ought to limit the amount of involvement in so many Player Character's role play and direction.

Joe Long
Tremere CoordinatorSports NewsAir Jordan