[Proposal] Amendment to Administrative Bylaw 11

In accordance with Administrative Bylaw 3.A.1. I, Dylan Guerrero, CM of Steel Valley by Night hereby propose the following:

From:

11. White Wolf/CCP/Onyx Path/By Night Publishing Source Materials

A.         To allow time for all members of OWBN to research new materials as they become published a ban shall be placed on the acquisition of any new power, ability, background, item, item card, merit, flaw, etc. from any new publication outside of an OWbN approved Packet made after January 1, 2010 by any PC or NPC, which may be released following a three-month period by vote of Council. Meta-plots, as passed by Council, are exempt.

To:

11. White Wolf/CCP/Onyx Path/By Night Publishing Source Materials

A.         To allow time for all members of OWBN to research new materials as they become published a ban shall be placed on the acquisition of any new power, ability, background, item, item card, merit, flaw, etc. from any new publication outside of an OWbN approved Packet made after January 1, 2010 by any PC or NPC, which may be released following a three-month period by vote of Council. Meta-plots, as passed by Council, are exempt.

1. Because of the continuation of the overall meta plot, as well as mechanical continuity between White Wolf’s original table top material, from which Mind’s Eye Theater is a derivative, and Onyx Path Publishing, One World by Night recognizes Onyx Path as its current source material. Onyx Path materials can be utilized, but not limited to derivative meta plot, mechanical updates and newly printed powers.

2. Any mechanical adaptations of Onyx Path materials, insofar as they alter the core rules of Mind’s Eye Theater (WW 5015), must be voted on by Council. Examples include new clan flaws, morality paths, etc.

B. One World by Night utilizes Mind’s Eye Theater (WW 5015) as its core rules set. Additional materials are included in various sourcebooks from White Wolf Studios.

1. Having requested and receiving an exception by Council, chronicles in Brazil only are able to utilize By Night Studios variant of Mind's Eye Theater (as printed by CCP) as house rules, but are still subject to maintaining White Wolf Studios (WW 5015) Mind’s Eye Theater character sheets. Reference Council Vote 83627, which ended on October 16, 2014.

[ End of bylaw change section / start of commentary]

I believe the time has come for OWbN to decide it’s future in regards to what newly printed materials it will be utilizing. There has been discussion regarding By Night Studios. There has been talk of taking a hard look at the Onyx Path table top materials and deriving useful conversions and updates to the Mind’s Eye materials. We go back and forth, continuing to look at the various elephants in the room, but not really making the call as to where we’re going to go. Therefore, I’m proposing that Onyx Path, in terms of viability for meta plot, mechanical updates and derivative translation, should be our way forward.

Why, Dylan? Just.. Why?

Onyx Path:
It’s the modern version of WW’s table top books. Some mechanics were changed, some clan flaws were changed. Yes, it’s table top and we use Mind’s Eye Theater. However, this organization has over a decade of experience converting table top mechanics to MET. Furthermore, we have reference material, by way of TT and MET mechanics that were printed next to each other in various TT books. We have the tools and talent in our organization to make those translations and apply them to the core rules we share in Mind’s Eye Theater.

The way this prop is worded, and the intent I have, is that we open up Onyx Path as our books of the future. We already have rules in place governing the release of new materials, how they’re submitted and approved. We’re under no time constraint to review and release them for use. We have bylaws in place to govern the release and use of new powers, merits, etc. Adding in rules about adapting other aspects of Onyx Paths’ TT mechanics gives us the flexibility to examine their publications carefully and make smart decisions on what will and will not work for us. Also, again, because of the fact that the Onyx Path material is a modern derivative of White Wolf’s table top material, and the fact that Mind’s Eye Theater is relatively based on White Wolf’s table top material, that we have a reasonable means of translating aspects of Onyx Path to Mind’s Eye Theater.

BNS:

Quite simply, I did, do and will continue to believe that the BNS as House rules was an ok thing for Brazil, and should have been amended to specifically state that it was for Brazil only. I believed at the time and still do that it was a necessary compromise requested by the vast majority of our Brazilian chronicles. Looking ahead, I think fragmenting our stateside games with house rules functioning off different, completely incompatible core rules is a detriment to player travel, connectivity and is not healthy for the future of our organization.