Rewrite of the Character Bylaws, Section 3 (The Really Redux Edition)
Open Votes
Tampa: Under Night's Cloak proposes a change to Section 3 of the Character Bylaws in order to better consolidate all of the changes which have affected that section and to add definitions for the generally accepted play-statuses that most of the Chronicles are already using (retired, shelved, etc).
This proposal requires a Second in the Subject Line in order to go to vote.
= CHANGES =
These changes will modify the entirety of Section 3 of the Character Bylaws, as follows:
FROM:
Character Bylaws
3. Experience Points
A. No OWBN character may earn more than eight experience points in a single month.
B. A character may only be awarded experience by its own home chronicle.
i. If a PC visits another chronicle and thus is eligible to earn additional experience, it is the player's responsibility to make sure that the storyteller crew of the chronicle the player visits informs the home chronicle, by email, stamped index card, etc., so that the home chronicle can award the appropriate experience.
ii. The home chronicle is the final authority on how much experience is awarded (not to exceed the OWBN maximum of 8 per character per calendar month).
C. Experience is awarded to the character not the player.
i. Experience may only be spent on the PC to which it was awarded.
ii. The only exception is when a PC dies or is retired, the unspent experience, up to the maximum allowed by OWBN rules, may be transferred to a new PC.
D. Players who serve on short-term NPC duty may, at storyteller discretion, be allowed to earn some experience towards their active PC, however players of long-term NPCs should not be allowed to transfer large amounts of experience to their active PC.
E. Chronicles may convert an NPC to a PC under the following conditions:
i. Chronicles must make a standard Council Proposal (see the Administrative Bylaw document, Section C) for this conversion and submit with it the full sheet to be converted.
1. The character sheet must meet all OWbN PC creation guidelines at the time of conversion.
2. Failure to follow this process shall result in the automatic destruction of the character of said character with no resurrection permitted.
F. The standard XP costs from Laws of the Night (3rd Edition) and other published Revised/3rd Edition White Wolf books and material with listed MET XP costs (including the Sabbat Guide, Anarch Guide, Stroyteller's Guide, Clanbooks, etc.) are to be considered the baseline for OWBN. Reasonable variations due to house rules or regional preferences (such as rules regarding Influences) are permissible, but must be noted in a game's house rules.
TO:
Character Bylaws
3. Experience and Character Status
A. Every character, when created in a home-Chronicle, must be designated as a PC (portrayed by players) or NPC (portrayed by Storytellers/Narrators)
i. A PC may be turned into an NPC at any time by the home-Chronicle Storyteller
ii. An NPC may be converted to a PC with a standard Council Proposal (see the Administrative Bylaws, Section C)
1. The full PC character sheet must be presented at the time of the proposal and meet all OWbN PC creation guidelines for a new character
B. Within a Chronicle, each character must be designated with one (and only one) Status at a time
i. These Statuses are defined as follows:
1. Active - These characters are portrayed regularly within OWbN
2. Inactive / Shelved - These characters are not being regularly portrayed within OWbN
3. Retired - The player has permanently finished the character's story and has committed to never playing the character again. Retired characters are considered the property of the Chronicle they were retired in (unless otherwise specified via Binding Agreement) and are considered NPCs if they need to be portrayed in the future. They may not re-enter game-play as PCs without following the guidelines presented above for NPC to PC conversion (3.A.i.)
4. Dead - The character has been killed or otherwise destroyed and is no longer eligible to be played without a Character Resurrection (Section 6.B.)
ii. The home-Chronicle Storyteller has the final determination on which Status a character is assigned
C. Characters can only be awarded experience by their home-Chronicle
i. Experience Points (XP) are awarded to the character not the player
1. If a PC visits another Chronicle and is deemed eligible to earn additional experience, it is the player's responsibility to make sure that the Storytelling Staff of the Chronicle he or she visited communicates the XP award to the character's Home Chronicle
2. For a period to not exceed 3 months, players without an Active or Inactive character who portrays an NPC or assists in Chronicle administrative tasks may, at Storyteller discretion, be allowed to earn some experience towards a character that they create
a. This earned experience is considered a Storyteller Award in accordance with Section 2.B. and may not exceed the maximum amount of allowable XP, as defined in Section 2.B.
ii. Experience may only be spent on the character to which it was awarded
1. The exception to this is when a PC changes Status to either Dead or Retired. In these cases, any unspent experience (up to the maximum allowed in Section 2: New Character Creation) may be transferred to a new character
iii. The reason for any XP Award must be clearly documented on the character sheet or experience history
D. A Storyteller may award a character up to a maximum of eight (8) experience points in a single calendar month
E. The standard XP costs detailed in Laws of the Night: Revised (LotN:R) and other Revised White Wolf books and material with listed MET XP costs (including the Sabbat Guide, Anarch Guide, Storyteller's Guide, Revised Clanbooks, etc.) are to be considered the baseline for OWbN
i. Reasonable variations due to house rules or regional preferences (such as rules regarding Influences) are permissible, but must be noted in a Chronicle's house rules
Thank you for your consideration.
- Brian Orlando
HST & CM of Tampa: Under Night's Cloak
Pending player feedback