 | 
Not every story has explosions and car chases. That's why they have nudity and espionage.
- Bill Barnes
 EC: Vampire - Emerald City Chronicles' focus is on character interaction and development, politics and intrigue, the down-and-dirty good stuff that makes a rich vampire game come alive.
We highlight the importance of Status among courts of unscrupulous Kindred, Influences over the lives of mortals, the brutal inner struggle against the Beast to keep and regain Humanity, and pay special attention to players that leave the game better than they found it each week. To keep the game balanced and fun, we also find it necessary to limit power levels and recommend spreading your character's abilities out.
Please don't bullet shape your character's statistics or work toward finding rules loopholes over character development. Nobody wants to play with a character like that, let alone story tell for them.
Everyone wants their character to be unique - that's done with good background for your character and good acting, not dots on a sheet.
 Rules are meant to facilitate the telling of artful stories. Manipulating the rules is not an end in itself. Just because the books don't specifically say you can't do something doesn't mean you can. The Storytellers reserve the right to inform players that they cannot take certain actions that the rules do not specifically disallow. We also reserve the right to pause the game and inform players that they may be making rash choices that could result in excessive lameness occurring to their characters, up to and including, burning, bubbling, gibby deaths.
At any given time, the odds are good that there are aspects to a plot that you don't know, especially since most of the plots going on in a Vampire LARP are driven by other characters. If a Storyteller rules that a particular plan or attempt fails, take a moment to consider if the problem is not what you think it is. If it still appears that a Storyteller made an unusual call, feel free to ask us privately, but don't expect to have plots revealed.
Players are empowered to resolve their own scenes and their own combats if they want. If you feel comfortable with the rules, you may not feel the need to call a staff member over to resolve a short combat or use of Disciplines. That's fine as long as both players agree on the rules, and the outcome. Storytellers reserve the right to step in if things get out of hand, or if players fall to disagreement on a particular action or effect, but generally, we're all after an enjoyable experience here, and many of the players don't need help with rules much. If you're hesitant about this, or new to the system, it's probably best to just ask for an ST's assistance.
 There will be times when research out of game leads to benefits in game, and Storytellers will force you to use your brainpower and knowledge, and not depend on the mental traits of the character you are playing. Note that if there are actions that you wish to attempt, the Storytellers are more likely to approve them if you come to us with research in hand. A stack of papers is no guarantee we'll approve your Blood Brother however.
In order to avoid the appearance of impropriety, it may be requested that Storytellers not make any calls for certain people or scenes. If ya have an issue with someone running a scene, come tell another ST. We'd rather just move on and have another ST take care of the scene than have there be drama. We are all people, and we all have flaws and foibles. Not everyone can be the bestest buds. Help us be as professional as we can by bringing things to our attention before they become a big issue, and we'll help you by remaining receptive to your concerns. Misunderstandings will happen, let's just agree to keep communication open so we can all keep having a good time.
 The "Rule of 1": Players may only play one character at a time within this sphere. We do this because we want to stress character development, and want in-character consequences to have real weight. We also recognize that there are times when folks just want to 'take a break' from a character they may have been playing for years, but don't want to stop coming to game. For those times we offer an alternative, the one shot, or short term character. More than anything, we do this because players have stated that there have been abuses of the 2 character option that have made the game less fun for everyone. If you still want to play multiple characters simultaneously, there's always the option to play in another sphere with a second character.
Short term characters: Short-term characters are vampire or ghoul PCs that have a set expiration date of up to one month. Players can choose at the end of the month (or earlier) to keep playing the short-term character and permanently retire their prior character, or permanently retire the short-term character. It's up to the player. If the player decides to play neither at the end of the month, then a resolved exit is required.
 Character Retirement/Death: Players must attempt to give their characters a resolved exit if they are retiring their characters, or not attending game for a while. If you cannot make a graceful exit, you must leave a current copy of your character's sheet with the Storytellers, who may resolve matters by writing a beautifully descriptive post on the EC boards about how said character's last words include things like:
"Wait... I meant the blue wire!" or possibly:
"Aw, that Vozd doesn't look so tough." or even "Werewolf-shmere-wolf. I've got a box of milk bones that says I can take 'em."
When a character is killed, shelved or retired an ST must sign and void the sheet.
If you can, however give a resolved exit for a retiring character (they move back to their home domain, go to be with their Sire, etc... then your PC goes into the Storytellers NPC toolbox, and will become part of the world from then on. STs reserve the right to use your former PC as a contact ally, mentor or otherwise cast member of the WoD for the future and for interaction with the 'outside world'. You may even get to cameo as your former PC at ST discretion.
 Also known as: "You keeled my father, prepare to die!" syndrome. We don't think it's a good idea to make characters who are associated with old characters you've played at EC, for obvious reasons. Now your old character's ex-roommates, buddy's, drug-dealer's, mom on the other hand, that's possibly acceptable. We just suggest you be up front about any connections to prior characters to your STs, lest they invoke this rule and have to be big meanies and take your sheet away, and if you have to think about it, the answer is probably no.
 Background Sheet - Set up your Character background with all the important stuff your Storytellers want to know about your character! (Required!)
Character Sheets - Official White-Wolf Character sheets, free for download. Print one out and bring it to game! (Sheets are alphabetical, Vampire sheets are at the bottom).
New Player Crib Sheet - The inside track on important Skills, Abilities and Backgrounds we use at the Emerald City Chronicles Vampire game. Expert advice for new players!
Item Cards: What's in your Character Kit? - A good basic break-down of the things you should have available for your character as far as weapon and item cards. Check it out!
Go to the next Rules section: Character Creation: Connect the Dots
| |
