Downtime Scenes \ An Update from Staff

I just want to clarify the we on staff are happy to run any scene that you guys request on the boards. The flip side of that is that we tend not to jump into threads and start running things, but instead we try to wait for folks to let us know they want to do something in particular. The result of this is that a lot of threads are trailing off because people aren't sure exactly how to proceed. Don't be afraid to PM us and let us know what you want to look into!

A big part of a game like this, one with a lot of backstory, is that the first few sessions are naturally going to have a mystery element to them. We're trying to make the world an organic one where things are happening and secrets are being peeled back; as opposed to a series of exposition dumps. This means there is a big payoff for getting engaged, and a good chance you may get frustrated if you tend to stay on the sidelines.

Hope this clarification helps!

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In OWBN news, we have submitted our initial application to the Admin team. We are responding to Q&A about individual sheets, and working out exactly how our shared territory with Frozen Queen is going to work.

It is seeming very likely that we will end up overlapping quite a bit with the local Camarilla game.We on staff really like the idea of sharing a world with FQ, because it means we can do some really interesting things (some subtle, some gross) between the games. However, there are possible downsides to this, which may become obvious on reflection. We really want to get a feeling from the room on this one, if folks would like to add their thoughts on this issue, we would appreciate the feedback.

Cheerio,
Brian

Sharing territory with Frozen Queen in OWBN is interesting. The Problem is with nothing but a bunch of Fosterns, Cliaths and Cubs we had better be damn sure to stay away from the Vampires for quite a long period of time. How long has Frozen Queen been Running ?????

From an OOC perspective I dread going up against 200 EXP point Vampires who all have Celerity, Potence, and Fortitude.

From an IC Perspective it is a very interesting roleplaying opportunity. I almost feel sorry for the first Summon and Kill group who is expecting a loan werewolf and gets his entire pack including the Pack Totem. Or wonders why the first time they are aware of the Werewolf is when he steps out of the Umbra to attack the person who summoned him or her.

It appears to be something worth trying especially if you can coordinate with the Frozen Queen ST...[I dont know who runs that game at all] especially on things like Influences and such.

They use dark epics rules on influence... so our pcs here will get owned, and since they refresh theirs bi monthly they will nail us twice as hard... our only hope is our glass walkers coordinating their efforts to not get noticed. We can't fight their influence. My PC is low on the influence totem pole and he has 2 of them at 5.

on the other side of the coin... in a fight, we can beat most of their PCs if we frenzy and jump them. if we coordinate, and step sideways to heal, and re jump them, ain't a vamp in the game we can't wear down... also... why the hell aren't we fighting them at noon?

A vamp with FAP (fleetness Aegis and Puissance would) is tough... but 5 on 1? hell our largest pack is 8. He hits me for two lethal. Awesome. 1/3 of us each of us hit him for agg. he is ash in three rounds, unless he has a better win condition than just fighting. he better have some escapes or crowd control..... and good ones or we will just track him after i have a coke and a smile and heal up. even in the day, a good galliard will bring his ass down a peg or two in traits, he gets falling touched or better yet true feared? he is fricasse.

so just like Genre, we can't fight their influence, their elders are a problem in a fight for small numbers of young garou, but enough of us can pull them down, especially during the day. Also... leave the wraiths alone. Just don't do it.

One question I have is how easy it's going to be to reconcile backstory between the two games. If FQ has, for instance, a long-established and active caern of Garou antagonists based out of Niagara Falls, how do we make that mesh with Falling Waters? (No clue if they do or not; it's a hypothetical example.)

@FQ backstory question.

The backstory of FQ is the backstory of Falling Waters. The only difference is that, while organizing this game, we took five years of Lupine plot, and developed a narrative backbone to it that made some sort of sense. This game, while not officially in OWBN continuity, was written from day one to be consistent with it's backstory.

The destruction of the NF Caern, the Stone Giants, The Maid of the Mist, and many more of our plot points originated in Frozen Queen.

FQ has it's own Lupine NPCs, (who already exist in the FW game world, you just haven't met them yet), and FW will have it's own Leech NPCs (again, you just haven't met them yet).

RbN also exists, roughly fifteen feet ------> that way. From a purely canon perspective, I could see a city that's bordering on being openly LOLSURPRIEZWYRMTIEMS being a more attractive target to glory-starved rageballs.

By only real concern here is the same concern that I have with FQ/RbN interactions, which are pretty well documented elsewhere.

-G

I've decided 'glory-starved rageballs' is my new favorite phrase ever.

Yes the Dark Epics Rules for Influence Use for all the Vampires is scarry..... but something we would have to learn to deal with.

And if the Vampires ever learn to start traveling in groups with 2 or 3 FAP Monsters at once any single pack is in serious trouble.

We are not using the I believe optional rules where a rank 2 Garou gets effective Might, Rang Three The Bomb and Rank 5 I believe was Pusance.... or something like that.

But honestly they dont want to fight in the day we would prefer not to fight at night and neither of us wants to fight in a public place unless we absoloutely have to. They have the Masquarade and we have the Litany. Sooner or later there will be a conflict and it will be brutal and bloody with PC deaths on both sides.

I play in FQ. Unless it is Vaux or Myers or a highly specialized thaum-er, They can try it any time with MY pack and they will just get the 'Pipe'.

All of this is, of course, assuming that we promptly go to war, which I hope doesn't happen. I think it would be a mistake on several levels.

1. It's a mistake for the vampires. Picking fights with Garou is going to provoke retaliation, and it's going to be messy retaliation that's a pain in the ass to cover up. A smart vampire is going to just outlive Garou unless they pose a significant threat to his plans and operations.

2. It's a mistake for the Garou. As pointed out, the vampires don't HAVE to fight us to make our lives miserable, and they're far from the worst threat the Wyrm has to offer.

3. It's a mistake in terms of gameplay (again, IMO.) I've seen other cross-genre games that simply degenerated into PvP, and it sucked. At best, it became hard to have long-term plotlines; at worst, people wound up taking it personally and holding grudges.

Personally, I plan to stay well away from the Kindred of Buffalo unless I have a task that absolutely requires me to deal with them. Open warfare is a crotch-kicking contest.

But, yeah, if we're kicking crotches, my money's on Sewer Pipe to win.

I don't know wolfman's got nards it seems like a weakness

Backstory of FQ seems to indicate that FQ plot and vamps wiped out the garou once. Let's not make history repeat itself. Also, I do the database for FQ... I'd put all my money on them winning. Sorry Iggy... unless Sewer Pipe and his entire pack are already rank 5.

As a member of Iggy's pack I didnt want to point out to him that to compete with the Vampires we are going to need Rank 3 Characters at a minimum and Rank 4 and 5 would definetly help.

The only conflicts we should win to start with would be a Pack jumping one or two Vampires at a time. The problems would start when the enraged vampires start hunting for Werwolves in War Parties of a dozen or more combat prepared Vampires packing Silver Weapons.... Damn that Vampire with Garou Lore 1

And then we loose

Edward accepts your curses and demands more lore. The biggest problem with the games overlapping is influence. If you guys are playing with DE then the vamps will notice your grow actions when you start building influences in their territory. On an administrative level we could coordinate but interactions, even if only through background actions, would start very soon. Also, if a vamp finds the influence of some poor shlub that isn't a glass walker its just gone.

The member 'Sees in Darkness' has done the following action : 1 masquerade, 2 masquerade, 3 masquerade

'RPS' :

lol, I throw paper.

I dont know exactly how OWBN does regional Influences.

Is there a cap on the number of players who can hold levels 3, 4, 5 and above in a region.

Also I have always had a hard time with people tracking People using the Level 1 influence for Information gathering. Should I print out a list of 5000+ people who were listening to Police Gossip around the Water Cooler. Not to mention the names of Every investigative and junior cub reporter in the region. How does one pick out the important threat from the thousands of weekly occurances of someone using a level 1 influnece.

On a sad note those watching for Growth Actions by most Garou will be sadly disapointed as we cannot use Dark Epic Rules and dont get to do Growth Actions, or Stealth actions or any of those super secret watch for watchers actions.

Unless of Course you are dealing with a Glass Walker. Hmmm note to self get more Glass Walkers.....

Let me put out some reassurance regarding influence, and the network in general.

OWBN only survives because one of it's core principles is game soverignty. This means that there are no 'org rules for influences'. House rules, within the very loose guidelines set by org rules (and which only really exist to stop cheating and to a lesser extent restrict op sheets), are the sole providence of the local staff.

Hell, without an org wide vote, it's damn near impossible to do anything to a character without the approval of local staff.