Welcome to the Global LARP

Welcome to the planet
Welcome to existence
Everyone's here
Everyone's here
Everybody's watching you now
Everybody waits for you now
What happens next?
What happens next?

My third game in Requiem had been preceded by a one-to-two month absence. I knew that I needed some excuse as to why I was absent. Fortunately, my character's nationality was Italian, and he had already come from there, so I said I went back and had some mis-adventure.

As a new player, I didn't know the protocol of the Club. I didn't know about Venue Style Sheets, how I factored in to it. I didn't know my character was registered to New York and that if they left, I had to notify the Storyteller of my domain and the domain I was going to if they were in the same region, or the ST's of my Region and whatever Region I was going to and then the domain, and so on and so forth until I find myself back in Venice which last I heard was half a world away.

This is the price of playing in a global Larp. We each of us have the potential to affect the world around us and to travel to the corners of the globe. However, who is to say that we've done any of these things, who is there to say "Yes you  were?"

The Storytellers.

Flash-forward two years, I'm now Storytelling for Mage in New York. I had an heated discussion about one person's character action during down time. He had stated that his character would have been in Salem, Mass during Halloween, banging wiccan-wannabes two at a time. This was all well and good, but did he inform the Salem ST (North East Regional Storyteller if there isn't one) that he was sending his character there?

And then he asked "Why should I? My character isn't doing anything there other than sleeping with  nobodies, not even NPCs"

And this is where I step in. The whole point of the Club's Proxy system is to know who is where in case something happens, or to know someone is there to make something happen. I can't say that my Mekhet went down to Georgia looking for a Soul to Steal without the folks running Georgia knowing and saying "Yes you did".

I had to explain to my friend that (in my opinion) the Storyteller is responsible for two things. 1) Managing the story of his venue, whether it be generated by me, the players, or the Domain. and 2)Managing what comes in and out of this venue. I have to work directly with the internal mechanics of the City as it pertains to Mage, I then also have to deal with other Mage related things that come from anywhere outside the city, whether it is plot from the higher ups.

And then he replies "Well, I'm not planning on doing Magic in this place, I'm just going there."

My reply to that: Do you honestly think that no-one in that city wouldn't notice a Mage entering town? You're a character in the World of Darkness, you may not Role-play 24/7 (and I hope you don't, it gets draining fast), but it's established that your character is in this world 24/7 with other supernatural creatures, and each one of them has ways of looking at you and going "Mage" and to many that will register as a threat or a treat.

And my jurisdiction extends only to the five boroughs of New York City, the moment you leave the borders you are out of my consequences and in the hands of other ST's and it's their job to know who and what are in their jurisdiction.

My friend replies: So my character is basically trapped in a domain? What is this, some kind of dystopia?

My reply: Well...yes, It's the World of Darkness. Out of Character, your character is registered to be recognized as a character in the Global Game. That needs to be tracked and traced. Your character doesn't have to leave the City, but if he does, his movements need to be kept record of because you do run the potential of effecting plot wherever you go. You're not some Joe-Shmoe in this world, you're one of the few Chosen (however they got there, whether you want it to or not) You're a protagonist in this story, you affect the world and it affects you. You move, and the storytellers need to note it, so you can still affect the world.

In short, the Proxy system is all about keeping track of everyone, and making sure they are still relevant. I know there are many out there who hate the system that is up. Siting partiality, xenophobia and outright corruption amongst the STs. That's expected, it's a System. The Anarchist in me would like to remind you that all systems have flaws and are inherently doomed to Entropy sooner or later. So far it does work and it does keep most of us in line. This is the price of playing for a club that spans the world. If I didn't want to do a global game, I could just sit down with some friends and do a tabletop.

My next blog will be more musings on the role of an Storyteller, in which I get very philosophical about it all. You've been warned.

Later