traveling

How Standards of Behavior Work across the Necropoli, Regions and Nations





he power of the Camarilla organization is the power of inter-game interaction. The fact that you can travel to games all over the country, and indeed the world, is one of the best things about the Campaign. But inter-game strife can and does cause conflict and intrigue. What’s needed is a clear set of rules governing how this should be run.

The golden rule is this: travel to another Necropolis and you are under that Necropoli’s rules and laws. Taking things into you own hands is bad, bad, BAD! If you travel to another Necropoli and break the laws of that Necropoli, for whatever reason, you are to blame. Always. Even if you just discovered that someone is a Doppleganger who killed your mother, the moment you take the law into your own hands for anything other than immediate self-defense, you’re the criminal.

If you visit another Necropolis, make sure you know the laws. Ignorance is no defense. Remember, all visitors reflect upon their Anacreon. Sometimes visiting players cause an uproar in a game, only to return and say, “We think we did nothing wrong, so what do we care?” That won’t carry any weight though, because if you upset the locals, the problem will fall to your Anacreon. Unless your Anacreon deals with it in a manner acceptable to the wronged Necropolis, it could become a very serious matter. If you go elsewhere and break the rules, you not only bring shame upon your Anacreon but ultimately your legion. Your Anacreon may love you or may hate you, but the moment you mess up you’ll get the blame… and so will they!

The Anacreon of the visited Necropolis could just look to your own Anacreon to punish you when you get home. On the other hand, a good and helpful Anacreon wouldn’t want his fellow leader to have to suffer the humiliation and shame of dealing with the matter… so maybe he’ll just execute you then to end the matter.

The Residents of Necropolis A turn up at Necropolis B and cause trouble and upset the locals. The Anacreon of Necropolis B can’t kill them because they are too powerful and would slay him if he tried, so the Anacreon of Necropolis B decides to complain formally to the Anacreon of Necropolis A. The Anacreon of Necropolis A had better punish the visitors who caused the trouble. If he doesn’t, a few months later Necropolis A will get into Bad Standing for the Anacreon’s failing to do his job.

But imagine if the Anacreon of Necropolis A either doesn’t want to punish them or maybe is too politically weak to punish them. What is there to do? A clever Anacreon simply orders the Chancellor or Overlord (whichever side of the legion the characters are on, civil or military) to deal with the members of the Legion. Having done that, he can turn to Anacreon B and say “Well, I’ve done my duty!” and it becomes their problem. If they don’t act, Anacreon A can either replace them or punish them (“Yes, I know you love your Chancellor and Overlord, but they must become a chair so you don’t have to... it’s your fault I’m afraid!”)

This removes some of the violence and threat of violence from game interaction. When traveling, wraiths have to remember that they are going somewhere that may not work under these rules. If a wraith is lucky it is a civilized Necropolis where the rules of protocol are easily understood and known to all. Wraiths who travel to these Necropoli will automatically band together to enforce these rules. They provide a constant; they give stability and security. A wraith that goes to a Necropolis that operates under these rules knows that any Citadel shall be a safe Citadel, and that rank is respected and enforced. They know that subordinates who speak out of turn will be punished by their Superiors, that the Anacreon will be respectful or else lose face with his precious newfound allies, and that most will think carefully before they open their mouths. This is a society where Status, Sanctions, Rank and all things have a due order and place -- a safe and orderly Hierarchy.

Anything that comes in to attack this society is a threat that must be destroyed, because if one Necropolis falls to the renegade nature then all can. Thus they band together. If there is a Necropolis that does not operate under these protocols, wraiths begin to complain to their Anacreons of the danger this poses. When enough complaints have been voiced, the Council may act and a Motion of Bad Standing could be brought against the offending Necropolis. Thus, the natural order of the protocols will spread.