A OWBN post - Anarchs get screwed

Wow, another post so soon? Yes, really.

I was thinking about a recently passed proposal in the OWBN organization. I'm the Council Member for my game, Muerte Libre, an Anarch-genre game. We aren't that many, but there are a few Anarch games out there in the Org. Now, as CM for the game, I'm the representative for our game to the national organization and I vote on the various proposals that come before the Org.

Well, the Anarchs just recently got fucked.

Jenn Bahrs, the Head Coordinator, has done a lot of great work so far. Done a lot to clean up the Bylaws of the Org. But on this one she fucked the entire Anarch genre. So what was the proposal?

It basically codified house rules for the entire Org. In order to teach Combination Disciplines, there are now two additional rules. One, you have to have one of the originating Disciplines In-Clan. Sure, why not. Would help cut down on the wonky stuff. The second one rapes the Anarchs though.

On page 55 of the Anarch Guide, it states that for the purposes of power comparison, a Combo Discipline counts as the highest level that makes up the Combo. So if something has an Intermediate discplines and a basic disciplines, it counts as an Intermediate Combo. Nowhere does it say anything but it being for power comparisons, which can be very important (see Auspex vs. Obfuscate).

But now it also counts in terms of teaching. So if a Combo is considered Advanced because it has an Advanced component, it can not ONLY be taught by an Elder. And there are no Elder PCs allowed in the game. Which in theory makes it a fuck lot harder for anyone to learn these kinds of combos.

Why does it hurt Anarchs so bad? Because Anarchs are supposed to lack certain things like Generation (mainly), Influences, Resources, etc., the Combination Disciplines are meant to be their secret weapons. When shit hits the fan, the Anarch Combos serve as the ace up the sleeve for the Anarchs. Problem is, of the 14 Combos listed in the Anarch Guide, NINE of them are now considered Advanced Combos and will require NPCs Elders to teach to PCs. 9 of the 14 Anarch Combos can no longer be taught by PCs. So basically, unless the STs of the Anarch games have an Elder in their pocket, the Anarchs will NEVER obtain any of those Combos.

Hell, Smiling Jack, by these new rules, can't even teach his own "Trick" to anyone.

I understand the desire to try to limit the wonk and bullshit I hear arises in certain games. But this proposal fucked an entire genre and several weeks after it's passage I'm just starting to get angry about it.

Kid = Cash

Been kinda quiet. No new movies. Nothing too major going on. We did manage to go down to Temecula last weekend, heading down Friday afternoon and coming back home Saturday afternoon. Had a great dinner at Bailey's in Old Town (perfectly cooked rib eye atop Israeli cous cous), tasted some mundane wines at Ponte and another place I'm blanking on, tasted some great ones at Filsinger, Mt. Palomar and several others I'm blanking on too, bought some great cheese at Old Town cheese shop after wandering the weekly farmer's market. Good time.

To the point though...Amanda did our taxes Friday evening. Woohoo! Turns out that we should be getting a nice couple of cheques back from the government. Well, as soon as California figures things out anyway. Seems that Amanda making less money was a good thing, since we dropped from the bottom of one tax bracket down to the top of the bracket below. Plus the addition of Lorelei made for a fairly hefty return. Makes our worries about summer a lot easier, as we should be able to handle the basics without strain. Plus if we can save some money, we can go away for vacation and maybe even Comic Con. And Kubla Con this Spring. And a new mattress which we need desperately.