Mind's Eye Theatre

Mind's Eye Theatre
Designer(s) oWoD: Mark Rein·Hagen, Graeme Davis, Tom Dowd, Chris Cowart, Don Bassingthwaite, S. P. Somtow, Ken Cliffe
nWoD: Peter Woodworth
cWoD: Jason Andrew, Jason Carl, Kevin Millard, Jennifer Smith, Ree Soesbee
Publisher(s) White Wolf, By Night Studios
Publication date 1993, 2005 (nWoD), 2013
Genre(s) live action role-playing game
The character Patrick from Cincinnati, Camarilla's conclave, Milwaukee 2006

Mind's Eye Theatre is a live action role-playing game based on the White Wolf World of Darkness universe, sharing a theme and setting originally with the table-top role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade and with two revisions, Vampire: The Requiem and Mind's Eye Theater: Vampire The Masquerade. (The rules for Mind's Eye Theatre have likewise been revised.) Other games or "venues" include: Werewolf: The Forsaken, Mage: The Awakening, Changeling: The Lost and more.

Conflicts and skill challenges are settled in the first and current editions with a "rock-paper-scissors" system often referred to as "throwing chops" or "hand jamming". The 2005 Mind's Eye Theatre system, however, used a random card-draw mechanic. Every player carried a deck of ten playing cards (2-10, plus an Ace), and added a skill modifier to their draw.

The game possesses many rules both for game play and player safety. Some groups, however, use the game as background material, while using home-grown sets of rules for their actual game-play.

In 1999 Pyramid magazine named Mind's Eye Theatre (the original version) as one of the Millennium's Best Games. Editor Scott Haring said "Mind's Eye Theater was the first to take an established pen-and-paper RPG and do the translation to live-action. And it is easily the most successful live-action game, too."[1]

Games

People wishing to participate can find or create a local game, some of which are part of a larger setting run by an organization like the Camarilla/Mind's Eye Society, One World By Night, Isles of Darkness, The Garou Nation, or Underground Theater.

Independent

Independent groups create their own worlds using and based on the chronicle material published by White Wolf. The books have a large number of optional rules and variations for the settings, so the style, theme and rules of the game can vary a good deal between such games, even if they follow the published books. Some independent groups are regional clusters of related games in which characters can travel back and forth.

Local gaming stores, Conventions and LARPing websites have information concerning games in a particular area.

The Camarilla (Now known as The Mind's Eye Society)

The character Papa Sallow Rose, Camarilla's conclave, Milwaukee 2006

The Camarilla is the official worldwide fan organization of White Wolf. They have affiliate organizations across the world playing a distributed role-playing game in which thousands of players assume the roles of the World of Darkness' inhabitants. Despite being separated by distance, many of these players (through e-mail, IRC, and conventions) have characters in the same world, or chronicle.

September 26, 2010 it was announced that the Camarilla will no longer be owned and ran by White Wolf/CCP, and would become a NPO again. Because of the trademark on The Camarilla, the US Affiliate of the club will change its name to "Mind's Eye Society". Other affiliates will also change their official name as well during this time.

Underground Theater

Underground Theater (sometimes known as UT) is a 501(c)(7) nonprofit[2] LARPing organization connecting World of Darkness troupes in a worldwide network of games. Formed in February 2013, Underground Theater was the first LARPing organization to fully utilize the By Night Studios Mind's Eye Theatre Vampire: The Masquerade rulebooks.

The Hidden Parlor

The Hidden Parlor (aka "THP" or "Hidden Parlor") is a 501(c)(7) nonprofit LARPing organization that utilizes By Night Studios Mind's Eye Theatre Vampire: The Masquerade rule system. The organization hosts a single, shared chronicle where characters of conflicting factions and sects have the ability to affect the global setting. Individual chapters started game play during their soft-launch period that started on October 1, 2015. The full organizational launch is January 1, 2016, which allows Storytellers to gain access to global setting information that they can integrate into their local chapter's game. The club's emphasis is on leveraging online tools to connect players while maintaining a focus on the in-person element of LARP.

One World by Night

One World by Night, (OWbN, often pronounced Obi-Wan) is a global independent chronicle of games set in a shared setting. OWbN is set in the Old World of Darkness, though a long history of in-character actions have altered it somewhat.

The Garou Nation

The Garou Nation, (otherwise known as TGN) is a collection of games (currently only in North America) set in a shared setting. Like OWbN, TGN is set in the Old World of Darkness, but unlike OWbN, TGN strictly focuses on the Werewolf: The Apocalypse genre.

Isles of Darkness

Isles of Darkness (otherwise known as IoD) is an independent LARP group based in Britain, which runs most New World of Darkness games, as well as Dark Ages: Vampire, and Werewolf: the Apocalypse. It hosts both monthly local and annual national events.

Shadowplay International

Shadowplay International (otherwise known as SPI) is an organisation of member clubs in Australia, Ireland, Italy, and elsewhere, which run both Classic ("Old") and New World of Darkness games.

Publications

* Storytelling Adventure System

References

  1. ↑ Haring, Scott D. (1999-12-24). "Second Sight: The Millennium's Best "Other" Game and The Millennium's Most Influential Person". Pyramid (online). Retrieved 2008-02-16.
  2. ↑ "Form 990-EZ: Short Form Return of Organization Exempt from Income Taxes". Underground Theater Inc. Guidestar. December 31, 2013.
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