Changing the World: A Primer

Introduction
In the setting of our current Werewolf chronicle vast and terrible changes have occurred in the
intervening decades between the setting of Revised and now. Entire cultures have been
destroyed and the world itself stands on the brink of the final night. This has led to gaps in the
power structures of the Garou and Fera; places where stop-gap measures have been enacted
to just try to survive until the next day.

As players, we can all see these and think that there should be something there - a way to fill
the gap. In a networked game such in the Mind's Eye Society, this is can be a difficult thing to
carry out; though incredibly rewarding when you pull it off. After all, there is an entire world of
people out there that want to change the world in slightly different ways. As your storytelling
team, we are charged with maintaining the worlds consistency while still allowing room for
player actions to help guide the development of the setting. This primer is meant to help guide
players in how they can push a change through.

No new rules or information is provided here, only a summation of statements by the National
staff on the official lists, along with references to information provided in the Settings and Rule
documents. We hope you find this to be a useful guide.

What Can and Cannot Be Changed

One of the first things to understand are what levers there are to pull; what things can and
cannot be modified:
The history and setting of the chronicle before the present moment is set. Any
changes that you want need to be made to the world going forward. The ST team will not
consider changes to the setting that were simply always there but no one noticed until
now
Changes to core mechanics are not going to happen. Stick to social and political
modifications. For instance, granting the Fool the ability to award any lesser moniker
would be acceptable. Granting the Fool a brand new power that has no counterpart in
the book is not.
The idea of a calamity that has forced the Garou and the Fera together into one uneasy
nation is core to the story that we want to tell this chronicle, as is the idea that there are
two political camps that are warring about the future. At this point in time, the ST staff is
not going to approve things that change that balance of power. This may change as the
IC world develops, but were not even close to that point yet.
At this time, we are not accepting PC Councilors. Any setting change that would
create a position akin to a Tribal Counselor would be filled by a NPC.
The Process

Step 1: Have an Idea

This is the conceptual stage of your idea. Youll want to have a good idea of what it is you want
to do and what the change is. Be sure to avoid the caveats that we listed above. In general,
consider these questions:
What is the change? How exactly does it function?
Why is the change needed? What problem are you trying to solve?
Who does the change affect? What character type or geographic areas?
How large a deviation is this from the canon given by the book?

Example idea may include but are obviously not limited to, modifying how a Sept position
functions, creating a new official interpretation of the Litany, or organizing the Fera outside the
Garou Nation into a political structure.

Step 2a: Gain a Consensus

This step requires that you share your idea with the people that the change would affect. We
strongly suggest this be done ICly. An OOC component will clearly happen, but characters
should be doing the majority of debate. Your goal in this step is to try to gain something of a
consensus. You do not need everyone to agree that it is necessary. You do need enough
characters behind your idea to give us an idea that this is something that wont get immediately
shot down.

Step 2b: Talk to Staf

At around the same time, talk to your storytellers about putting your idea into motion. You can,
of course, talk to us at any stage of the process. In this stage, though, we get serious about
whether or not this is a thing that can happen. It will be dependent on several factors: Keep in
mind this process can play out equally well at the Local, Regional, and National levels. Note
that many of these metrics may have little to nothing to do with the innate quality of your
proposal. Weve got to balance a lot of factors to keep everything humming along!
Do we feel the change will break the game in some serious way?
Does the change remain true to what we see as the core concepts of the venue or
tribe/breed that you are changing?
Is the change fair to other players?
Did you gain consensus, or do you appear to be likely to gain it?
Have we had too many changes in the near past, or are we considering too many
changes at this present time?
Does your change require a council vote? If so, have there already been two this year?
Note that, as indicated in the Approvals Documents, creating a non pack organization
that spans multiple VSSs requires approval. This would be the point you would put that
approval in the DB.

Assuming that the staff approves of your idea, the takeaway from this stage will be our
permission to proceed and the requirements we will need to see fulfilled in order to execute your
idea. This can be something simple (get x number of Kinfolk to agree that they need a list of
their own), to something complex (Tribal Council vote), to any combination of these as well as
anything we think of. This will include a set of milestones to let us all keep track of how you are
progressing on this. It may also include a deadline.

If Staff does not agree that your proposal is one which will work for the shared narrative, we will
work with you to give you some IC cover for why. For instance, certain Incarna might be
strongly opposed to your goal, and are not inclined to change their mind.

The important thing to remember is that your Storyteller chain, from local to national, are your
allies and partners in this, as in all things. We want to work with you. :)

Step 3: Do the Thing

Do all the things. Progress on the milestones that you were given. Be sure to keep the
appropriate Storytellers apprised as to how things are going.

If you are working for a change within the Garou Nation, youre probably going to need a
Councillor vote. Refer to this handy document for the process.

Step 4a: Success!

The change is made! The Apocalypse National staff will announce it, update Settings
documents as appropriate and the change will happen. Congrats!

Step 4b: Failure!

Alternatively, the change is not made. Perhaps you never got the consensus needed in step 2a,
the idea is rejected in 2b, or you didnt get the things completed in step 3. Thats fine! Perhaps
there is another version of your goal that can still be achieved. You should feel free to RP it
through and see if theres another way to get the change done. We do recommend that you
hand things off to another character for the next attempt though.

But the big thing to keep in mind is that being willing to fail is an important part of any story.
Heroes joust at windmills and try for the impossible. Be a hero and be willing to fail.
Conclusion
We hope this gives you a sense of what we, the Apocalypse team, are looking for when
characters want to make changes to the setting, large or small. We also hope that, success or
failure, this primer is a useful reference for you as a player, and perhaps opens up interesting
roads on your characters journey.