Loopy 2: Who Are You?

The NightStalkers NightClub

1313 Grenada street

San Francisco, USA

You walk down the stairs into an underground club. The gloom and smoke is thick enough to cut with a knife, so thick you can barely make out the patrons - a sordid, unhealthy looking lot composed mainly of the forgotten, the damned: punks, lowlifes, perverts and the odd yuppy slumming.

You can make out the bar by the neon, beer brands served here, and the air ripples with the pulsing monotone dance beat that is so loud it not only drowns out all speech and sound but thuds in the bones of your chest like a second heartbeat, stronger than your own.

You meet the incandescent eyes of some of the other patrons as you pass by, staring, wide, either threatened or threatening they stare back, making you feel unwelcome. Flashes of lifestyle hit you like strobes from the dance floor, unpleasant, upsetting, making you question the reality of the world you left behind mere steps away.

Where have you wandered into, and is that excitement you feel the feel of the dull, trapped animal or a strange exhilaration that this is a place you belong?

Nightstalkers is a freeform IRC RPG game for people who play the creatures of the night and the humans who are fascinated with them. All the ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties are welcome.

#Nightstalkers is located on irc.SandNet.org:6667.

What follows is the premise and rules of the channel, which we expect patrons to obey.

To view a layout of the bar, click here.

The premise of the game is that there are monsters in the world. Hidden away in shadow and forgotten, yet they exist. Mankind at large does not believe in them, despite that they are reported daily in tabloids and public access channels, they merely scoff and call the witnesses crazy, as we do in our world for those who see UFOs and bigfoot. Some cities, such as San Francisco, have become havens to these beasts and in this world, all the strange happenings there are dismissed away by the rest of the world because "..it's a crazy town.." Nightstalkers is a nightclub established by and for the monsters. It maintains a facade of normality and allows human patrons, but it's true purpose is to be someplace monsters can go when there is nowhere else to go, perhaps to seek others of their own kind in the city, perhaps to seek help.

Nightstalkers is nestled away on a dismal forgotten street of San Francisco and is an underground club. Moneyed by an old, old monster, it is vast and of independent means. The first two floors are open to humans, but the access to the other floors is difficult for the non-supernatural (see diagram) and meant for the monsters and those they trust alone, though generally the clientelle frown on mortals on those levels and are uncomfortable.

#Nightstalkers also has a franchise located on Undernet

Rules of the Club:

The owners have lain out rules for the monsters that attend, to preserve the club more than anything else. These are In-Character rules.

No Fighting

The owners realize that strife between monsters is almost inevitable and often violent, they only ask that the client go outside (private query) before damaging the interior of the club. Any other violent or messy activity, as some forms of feeding, are also discouraged.

No Mortals

The levels below the chimney are meant for supernaturals only. The line of the mortal world stops there. That is the line of secrecy. Amove the chimney, mortals frequent the bar unaware that monsters exist. This rule is bent for mortals who are aware of monsters and those accompanied by monsters, but other mortals are guarded against. The owners of NightStalkers do not want the responsability of starting a war between men and monsters, and have been warned many times by powerful supernaturals who fear they skirt the line too close.

Monsters are not permitted to bring unwitting mortals, kicking and screaming, to the lower levels.

Note that "mortal" here refers to any non-supernatural, even though many monsters are mortal.

Rules of the Channel

These are the rules that people using the #nightstalkers channel on IRC are asked to respect.

No Harassment
No Cybersex: If you must, please do it in private query. No actions above PG-13, we have no age control here.
No Ads for IRC channels or servers, or of any other kind.

Guidelines for the Channel

Choose your character and stick to it. People will respect you more for designing a good strong character and respecting its weaknesses and boundaries than for powergaming whenever something challenges you. Powergaming is heavily frowned upon here. If your character comes from a veritable RPG or concept, please be careful to stick to that. Here we admire the well-built and possibly weak characters to the mutant ninja cyborg undead dragons. Please, no inventing new and better powers on the fly.
Respect the moves and actions of other people in the club, no matter how silly they may seem to you. You are a better roleplayer for responding to what is supposed to be happening than for insisting on having your own way.
When performing any action involving another character, always speak in terms of an attempt, never an outcome. e.g., say "Pollux grabs for Uram's arm to fling him through the nearest wall" not "Pollux flings Uram through the nearest wall knocking him out cold." You are collaborating to write a story, not competing who can say meaner things faster. Anything that you do with another character is at their indulgence, and you should give them chance should you assume the wrong things about their character, and not offend them (It will be hard to follow if a lot of edits have to be made.) Try to write fluidly together.
Out-of-character comments should be performed by query. No ads or other RL comments allowed in the general atmosphere.
Your character must be able to blend with the monsters of the club, so if you bring a monster from another gaming universe or background, be prepared for how it blends into the premise and atmosphere of #NightStalkers. Do not expect gaming jargon to mean anything or be obeyed. You are better off with a solid concept than any amount of dots or motes or blips or points.

We strong encourage Diversity. If you want to play your favorite movie monster, like the Creature from the Black Lagoon, please do so. If you want to play Hsien-Ko from NightWarriors, by all means. If you want to be a ghost like the Dark Horse's Ghost, by all means. We discourage people struggling to uphold the gospel of Rifts, WhiteWolf or any other gaming bible, and yet monsters from any of those games are welcome, especially NightLife. Truth be known, if any game were to be the bible here it would be Near Dark. There are plenty of channels for those type of characters, but not so many for originals.

We strongly encourage that you set out strong character limits for yourself. If you do not have access to any means, seek out a gamer on the channel and ask their assistance, but do not feel you have to do this, nor that you have to be put into any gaming system that will compromise your character concept. Shop around.

Facilities

Because of differing beliefs and needs, the club cannot provide "food and drink" (i.e., rats, life-force, fresh blood), but it does provide the following facilities to its clientelle. These are provided mainly as sub-plot material that patrons of #nightstalkers can use as excuses to be in the club :)

Sanctuary A monster fleeing mankind is allowed to come in and hide from the authorities. It cannot protect against supernatural threats.	Bar Macabre A bar in the lower section will serve, as well as "soft" food and drink, a variety of noxious and toxic substances. Patrons must be immortal or over to be served.	Walk Safe A monster who is being tailed by slayer(s) can enlist the aid of others to throw the slayers off the scent. Bouncers from the bar will help if no one else will.
Vital Services The bar owners maintan a list of underground doctors and other services that have proved they can be trusted with (or more often subjugated into) assisting monsters.	On the Hoof Because it maintains a human façade, the bar attracts mortals, usually the kind that will not be missed, and monsters are permitted to hunt in the upper layers. Anything else that is not bar property is also game (e.g., rats), but please don't eat the floor.	Second Hand When a patron of the bar has been destroyed, whatever they have left behind at the bar - clothes, trinkets, keys, coats - are thrown in a box in the back room and free for any monster to rummage through.

Enjoy the Game!

If there is anything you wish to add or contribute to #Nightstalkers, please let us know.