New Project: Salem By Night

I've been roleplaying for over 30 years now, I've been a fan of White Wolf's World of Darkness settings since Vampire: The Masquerade came out, and off-and-on from 1996 - 2011 I was a member of The Camarilla / Minds Eye Society. I have been a DM, GM and ST for so many years, and many of my non-fantasy or sci-fi based stories have been developed using my home town of Salem, Oregon.

While I was in The Camarilla / Minds Eye Society, all our games were based in Salem since we were a LARP group. I word several ST hats during those years, and I look upon them rather fondly. That's why I want to do this project.

Salem By Night is going to be the title of my next netbook. Several years ago, before Onyx Path started publishing new material for Vampire: The Masquerade, I put together a netbook called The Guide to the Bloodlines. This was my first attempt at compiling the efforts of people online to make a single resource for the various bloodlines at the time. It was very rough, but when I originally posted it, people enjoyed it.

Salem By Night will not be just about the Vampire's of Salem and the surrounding area. It will also include information about Werewolves, Changelings, Mages and Wraiths (primarily) because those are the stories that I remember from my time as an ST. There are so many great elements that I feel would make for wonderful stories, and characters that would add a variety of experiences to any game.

I know that Salem, Oregon is not a metropolitan area like Portland, Seattle of Los Angeles, but there are stories to tell and I would to bring them to you. My hope is to also help inspire other fans of the World of Darkness to make similar netbooks about their local area so we can put together a more robust world to ST in that includes the less affluent areas that are typically used as background settings.

I already put the all-call out to my friends and fellow games in Oregon, and will try and keep you posted on the progress of this project. If you're a gamer from Oregon, I would invite you to add yourself to our group on Facebook: Oregon Roleplayers.

A funny thing happened to me on the way to breakfast...

As I was driving to breakfast this morning, I passed by a large empty lot where there once stood a mushroom factory in my youth. Then I thought to myself:

Self - "You know what would be cool there?"
Me - "What?"
Self - "A place where roleplayers could go to game."
Me - "YO!"
Self - "And not just tabletop. I'm thinking a place large enough to have its own LARP areas; indoor and outdoor."
Me - "Damn! That would be awesome!"

I remember when I was heavy into LARP that we always had a difficult time finding indoor facilities during the colder months. Right now I'm trying to figure out the best location to be able to run my Pathfinder game without having to beg one of the local shops for space that they would rather give to people who play Magic or Warhammer.

I've always had a dream of someday owning a RPG/comic shop that would have space enough for gamers of all types. Now I'm thinking of a space that would cater specifically to gamers who need a place they can go without the hassles of being pressured into buying things when they game, and comfortable enough to be able to relax when they do so.


I know this sounds like a huge pipe dream, and it may very well be. Let me address some concerns right off the bat: (From this point forward, I'm going to refer to this idea as the "facility".)

• What I am proposing would, in no way, directly compete with any of the local stores because the focus wouldn't be on selling products.
• As far as actual sales go, there would be food and beverages as well as incidentals items that gamers may need from time-to-time such as pens, paper, dice, other items to be determined.
• There would be dedicated rooms for tabletop RPG's and areas designed primarily with LARPing in mind. Landscaping around the building would also be used as LARP environment.
• There would be no direct involvement with hosting tournaments/events around games that are already locally supported by various stores. (i.e. no pre-release Magic: The Gathering stuff, no qualifying tournament stuff for any other CCG's.) If there is a need for space to host tournaments of this nature, it would be arranged with the facility and the supporting store.
• There would be a membership fee of some kind to help differ the costs that will be associated with the facility. The actual cost and privileges of membership are yet to be determined.

My thought was to initially set this up as a crowd sourced project. While I am good at coming-up with ideas, implementation and design are qualities I lack. Here's what I'm thinking I would need help with to get this off the ground... if enough people think this would be a worthwhile project:

• Project Designer - Someone who can see past the idea and help to figure-out what the path to success will take.
• Facility Designer - Someone who has the ability to take the ideas and put them down in an illustrated format. Some CAD, some illustration based on CAD designs.
• Crowd Sourcing Engineer - Someone who can help us get initial funding for the project.
• Financial Adviser - The realist who has a firm grip on the concepts of money in, money out. Also someone who can assist the Crowd Sourcing Engineer find alternative methods of funding. (i.e. grants.)

I know there's probably more that needs to be considered, but that's where my idea begins to get blurry. I'd love to hear your ideas on this concept.