Shadowplay International Charter
Agreement for a Global Organization
1. INTENT
This Agreement creates an international gaming organization dedicated to the enjoyment of the fictional worlds created by White Wolf Publishing, supporting global shared chronicles within White Wolf's World of Darkness setting. Those organisations (hereafter referred to as "Member Clubs") who choose to participate in this global organisation agree to support and encourage play in these global chronicles, and to work together in creating an administrative framework to coordinate stories and other activities between the Member Clubs.
To this end, the signed Members Clubs agree to be bound by the following clauses in the spirit of working together to create shared continuities and chronicles, and to operate in conjunction with each other.
2. MISSION STATEMENT
The Mission Statement of the Global Organisation is as follows:
(1) To support Member Clubs in creating and maintaining an internally consistent and entertaining games from Worlds of Darkness, and to enable mutual recognition of Member Club membership benefits.
3. DEFINITION
(1) "Affirmative Vote" shall refer to a consensus of the Member Clubs, or a vote as defined in section 7(2)(c) below.
(2) “Agreement” shall refer to this document unless otherwise specified.
(3) “Chronicle” is a Globally supported World of Darkness Settings games, with a declared commencement date and usually proceed for a finite period.
(4) "Consensus" shall refer to agreement by those expressing an opinion, and a lack of objection by any party not subject to a vote as defined in 6(2), after a period, defined by the issuing officer, has elapsed.
(5) “Dark Places on the Map” refers to areas within the Chronicles operated that do not have a Member Club presence.
(6) “Global Organization” shall refer collectively to the Member Clubs who have joined this Agreement.
(7) “Invalid” means not in accordance with the Member Club's own policies and procedures.
(8) “Master Coordinator” or “MC”, as defined in section 13
(9) “Master Storyteller” or “MST”, as defined in section 14
(10) “Member Club” shall refer to an individual organization or club who has joined this Agreement.
(11) “Original Member Club” for the purposes of individuals participating in inter-club activities is the Member Club which the individual has purchased membership.
(12) “Hosting Member Club” for the purposes of individuals participating in inter-club activities is the Member Club which the individual is visiting and participating in through Mutual Recognition provisions.
(13) “Membership Benefits” include but are not limited to attendance at conventions and local games, as well as access to mailing lists and other electronic resources.
(14) “National Coordinator” refers to a Member Club’s singular leadership position, usually President, Director or equivalent and defined within that Member Club’s bylaws and policies.
(15) “National Storyteller” refers to a Member Club’s singular leadership position responsible for the conduct of sanction games within that Member Club.
(16) "Trustee" shall refer to an honorary title granted to individuals who have given exceptional service to the Global Organisation and are valued for advice and expertise.
(17) “World of Darkness Settings” refers to game lines published by White Wolf Publishing and its licensees such as Onyx Path Publishing, and include but are not limited to:
(a) The New World of Darkness, including:
(1) Vampire: The Requiem;
(2) Werewolf: The Forsaken;
(3) Mage: The Awakening;
(4) Promethean: The Created
(5) Changeling: The Lost;
(6) Hunter: The Vigil; and
(7) Geist: The Sin-Eaters.
(b) The Classic / Old World of Darkness, including:
(1) Vampire: The Masquerade;
(2) Werewolf: The Apocalypse;
(3) Mage: The Ascension;
(4) Wraith: The Oblivion;
(5) Changeling: The Dreaming;
(6) Kindred of the East;
(7) Hunter: The Reckoning;
(8) Mummy: The Resurrection;
(9) Demon: The Fallen; and
(10) Orpheus.
(18) “Valid” means in accordance with the Member Club's own policies and procedures.
4. SCOPE OF GAMES
(1) The Global Organisation may support any game published as part of the World of Darkness Settings.
(2) Support of these games will include but not limited to:
(a) Sanctioning of material for inclusion within the Global Chronicle;
(b) Control of named or ‘canon’ characters as defined within the setting material;
(c) Story materials or ‘Plot Kits’ for use within the Member Clubs as appropriate; and
(d) Assistance to Member Clubs in creating and maintaining an internally consistent Chronicle.
(3) Member Clubs may petition the Global Organisation to increase or decrease its supported games as required.
(4) The Global Organisation may choose to support a game under a set of internally consistent principles for a specific or finite length of time, as a Chronicle.
(a) Member Clubs participating in the Global Organisation Chronicle agree to abide by Chronicle timings.
(1) Member Clubs that wish to extend beyond the Global Organisation Chronicle timings will function as a game as per section 4(a)(b).
(b) Individual Member Clubs may choose to support games outside of this scope; however, there will be no expectation of support or resources for such games from the Global Organisation.
5. JOINING THE AGREEMENT
An organisation may apply to join this Agreement by meeting the following criteria:
(1) The applicant is an organisation that will not need to renew or renegotiate this agreement with each change in leadership.
(2) The applicant's leadership believes in good faith that it has a mandate from its membership to join the Global Organisation.
(3) The applicant organisation makes claim to geographic boundaries that do not overlap with any Member Clubs currently part of the Global Organisation. Existing Member Clubs may voluntarily relinquish part of their territory to the applicant to satisfy this clause.
(4) The applicant organisation may then become a Member Club with an Affirmative Vote of the existing Member Clubs.
6. WITHDRAWAL FROM THE AGREEMENT
(1) Any Member Club may choose, with a mandate set by a majority of their membership to sever this agreement and cut ties with the Global Organisation. At such time, that organization’s membership shall no longer be a part of the Global Organisation's shared continuity.
(2) A Member Club may be involuntarily removed from this Agreement through a two thirds majority vote of the other Member Clubs.
(a) The Member Club that is proposed for removal must be given at least 30 days notice of the intention to vote for removal from the Global Organisation with the reasons for their proposed removal, and be permitted to make statement in response to the Global Organisation.
(b) Member Clubs casting a vote must give 30 days public notice to their membership of the impending vote in order to allow their membership to give feedback on this matter through the applicable channels.
(3) Former Member Clubs which have voluntarily left the Organisation may apply to re-join at any time. Such an application shall be treated as though it were a new application to the Agreement per section 5.
(4) Former Member Clubs which have been involuntarily removed from the Organisation may apply to re-join the Organisation, however such application shall require a two thirds majority vote of the constituent Member Clubs to be accepted.
7. VOTING BY MEMBER CLUBS
(1) All Member Clubs agree to act in good faith in attempting to work towards reaching decisions of the Global Organisation by consensus as much as possible. Such a consensus shall substitute for a vote in any matter.
(2) Should a matter require a vote, the number of votes allocated to each Member Club shall be determined as follows:
(a) Each Member Club shall have one vote to cast – the method chosen by each Member Club to determine how this vote is cast is left to that club to decide.
(b) Voting shall take place on an electronic medium such that all eligible voters are notified when the vote begins, and votes may be cast for a period of at least two weeks.
(c) Unless otherwise specified, any matter voted upon is successful (hereafter referred to as an "Affirmative Vote") if it receives at least 60% of votes cast in favour of the matter. Abstentions and/or votes which have not been submitted by the close date shall not count toward the total number of votes cast.
(d) Unless otherwise advised, the returning officer for all such votes will be the Master Coordinator as per section 13(1)(a).
8. INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIPS
(1) Individuals may join any Member Club to participate in the Global Organization and associated benefits. Individuals that participate in a Member Club’s activities, to the exclusion of other Member Club’s activities may be required to purchase a membership in that Member Club at a period set and published by each Member Club.
(2) A Member Club may establish bylaws or policies that permit individuals within their geographic boundaries to join another Member Club. Such bylaws or policies may be withdrawn or changed at any time according to the internal processes of that Member Club.
(3) If a Member joins the Global Agreement through a Member Club, and moves to a location where there is not a Member Club, the Member may choose to remain with the Member Club they joined or transfer to another Member Club pursuant to Section 8(2).
(4) Membership in more than one Member Club is not permitted, unless authorised by all affected Member Clubs in accordance with Section 8(2).
(5) Individuals, or a group of individuals, who do not reside within the geographic boundaries of any Member Club are welcome to join any one member club, unless an exception as noted under 6.a.i has been given. Such individuals, and groups of individuals, will be subject to the rules, guidelines, limitations and requirements that the Member Club has at the time they join.
9. MUTUAL RECOGNITION
(1) Any individual member of one Member Club shall be recognised as an equivalent member in another Member Club.
(2) Should an individual utilising mutual recognition provisions violate the Hosting Member Club's rules and policies, the Hosting Member Club may eject the individual from the event, restrict access to electronic resources, or otherwise take any appropriate action to limit that individual's access to further activities hosted by that Member Club. In such cases, the Hosting Member Club will notify the individual's Original Member Club is encouraged to issue an appropriate disciplinary action per their own bylaws and policies.
(3) Each Member Club shall implement a Membership Class system. Details of the manner in which Membership Class is earned, awarded, or removed is to be determined by each Member Club.
(4) Each Member Club agrees to honour the accrued membership benefits (Membership Class) of individual members of other Member Clubs in the same manner as it honours accrued membership benefits of its own members.
10. MEMBER CONDUCT AND ENFORCEMENT
(1) The Online Code of Conduct policy shall be used to resolve disputes arising as a result of activities on official email lists/forums etc that affect more than one Member Club.
(a) Note that the Online Code of Conduct policy is yet to be finalised.
(b) The individual's Original Member Club shall have sole jurisdiction to issue disciplinary action, utilising the Online Code of Conduct.
(2) Each Member Club is required to have a code of conduct or equivalent policy, and to make it available for the individual members of all Members Clubs to read, such as by posting it to a public web site.
(3) Each Member Club may define their own standards of acceptable behaviour within their code of conduct, and shall with good faith encourage civility and refrain from harassing behaviours.
(4) Each Member Club shall have authority to issue disciplinary action against their own members for breaches of the applicable code of conduct, and other Member Clubs shall uphold any such disciplinary action for the purposes of Mutual Recognition.
(a) At no time shall a Member Club knowingly allow an individual to circumvent a disciplinary action issued by another Member Club through Mutual Recognition provisions.
(1) Should a Member Club have reason to believe that one of their members may attempt to circumvent a disciplinary action, they shall with good faith ensure that other Member Clubs are aware of the disciplinary action.
(5) Each Member Club shall have authority to issue disciplinary action against members for game rules violations while participating in their events.
(a) If an individual is participating in a Hosting Member Club’s activities, such a disciplinary action shall be immediately limited to restricting or eliminating that individual's access to activities sponsored by the Hosting Member Club.
(1) Hosting Member Clubs are encourage to refer matters to an individual’s Original Member Club for consideration of further action.
(6) Individuals who have been permanently, and validly, expelled from a Member Club shall not be eligible to join another Member Club unless the Original Member Club issuing the expulsion reverses that decision. Member Clubs shall share information to identify any individuals who have been permanently expelled from their organization, through the Master Coordinator.
(a) Where an individual has been expelled invalidly, or an individual becomes resident in another Member Club’s geographic boundaries, the individual may petition for membership. A petition for membership constitutes the individual’s agreement for the expulsion information to be shared amongst the collective National Coordinators. The remaining Member Clubs’ National Coordinators may then review that expulsion, and recommend upholding or remove the expulsion, however, the final decision rests with the Original Member Club.
(b) Where an individual has been expelled and the expulsion would result in exposing another Member Club to legal consequences, the National Coordinators of Member Clubs may then review that expulsion, and either uphold or remove the expulsion.
11. INTERNATIONAL TRUSTEES
(1) Each Member Club shall define and make available to their members a method to nominate an individual for the honor of Trustee, and shall follow this method to identify suitable candidates.
(2) Candidates are then reviewed by the Global Organization, and may be approved by an Affirmative Vote of the Member Clubs.
12. GLOBAL ADMINISTRATION
(1) An individual member in good standing within a Member Club can nominate for the MC or MST office when nominations are called.
(2) Each Member club may only nominate two candidates within their club to be eligible for election under section 12(3) and (4).
(A) Member Clubs may use whatever bylaws or policies are appropriate to limit number of candidates for the positions, including suitability screenings.
(3) The office of MC will be elected through a general vote of the Member Club National Coordinators.
(4) The office of MST will be elected through a general vote of the Member Club National Storytellers.
(5) The office of MC and MST will be held for a maximum period of two years from the commencement of duties of that position.
(A) A vote of no-confidence can be called requiring the officers to step down. This vote will require an Affirmative vote of those members eligible to vote upon their election as per section 12(3) and (4).
(6) The officers of MC and MST may delegate any authorisations and tasks to other members as assistants or staff to their office.
(A) The MST may in particular delegate responsibility for the maintenance of some territories within the ‘Dark Places on the Map’ to Member Clubs due to geographical proximity or cultural affinities.
(B) The responsibility for any task so delegated will remain with the MST or MC as appropriate.
(7) The offices of the MC and MST will each report monthly to the Member Club leadership and Member clubs membership, with the report including but not limited to:
(A) List of all staff as authorised under section 7 and their particular roles;
(B) Recommendations for Membership benefits (such as prestige) for staff as authorised under section 7 to the Original Member Club;
(C) Confirmation of reports received from staff authorised under section h);
(D) All events run under the auspices of that office (such as conventions); and
(E) Major projects being undertaken with updates on progress.
(8) The offices of MC and MST are expected to respond to email communication within seven days, or acknowledge receipt of communication within 48 hours and provide intended time of reply.
13. OFFICE OF MASTER COORDINATOR
(1) A Master Coordinator (hereafter referred to as “MC”) shall be chosen to represent the Global Organisation, and support Member Clubs. They are also the administrators of services to support the Member Clubs at a global level, such as internet presences. They will possess the following authorisations and responsibilities:
(A) Act as Returning Officer for all votes held by Member Club leadership;
(B) Promoting the collective Member Clubs, and seeking inclusions of likeminded organisations;
(C) Maintain Global Assets including but not limited to:
(1) Web sites;
(2) Mailing Lists; and
(3) Social Media channels.
(D) Maintain the Online Code of Conduct policy;
(E) Act as Chair for all meetings of Member Club National Coordinators;
(F) Translation of documents and rules in languages suitable for other Member Clubs;
(G) Document and archive all meetings of Member Club National Coordinators; and
(H) Any other duties determined by the Member Club leadership to be Global in scope or responsibility.
14. OFFICE OF MASTER STORYTELLER
(1) A Master Storyteller (hereafter referred to as "MST") shall be elected by Member Club National Storytellers to coordinate the global chronicles between Member Clubs and encourage the development of a global community. The MST shall possess the following authorisations and responsibilities:
(A) Determine history and vision of the Chronicles in operation;
(B) Developing ‘plot kits’ and other resources in consultation with National Storytellers, for use within Member Clubs;
(C) Direct control of fictional global groups and their direct actions;
(D) Approval and maintenance of global ‘venue style sheets’;
(E) Assisting the development of a Global rules addenda for each Chronicle supported;
(F) Managing the ‘Global’ level approval as defined within the Global rules addenda;
(G) Supporting National Storytellers through coordinating Member Clubs activities as appropriate;
(H) Promoting fair and ethical conduct of games;
(I) Maintaining continuity through ‘re-writing’ of sanctioned actions in extreme situations, in consultation with Member Clubs; and
(J) Maintaining continuity for ‘Dark Places on the Map’.
(K) Setting a universal cap on experience point levels able to earned by characters as part of the addenda.
(2) The MST exercises their responsibilities in support to and subordinate to Member Club National Storytellers within that Member Club’s claimed geographical territory.
15. AMENDMENT
(1) This Agreement may be modified or amended with a three fourths (75%) vote of Member Clubs leadership.
(2) Such modifications or amendments take effect 30 days after the conclusion of the vote to approve the amendment.