New Member Guide
Also see the Contact Us page, for the people you need to contact if you have any further questions.
Membership
Q: How do I join?
Answer: The easiest way is via the website, http://www.beyondthesunset.org.au/Member/register
Fill in the form and submit for six months free membership.
At some point, this address will change to our New Website
If you have any problem, contact the National Membership Coordinator (NMC) nmc@beyondthesunset.org.au.
Q: How do I pay my membership fee?
Answer: One of Two ways
- Should you have Paypal the Payment for your Membership can be made through the Beyond the Sunset Website
- Should you not have a Paypal account or the Website is currently unavailable for Payments the money can be transferred or deposited directly into the club bank account, and then email the receipt details to the NMC.
- Current bank details are:
- BSB - 066 000
- Account Number - 1052 7243
- Account Name - NAT COUNCIL GEN
- Current Membership Fee: $30 AUD
Prestige and Member Class (MC)
Q: What is prestige?
Answer: Prestige is an incentive and reward for volunteering time and energy in the name of the club, and is awarded to members who support the club's goals.
Most frequently this is administrative Prestige that is awarded to office holders of the club for successful completion of their duties. It is also awarded to the general membership for standard activities such as helping prepare a regular game site or writing articles for club publications.
Prestige is detailed in the Rewards for Service policy, found in the club Policies document.
Q: How do I claim prestige?
Answer: The easiest way is via the members section of the website, http://www.camarilla.org.au/.
Instructions:
- Open the website http://www.camarilla.org.au/
- Enter your user name (your membership number) and password and Logon
- In the left hand menu, at the bottom, click "control", which will take you to the administration page
- In the Member Links area, click "Claim Prestige"
- Fill in the details and click Record to add a record
Finally, click Save to submit the request
Temporary: Currently with our Prestige system being down all Prestige claims must be emailed to the NRC with the following
- Name and Membership Number
- What you're Claiming
- Amount being Claimed
- Venue and Domain connected to the Claim
- Returning officer of the Claim (VC/VST/DC/DST/LEC/LEST etc)
Q: What does member class do?
Answer: In recognition of the service provided, Prestige is used in the character creation process. The more work a member does for the club, the more Prestige they earn and the more advanced are the PCs they can make.
Q: How much prestige do I need for each MC?
Answer: The official table is in the Rewards for Service policy, in the Policies document.
All players start with at MC 0, with 0 prestige, with their free six month membership. At the end of your six month free membership, when you pay to renew and upgrade to full (paid) membership (and each annual renewal after that) you will get 50 prestige, bringing you to MC 1.
| MC | Title | Cumulative Prestige | Additional Needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Guest | 0 | 50 |
| 1 | Associate | 50 | 50 |
| 2 | Journeyman | 100 | 200 |
| 3 | Artisan | 300 | 300 |
| 4 | Contributor | 600 | 400 |
| 5 | Sponsor | 1000 | 500 |
| 6 | Steward | 1500 | 600 |
| 7 | Benefactor | 2100 | 600 |
| 8 | Advocate | 2700 | 700 |
| 9 | Advisor | 3400 | 700 |
| 10 | Patron | 4100 | 700 |
| 11 | Mentor | 4800 | 800 |
| 12 | Luminary | 5600 | 800 |
| 13 | Executive | 6400 | 800 |
| 14 | Fellow | 7200 | 800 |
| 15 | Trustee | 8200 | ~ |
Mailing lists
Q: How do I subscribe to the mailing lists?
Answer: Use the web interface for the mailing lists, found at http://lists.beyondthesunset.org.au/listinfo.cgi
Instructions:
- Go to http://lists.beyondthesunset.org.au/listinfo.cgi
- Click the list you want to join; you should start with "Ooc.australia"
- Enter your email address and other details, and click Subscribe
Depending on the list, you may need to verify your email address and/or wait for approval; for example many of the group-specific lists only allow members who have characters in that group.
Q: How do I unsubscribe from a list?
Answer: Use the web interface for the mailing lists, found at http://lists.beyondthesunset.org.au/listinfo.cgi
Instructions:
- Go to http://lists.beyondthesunset.org.au/listinfo.cgi
- Click the list you want to leave
- At the subscribers section, at the bottom, in the second section (starting with "To unsubscribe..."), enter your email address and click "Unsubscribe or edit options"
- On the next page click Unsubscribe
- You will need to confirm by clicking the link in the email you receive
Problems and issues
Q: Is there a list of what behavior is not officially condoned by the group? If so, where?
Answer: The expected standards of behaviour for various situations are detailed in the various policies found in the Policies document.
The most important policy is the Code of Conduct, which basically requires you to be considerate of other people, especially the general public. It can be summed up in the following immortal line:
- “Be excellent to one another.”
- - Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure
There are also more specific policies for particular situations, for example the Alcohol policy only allows alchol at licensed premises and even then requires that members not become intoxicated. Other polices include Conflict Resolution, Parents and Children, Sexual Harassment and Weapon Props, which also cover expected behaviour in various circumstances.
For details see the Policies document.
Q: If I have a problem with another players actions out of character (as in you consider them offensive, in bad taste or some such thing) what should I do? If I’m meant to contact someone, who?
Answer: The club has a fairly comprehensive Conflict Resolution policy, found in the Policies document. If The First Step (see below) is unable to resolve the dispute, contact the relevant Venue Coordinator (VC), or other coordinator in the chain, as appropriate.
A brief outline of the process for conflict between members:
- The First Step in all conflicts in the Club is for the parties involved to discuss the dispute with each other (although there may be situations where this contact is inappropriate).
- One feature is the 24 Hour Rule, which when invoked is a mandatory 24-hour pause during which all parties involved in the conflict must refrain from discussing the situation with all other members, including with each other. The rule may be invoked by any member involved in the dispute, and is binding on all members involved, however frequent use indicates that The First Step is unable to resolve the conflict.
- Mediation: If the members involved in the conflict are not able to resolve the dispute amongst themselves, a neutral third party should be invited to mediate. Usually this will be the venue coordinator (VC) for the venue in which the conflict has arisen; however a mediator can be any member of the organisation who can provide a neutral perspective.
- Arbitration: To commence the formal Arbitration process, either party is to inform the appropriate Coordinator, with the details (as specified in the policy, and including why The First Step has failed). The relevant Coordinator will make a binding decision. Once the conflict reaches this stage, the details and decision are reviewed by the Deputy National Coordinator (DNC) and archived.
For more details, see the Conflict Resolution policy in the Policies document.
Props
Q: Who do I see about bringing in props for the venue? Am I even allowed to do so?
Answer: Props are managed by the Venue Coordinator (VC). Costumes and props are encouraged, but not mandatory. If you have questions or are unsure about whether a prop is acceptable, please contact the VC.
The club also has an official Weapon Props policy, found in the Policies document, that covers weapons, with one of the main requirements is that all weapons be coloured a bright/fluoro orange, as well as being safe (e.g. made of plastic, with no sharp edges). All weapon props should be submitted to the Venue Coordinator (VC) for checking.
Q: My prop was not allowed in game, can I dispute that ruling?
Answer: Under the Weapon Props policy, the Venue Coordinator (VC) (or their delegate) has the final say, at the local level, on all weapon props being utilized at Beyond the Sunset Events.
If you have a complaint about the Venue Coordinator, then the Conflict Resolution policy covers the dispute process, which starts with The First Step -- talking with the other party to resolve the matter, and is also subject to invocation of the 24 Hour Rule -- a mandatory 24-hour cessation in discussion on the subject.
In other words, there is a formal process for dispute, but it (usually) won't be allowed to interrupt the game.
Both of these are detailed in the Policies document.
Character creation and rules
Q: How much XP do I start with?
Answer (CofD): For most of the new Chronicles of Darkness (CofD) settings your main character starts with 30 XP + 1 XP per MC (Membership Class, see the section on Prestige). You can also earn 20 Beats from completing the Character Creation Document (CCD), and most venues offer additional Beats for things such as a written background page or creating a wiki page for your character. These details will be specified in the Venue Style Sheet (VSS) for the game you are playing.
All players start with at MC 0, with 0 prestige, with their free six month membership, so that means main characters start with 30 XP.
At the end of your six month free membership, when you pay to renew and upgrade to full (paid) membership (and each annual renewal after that) you will get 50 prestige, bringing you to MC 1, which will mean your main character in each venue gains 1 XP, and any new characters you create start with 31 XP.
The maximum MC is 15, so some long time members that have helped run the club with many years of service create starting characters with 45 XP.
Answer (cWoD): The classic World of Darkness (cWoD) settings documents are still being finalised. They will detail the starting XP.
Q: What are Beats?
Answer: Beats are the Experience System used within the Chronicles of Darkness System. There are Many ways to earn beats within the games you play, most are written within the Beats Document however your Local VSS (Venue Style Sheet) may have other ways to earn extra beats during Gameplay. The Conversion of Beats to XP is fairly simple. For every 5 Beats you gain 1XP to use on your character.
Q: What are approval levels?
Answer: To reflect the game world, and to manage game balance, certain elements are restricted by an approvals system. For example, at the very basic level all characters must be approved at least by the Venue Story Teller (VST) before they can be played in a game.
High statistics, rare abilities, and unusual backgrounds usually all require some level of approval. The level of approval for different items are specified in the Addenda.
The levels of approval are:
- Low Approval: Requires approval by the Venue Storyteller (VST).
- Mid Approval: Requires approval by the Domain Storyteller (DST).
- High Approval: Requires approval by the appropriate Genre Storyteller (GST).
- Top Approval: Requires approval by the National Storyteller (NST).
- Global Approval: Requires approval by the Master Storyteller (MST) plus a majority of National Storytellers.
Q: Who do I submit approvals to?
Answer: All approvals should be submitted through the relevant Venue Storyteller (VST).
For basic character approval, your character sheet and background, plus any supporting material such as the Character Development Document (CDD) should be provided to the VST.
For all other approvals, the Approvals Request form (instructions to get the form are provided on the Resources page) should be completed and also submitted to your Venue Storyteller (VST).
The VST will then pass the approval request up the chain, with comments as necessary.
These formal approvals will all be assigned an offical approval number and tracked in the approvals database. Approvals you use for your character should be listed on your character sheet, along with the approval number.
Q: What is an addenda?
Answer: The Addenda (plural, or Addendum for singular) are supplementary rules for the chronicle that provide details on which sources books are used and the rule variations that apply.
This includes the details on how much XP characters start with, as well as the approval levels for items and abilities. There is a Universal Addendum for each world setting (new World of Darkness and classic World of Darkness), plus Addenda for each genre (Awakening, Requiem, Masquerade, etc).
The Addenda is required to ensure a character is valid and fits within the game rules. (Although note that a particular Venue Style Sheet may specify additional rules.)
Q: Where can I find the current addenda?
Answer: A link to the current Addenda can be found on the Resources page.
If you can't find the Addenda, or aren't sure how it applies, contact the Venue Storyteller (VST) for your venue.
Q: What is a CCD?
Answer: The Character Development Document (CDD) is a series of questions that you can answer for your character to provide a detailed background and description. Completing the CDD will give you bonus XP that can be applied to your character, or used at character creation.
The CDD has several common sections across all games, and then several sections with game-specific questions.
Q: Where can I find the CCD?
Answer: Links to several versions of the Character Development Document (CDD) can be found on the Resources page.
Attending games
Q: Do I need a character before I come to my first game?
Answer: Some venues may have playable NPC (non-player characters) that you can use for the game. You should contact the Venue Storyteller (VST) well in advance to find out what is available.
Q: How do I play in Other Domains?
Answer: You will need to Download and Email off the Proxy Form Template to your Local Venue and Domain Storyteller and they will send that off for you. You don't even need to physically be in the other domain to play in their game! The Form can be found Here