....Links of Various Usefulness....
Okay folks, what we have here are a number of links that Eric likes and wants to share with you. Some of these are important sites, some of them are silly, and some of them are other games and things you might want to look at. So, check them out, and enjoy!
Semi-Crucial Game-Related Links
White Wolf Online. The Big Daddy of it all, these are the people who made the World of Darkness and all of the rules we're playing with. Use their catalog to order The Laws of the Night - Revised, if you don't have them already (and you can't find them at your local game shop - support your local retailers!).
Complete Strategy Gaming. These are the guys who run MonCon and ShoreCon, the conventions we run games at. Check them out to learn more about the conventions.
New York City-Related Links
I know that not everyone knows as much about New York City as I do, especially since some of our players are from New Jersey and other parts of the world. So here are a collection of site, some official, some not, that might help you get a handle on how New York City "works," so to speak. Read and enjoy, and I hope it helps!
The Official New York City Website. If you want to know about the NYPD, Parks Department, Fire Department, Office of the Mayor or other bureaucratic matters (such as an organizational chart of the City's Bureaucracy), this is the place to look. If you also want to know about some "official" history of the city, or what the nicknames of all the employees in the Parks Department are, look here as well. After all, it's the only site officially sanctioned by the city and the mayor!
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The Port Authority controls the major airports in the New York/New Jersey region, along with the World Trade Center, several New York-New Jersey ferries, and several bridges and tunnels in the area. You can learn about them at their official site, which includes history of the WTC and airports, among other goodies!
The Metropolitan Transit Authority of New York. These guys control the subways, buses, Long Island Railroad, Metro-North Railroad and all the bridges and tunnels that the Port Authority doesn't control. You can learn about their history on this, their official website - or you can also look up train schedules!
The Unofficial Subway Site. Speaking of the Subway, this site, not sanctioned by the MTA, contains all sorts of information about the subways of New York, including historical maps of the system, a pair of "dream" maps of what some people would like the subway to be like, along with information on abandoned and disused stations (for you Nosferatu out there)....
The Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. The internet home of Lincoln Center, which is the home the New York City Philharmonic, the New York State Opera, the Juliard School, The Metropolitan Opera, the New York State Theatre, the New York Public Library of the Performing Arts and many many other artistic endeavors.
The New York Public Library. Speaking of libraries, this site lists all the branches libraries and special research libraries in New York City, along with a little history (including the names of the lions outside the 42nd Street Research Library!).
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Here is the home of one of the greatest art galleries in the world (in my humble opinion). Others might think that The Guggenheim or The MOMA art better, but I think that the Met trumps them all. Okay, maybe The Brooklyn Museum of Art comes close, but that's about it.
The New York Times Online. The Gray Lady herself. Go now. Read it. After all, it is "The Paper of Record."
The Village Voice. It's been around for ages. Check it out. And hey, it's a free weekly paper - that's good, right?
The New York Press. The other major free weekly paper, it's the Voice's main competition. I actually think it's a little bit better than the Voice, but that's just my opinion - it has less smutty ads in the back, and that's a good thing, right?
Jason DeCesare's Main Page. I ran across this page recently, and liked it. It contains some random quotes about New York, along with pictures of way New York used to look like, and links to other historical New York City things. Check it out if you want, but you don't have to. I just thought it neat.
Semi-Useful Game Links That Aren't Crucial
The Camarilla. The original fan-based gaming site (and the only one approved by White Wolf), these people run a world-spanning LARP with thousands of players. Each game is connected, and there is a hierarchy and structure that prevents things from getting too out-of-hand, supposedly. I'm not a member, nor do I condone this group, but it is neat to check them out. Who knows, maybe you'll want to join.
One World By Night. Sort of the anti-Camarilla, this is also a large, world-spanning LARP with thousands of players. However, they have a different hierarchy and organization than The Camarilla does, and each GM is pretty much allowed to run his own show - I believe. Again, I'm not a member, nor do I condone them, but they are neat to check out.
Grapevine LARP Utility Program. This is a nifty little database for organizing and maintaining Mind's Eye Theatre LARP characters. It's good for all MET LARP characters, from Kindred to Kine, and I'm planning on using it for Blacklight. Just realize that it's not a character generator, by conscious design.
WolfPerfect 3.0. On the other hand, this page is designed to be a MET Kindred character generator, and it's a pretty good one too. However, it's designed to make characters strictly by the character creation rules in Laws of the Night - Revised. It doesn't work with the modified Character Creation Rules we're using for Blacklight. But still, check it out. It might be helpful.
Jason Corley's Homepage! I refer to this guy's writings alot, especially in the Miscellany section of the site. Here's his page itself, so you can look at his other semi-brilliant ideas.... (I personally like the "Exploding Dinosaur Bombs" for Mage!)
Other LARPs
These are some other LARPs that I know about that some of my friends play in. Feel free to check them out. I neither condone nor disapprove of these games....
A Covenant with Death. This is a New York City-based game run by Eric Minton, and it actually meets in New York City (how novel!). It uses a card-pull system for resolution, instead of MET rules.
JMR Associates. JMR Associates (John Rolston and Donna Bernstein) is running their New York City-based game, "The Checkmate Chronicle," at a hotel in Parsippany. They meet intermittently, and use a modified tabletop system for resolving tasks (I believe).
Captial Nights Chronicle. Also known as CapChron, this Washington DC-based game meets regularly in New Jersey. It's run by Sam Stember, and it uses a straight tabletop system for task resolution (I believe).