OWBN Rare & Unique FAQ

Why do I have to go through R&U?

In a shared, global universe such as OWBN, certain types of characters have been flagged as "Rare and Unique." For one reason or another, these are characters of rare, powerful or unusual types, and require some degree of pre-approval from the OWBN Council BEFORE they can be played in a game, to help preserve the individual "coolness" of each type. It would cease to be cool and mysterious if every game had a Kiasyd, three Ravnos, one Were-Cat and a Ba'ali, after all.

Where do I Start?

As with any good character, R&Us begin with the character concept, whether or not they're PCs or NPCs. After formulating a good concept, players and/or storytellers bring the concept to their game's Council Representative. The team then should discuss the concept and decide if it's something that would enhance their game.

When and how do I contact the Coord?

At this point, the Council Representative or Storyteller should reference the R&U listings/categories and see how rare the character might be, and see what the requirements are. The listings can all be found online at www.owbn.org, in the R&U Pages, under "Process," located here. Then, that person should contact the R&U Coordinator to make certain what the particular requirements would be for that particular character*some characters, due to location, population or "combination" reasons might jump out of one level of "rarity" to another, so it's always a good idea to contact the coordinator and ask. The best way to contact the Coord is by e-mailing RUcoord@owbn.org

Who fills out the R&U Forms?

After figuring out the character concepts' category (unique, very rare, rare, unusual, noteworthy or special case), the Storyteller/Council Rep should then go fill out the appropriate "form" on the www.owbn.org website. To access the forms, STs will need the user ID and password. There's only one User ID and Password for all the owbn STs, and it's changed about once a month and emailed out to the ST list. If you aren't sure what the current ID/Password is, contact the R&U Coord.

Where are the forms, and what forms are there?

The forms are found in the "R&U Pages" area of the "Administrative" section on owbn.org. They're located under "Submission Tools," and there are five forms:

• Approval - This form is used for any character type that would require a vote of approval by Council. Most PCs will require a council vote, and this is the most often used form.

• Notification - This form is used for any character type that needs to be notified to council, but does not require a vote. Most NPCs require notification-only, and will usually use this form.

• Census Database - Some characters don't require vote or notification, but still need to be logged with the R&U coordinator. This is usually typical for incoming games, for whom a majority of their PCs will be "grandfathered in" as a part of their application process. One of these forms should be filled out for each individual character to be entered.

• 7th Personal Status - Because the situation for earning a 7th status is very different from character creation, this form contains different sections than the approval form, and is designed to help STs write up a better proposal. Use this form if you have a PC that you'd like to see earn a 7th Status.

• Resurrection - Again, because resurrections are handled very differently, this form is also designed to help STs and Council Reps write a better proposal for a resurrection. Resurrections are the most difficult type of R&U vote, and the least likely to pass, so this form should be filled out in detail, and as completely as possible.

What happens after the form is finished?

One the form is filled out and submitted, a copy of the form will be sent back automatically to the R&U Coordinator. The coordinator will then look the form over and will either "process" it, or else email the STs back with questions/suggestions/concerns/comments.

Often, the Coord will email the STs back and forth a few times to get the form as complete as possible. Once that's finished, depending on the requirement, the Coord will do one of a few different things. Characters just needing to be entered in the database will be entered, and the ST will be emailed with a note informing them that the character is in the database now. For characters needing notification, the Coord will email a copy of the finished form out to the ST, Council and Coordinator listservs. (Often, if the coordinator has no questions, notifications will just be sent as the forms are received.) Once the email appears on the ST/Council lists, the character is approved for play and will automatically be entered into the database by the coordinator.

What about votes? How does that happen?

If a character requires a council vote, once the form is finished the Coord will take the form and create a vote entry on the Council voting page. Before posting the vote, the Coord will also add a personal note to the application form, with comments on the rarity of the creature, how it relates to the current owbn census, and any personal recommendation for approval/rejection that the coordinator might offer to Council. While the coordinator CANNOT refuse to process any given character application, they can recommend that Council reject the character, for whatever reason. The coordinator does not get to vote, and Council is free to follow or dismiss the recommendation as they see fit. In the case of ties, the Coordinator does get to break the tie.

Once the vote is posted, it is handled like any other Council vote. It is left online for a week of discussion before Council can begin voting, and during the entire vote process, the Coord or the STs can have the vote edited, amended or changed as necessary. (Often this means that STs will answer or address concerns that come up during the discussion period.) After one week, the vote then gets "opened," and the Council can begin to actually cast votes.

Voting takes another week. (One week of discussion + one week of voting = two weeks total.) Once the vote is completed, the coordinator will "close" the vote and email the STs with the results. At this point, the character is now eligible for play, assuming the vote has passed. The new character will also automatically be entered into the R&U database by the Coord, as it becomes eligible.

Can I play the character while it's being voted on?

Nope. It's very important to note that a new R&U character cannot be played until it has gone through processing. This is largely for continuity reasons: if a character is allowed in-game and plays for the full 2+ weeks of processing, it can have a significant effect on local games. If the vote, for whatever reason, doesn't pass, this can cause many continuity problems, not only for your game, but for your neighbors, as well.

If I have an in-game sire, do I still need to go through R&U?

Yup. While having an in-game sire will be noted on an application and will likely help a character get passed, each character is handled individually, and must go through the same R&U processing.

Not necessarily. "Powergaming" the R&U process is never a good idea. If you've got a character that you feel is probably rare, unique, unusual, etc. you should discuss it with the Coord. The Coord can assign an R&U class to any character type not well captured in the guidelines, if there's sufficient reason.

Can I resubmit the character if the vote doesn't pass?

Probably. If there are sufficient changes, the Coord can allow STs to resubmit a character, although it's not very likely that a character that failed once will be approved on a second try.

If I disagree with the Coord's interpretations or recommendations, what can I do?

If you feel like the coordinator is being unfair or unreasonable, you can always request intervention from the Head Coordinator or one of the Assistant Head Coordinators. It's perfectly okay to do this - people can be very protective of their creative works, and there won't be hard feelings.

What happens if I just play the character without doing all this?

If you travel, or if your character's actions start affecting games outside your own, it's likely that neighboring STs will inquire to the coordinator about the character. At that point, players or STs can be issued local level or OWBN level strikes, character can be recommended for "Article Three," and other punitive actions can be taken.

Wow, this seems like a lot of work, and you've totally confused me, now. Help?

It's easier than it seems, to get an R&U passed-trust me! The forms actually make the process pretty simple and easy for most characters. If you have questions at any time, players, STs, Council Reps, and Coords can all contact the R&U Coord at RUcoord@owbn.org