Roses and Thorns is a troupe Mind's Eye Theatre Live Action Role Playing Game (LARP) centered in York County, Pennsylvania within the World of Darkness. It runs every two weeks, and uses the legacy Mind's Eye Theatre rules.

The story describes the actions of an elite group of Kindred who step forward within the Camarilla when the previous elders flee in search of safety and stability.

We play by the rules, but we also want quality game time. This list illustrates what to expect and what we aspire to be as a troupe.

• Out of character drama sucks. Please be an adult and share your frustrations out of game. I want us to be able to communicate with one another. Sharing any sore spots gives us as a group a chance to deal with it. Not sharing just makes things suck. Please, don't make things suck.

• I trust my players. This is a great group, and I believe that everyone is here to have fun and let loose. No one is a cheater, and I don't want to have to treat you like cheaters. Don't feel like you are playing *against* the other players. Instead everyone consider yourselves to be part of a band where we show up and “riff” off one another's work. Remember there is no “winning” the LARP. Anyone who plays that way is simply a “loser”.

• Everyone is a Storyteller. Feel free to take over in my absence. If you feel comfortable, why not play that NPC for a quick scene? I plan to ask you each to step in as a Storyteller in a variety of situations such as feeding challenges and meetings with contacts and influences anyway. Take the initiative. In fights, I'll ask those not directly involved to perhaps control the bad guys to speed things up.

• Please add details. Never feel like you have to “ask permission” to include a story element that seems appropriate for your character. “Ask forgiveness” later if you happen to stomp on some story elements. Chances are good that the Storyteller and other players will be able to riff off of what you do in just about any case.

• Keep it moving. Combats against NPCs will last no more than an hour. Those arriving late to the action who want to spectate will be asked to take over an NPC “bad guy” to speed play. Those not interested in participating should stay away to minimize distractions and make sure play continues as fast as possible. After an hour, we'll determine the outcome through either a single roll based on stakes or Storyteller fiat.

• Make things awesome. For those players who like to kick some ass, I want to enable superior storytelling and cinematic action scenes against NPCs. If you can elaborate on your action beyond “I hit him” with somthing like “I feint for his head but bring my knife in a low arc to stab toward his abdomen” I'll give you an extra dice toward success. A description that includes interaction with the environment in some way should get two extra dice to succeed. Something that makes everyone stop and stare slack-jawed? Three dice, mother fuckers. I would like to appoint a player to adjudicate awesomeness at all times.

• Not everyone is interested or capable of playing during downtimes. Any downtime plots that threaten the unlife of a charater MUST be resolved during gametime, probably right at the beginning.

• Everyone can't make every game. I order to fix this, let's use episodic play. I'm going to do my best to wrap up annoying loose plot threads each and every game. If you only come once a month, or once a quarter, you should still be “in the know” and have a game with plot.

• Please tell me if you are coming. I can hand out more plot bus tickets if I know you'll be there.

• Please tell me what sucks. I hope to do regular surveys to gauge what you guys want or don't want. I'll try to keep them brief. As I said before if you have ideas, please don't hesitate to bring them. I want to know your characters' motivations.