What is Theatre of Shadows MUSH?
Theatre of Shadows MUSH is an in-development Vampire the Masquerade MUSH (online text-based roleplaying game) set in the modern nights, focusing on the Camarilla, Anarch Movement and Independent/Autarkis Kindred in an original city in Northern California. We are drawing inspiration from a number of sources, primarily the themes and stylings of Vampire the Masquerade, but also such media as The Vampire Chronicles, Dark Shadows, American Gothic, Fringe, Forever Knight, Supernatural, Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel and others. We will be endeavoring to create a world that focuses on two primary elements: gothic horror and supernatural intrigue, though these won't be the only stories to be told, not by far.

The MUSH has been slowly, but steadily approaching the end of the development cycle, and it's the perfect time to get in on the ground floor.
What is the system?
We are (currently) planning to utilize an original, easy to use system derived primarily from the new Mind’s Eye Theatre version, drawing from aspects of V20 and Laws of the Night as well. This allows for a lot of depth, and an added benefit of having everything needed to play available on the MUSH wiki (in the vein of the old Sanguinis Nobilis or LAMUSH games).

I have chosen to use this because I feel that a lot of times, the various Revised or V20 tabletop systems have some breakdown issues, especially if you get into large combats or issues where the rules become ‘mother may I’ (particularly places like Chimerstry as an example of a ‘mother may I’ in what it can do, whether you can affect someone with penalties, etc.) The system we are drawing from is well-designed and arranged for large, MUSH-style events being based in large LARP setups.
What is my goal?
Our goal with this MUSH is to give a focused, story- and plot-driven experience, with plots that range from local focus in the city, but also have interaction with and effect on the larger World of Darkness. There is also a great deal of long-term consideration for the metaplot of Vampire the Masquerade and how the players might interact with and effect that. The game will take the Vampire the Masquerade world and update it to the modern nights, using elements of Revised, V20 and original input.

Of particular note:

Gehenna has not happened (and likely not started beyond a couple of corner case events)
The Assamite Schism happened and the Schismatic Assamites are recognized as a Pillar Clan of the Camarilla, with Tegyrius as their Justicar, having Primogen in most cities.
The Gangrel split on leaving, now recognized as a Lesser Clan of the Camarilla (and in some cases, trying to regain their Pillar status), their representation on city courts with Primogen stripped long ago. About a third of the Gangrel stayed with the Camarilla, the rest leaving at Xaviar's behest.
The Week of Nightmares has not happened.
The Sabbat War has cooled down in many areas, though the most hotly-contested territory still is (NYC, for example).
The Giovanni and Followers of Set have the beginnings of a clandestine alliance in the face of an expanded Camarilla, the Loyalist Assamites under ur-Shulgi's pogrom and Sabbat attacks on the holdings of both Independent Clans throughout the world. This has not yet broken The Promise, though may do so in the future.


From an out of game perspective, we plan to offer:

Lots of character options for vampires and ghouls, including allowances for rare character types such as Lasombra Antitribu, as well as Camarilla, Anarch and Independent/Autarkis options.
A driven, plot-focused game that will allow PCs to fold into the positions of power in the city (such as Prince, Seneschal and Primogen) as the game ramps up.
A tiered play system that allows for three levels of play: heavy socio-political play with more coooperative non-consent focus, less intense political play so those who aren't super-comfortable with the deep politics can dip their toes into it, and a less intensive option for those who wish to eschew political plots and have a little bit more control of what happens to their character.
Utilization of events from the greater Masquerade timeline and allowing our players to interact with those events and potentially alter the outcomes.

Right now, the game is nearing completion; it's been a long time coming. The grid is complete, the code is nearly done barring a few outliers/things that I broke, and the NPC starting court is mostly written up. I am looking for people who are interested in getting involved in the game from the ground-up in a number of ways, especially people who are familiar with Masquerade and interested in an immersive environment. In particular, I am looking for people who are familiar with Masquerade and have an interest in helping to approve character concepts for the game, as well as those interested in being an idea bouncing board as we get closer to the opening point.

For those interested, I am sorry, but Sabbat will be limited to NPCs only. I feel that having Sabbat and Cam/Anarch/Independent in the same city is just asking for the game to suffer. C/A/I also gives us a good political base to play with, with a heavily Camarilla city, with some Anarchs moving this way after successful control of areas (like the majority of nearby Los Angeles), and Independents playing wildcard to everyone.
For those interested in unique concepts and unusual Clans or Bloodlines in play, the LARP system we are deriving from has what is called Rarity; it's essentially boiled down to 'all of your cool stuff comes from Merits, and Rarity is one of those things'. So someone could easily play a Camarilla Acknowledged Lasombra Antitribu, but it would cost them some of their 'cool factor' to do so. This is one of the things that I feel the system will do in a positive way for the MUSH.