Bump in the Night - Popular Genres
LKH
LKH stands for Laurell K. Hamilton, whom is the author of several widely popular series and rooms with this are based off of any one or a combination of several of those series. Rooms of this nature will follow the Anita Blake Vampire Series, or the Merideth Gentry Fey Series. Many of these rooms will accept character based of both books. The Anita Blake series contais were-creatures, vampires, and humans with and without powers. The Merideth Gentry series contains Fey of both light and dark varieties. There are other creatures but you will need to discuss playing them with the room controller or their designated decision teams.
Lists each of the books in the Anita Blake series and links to a synopsis of the storyline and the main characters involved. A little quick guide reference, as it were.
Gives you a list of truisms for LKH vampires based on her series. This really is a very nice reference page for beginners as well as a nice compact refresher for intermmediate and advanced roleplayers.
A nice little reference guide to the types that can be found in LKH settings.
This gives an explanation of why LKH split the Fey into their own series as well as good descriptions about types of Fey, weaknesses, and laws regarding the Fey. There is also a list of the Fey characters from the book Bloody Bones which contains most of their info outside of the Merry Gentry series.
Offers a bit more information on this series as well as some details on Fae means of communication.
WW
WW stands for White Wolf. White Wolf is a gaming company started in 1991, they produced the World of Darkness with their own set of guidelines for character generation, powers, and growth within the game. The World of Darkness encompasses more familiar stages of play such as Vampire the Masquerade (VtM), Werewolf: the Apocolypse, and other supernatural roleplaying areas. White Wolf believes that the story is the driving force behind the characters growth as an individual. They essentially set out to take storytelling to a new height within table top roleplay games. This vision has exploded into a publishing company, LARPs (live action roleplays), and the White Wolf game studio. Like many companies that deal with table top roleplay there are many versions of the game produced over time.
WW rooms tend to require more investment in character sheets and stick to more formal developments of powers within the original game's context. You will need to check with the room leaders of any WW rooms on site to find out which version they are playing or if they are playing a combination of versions. These rooms are the most likely to utilize the dice rollers in the midst of roleplay. Again, you will need to ask the room leader how they utilize the dice or if they utilize them at all.
In WW you will encounter rooms with the masquerade, which just means that your vampires and other creatures do not display their powers or true selves where mortals may witness them. If they do there are consequences within their clans, families, and so on. A room that has no masquerade is a room where they may indeed openly display themselves and their powers in front of mortals without a council screaming for their head, though the head of their family may still slam them with consequences.
Some helpful links to understanding the world of White Wolf:
FF
FF stands for Free Form, and in general free form rooms will have a wider scope of characters they allow to co-mingle, fewer rules on power bases, and do not adhere to one author/set of books or gaming system. Free form roleplay can be overwhelming for a newcomer to this section since it is hard to figure out how to play a game that has so few rules to guide you. While on the upside these rooms generally allow for an expanded sense of creativity and interaction that you might not see in other types of roleplay environments. These rooms are definitely rooms one will want to observe in before playing in just to be sure they are suited to your level or experience and ideas of how and what you'd like to play.
BoM
The rooms featuring these icons are based on books or movies that do not fall under the LKH or Anne Rice banners. Each of these rooms will have their own unique rules and requirements for play. Some knowledge of the books and/or the films is beneficial and to that end most Room Leaders will offer synopsis or links where you may obtain at least some knowledge.