Howdy.
So, a quick bit of history first. The author of Devil's Panties/Geebas on Parade plays SOLAR, which is an south eastern US spin-off of Nero International. Nero Alliance and Nero International split into those two games about 10 years ago. Alliance (whose board you are now posting on) used to be called Nero Alliance, but dropped the Nero name because of the bad reputation that Nero International acquired, and didn't want to be associated with that reputation. So, short story even shorter, what is represented in that comic is an offshoot of an offshoot of this game, so some things are different, though a lot of the framework is similar, since all three games (and plenty more) have roots in the original system (which was called Nero 20 years ago, before the Alliance/International split).
Anyways, since you've never played any of those systems, and only Alliance is in Oregon, you'll probably never know the difference, but now you know there is one.
So, Alliance is a nationwide collection of games that uses the same rules, treasure, and progression system. Anything you can do in one chapter, you can do in any other chapter. Once you have a character created in the Alliance system, you can go to any other Alliance game and play that same character with the same equipment, history, and skills.
Generally, there is one Alliance chapter per state. In Oregon, the Alliance chapter nearest to you is in Portland. Around 1-2 times per month the Oregon chapter holds a "Gameday." A gameday takes place on a weekend afternoon and is effectively a short mission or series of encounters that generally furthers a plotline along, provides combat and non-combat problems to deal with, and provides your character with loot and experience (which you can then use to purchase more skills for the next game).
A good analogy is Dungeons and Dragons. Each campaign sets the feeling and tone of their world (forgotten realms, ravenloft, greyhawk, etc) but they all use the same rules. Alliance chapters are the same way. Every one uses the same rules (no house rules) but each campaign's flavor is different. Most games lean towards high fantasy, but that's not necessarily the rule.
Every few months, a chapter will hold an Event. An event is a weekend long gathering of players from all over the area (players come from as far south as San Jose, CA and as far north as Bellingham, WA). Events are frequently held at large parks with cabins, bathrooms, and showers. Oregon usually uses Silver Falls Youth Camp. Main plotlines are usually dealt with, more players attend (30-60 players at an event, as opposed to 5-15 at a gameday), and there is a larger diversity of things to do and people to roleplay with. The primary focus of Alliance is the Events. In fact, some chapters don't even hold gamedays, but fortunately you are near the Oregon chapter, which does. At an event, people act as their character from Friday night to Sunday morning. You eat, sleep, and interact all weekend as the character you are playing. At a gameday, the atmosphere is a little more lax, mostly because the game only lasts 2-6 hours and there are fewer players.
Finally (I'm wrapping it up because this is a lot of general info, and your question is awfully general, so you'll have to ask more specific questions next time), Alliance is a Roleplaying game. Sure, we run around it costumes and makeup and hit each other with padded sticks, but 80% of the time you're at a game, you'll be roleplaying. There are other games for people who want to do just the combat part or just the roleplaying part, I play this one because I think it's the best mix of both.
~Matt, West Coast Variety
