i.
The Amount of Automated Plot Resources Required For A
Primary Campaign Site
1. Dungeon Crawl Areas - One area for each low (levels 1
to 10), low to mid (levels 8 to 20), mid to high (levels 18 to 30), and high (levels
30+) level characters in each local plot setting. These are set outside of the game environment and require that
the PCs visit the NPC Shack in order to visit them.
2. Scout Packet – Should include in-game names for
locations within the game environment as well as some information on localities
beyond the scope of the camp. This
should include the names and locations of the Dungeon Crawl areas as well as
other local points of interest. Each
location should include how it got its name as well as encounter charts for the
areas that are not found within the in-game environment.
3. Wandering Monster Table – This will be for wandering
monsters sent out by the Monster Desk.
It should include creatures found in the area of your local campaign and
should be weighted in order to make encounters with common creatures occur more
often. There should be a minimum of 20
creatures listed.
ii.
Storyline Plot
- Storyline Plot has an in-depth story that is logical and usually involves
reoccurring NPCs or villains. These lines could have several encounters
over the course of a weekend, and they should not necessarily be targeted
toward any specific character or in-game group. All players at the event
should have an opportunity to get involved in at least some aspect of the line. These
should never involve "save the world" types of plot, and should be
balanced so that the local PC population can reasonably accomplish them
without the need for outside help. It is important to remember that these
lines are more focused on the story than on the NPCs, and that the PCs should
be the heroes of the story. Spend a lot of time fleshing out the
background ideas for these types of lines, and try and leave no part of the
story unexplained, even if the PCs don't necessarily see it. The background
of the line is so important because it helps NPCs understand how
their characters should be role-played in certain situations, as well as
helping plot to deal with what to do when a PC takes the story for an
unexpected turn.
iii.
Wandering Encounter – A wandering encounter is a creature or a group of creatures that are
sent wandering into town or into another designated area of the game
environment. These encounters will
never have an impact on the main storyline of the event or any other plot,
unless designated by the Plot Team before hand. The Monster Desk runs this type of encounter from a chart or list
of local creatures provided to them by the Plot Team, and it is left up to the
creativity of the person sending it to dictate the exact situation of the
encounter. It could be a wandering band
of hungry creatures, a group of bandits laying in wait along one of the town’s
roads, a traveling merchant and his guards, some of the local Orcs scouting the
town for their Warlord, a lone rogue looking to waylay some unsuspecting dolt,
or any other similar encounter. In all
cases the encounter should be designed to last no longer than 30 to 45 minutes,
and should involve no more than 6 NPCs (oftentimes less).
iv.
Dungeon Crawl Areas – “Dungeon crawling” is when a group of PCs go out into the wilderness
for the simple pleasure of finding some lairs of bad guys and getting into a
brawl. These areas should offer little
in the way of complex role-play or storyline, and should give adventurers a
break from such activities in favor of a straight-up fight. These areas should be set up in advance so
that encounters can be run as easily and painlessly as possible. Plot Teams should set up the structure of
these areas so that the Event Staff can run them by means of random encounter,
or other similar convention. The
monsters in each Dungeon Crawl Area should be leveled to allow PCs to find the
types of encounters that they want with enough variety to keep them enjoyable.
v.
Hooked Modules
- These are small one or two encounter type of modules that are usually either
scaled to a targeted group or character, and character history plotlines fall
into this category - these should never be part of the main plot for the
weekend. These can be written for the players at large, but when this is
the case the character that is hooking the group should have information about
what the PCs can expect to face. For example, a farmer whose barn has
been captured by Orcs is a different story than a Stonegate patrol that found a
nest of nasty undead nearby. The hook should always let the PCs know what
to expect so that they can send the proper group, and the number of enemies
that are faced can be scaled if necessary. These are primarily used as
filler material that should not tie to anything involving the current storyline
plot, and any of these that are not run can be used another weekend.
vi.
Monster Desk
– This is a table in the NPC Shack that is responsible for sending out
wandering monsters and for getting creatures equipped with the appropriate
treasure, costuming, make-up, and weaponry.
This table is run by the Event Staff, or can be manned by a Plot Team
member in a pinch. It is also the
responsibility of the Monster Desk to make sure that something goes out of the
NPC Shack every 15 minutes. This can be
a hook for a module, a storyline encounter, a paper module, or any other type
of encounter. If the Plot Team has not
sent anything to the Monster Desk, and there have been no Paper Modules sent
out within the last fifteen minutes, the Monster Desk will send out a wandering
monster encounter. This encounter is to
be taken from the Event Wandering Monster Table that will be provided by each
Plot Team.
vii.
Paper Modules
- A paper module is a piece of paper that gives a brief description of a pending
encounter and that gives the PCs the option to follow up on it by bringing the
paper to the NPC Shack. These tie
to nothing significant, and should generally be quick-hit encounters that are
rewarding and very satisfying for the players involved. These are
never scaled, either up or down. As such, they should be written with the
local characters in mind so that groups of three or four could potentially run
several modules before exhausting their skills. When players become
frustrated with the event storylines (and they will, trust me), these are the
stress relief that help the players to refocus after an afternoon of senseless
bashing.
viii.
PC-Driven Plot
- If PCs come to the shack wanting to do something, we need to accommodate them
as best we can. When PCs contact us before the game, we will always run
something. This is the most important role of plot, and it requires a
fair and impartial judgment of the actions of the character(s) involved. This should not be viewed as an opportunity
to “screw” any PC or give the farm to your friends. Players should be encouraged to be pro-active instead of
reactive, and a good Plot Team welcomes the opportunity to reward the actions
of a creative PC.
i.
Storyline Plots
- 1 plus one per game day
ii.
Paper Mods -
6 per game day
iii.
Hooked Modules
- 6 per game day
iv.
Miscellaneous:
1.
The Order of Priority:
While all written plot is important in its own right, there may come a time
when you are unable to run everything that you have written. The good news is that this makes your job a
bit easier in the coming months, as most lines should be reusable at some
point. As far as written plot goes,
Storyline Plot and Paper Modules should always take priority over Hooked
Modules. You should always make your
best effort to run the entire lot of written plot that you have.
2.
Plot Shack Hours: For
overnight events, the Plot Shack is to be shut down between the hours of 4:00
am and 10:00 am. This gives the PCs,
NPCs, and Plot Team a much-needed rest and makes the waking hours more
productive. NPCs should be encouraged
to sleep during this time, and will be required to participate during other
times when they are needed by the Plot Team and/or Monster Desk. This is not negotiable.
3.
Supporting PC Skills: At
NERO Ohio and NERO West Virginia we have created a realm in which skills other
than combat have importance. These
skills should be supported fully, not torn down or belittled. Many of the Craftsman (Type) skills in our
local package require the support of a good plot team in order to make them
worthwhile. Each Plot Team member needs
to remember that the PCs are the most important people in the game – NPCs are
characters that we write up in a few minutes and have only as much importance
as the PCs give them.
When a PC casts a Dreamvision formal
magic, make it worth his or her while.
When a character comes to you with the skill Craftsman (Tracker) and
says that they are looking for tracks, let them find something. When a character with Craftsman (Biologist)
examines a set of unusual tracks pointed out to them by a tracker, let him/her
know what they are. Build into your
modules what happens when a character with Craftsman (Brewer) examines the
bottle of ale, or when the Craftsman (Engineer) inspects the stability of a
building. This is the only way that
these skills will be useful, and it will help to broaden and enrich our game
tremendously.
Combat skills
take care of themselves and do not need as much support from us, but they do
need some. When creating your own
creatures, do not make them invincible.
It’s easy to make a creature that isn’t hurt by anything, but is a
little harder to create one that is a challenge but still beatable. The number one rule is logic. “No effect” is a bad aspect of the game if it
is overused. PCs work hard for the
items and skills that they have and it is too easy for a plot team to write “no
effect from anything except wooden swords” on a card. Before making creatures and/or NPCs immune to something, try and
come up with an alternative. Threshold,
Damage Cap, and Resists are much better.
Creatures don’t need ridiculous amounts of body points to be effective,
and some of the most challenging encounters that have ever been written have
involved simple creatures such as Orcs and Trolls.
a.
Treasure Distribution: Creatures need
to have the correct amount of treasure on them. Too much or too little will get characters confused and create a
sense of cheese or disappointment, respectively. In addition, plot teams that put out production items and/or
formal magic items for characters to find when they defeat monsters undermine
the game skills of PC artisans and wizards.
WAR follows the strict guidelines of the NERO International Treasure
Distribution Policy, and will not deviate from that document.
c.
Plot Team Do’s and Don’ts: Plot Teams are all-powerful in the way
they run their game, but here are some guidelines that we will expect each to
try and follow. Some of them are
prohibited (in the “You will never…” section), while others are recommended
against.
i.
You Will Never:
1.
Hire PCs to kill/capture/loot other PCs
2.
Set up a “plot screw” in which good guy NPCs hire bad guy
PCs for a job and then tell on them, or visa versa.
3.
Decide that a player has been captured, robbed, killed, or
otherwise harmed without role-playing the encounter from the beginning.
4.
Force a player to NPC for any reason. Players can voluntarily give up the ability
to play a PC for a period of time in order to enhance a story or accomplish
part of a quest, but the player will be allowed to play another PC during this
time. In addition, Players can be
encouraged to NPC while they wait for their module (often called “double
hooking”), but cannot be forced to do so.
ii.
You Should
Never
1.
Count on the PCs to work together, figure things out on
their own, or to in general behave the way that seemingly makes the most
sense. This is true regardless of the
experience or intellect of the players’ involved, and you should always
understand that there will be unexpected turns to a story that involves the
PCs.
2.
Place the value of a reoccurring NPCs continued existence
above the fun of the PCs.
3.
Blame a lackluster event on the PCs. It is the role of the Plot Team to make
things entertaining, and if the PCs aren’t having fun, it is the team’s fault.
4.
Use roleplaying as an excuse to kill PCs. There is almost always another option.
5.
Force a PC to choose between compromising his or her
character’s ideals and taking a death.
6.
Have NPCs act as witnesses to a crime committed by a PC.
7. Assume that any given PC will behave the
way that you expect.
The Goblin Stamp Awards for authoring plot lines will be as follows:
Storyline Plot – 75 Goblin Stamps per page filled more than 50% with text
Paper Modules – 25 Goblin Stamps each
Hooked Modules – 50 Goblin Stamps
Dungeon Crawl – 350 Goblin Stamps when approved. Awards for updates as needed.
Scout Packet – 200 Goblin Stamps when approved. Awards for updates as needed.
Wandering Monster Table – 100 Goblin Stamps when approved.
Benefits – All Plot people will get into the events that they are running for free, they get NPC experience for the event, an additional Staff Blanket as defined in the NERO International Policy Book, and will also get 200 Goblin Stamps per game day of the event.
A. Volunteer Staff
Responsibilities - These people are players who wish to help out on the spot. Possible volunteer staff positions include
check-in, logistics, and plot assistance when necessary.
Benefits -
Each volunteer staff position pays 25 Goblin Stamps per game day of the event. For events longer than a weekend, Goblin
Stamp rewards will be awarded daily or when appropriate. A person can fill multiple volunteer staff
positions during the same event.
B. Event Staff
a.
Event Staff Responsibilities: Staff are to be present for check-in for
every event they are acting staff at.
Check-in for a normal weekend game will run from 6:00 PM to 9:30 PM on
Friday night. At 10:00 a Plot Person
will give a 15-minute speech to the PCs, and we will go in game at 10:30. Check-in for a one-day event will run from
10:00 AM to 11:00 AM. At 11:30 a plot
person will give a 15 minute speech to the PCs, and we will go in-game at 12
noon
These people are the event-runners. There will never be more than five
recognized Event Staff members working at any given event, and players can only
work as Event Staff at one in-game town camp.
Event Staff members are appointed and removed according to the decision
of the local Regional Director based on discussions of that player’s
peers. These five (or fewer) people are
responsible for the set-up and teardown of the camp, and event logistical
work. They are responsible for the
running of check-in, and the clean up of the camp. They are responsible for helping to get the basic event supplies
to and from the office and/or storage area, and checking the supplies for
availability and maintenance. These
people MUST NPC at their site. These
people are responsible for awarding Goblin Stamps for both work performed at
the event and the notation and validation of donations. THE MOST
IMPORTANT PARTS OF BEING EVENT STAFF ARE THE RUNNING OF CHECK-IN AND
CHECK-OUT. PLAYERS WHO ARE UNABLE TO MAKE ONE OR THE OTHER OF THESE WILL
NOT BE ABLE TO FUNCTION AS EVENT STAFF.
In addition, Event Staff will be expected
to:
§
Be on site no later than 1
hour before check-in.
§
Be the last to leave site
along with the local Regional Director.
§
Learn and understand the use
of any and all computerized equipment.
§
Award Goblin Stamps to
volunteers, but never award more Goblin Points than 100 per day to a volunteer
for any work performed at an event.
This number is the high end and should only be awarded for the most
grueling of tasks.
§
Assist the plot team by
running small modules if need be.
§ Operate the monster desk for a minimum of
four hours during the course of play.
Benefits –
Staff members will get NPC experience with a free max out, 200 Goblin Stamps
per game day, an additional Staff Blanket as defined in the NERO International
Policy Book, and they will attend the events that they staff for free.