Time off
Overview
All crew will receive some time-off during the event to allow them to relax and take a break. You are welcome to use use this time to play a character, but we ask all crew who are playing the game to follow the simple guidelines laid out below. These principles are designed to ensure that you can roleplay without worrying that anything you are doing might undermine the event for other participants. If you think anything you are doing is likely to be a concern, then check the issue with Matt Pennington for further guidance.
Differentiation
One of the goals is - as far as possible - to operate a standard setting of crewing guidelines across our crew. The ideal is to have the same rules for everyone. However in drawing up the rules, it is very clear that all our crew fall in to one of two categories. The first category are those crew who spend large amounts of time crewing during the event - doing very visible roles involved with managing and running the game. We have grouped these teams together in two departments, the event crew and the plot crew.
The second category are those who often do most of the work before time-in or after time-out - mostly doing roles involved with supporting the game, handling things like electrics, site set-up, and so on. This are primarily involved with the site, but it also includes the weapon check team dealing with weapon safety. We've brought these teams together under one department - the site crew. The crew working in this department are playing their character through-out the majority of time-in - as such they are playing the game just as any other player might.
To try and keep things as simple as possible - we have created a single page to cover the guidelines for crew - but please note that the final two principles do not apply if your only crew as a member of one or more of the teams in the site crew. If you are not a member of one of the teams in the plot crew or the event crew, then the last two principles on avoiding crimes and Imperial titles do not apply to you.
Hours
The amount of time-off that crew get is primarily determined by the area they are working in. Each member of crew is assigned to a team, as laid out in the crew organization - your team leader will be able to let you know what hours they will need you and what time-off you can expect.
Plot Crew
If you are a member of the plot crew then you are likely to be kept busy for most of the event - please do not anticipate that you will get more than a few hours off during time-in. As most plot crew get a chance to enjoy roleplaying many different roles throughout the event, they do not get the same options for taking time off to roleplay that other members of crew get, so you will not get long periods off to play your own character.
Event Crew
We encourage the event crew team leaders to try, as far as possible, to rota their crew, so that you are able to take regular breaks. You are encouraged to use these breaks to play a character if you want - so that you can get a chance to experience the roleplaying at the event.
Site and Safety Crew
You are very welcome to join in with other crewing activities once the site work is complete, but as site crew work flat out before and after the event, you are welcome to play most of the event if you wish to. However please do not assume you will be able to being playing as soon as the event begins, site work is often not complete until a few hours after time-in.
Basic Principles
- No spoilers
- Crewing comes first
- Check in and out with your team leader
- Support the Game
- Don’t break Imperial laws
- Don’t take on Imperial titles
No Spoilers
As a member of crew, you may well be privy to information some or all of the players do not have. It is vital that you firewall this information appropriately and do not mention it to other players at any time. Doing so spoils the event for the players and leads to accusations that damage the reputation of all the crew. We appreciate that this rule is very obvious to most people who have been crewing for any length of time, but as the most vital rule of crewing, it is important to spell it out explicitly. Spoiling the plot is more than just leaking plot details - it can includes simple things like warning players that a particular battle will be harder or that it contains a lot of a specific monster or call for example.
In fact no spoilers is so important that you should bear this mind in rule at all times. Sensitive game information that you learn while crewing should never be divulged to players - before, during or after an event.
In practice, this rule isn't really that different for players. It's bad form generally to spill important in-character information to other players unless you're in-character and roleplaying. But it's important for our crew to be responsible Empire participants and obviously you're much more likely to know important information than many players are.
Crewing Comes First
We’d like to avoid any situations where we are short on crew – we depend on everyone to be available when they are needed if they have come to Empire on a crew ticket. What we’re asking here is that you always put your responsibilities as crew first, rather than your character’s development or goals. If there is a specific IC event that you wish to attend, then we will accommodate this if we can, but ultimately if you are crewing then you are expected to be available to crew at the times you are needed. Sometimes that is going to mean that you miss out on bits of the game because we need you to help run it.
Check In/Out
Each department will manage this differently, but the basic expectation is that people will check verbally with their team leader before taking time-off. The goal is to allow team leaders to manage their teams, without having to annoy everyone with the hassle of formally signing in and out. Most event crew or plot crew will be asked to take a break of a few hours before returning to crewing; the site crew are more likely to be asked to be on call if they are needed or to check back in at a certain time.
Support the Game
- Play the brief
- Avoid comedy characters
- Don't play a stab-monkey
- Treat money and materials as if they were valuable
It is important that our crew are seen to be responsible participants in the game, many players will look at how crew play the game as an example of how it should be done. As such it is important that when you play a character, that character conforms to the brief. Obviously every character should be an individual, but don't play a Dawnish yeoman who despises the nobility - or a League citizen who wants to return to an agrarian lifestyle. Our characters should embody and personify the brief in a way that enriches and deepens the setting for everyone.
Empire is designed to be a very serious political game in which there is a large amount of PvP politics, but murder is the last resort of the truly desperate. As such we discourage players from playing comedy characters with stupid names, and also encourage them not to play stab-monkeys who just want to hang round at night and murder people. There are great games that allow for both these styles of play - they're just not something we want in Empire. Consequently it's really important for our crew to avoid both of these play-styles.
Finally, it is really important for crew who are taking in-character resources for their character to treat them as valuable. Much like a battle, the economy is a finely balanced thing - throwing money around as if it has no value damages that subtle balance in the same way that a monster taking too many hits damages the play balance of a fight. So please treat your resources as if they have real value to you. If you have money, spend it - but spend it carefully and don't flash your money around. If you have items to sell, spend some time roleplaying to extract the best price you can for them. If you don't want to be bothered haggling, don't take items to sell! You can get by perfectly adequately in Anvil with a dozen rings in your pocket for an evening's roleplay.
Don’t break Imperial laws
The Anvil setting in Empire is designed to be a law-abiding location - at least compared to most LRP settings. We work hard to encourage the majority of players that this is a game about political interaction, it's not about murdering people outside toilets or turning their tents over for their stuff. By not breaking the law, you are helping to reinforce the setting for everyone. Crew are allowed to play controversial characters, you are welcome to have a strong political agenda - provided you stay legal when pursuing your goals.
Following the laws isn't just about sticking to the setting, there are issues involving perceptions of fairness; regardless of the actual facts it is hard for players to maintain trust in the game organizers if their characters have been done over by the people running the game. There are also genuine play-balance problems, with potential issues of crew characters getting away scott-free by leaving the field and returning to crew roles for the rest of the weekend- while players struggle in vain to hunt down the thief/murderer/arsonist/conclave streaker. That creates an element of disparity between players committing crimes and crew characters committing crimes – and we need to avoid these situations.
The exception to this rule is for members of the crew who are playing full time throughout the majority of the event. Most players understand that these crew are "players" for the duration of the event, and as they are playing throughout the event they do not have the same conflict over their in-character time that other crew have.
No Imperial Titles
We very publicly promote Empire that as a player-led game. The players portray all the most important characters of the Empire, the senators, the generals, the archmages, etc. This is fundamental to the design of the game and is also one of its big selling points. If crew accept an Imperial title it undermines one of the selling points of the game and can lead to the same questions about fairness that affect in-character crimes. It is also undeniable that characters with titled positions have significant duties attached to them in the setting. Characters with an Imperial title have commitments on their time that are incompatible with the need for crew to be available when we need them.
The exception to this rule is for members of the crew who are playing full time throughout the majority of the event. Most players understand that these crew are "players" for the duration of the event, and as they are playing throughout the event they do not have the same conflict over their in-character time that other crew have.