Plot team
Overview
Independent plot teams are part of an overall strategy to try and write and run as much plot as is humanly possible for Empire. From experience we have found that large creative teams do not work well. Beyond half a dozen people, stylistic and taste differences rapidly accumulate, making it ever harder to write content that the team are happy with. In a large team the majority of ideas are stifled by an environment in which somebody is guaranteed not to like it. Large teams are also increasingly difficult to get together, so they fall back on electronic meetings, emails or forums, all of which are vastly less productive.
Plot teams provide significant advantages when writing and running plot. A team of people can cover for each other when individuals are busy or unable to make an event, but they can also cover the wide range of skills needed to write and run a piece of plot as part of the Empire plot creation process.
Although this page talks about teams, the content is equally applicable to an individual writer working by themselves.
Creative Control
One of the core goals of independent plot teams is to allow different writers to produce the kind of plot they enjoy without the need to satisfy a large committee of individuals. For Empire your plot ultimately needs the approval of Andy Rafferty and Matt Pennington to run. We will provide some editorial input - to ensure that the plot is consistent with the rules and setting and conforms to the plot style guide but beyond that, you are free to create and run your own plots without interference from other writers. We want to have as much plot as possible, and give plot writers as much freedom as possible to produce plot, but we also want to have quality-control and a definitive underlying style of plot that reflects the player-led nature of the game.
If two or more teams are working on plot based around a common element, for example the same foreign nation, then Andy and Matt will speak to both teams to ensure that the plot is consistent.
Responsibility not Ownership
We want to encourage the plot teams to take onboard one or more plot responsibilities.The idea for this is for a team to be responsible for ensuring that there is plenty of plot involving specific elements of the game or locations in the game. We want plot based in and around the tavern, the senate, the synod and other critical game locations. We want plot for young players, for politicians, for traders and for warriors. We want plot involving the barbarians, the eternals, the foreigners.
Taking responsibility for an area gives Andy and I an indication of what areas of the game you are interested in. It also gives you a little more leeway to create characters and details linked to that area. Critically it helps PD to try to ensure there is a good spread of plot across the game.
Responsibility does not imply exclusivity or ownership of a plot asset. Other teams may still write and run plot linked to a location, theme or NPC group. Obviously Matt and Andy will do everything possible to ensure that individual writing teams are aware of each others efforts if they are using the same asset in their plot, but we want all our writers to have creative freedom to create plots set anywhere in the Empire setting. Taking responsibility for an area of plot is all about taking on some of the responsibility for ensuring that we deliver the plot we have committed to provide - it's not about marking off sections of the setting as no-go areas for other writers.
A Nation cannot be a Responsibility
There are ten Nations in the Empire and these form the basis for the most basic IC political divides. We also expect that players will want to run their own events based in the Empire setting and that the nations will be the most logical basis for doing that. For both these reasons we are determined to avoid any plot team assuming responsibility for a single nation. You are welcome to take responsibility for a particular Varushkan Sovereign, or for the Trolls of Wintermark - but you cannot take responsibility for Varushka or for Wintermark.
The problem with aligning plot teams along IC and OOC divisions - like the nation structure - is that plot becomes balkanized. The consistency of the world is profoundly undermined by the notion that an individual plot is “for Wintermark players”. Plot should not respect these nation divisions, it should affect any players who come into contact with it.
Even worse, we are encouraging players to strongly identify with their nation. However we explicitly do not want plot writers to identify with a single nation. If that happens, the writers can be seduced into being concerned with the outcomes of their plot, the implications for “their” nation and have a desire to ensure that their plot is focussed on “their” players.
The result can be like having football results determined by the football fans instead of the players. The writers fall into squabbling with each other over plots that are perceived to be to the detriment of the nation they have identified themselves with. Everyone wants their team to win. Although we are encouraging the plot writing teams to create plot independently of each other, we need teams to be respectful and supportive of each other.
For all these reasons we categorically do not want plot teams to strongly identify with the area or areas of responsibility they choose. If you are a plot writer for Empire then every player in the game is one of your players - they should all be treated accordingly.
More than just Writers
A really good plot team will need to cover a lot more skills than just writing. Briefing and debriefing NPCs is a skill in itself but the best teams will also include people who are confident in sourcing costume and props. If your team wants to use an environment tent, for example to create an Eternal audience, then you will need someone to set dress it. Just wrangling NPCs can be a challenge at an event.
Don't be afraid to recruit the people you need to your team! It doesn't matter if an individual isn't a creative or a writer - what matters is that they bring talents to your team that will help you create and run your plot at events. The plot support team are here to help you at every stage in the process, but the more parts of the process that your team can cover by themselves the more independent you will be.
Further Reading
- Organization
- Writing
- Skirmish