Grouping and the Dilemma

Mobeus

Artisan
Hey guys,

Last night I was having an absolutely riveting conversation about Grouping, the pros and the cons. I want to share some of those insights and see what people in general feel about the way grouping is working, isn't working, or could work.

Group Symbols/Colours

People in a group often wear symbols or colours or other things in order to recognize being part of said group, this is wonderful, it's easy to see who is working together, it brings cohesion easily, and at the end of the day there is no doubt what people you will be doing your adventuring with. Some of the major drawbacks are, your whole group is responsible directly for actions taken by any member. You can have 5 Saintly Honourable characters and 1 intensely evil Jerk... which one of them is going to represent the group most? Clearly the person causing the most problems for other people. If you are a member of a group you should be mindful of the people you are with, it's your groups reputation that will cause In Character things to be both bestowed on them and punished for. You want a cohesive group try to be on the same page... yeah people make mistakes.. but when individuals are not making a mistake, "This is the way my character is" for example.. they are definitely not what your group represents and I would consider changing up.

Group Loot

Looting in groups is amazingly simple, you have a clear understanding of the needs of your group (Which are consistent and wonderful because you easily can see a balance due to THE group being stronger thus I AM Stronger). This can become a problem if in major fighting scenarios where the entire chapter is involved, and one group snags the entire treasure for the whole area. I get the desire for more treasure or even the very reasonable "We are the ones who earned it because we did it alone." Something to grasp though, you are a cohesive group, you have worked together being awesome for a long time, and other people are really going to have a hard time catching up if there is no items for them to take. Granted some people are useless in a fight... have Mobeus face a creature of Anti-Magic and I might as well just walk away... but I should be using my power to aid those that can do something... maybe fight lesser creatures to keep them off the characters doing damage. Does my inability make me unworthy of treasure? A good question, one for you to solve in game for yourself, and whatever choice you make, you got to live by it. I know personally I would be a little bothered if I wasn't at all considered for some compensation for my aid, and then whenever I see the group that "won" the fight, I might not help them as much, and where would that slowly lead our chapter.. distrust, fear, anger.. these are not terms I want associated with Alliance.. there are other LARP groups who focus on such things in a much more powerful and immersive way.

Exclusivity

The exclusive nature of hand picking an amazing group really benefits a group, and in a way their cohesiveness benefits a chapter greatly by our ability to take down even greater and greater threats. Once you have a formally established group though, where does it leave the lesser skilled, the new, the inexperienced, or the unwanted? I pay money to be in this game, just as much as any one else who is a player, I put a lot of effort forth to making the experience good for everyone not just myself, but I cannot hold anyone to that standard. It's your game, your character, and you should be entitled to play it how you want. I would love for you all to consider, not everyone that enters game is going to be any good at swinging a Sword, memorizing spells, or speaking well. In fact some people do none of the above, some people have to come out and have the passion to WANT to try this scenario, want to be heroes, but they need guidance and help. If we only stick with our groups, we do a grave disservice to people we could mentor and aid. If we limit our interactions with people based on their out of game skill or personality, we are doing ourselves the greater harm. If we base our decisions in game based on the person they are out of game (Good OR Bad) that also is bad. I am very guilty of giving In Character people the benefit of the doubt due to my Out of Character feelings of them, I have let SO many minor crimes go because I would rather people enjoy themselves in game then be punished. I am going to be clear though, I am working on this too.. if you act a terrible way in character, based only on your characters action and reputation, I will punish you to the full extent, even if you are my best friend.

Some Options for Better Involvement

Considering some of the groups already formed, they are pretty stacked in specific ways. How useful is a group of 6 Celestial Scholars versus something resistant to all Magic and takes double damage from silver? Goodness I don't know many Scholars with Silvered Staves or Daggers, it seems like a rough go. How would this situation be better resolved? I think the Guilds in our game should be petitioned for loaning out our members on adventures. For example, if Adventurer Glenn was given an ancient treasure map, but he himself was poor and couldn't afford good mercenaries, and not very charismatic, he would go to the Home Guard and ask the Sergeant "I would like to hire a Home Guard for my Quest, I would pay him 1/6th of the treasures found." and the Home Guard would bring it up to their people "We have been petitioned to help, any volunteers?" (If none are found a Sgt can assign as needed) "The individual will be tithed 5% of findings, and keep whatever else you have". This could happen with the Earth Weavers and the Celestial, etc, until a decent 6 person party is formed. This would create a cohesive Guild Based protocol, that is inclusive to all people. Creating a Mix of People who don't normally work together.

Mentoring

Even if you are in a group or not, you can mentor a new person, teaching them some of the ropes, standing back while they take out that crazy Badger whom you could kill in one swing. Maybe even reward them with items, training, or money for deeds that are noble, or help your character advance. Taking someone under your wing does not mean you need to drag them in all of your group mods, but it could open the door for them to be in your group when one of your bites the dust. Our chapter will only ever be as strong as our weakest characters, stem the tide by making them the best characters they can be, give them an experience and grow from it yourself as well. I have given out so many items to people I think were doing amazing things, or were overlooked, and I think that means a lot, so I'd recommend passing it on.

Switching it up

Leaders of groups should be willing (or necessitated) to switch out their members given a circumstance. A healthy balance of legerdemain, roleplay skills, fighting skills, magic skills, should try to be incorporated where one particular skill doesn't completely overshadow others. The daunting question is "If we dont have that skill and go into a mod should we just Fail then" tricky question... the chance to fail mods because you aren't prepared should be a major factor. It isn't always the case though, people can "Barbarian" their way through Traps and just get a bunch of healing. I do feel that does do a discredit to people who are really good at legerdemain. So how do we resolve that?

Make Skills Valuable by Relating it to Treasure Found

Simple way I've seen it done, set up dungeons with skill based treasure finds for the group. You need an Earth Caster to purify a chest to open it, thus getting the treasure inside.. you need Scholar to use a type of magic written in Elemental on a stone door in order to go that way.. you need a person with legerdemain to open a chest, if they don't the contents explode too.. you need a person with physical prowess to beat a stationary monster who's immune to magic and has threshold 5, to get to a chamber with a few items... I know it seems like an intense amount of work, but none of these situations should be dependant on finishing the mod itself... only to have access to the greatest amount of treasure. (That's the real incentive)

Anyways I know this is somewhat of a longer essay post, and not all of it may be reasonable to do or even desired, but hopefully this speaks to someone..

Cheers,
 
I like these ideas very much. Good job and definitely its something ill remember once I come in as a PC.
Thanks Aaron
 
All very good points. I have to say that my first weekend I got the distinct feeling that there were 'cliques'. Not intended, I know, but some established groups definitely stuck to themselves, giving a standoffish appearance, even from one group to the next. From an outsider's perspective it looked very...unfriendly? That sounds harsher than I mean but I'm not sure what word to use. I've since learned that it's not entirely the case as I get to know the game, the people and the ig politics better, even so it'd be great to see more cross-group cooperation as well as inclusion of people who don't belong to a group, if only for the sake that the more people we have that feel like a part of things, that feel included and enthusiastic, the better the game experience for all. Not just in the mechanics and hack and slash and treasure but the rp as a character who feels involved is going to be more emotionally and creatively invested into by the player.
 
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