How should letters be handled?

All it does is makes sure that plot is aware of what is going on so that it can respond appropriately when players start actually getting investigative.
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That can only be a good thing. Handwriting a note gains you the secrecy from plot, but has the drawback of being more recognizable. Typing a note would give you secrecy from the players (if you pay well enough) and keep plot from going "WTFmate?" when they're trying to run some big end of the world mod.
 
A brief history of Whine,

What time period are you all referring to when you say "back then"?

For the SCA "In period" is very wide in scope... people get away with anything from 12th century to mid 17th. (though those extremes are pushing it.) Keep that in mind, as we travel through the land of make-believe into a brief history lesson...

-"Yay! history.", or "No, I am not helping.... despite what my signature says."

In China, a commoner named Pi Sheng first invented movable type during the Ch'ing-li period (1041-1048) The blocks were made of moist clay, and each bore a single character. The blocks were then fired to harden them.

Wood was considered a lousy material to use for blocks, as it stuck to the plate solution too well, and the characters would distort with use.

Movable type as a mass print device was "invented" in 1450, by Gutenberg
He started in 1436...

Then, in 1811 cylinder presses were invented, and the mechanization of the printing process began.

In service, and a total history nerd.
-Gideon
I.R.G.Y.F.
 
If you really wanna get down to it until the mid 1600S or so 80% of the civilized world couldn't read or write. Pretty much nobles, merchants and clergy.They actually kinda wanted to keep the populace ignorant in that respect, And those that could usually could only read or write in their own language., and maybe Latin, depending on the tyme period.Heck, i live in Douglas county Oregon and i bet half this podunk county can't read and write. I moved here from Arizona and thought i had arrived in Mayberry. But the country is beautiful, the people are nice, and all is good in the world.
 
Ashlan Serae said:
That can only be a good thing. Handwriting a note gains you the secrecy from plot, but has the drawback of being more recognizable. Typing a note would give you secrecy from the players (if you pay well enough) and keep plot from going "WTFmate?" when they're trying to run some big end of the world mod.
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Handwriting doesn't make it anywhere near recognizable to anyone if they are writing in another style. I know Ryan has plenty of art background and so do I. I could care less about writing by pen (and for anyone who wants to write an IG letter OOG nicely, come see me if they need an artistic hand) but feel it doesn't make sense to restrict computers printouts to the IG world. As Phil said, there are some players who just have crappy handwriting and you can't read it.

Barry
 
For that matter, (and also as Phil said) if someone wants an IG letter written IG nicely, come see my character, who's actually a scribe.

I think, if anything, after the whole debaucle you started with your printed out note, that printed letters into the IG environment SHOULD be restricted.
 
Ashlan Serae said:
For that matter, (and also as Phil said) if someone wants an IG letter written IG nicely, come see my character, who's actually a scribe.

I think, if anything, after the whole debaucle you started with your printed out note, that printed letters into the IG environment SHOULD be restricted.
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actally, it all started with the copy someone made of the IG earth guild note. It was ruled that the hand writting matched the original if I recall. At that point the general ruleing became that computer made notes were scribe notes. It didnt get much play in public, becouse most people dont try and forge notes.
This time around, the matter came up again, but it sparked off a much larger debate.
 
Ashlan Serae said:
For that matter, (and also as Phil said) if someone wants an IG letter written IG nicely, come see my character, who's actually a scribe.

I think, if anything, after the whole debaucle you started with your printed out note, that printed letters into the IG environment SHOULD be restricted.
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Right, but the debaucle, near as most can tell, was intentional. While some have said it walks a fine line with plot bashing, I'm not going to punnish anyone who comes up with a curve ball for plot, that is part of being on plot: running with the unexpected.

Staff will discuss the points made here and come up with a policy.
 
I think that in both points having plot involved really doesn't solve anything. The first one was done with plots direct involvement and there shouldn't have been a need to confirm the handwriting, as specific elements were left out of place on purpose to indicate it being a forgery (aka, the name and what not) and they knew exactly who wrote it as it was done entirely with plot's permission (it was done on their computer). Beyond saying it looked similiar to the previous handwriting, it was an obvious fake.

The second one was done IG and wasn't written on site. It was an exerpt from some riddles and poetry someone else wrote months before. It was altered by hand and certain sections were removed. Plot also knew most of where this writing came from- it was read by plot when it was initially placed. There was no intent to hide the identity of the person's handwriting with the note. IG it came from a book that was not character written at the time.

I would like to really clarify- that if plot wants to say it is not okay to write something using a computer or having a preprinted book onsite that it takes out some very interesting books that I've seen enter the game through PC hands. Some have included mystical, poetry, songs and a few others. I would much rather see all items require to be written by hand, but it doesn't clear up falsifying documents IG.

Additionally, there are no real computers to use on site. If you want to write something, it typically has to be done beforehand. I typically don't write letters on a computer for an event because it literally "chisels" them in stone and there are no ways to alter them once they've been brought to site.

>From a secondary issue-

I would love to know how either of these could be construde as "plot bashing" by anyone.

The second one created hours of intense roleplay that changed the outcome of the world. From my interpretation- plot bashing occurs when a player specifically goes out of their way to cutoff PC interaction with plot for non IG reasons or wants to destroy a specific scenario to detract from players having fun.

In all honesty- I saw some of the best roleplaying from players directly caused by a riddle written without knowledge of the event itself. I saw Diera have an emotional breakdown, Jonathan and Slice try to wrap thier heads around it, Polare and Shikar spending huge amounts of thought trying to solve it, Kauss trying to figure out whether it was legitly connected with the Strega. I saw a kitchen packed with almost the entire town trying to figure out what was happening and even confessing to things like being a thief, assassin and necromancer to the whole town. I saw an emotional level of interaction as characters tried to do what was right in a challenging situation and everyone had a slightly different idea to the very end. It didn't detract from the game... and in fact fueled it for a few hours very intensely.

If that is plot bashing... sign me up for more. The extra RP I saw that night was great and I personally think it added to the rest of the story.

If plot writes a storyline that introduces a nuclear bomb, you can reast assured that someone in the PC group will have the idea to use it in a manner that is provoking in one way or another. As Jim said, plot has to "roll with it" and realize that regardless of the 2-3 things PCs may do with a given situation, there are always hundreds of things they can do. Some of these things make perfect sense at the time and others are personal secrets of the characters that perform the actions.

Plot seemed to roll with it fairly well. There was a curve ball thrown in after a few previous decisions were made by PCs that day and it ended up being a good event. The end of the world is never an easy story to write from a plot perspective.
 
Personally, I have no issue with plot knowing everything. They are plot, afterall. Not only do they run the other people in the world that are not our characters, but they are also the random driving forces of the universe. They are fate, providence, and karma. Why not let them in on things? They are supposed to provide a fun game for us: why not let them enhance our own plot devices that we wish to contribute?
 
Johnathan Lancaster said:
Personally, I have no issue with plot knowing everything.
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I don't have anything against plot knowing instances, but in both cases that have been mentioned here... plot knew about it and it really didn't affect the outcome of either.

From a game perspective, it doesn't make sense to have a built-in plot system to keep track of scribes. There isn't any other skill that requires you to let plot know about it being used and more to the point, creating a letter isn't even a skill to be monitored (yet several people have various applicable craftsman skills that may apply).

The only skill that comes close to being monitored is ritual magic being cast. If plot wants to sit down and read something I created (I have never turned anyone down if they asked) then they can come find me or sit in on it.

This isn't the first time this stuff has been debated and it is odd that several of the national debates haven't been put into the book over the years. Precedence has been to accept printed materials ingame in every chapter I've played in... so I guess that I am just not seeing a good proposal supported by benefits that hasn't been tried previously or turned down with good reason.

Some people seem to believe plot was out of the loop on this stuff, but in reality several NPCs, marshals and plot members knew about them before and during the implementation. Trying to require that they be kept up to date on items that may create some subterfuge ingame is a tedious task and sometimes impossible to carry out at an event.

~B
 
Actually, a lot of the mind power rules (also a roleplay only thing) require notifying plot after performing them otherwise the effect "wears off." If you want them to stick around, you have to tell plot what you did/was done to you.

I tried to RP the situation in a fun manor for others. Frankly, the situation wasn't/isn't very fun for me.
 
I tried to RP the situation in a fun manor for others. Frankly, the situation wasn't/isn't very fun for me.
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Just to clarify this:

IG - everything I worked to gather for over a year got stolen in one fell swoop. Never fun for someone.

OOG - I STILL haven't received back my folder, nor was I reimbursed for the $20+ dollars in potion vial reps I purchased to rep all the unrepped potions other players had contributed.

Typed stuff takes pre-planning. I think typed things should be from scribes.
 
Ashlan Serae said:
Actually, a lot of the mind power rules (also a roleplay only thing) require notifying plot after performing them otherwise the effect "wears off." If you want them to stick around, you have to tell plot what you did/was done to you.
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Must be a race packet thing. Never saw a rule that said "If you want to roleplay, you must tell plot or it wears off". (Just double-checked pg 114 to be sure. :) )

RE: use of printers -

I have not yet heard an arguement for why players who aren't attempting to pull one over on other players should be against letting plot know that they intend to bring in pre-printed materials. The only people that should have an issue with letting plot know ahead of time that they plan to bring pre-printed materials into game (and the contents thereof) would be those who do not trust plot to handle the situation in a manner that they would find acceptable. Essentially, such players fear losing the complete OOG anonymity that printed type allows them.

As well, there have been no arguements about how letting plot know will hurt the overall experience of the game. No arguements about any possible unfair advantages letting plot know would give players. No arguements on how letting plot know will reduce the IG environment. No arguements about how letting plot know would be unsafe. No arguements about how letting plot know would hurt the game of NERO.
 
Jim said:
This is a thread to discuss handwritten letters.

Should PCs handwrite everything they use in game?

Should using printed letters equate to using a scribe?

Should you have to pay that scribe?

Should plot be able to use that scribe as a way to gather information?

Should you be able to pay more for a more discreet scribe?
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I hate to play the pessimist, but I?ve got a feeling that no matter what is decided, it?s going to be hella confusing for new people. Nothing has been more frustrating than thinking that I did something right, and then discovering that I breeched some local protocol that wasn?t ever mentioned in the rulebook.

Just my 2 cents.
 
Agreed. That's what a player's guide is for, which I suspect our hard-working staff is doing, given the shift in campaign settings, all while writing plot, prepping for events, handling player requests and complaints, watching movies, snuggling with their loved ones, playing WoW, working their jobs, and studying for finals. ;)

Not grousing, mind you. I absolutely agree that local policies should be included in the OOG section of our Player's Guide.
 
jpariury said:
Agreed. That's what a player's guide is for, which I suspect our hard-working staff is doing, given the shift in campaign settings, all while writing plot, prepping for events, handling player requests and complaints, watching movies, snuggling with their loved ones, playing WoW, working their jobs, and studying for finals. ;)
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What blasphemy is this?! Staff isn't allowed to have lives outside of NERO! Geez!
 
Im working on maps, truely I am! I swears it!
 
Better believe it

Ellie al'Basteua said:
What blasphemy is this?! Staff isn't allowed to have lives outside of NERO! Geez!
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Yes they can, but they may only date from within their social circle.
It is in this way that the mighty merit/flaw comes into being.

and if you have to ask, you'll never know.

We now return you to our runaway topic.

I have about 14 different handwriting styles, it's not that hard to teach yourself a new font.
:P

-Gid
I.R.G.Y.F.
 
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