llywelyn
Artisan
Here's a short summary of some of the changes to look for in the upcoming 2015 season (those that aren't being handled IG).
Keep in mind that, by and large, most of the things here we will be releasing more information on this weekend and over the next week, but I wanted to give an overview of what we have in store (and so you aren't overwhelmed by the barrage of posts and know what elements you're specifically interested in).
We now have a Policies and Procedures subforum. I'll be helping make sure changes in this forum get tracked and that things are kept up-to-date so that we can more easily reference local chapter policies and communicate changes.
You can also still see our 2015 Dates in a Google Calendar that I keep up-to-date with the various deadlines and links to a lot of the things that are just good to know.
Staff Updates
Over the break we've separated the PG into sections to make it easier to navigate. It should be released roughly around the New Character Day happening this weekend, with a few other sections (such as a section covering the Duchy of Rowàn) being released later in the year. We also have added an OOG "New Player Guide" to help summarize the now several-hundred-pages of Players Guide for newcomers.
We have gone through a lot of it to try and increase clarity, with a few sections getting heavy revisions or even being completely rewritten (keeping the original content and just adding clarifiers or expanding what was previously written).
There are a few more major announcements in this regard—those of you who have seen the Mages Guild Charter and Healers Guild Charter (we have these n0w) have been asking about some of them—that we will be talking more in the coming weeks. There's too much to cover in this post, so stay tuned.
Orders and Awards
One of the things that has prompted the most curiosity are matters of Orders and Awards, so I wanted to address it under a separate heading. Look for a post specifically covering these once the 415 Players Guide is released.
Treasure
One of the principles that Alliance Denver tries very hard to adhere to is making treasure make some degree of sense for the thing that it is attached to. Undead thus might have a Cariosus component or tags for weapons and armor (if they carried weapons or armor, that is), but they wouldn't actually have coins on them, because even a below average necromancer is probably going to collect any coins from their undead. This has the advantage of adding to the feel of a believable world, but has the disadvantage of meaning that you might be involved in a town battle and not get anything from it.
Borrowing (shamelessly stealing) an idea from other chapters to alleviate this, we will be implementing an alternate loot approach in the upcoming year. Please see Alternate Loot for more details.
The Library System
Another item that we borrowed from other chapters. Different libraries in Acarthia (and beyond) have expanded information in the Plot Notes. They have ratings in terms of size and quality in a variety of different subjects as well as notes on what it takes to access it (maybe you have to be friends with someone, or maybe you have to have a paid membership, or a member of the Healers Guild, or whatever). Some libraries might even be really good in some specific areas, but contain nothing but misinformation in others.
You can also now engage in an NPC stint while doing research in a smaller library in New Acarthia, which may give you an answer to something you want to know IG at that event.
Please see Libraries and Research + NPC Stints for more details.
Mod Cards
Mod cards are seeing a few updates this year and we've posted their policy publicly.
Cabin Shuffle
There have been some changes up at Sky High that we are keeping up with, as well as some general changes. You can read about the current state of things in our Cabin Pre-Registration Policy.
Logistics
Mac has put together a list of 2015 Season Logistical Notes to put all of the information you need to get started in one place.
Very few people use it, but imoriarty (who manages the preregistration form) uses a feature request system that you can sign up for and use to vote for changes in the pre-registration forms.
What makes events fun for you?
The plot team is looking for feedback so that we can better know what people are looking for in their LARPing experience.
Changelog
Keep in mind that, by and large, most of the things here we will be releasing more information on this weekend and over the next week, but I wanted to give an overview of what we have in store (and so you aren't overwhelmed by the barrage of posts and know what elements you're specifically interested in).
We now have a Policies and Procedures subforum. I'll be helping make sure changes in this forum get tracked and that things are kept up-to-date so that we can more easily reference local chapter policies and communicate changes.
You can also still see our 2015 Dates in a Google Calendar that I keep up-to-date with the various deadlines and links to a lot of the things that are just good to know.
Staff Updates
- Meirya (Dani/Shani/etc) has stepped up as our Customer Service representative. They are a great first point of contact for issues relating to customer service, including issues with the Chapter or with members of the Alliance Denver Staff. You can also always send email to plot@alliancedenver.com.
- Val has stepped up as our Head of Props & Donations. He's been incredibly helpful in getting things organized and in making sure that people get credit for their donations. He's made an important post about some of the things to look for from a props standpoint in the coming year.
- I am now Head of Rules for the chapter. If you have a rules related question, please don't hesitate to ping me. I've gotten very adept at finding ARC rulings. I will be posting clarification posts after every event to help communicate out answers to rules questions that come up during the game or between events. I will be storing links to them in the Index of Rules Clarifications.
- Tim has left the plot team to deal with issues outside of the LARP world. He will still be joining us at games as an NPC, just not in the capacity of a plot member.
- Some PNPC shuffling has occurred over the break which we'll discuss more of as time goes on. One of the most visible is that Tinker is stepping down from his post in the Merchants Guild (the player will be creating a PC), so look for some changes in the Merchants Guild building come April.
Over the break we've separated the PG into sections to make it easier to navigate. It should be released roughly around the New Character Day happening this weekend, with a few other sections (such as a section covering the Duchy of Rowàn) being released later in the year. We also have added an OOG "New Player Guide" to help summarize the now several-hundred-pages of Players Guide for newcomers.
We have gone through a lot of it to try and increase clarity, with a few sections getting heavy revisions or even being completely rewritten (keeping the original content and just adding clarifiers or expanding what was previously written).
There are a few more major announcements in this regard—those of you who have seen the Mages Guild Charter and Healers Guild Charter (we have these n0w) have been asking about some of them—that we will be talking more in the coming weeks. There's too much to cover in this post, so stay tuned.
Orders and Awards
One of the things that has prompted the most curiosity are matters of Orders and Awards, so I wanted to address it under a separate heading. Look for a post specifically covering these once the 415 Players Guide is released.
Treasure
One of the principles that Alliance Denver tries very hard to adhere to is making treasure make some degree of sense for the thing that it is attached to. Undead thus might have a Cariosus component or tags for weapons and armor (if they carried weapons or armor, that is), but they wouldn't actually have coins on them, because even a below average necromancer is probably going to collect any coins from their undead. This has the advantage of adding to the feel of a believable world, but has the disadvantage of meaning that you might be involved in a town battle and not get anything from it.
Borrowing (shamelessly stealing) an idea from other chapters to alleviate this, we will be implementing an alternate loot approach in the upcoming year. Please see Alternate Loot for more details.
The Library System
Another item that we borrowed from other chapters. Different libraries in Acarthia (and beyond) have expanded information in the Plot Notes. They have ratings in terms of size and quality in a variety of different subjects as well as notes on what it takes to access it (maybe you have to be friends with someone, or maybe you have to have a paid membership, or a member of the Healers Guild, or whatever). Some libraries might even be really good in some specific areas, but contain nothing but misinformation in others.
You can also now engage in an NPC stint while doing research in a smaller library in New Acarthia, which may give you an answer to something you want to know IG at that event.
Please see Libraries and Research + NPC Stints for more details.
Mod Cards
Mod cards are seeing a few updates this year and we've posted their policy publicly.
Cabin Shuffle
There have been some changes up at Sky High that we are keeping up with, as well as some general changes. You can read about the current state of things in our Cabin Pre-Registration Policy.
Logistics
Mac has put together a list of 2015 Season Logistical Notes to put all of the information you need to get started in one place.
Very few people use it, but imoriarty (who manages the preregistration form) uses a feature request system that you can sign up for and use to vote for changes in the pre-registration forms.
What makes events fun for you?
The plot team is looking for feedback so that we can better know what people are looking for in their LARPing experience.
Changelog
- 2 April 2015: Initial Posting
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