My, my, what a handsome question you have there. There are a lot of ways that the Storytellers interact with players, some of which are covered up in Section 1, but there are a few ways that we interact with you directly that we did not cover. This is also broken down into two areas: Between Games and During Game.
Between Games our interactions are limited to Downtimes, Prophecies, Summoning Requests, and our Newsletters. Outside of Newsletters these interactions are based on your input to our Forms between games.
ST provides a series of external challenges to the residents of Arthorne, colloquially called “plot.” While these storylines often cross factions, we try to make sure there is at least one “plot” running involving each of the following player factions:
Vampire
Shifter
Sorcerer
Wraith
Commoner
Additionally, ST often runs plots involving the following factions as well:
Demon
Fae
Any tagged or untagged props in your possession should be returned to their rightful owner at the end of game. If a prop’s owner cannot be located, it should be returned to ST. Notably, this includes plot-relevant tagged items sent out by ST; if your character ends game in possession of one of these items, return it to ST so you can retrieve the same item before game begins Friday the following game. If the item is not returned, ST will treat the item as having disappeared, and will not honor any associated plot or obligations.
In order to represent an outside world that feels more alive and real than the same six faces in different outfits, the ST team relies on players to play the role of Non Player Characters in “shifts.” Following our principle to Keep Action On-Screen, NPC shifts are the primary way in which we interact with the playerbase to achieve our goals. There are four general types of NPC Shift:
Casted NPC Shifts are shifts planned out by ST ahead of game with a specific goal and characters. In the weeks before game, we email players and confirm a specific “call time” during game. When that time arrives, the casted player should come to ST camp to go out on that NPC Shift
Walk-in NPC Shifts are shifts that we have available, but have not planned for a specific player or time. Players are always welcome to come down to ST camp and check if ST has walk-in shifts available; we can’t guarantee that we’ll always have something, but we usually do!
Sometimes, we’ll need a lot of NPCs at a specific time during game, usually for a Mass Combat. If that’s something you’re interested in, come by Friday before game for details!
We sometimes need a hand with various chores, such as doing laundry, organizing garb, or other odds and ends that come with running ST camp.
Come to ST camp – either at your call time, or as a walk in.
Garb down and put your character and personal items in a gray bin
Get briefed on the NPC you’ll be playing: what their goals are, what the goals of the shift are, what information the NPC knows, and the details of their NPC character sheet.
Dress up as the NPC, from ST’s supply of NPC garb and makeup.
If you have a casted shift, and there’s a personal garb item you’d like to wear for your shift, please let us know so we can work with you and try to make that happen!
Go out on the shift!
Report back to ST camp after your shift ends and your NPC goes “out of game.”
Fill out an NPC Report Form, detailing what happened to your NPC during your shift.
Filling out this form is what lets us grant you XP in reward for your shift!
Get a reward for doing the NPC shift. You can choose from the list below.
Change back into your character garb, and go back out into game!
Players receive the following rewards per NPC shift:
1 XP per shift, up to 3 XP per game
One of the following, of the player’s choice:
A scene off-screen.
An additional generic prophecy, even if you do not have any prophecy power, usually in the form of a rumor from an unnamed NPC.
If you do have the prophecy power or merit, a targeted prophecy.
A goodie-bag of in-game tags and/or coins for your character.
Downtimes represent what the Player Characters of Arthorne get up to in the time between games. They are the second most important tool in STs toolbox, but are generally used to find out what PCs care about and as a jumping off point for NPC shifts, rather than a way to advance stories on their own. If you need ST’s help in telling your character’s story, please submit downtimes so we can know and prioritize! For more information, please see our Downtime FAQ, especially for information on character eligibility.
There are three types of downtime available: Upkeeps, Messages, and Group Actions.
An Upkeep downtime is for maintaining an existing relationship with a specific NPC or NPC faction. These downtimes help the ST team identify what is important to your character, but do not result in a direct response. Note that ST expects certain character obligations, such as Fae Oaths, or Town Positions, to be reflected as an upkeep; we’d prefer if these limited resources are held by Characters that are available to interact with in-game.
Messages are the only way to send a missive to an NPC between events. Messages can be assumed to have eventually reached the intended recipient, even if you have not already established a relationship with this NPC – though note that they may choose not to respond! For this reason, Messages may only be sent by Characters played as a Primary character in the last event the player attended but not more than two games back; see the Downtime FAQ for more information about character eligibility.
A Group Action is the focus of you and other characters in the time between games. Group actions must involve a minimum of 3 PCs. Each PC can only be involved in one group action, and they must have been that player's most recently played primary character in the last two games of Shadow Accord; see the Downtime FAQ for more information about character eligibility.
All downtimes use the same form. Storyteller Desk Downtime Form.
ST is responsible for providing NPCs to play spirits or other entities summoned via our ritual system. While we do our best to accommodate all player requests, we cannot guarantee that we are able to respond to every summoning. To ensure that ST is able to provide quality responses to summonings, we require that all summonings planned for a game be registered with our Summoning Request Form. Not all summoning requests will happen; all requests are attempted based on the game schedule.
Prophecies are a tool for your characters to ask ST questions about mysteries and secrets they are interested in. Characters with a prophecy power may submit a specific prophecy request during the downtime window using our Prophecy Request Form. Prophecies are often cryptic and may not make immediate sense, but all are accurate, relevant, and meaningful. All submitted prophecies will be printed and available for pickup on Friday of game.
If you did not submit a prophecy request, but have a prophecy power, you may pick up a generic prophecy from ST camp. Additional generic prophecies are available as an NPC shift reward.
Only existing characters with a prophecy power can submit for a prophecy request. If you have a new character or just purchased a prophecy power, you can go to ST camp after check-in and request a generic prophecy.
ST will strive to keep all plot and major events happening within the gamespace of Arthorne. Though, some plots will take PCs out of town to investigate, consult with NPCs, or do any other RP that cannot be represented in the game space of Arthorne. In these situations, you can come down to ST camp to ask to do a scene “off-screen.” In these situations, you describe to an ST what your character would like to do, and that ST then tells you the result of your actions, akin to how one would do Table-top role-playing.
We generally perform these off-screen scenes as a reward for an NPC shift, which represents the time it took you to travel and do the actions you describe. If ST is not available, or NPC shifts are not available, or you do not wish to do an NPC shift, you may leave us a note, but we may not respond.
Around a week before game, ST releases Newsletters, a collection of rumors and news that foreshadows plot and events we have planned. ST releases newsletters for the following factions, which you’re encouraged to take as in-game knowledge if you belong to that faction:
Vampire
Shifter
Sorcerer
Wraith
ST also writes a Commoner Newsletter, filled with mundane news and rumors; all characters can (and should!) take information from that newsletter into game as well.
In order to represent environmental details, ST will sometimes put out Event Cards into the game space. Event Cards are folded, laminated orange cards. They begin with a Hook, a description of what the event card represents, and a list of requirements to investigate further. Event cards can be fixed to either a location or a tagged in-game prop. If any event card props are in your possession at the end of game, they should be returned to ST camp.
ST also maintains the following avenues of NPC relationships. These relationships can provide information, allies, or even direct mechanical awards if you’re able to secure and maintain them. The following are common, but not all NPC relationships a player character can cultivate:
Patronage: Where an entity (commonly but not always a spirit) provides you support, power, or items in exchange for service.
Fae Oath: Where one of the four Fae Courts provides you power, in exchange for service and restrictions on oneself.
NPC Organizations: Characters may ally themselves with NPCs representing notable organizations outside of Arthorne, or even gain positions in those organizations.
Merchants: ST sends out Merchant NPCs that will sell or barter for many different kinds of tagged items.
Any NPC relationship your character has must be maintained with, at minimum, an Upkeep Downtime.
ST is able to award the following means of character progression. ST generally grants such rewards following the narrative logic of player character achievements: you may get a ritual from a spirit that you’ve helped, a teaching from a powerful NPC you’ve done a favor for, or an item after a long and meaningful search. If there are specific rewards you think would advance your character’s story, please reach out and let us know; we can’t promise that we’ll make it happen, but we’ll definitely keep it in mind!
Magic Items
ST has the ability to create custom magic items that grant powers and abilities, including ones not normally accessible to your character.
Rituals
ST has the ability to grant your character Rituals, per the usual rules on Rituals.
Teachings
NPCs created by ST can teach your character skills and powers, per the usual rules on Teaching.
Rank/Renown
ST can grant Shifters Rank and Renown among the Spirits for their deeds.
Granted Powers
ST can, rarely, bestow or grant powers to PCs on a temporary or permanent basis. The most common ways this occurs are through a Fae Oath or by becoming a Demon Thrall
If your character sheet changes during game, such as by Dying or becoming Embraced, ST is responsible for recording these changes to your character sheet.
ST manages the game-wide lost and found; if you’ve found an item and can’t find its owner, or have stolen or otherwise acquired a tagged prop that doesn’t belong to you through in-game interaction, please come down to ST camp so the item can return anonymously to its owner. Similarly, if you can’t find a personal item or prop at game, come down to ST camp and see if it ended up with us!
If for any reason you need to take a step back from roleplaying, please feel free to come by ST camp to take a break, or play a different character for a bit.