Player Packs- GOD

Set up

Packing weekend has hopefully happened, at which the majority of packs – for bookings made in advance – will have been prepared. These packs will have been arranged, in order of PID, in folding crates, to form the Matrix.

(If it hasn't, as it hadn't for 2022 E1, there is lots more for us to do… but it's all the same basic jobs as described in the rest of this chapter, plus an extra two thousand or so of making up.

• A list of pack corrections will have been provided via a webform and printed out and hopefully attached to a clipboard. Cross them out as you do them so we don’t duplicate effort.
• Some players will have provided proof that they’re entitled to a concession between packing weekend and arrival in the field. Graeme or Matt P will likely have provided the list of relevant PIDs, hopefully via the webform. Go through the Matrix, identify the relevant envelopes, scribble out “Confirm Concession” on the front of them, and replace them in the Matrix. Also cross the PIDs off the list of packs to pull to put in the Concessions crate.
• Concessions that still need to be confirmed need separating out from the Matrix into their own crate(s). Keep them in numerical order by PID! These want to end up living to the left end of the front desk. There should be a printed out list of PIDs to separate.
• Crew packs need separating out from the main Matrix into their own crate(s), kept in numerical order by PID, and moved to the right end of the front desk.
  • Some crew packs will need to go into individual departmental boxes – see the departmental lists (which should be printed out).
  • The rest will want separating into crates to get handed out from GOD, and there’s a list for those, too.
• Plot will need to go into envelopes as it arrives. We’ll get printouts and lists of packs, and will need to go through the Matrix stuffing things into envelopes.

We are also likely to need to make up packs for players who booked after packing weekend took place, or to remove and replace packs for players who changed which character they intend to play after packing weekend.

Making packs up

Over the course of the event, we’ll need to make up new packs for players, whether they booked after packing weekend or after characters die in the big battles on Saturday and Sunday mornings. A player pack consists of an envelope, a passport, and some number of resources. The front of the envelope is printed with a list of items the envelope should contain.

1. The passport and the envelope should come off the printer fairly close together. Fold up the passport (if A4) and place it in the envelope.
2. Add coins to the pack to the given value, according to the listed denominations (see Currency for help).
3. Add materials, card resources, and Bourse resources in the stated quantities.
4. Some packs will contain items that are listed as a five-digit number followed by a brief description. These are unique ID numbers for Ribbons. Check whether the ribbon in question has already been printed out, by looking through the great big board of ribbons. If not, print it, and add it to the pack.
5. Put the pack wherever the pack needs to go, probably either directly into the player’s hands, or into the box for players who are going to come back to pick items up later.

Hand-out (including Proxies)

1. A player will get to the front of the queue. Ask them their PID.
2. If they don’t know their PID, ask them if they have their ticket; everyone should have a ticket, either printed or on their phone, which has their PID on it. (Sometimes the ticket will show a PID of null; you'll need to look these up — see below.)
3. If they still don’t have their PID, to speak to somebody at a computer, or someone with a clipboard of names and PIDs if one exists, and then come back to the pack handout queue.
4. Find their pack.
5. Ask them to confirm their name – either of their player/wallet name or character name is fine!
6. Check this matches the name listed on the outside of their pack. If so, hand over their pack!
7. Circle back to the head of the queue and repeat.

Some players will have proxies registered in the system. If this is the case, their pack will have the PIDs of their proxies printed on the envelope. If someone comes to pick up a pack for another player, first ask if they are registered as a proxy.

If they say yes:

1. If they say yes, ask for the PID of the player whose pack they are collecting.
2. Find the pack, as above.
3. Ask for the PID of the player who is collecting the pack. Check that it is printed on the envelope as a registered proxy.
4. Confirm the name of the player whose pack is being collected.
5. Hand over the pack, and ask if the player needs to collect any other packs. :)

If they say no, they are not registered as a proxy:

1. Explain about the proxy system: between events, the player who wants to nominate a proxy should e-mail admin@profounddecisions.co.uk with their PID and the PIDs of any proxies they want to set up.
2. Ask what their relationship to the player whose pack they wish to collect is:
   • If they have the other person’s ticket – either on a print-out or on a phone or similar – we can take that as proof that they’re allowed the pack, so hand it out.
   • If they are a parent, this should be recorded in the computer system. Double-check, or get someone else to, and then hand over the pack. (TODO: Write up and link to how.)
   • Otherwise, explain that you will need to see proof that they have the other player’s permission to collect their pack on their behalf, e.g. photo ID of or a note from the other player. (This is to avoid theft of in-game resources, which would otherwise be very easy!)
   • If you’re at all unsure, escalate to a head of department.

Missing Packs

Despite everyone’s best efforts, packs sometimes wind up in the wrong place. It is actually pretty rare for them to just not get printed at all, though, so there’s several things to check first. This process can also be found on the back of the query slips:

Query slip (back)

1. Ask whether the player is crew or a concession. If yes, check those matrices.
   • Depending on which crew team they are, their pack might have gone to their team leader/Head of Department already, so they’ll need to go check there. There will normally be someone specifically handling the crew desk, who should have a list.
2. Ask whether the player was asked to come back later. If yes, check the query slips boxes to see if there’s a query slip tracking this already.
3. Numbers are tricksy and packs hide. Get someone else to double-check the PID with the player, confirm it’s the number you looked for, and look for that number.
4. Even if the player isn’t crew or a concession, check those matrices.
5. Check whether the player has got their PID correct by looking them up on the computer system (If they haven't, repeat from step 1!)
6. If the player’s PID was correct and you still can’t find their pack, it’s time to start checking whether they were actually booked
7. If they seem to be booked and there’s no pack, write their details down on a query slip and – depending on the queues – either ask them to come back later or get them to wait while a head of department investigates further.

Common pack problems

There are a bunch of common problems with character packs:

• Missing artisan items
• Others TBD

Break Down

At some point, we start assuming that any packs that haven’t been collected yet aren’t going to be, and begin breaking them back down. This is a task that involves working with computers, so technically belongs in Online Processes but involves packs and makes more sense here.

Typically this happens once we get to a lull on Saturday morning; we don’t want to do it earlier, as we’d rather have players take their packs away than have to break them down, but we also want to get the job done when we have a suitable quiet period, and ideally in time to let Plot know about things they need to re-plan because plot hooks haven’t been delivered.

As part of this, if any character packs have been delivered to other crew departments, someone with a radio should get in touch with the heads of those departments to get any uncollected packs back from them.

Once you’re logged in to the website and you’ve clicked “Crew” from the home page:

1. Click “Character” in the tabs across the top of the screen.
2. In the CID search box, enter the PID from the top right of the player pack you are working on, and press Tab or Enter. (You don’t need to enter the full CID!)
3. Click “Inventory” from the tabs underneath the character name.
4. Click “Not Collected” from the buttons down the right-hand side of the screen.
5. Click “Confirm” on the pop-up that appears.
6. Dump the resources into your big crate of for someone else (possibly your future self!) to sort.
7. If there are any plot documents or arcane projections in the envelope, note the PID (if it isn’t printed on the documents already), and pass to a head of department.
   • Arcane Projections will get filed to deliver at a future event.
   • Plot documents get handed to someone in the Plot department; they can then decide if they need to re-write some of their plots on the fly to account for some of the documents not having been delivered.
8. Click “Save”.
9. Repeat from Step 2 with the next pack.

Resource Hand-in

GOD is not a bank.

In general, players are encouraged to keep hold of their resources, for two reasons. The first is that this makes more opportunity for game play: it increases the chances for in-game loss or theft, and the consequences of same. The second is it means we don’t have to count everything in, find the space to store stuff, then count everything out again.

This also means that in general players are discouraged from handing resources in at GOD, with two main exceptions:

1. They want to use the resource immediately: for example, they want to deposit three Iridescent Gloaming so that they can perform a specific ritual or
2. They want to use the resources during downtime, to create items or perform actions.

In the first case, the player should be directed to the queue for computer-based queries.

In the second case, hand-in of resources for use over downtime isn’t accepted before Sunday, unless the player is leaving site before Sunday. Players should be given a hand-in slip and a plastic bag, told to deposit only the resources they actually want to use, and asked to fill out the form, then return to deposit their bag and completed hand-in slip.

Processing Hand-in bags

Properly, this section belongs in Online Processes, but alas it makes more sense to put it here, so here it is.

Once you’re logged in to the website and you’ve clicked “Crew” from the home page:

1. Click “GOD”. You will land on the “Book-in Baggy” page.
2. Enter the PID in the CID box, and press Tab or Enter. (You don’t have to actually bother with the full CID!) The correct event should automatically be selected in the dropdown box.
   • If the PID doesn’t match the name, you’ll have to look it up.
3. Check that the quantity of each resource in the baggy matches the quantity written on the slip, and enter the quantity into the relevant field on the computer.
4. If there is a discrepancy between the hand-in slip and the contents of the baggy, call someone else over to double-count. Amend the slip as necessary, and initial the amendments to make it clear that you’re the one who made them.
5. If there is anything else odd (e.g. ribbons, herbs) in the bag, keep it separate and flag with a head of department.
6. Dump the resources into your in-crate for someone else to take away and sort as you go.
7. Save the Book-in Baggy form.
8. DO NOT click “Confirm” until you have copied the reference number into the field on the hand-in slip.
9. Ideally, keep the slips in order by PID.
10. Repeat from step 2 with the next baggy.

When you finish processing hand-in baggies, hand over the pile of slips to one of the heads of department. Let them know if the slips aren’t in order by PID.

ⓘHint: It's often easiest to collect completed hand-in slips together in a hand-in baggie you've already finished.