Quests

If you want to take the players off the main field to another location, then congratulations: you have a quest!

There are several types of quest, e.g.

Outdoor Quests: You go through the Sentinel Gate and the quest takes place in a field/forest location in the quest area.

Tent Quests: You go through the Sentinel Gate to and the quest takes place in an encounter tent.

HoW Encounters / Eternal Audiences: You go through the HoW portal and the quest usually takes place in an encounter test (but might also use an outdoor quest area).

PLVs / Trouble Near Anvil: You go off field to the 'CS Offices' and into an encounter tent.

Each possible quest route has its own implications:

Getting there

Sentinel Gate

If you're using a sentinel gate conjunction, you will need to set up a conjunction through the data interface. Please consult with either the encounter tent setters or the skirmish crew that are going to be helping deliver your quest before setting the number of people who can use the conjunction - the limits are usually based on how many people can fit in a set, or how many people can be given a good fight.

You will then have to drop hints to the players to get them to go and check for the conjunction - this is called 'hooking' the quest. The players will need to know the exact location so they can use Detect Magic on the Sentinel Gate to find out when your quest is and how many people they can take.

Do not hook the quest to several groups without them knowing about each other. Please strongly avoid doing anything likely to end up with several groups turning up to the gate intending to go on the quest, only to be stymied by the gate size - no-one has any fun arguing at the gate. If you have to drop your hints to several groups of people, make sure they all know about each other well in advance of the quest time so they aren't left sorting it out at the gate. People rarely have any fun with not going on quests, so ideally attempt to tailor your quest so that the number of people who hear about it and want to go is similar to the number of people your conjunction accommodates.

Make sure someone who will be at the gate at your conjunction time - e.g. an NPC, you, a skirmish ref, a field ref - knows exactly where the conjunction is going OOC and is happy to lead the players to the relevant location. Ideally, also make sure someone who will be in radio contact at the time knows this too - in case something happens to delay or incapacitate your primary source. Remember that non-Imperials can't go through the gate - so if your hook NPC is a Herald or otherwise not an Imperial citizen, you'll need someone else to escort the players on the other side of the gate. Remember that NPCs going through the gate count towards the gate number.

Make sure that you have some kind of on-field presence making sure that either the quest happens, or we know about it well in advance if it's not happening - particularly if you have a skirmish group booked. It's no fun standing around in the woods wondering if the players will show up. The on-field NPCs like egregores, CS, bards, Darren for the Raptors etc should be your first port of call for this. It's okay to hint about quests in letters in packs, but it's a really bad idea to make that your only source of information; if you do give enough information in a pack to check a conjunction, make sure your NPC presence checks with the person who received that information to avoid the 'several groups turn up at the gate' problem.

HoW Portal

If you want to use the HoW portal to get to your quest location, you will need two things: a time and an escort.

The HoW portal isn't booked, because you usually need an IC escort to use it (so it's clear where you're going even if there's a clash) - if you want to have it just open to a location without an IC escort (in which case you'll need an OC ref there to do the escort duty) then it's polite to mention that on the timetable, but this is rare enough that there are unlikely to be clashes.

The HoW portal goes to realm pockets, not to areas of the real world. A pocket can be connected to various different areas of the real world, allowing people from different areas to meet - but everyone must go back to their previous real-world location afterwards - you can't drag someone through to a different real world location, or bring anyone from a different location back to Anvil with you.

PCs never go to the Realms themselves - the realm pockets can be connected to areas of the Realms, but actually going through into the Realms is a one-way trip into death or Herald transformation (and consequent retirement, as heralds are not appropriate PCs).

If you are using the HoW portal and the Mirror is up in the HoW, please inform whoever is operating the mirror (Dave Young will probably know who) of the time and realm of your HoW portal opening, so that it can display the relevant information for the players.

You can distribute the information about the time of the HoW portal opening however you like - for limited-numbers audiences you should have an escort NPC who can check tickets or approve or disapprove of people going through. If you are running an open portal, be aware of the limits of the space you're using on the other end and try to make sure not more than the number of people who will fit will want to go through - having to close an unescorted portal against further entrants for safety reasons will probably disappoint players.

CS Offices / Near Anvil

Occasionally you will want to take players to 'a location near Anvil' - this is mostly used for PLVs which use 'CS Offices' and a 'Gateway' located IC just off the side of the main Anvil area, but some small quests have also gone to do things in the 'CS Offices' or 'CS Storage Tents' just off the main area.

This is very easy - just have an NPC walk them off the field and to the required location - no faff required.

If you have any possibility that your players might be chased by other players, or there might be any other awkward action between the two areas, you might want to inform a field ref about what is going on so they can be around to make calls about what happens at the OC field edge.

Locations

Quest Area

You need to book a Quest Area on the Self Service Timetable - closer to each event the Skirmish Team will fill in which slots are being used and which slots are free, and announce on the Plot FB group that it's ready for booking.

Please remember to book an extra half-hour at least before your Gate time, for briefing, checking the layout, and getting people into position. If you have a large skirmish team attached (40+) you probably need an hour. Also make sure there's plenty of time at the end of your slot to get everyone out of the area leaving it clear for the next slot - if in doubt, just book an extra half hour.

There are three quest areas - 'Copse', 'Orc Camp' and 'Deep Woods'.

If you're using a Quest Area remember that there's often quite a walk between it and the Sentinel Gate, and radio / network can be patchy in the woods - please try to leave someone behind at the Gate or in radio contact who knows what's going on once you've taken the first group off to the quest area, especially if they haven't filled the conjunction and it's possible other people will try to come through late. Also, don't rely on being able to look things up in the woods - we're working on network coverage but some areas will be unable to see the database, so printouts of e.g. important item properties may well be useful.

Encounter Tent

You can book Encounter Tents on the Self-Service Timetable, but it's polite to check with the person who is listed as running the encounter tent as well - this is usually Sabrina for PLV and Dominic Rowney for the other main environment tent, and there are usually one or two others which should have a named contact on the timetable. They can help you pick an appropriate tent and time for your encounter, liase with set dressing (and combine sets with other encounters if appropriate), and generally make sure that the support for your encounter is there.

Please remember to leave ample time for setting and striking sets if you are doing a set change. Even if you are using a set in place, a half-hour buffer makes it easier to clear out any specific props / remains of the previous encounter and make sure your NPCs are briefed and in position.

You will need someone to escort people to the appropriate encounter tent, either an NPC or a ref, and to escort them back to the field - players can't be allowed to wander around the encounter tent area unescorted.

Special Considerations for PLVs

Please talk to Team PLV - Felix is probably a good point of contact - before attempting to run a PLV.

If you have an idea for one of the 'standard' PLVs administered by the CS to PCs chosen by the player base, they can help you find an appropriate visionary for your PLV and ensure it's in the right format.

If you want to run a 'rogue PLV' with True Liao that has gone / is going into play via some other vector, they can make sure your PLV and methods fit the metaphysics and work with what's been defined about the PLV process.

Booking Resources

Using Skirmish Crew

New methods for booking Skirmish Crew are still being worked out - in general, talk to the Skirmish leadership team (Faith, Chira, Rook) if you need skirmish crew for your quest and they'll sort it out.

If they need makeup, make sure you've booked a makeup slot _before_ your briefing / getting to the area time - they can't be both in the monster tent being made up and on their way to the quest area being briefed...

Using Field NPCs

If you're using field NPCs for your quest, please put the number of NPCs you need directly onto the Self-Service Timetable, as well as any details of exactly who you want; and talk to Bug about actually getting them.

As with skirmish NPCs, make sure that you've booked a makeup slot before your briefing / getting to the quest area time.