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MOD ANNOUNCEMENTS: SEPTEMBER
OOC & ADMIN UPDATES
Notable Dates
Remember to put all plots and events on the 9:47 Calendar! This is to help everyone keep track of everything's chronological order and to give us a reference when we update the game's plot timeline to help everyone keep track of what's happened. Once your plot request is approved this should be your next stop. Please help us keep this up to date.
Rifter Application Changes
It's been a while since we made any cap adjustments—newer players may not be aware but this is something we do periodically to try to keep the character base of the game balanced and keep it from getting weighted toward any particular group. Right now, the ratio of rifters to natives is getting pretty high but we don't want to cut off rifter apps altogether, so we're going to be capping rifters at 1 per player. To allow a window for any 2nd rifter apps that are already imminent, this new cap will take effect on September 10.
All players who currently have more are of course allowed to keep them! Current characters are grandfathered in. This only applies to new apps. As with all of our app rules, we'll continue to reevaluate as needed.
We also have a new requirement for the Strengths & Weaknesses sections of incoming rifter apps. To help facilitate the nerfing process, rifter magic users (or the equivalent) will need to organize their magical abilities to separate abilities that are essentially equivalent to native Dragon Age spells (to the best of your knowledge; we're not expecting perfection), and those that are not. For those that don't have rough equivalents in native canon, we'll need you to group them into specifications with roughly the same spell limits as native specifications.
We'll be adding this to the application rules with a bit more detail about what we need, and to the Rifter application form.
Activity Reorganization
We're reworking how activity is recorded to try to streamline the process—it won't be a major change, and we're not changing anything about how much AC you need, or what counts—but over this next month we will be creating a new page for reporting AC. So for those of you who tend to post your AC early during the month (you're great thank you) please hold off on September's til we get the new page up or else you'll just have to do it again. August's AC (due asap!) should still be posted on the existing page.
We may also be doing some reorganization of game files to try to finally clean up our 6 years worth of overlapping and occasionally-contradictory information, so if you see stuff moving around or temporarily unavailable don't be alarmed!
Leadership Requirements
We're starting another new quarter, running from now til the end of November. If you play a Division Head, Project Leader, or other IC leadership role please make sure to complete the appropriate requirements in that time span. As a reminder that we can't believe it's time to mention again already, our annual holiday hiatus will begin around Thanksgiving, so please make sure not to leave all your plot requests to the end of the cycle.
And remember that collaboration to create joint plots/war table assignments is encouraged, as is tying them into on-going mod-plotlines! There's a lot to be done in the wake of this new invasion, and our hope is that war table assignments will help drive that forward between big mod plot events. So plots designed to impact the situation are more than welcome!
Riftwatch Improvements
Reminder that the initial list of Riftwatch Improvements is available here on the AC Rewards page, and a couple have already been purchased, or are close! Remember to post your reports to the rookery and then also post them here for rewards!
IC & PLOT UPDATES
Invasion Aftermath, Contd.
Prince Sebastian Vael and his force of knights, men-at-arms and Exalted March volunteers from Starkhaven and Tantervale remain based out of a fort at Eildon Hill, south of the city of Starkhaven (but still in Starkhaven territory). There is still no word about when the rest of the Exalted March, presently encamped outside Val Chevin, is expected to join him.
Tevinter's forces continue to prevent traffic in or out of the besieged city of Starkhaven. Ships attempting to pass Starkhaven in either direction will also find themselves stopped, thoroughly searched, and subjected to tolls akin to those they would once have paid to Starkhaven itself. Any vessels found carrying goods useful to the war effort—particularly arms and armor, but potentially also food, raw materials, or portable valuables—may find them confiscated on the argument that either they were bound for Tevinter's enemies, in which case they have the right to prevent that, or they were bound for Tevinter itself, in which case good news! they've arrived early. Merchants who agree that the goods were indeed bound for Tevinter will be compensated for them at a reasonable rate. The only exception to this practice is vessels from Antiva or Hasmal (or Tevinter or the Anderfels, though these are rare), which are stopped to have their papers checked and their tolls collected, but are otherwise permitted to pass unmolested.
Meanwhile, pirate attacks in the Waking Sea continue to occur more frequently than in the past, with Ostwick and Hercinia particular targets. Reports conflict, but there is talk that some ships have been recognized as belonging to pirates based out of Estwatch or Llomerryn, or even affiliated with the Felicissima Armada. Both Ostwick and Hercinia have increased their naval patrols around shipping lanes and smaller ports along the coast, and there have been several recent skirmishes between them and pirate vessels.
Mod Plot Plans
As we mentioned last month, we're currently planning to run a smaller mod event and a major mod plot in October/November. We will be putting out some IC news developments in September that everyone will be free to use as springboards for plotting, but there will be no mod event. We hope that this will be a good thing and allow you all some breathing room to run player plots, do war table assignments, and tug on any outstanding plot threads that interest you. Make sure you track or regularly check the OOC comm so you're alerted to sign-up posts for player plots, and keep an eye on reports on the rookery comm for things to follow up on.
Notes on Player Plots
The conclusion of the mod plot has left a hostile military force in the Free Marches, with one city occupied, another destroyed, and a third under siege. Coupled with the ongoing occupation of Val Chevin on the Waking Sea and an associated enemy naval presence, travel to and from Kirkwall is now more treacherous in pretty much every direction. Everyone is free to incorporate encounters with bands of enemy forces as part of their routine RP without needing to submit a player plot or get permission. For example, if you're tired of threads around Kirkwall, you can do things like:
- an open log that involves ambushing small units of Tevinter soldiers, or hitting a supply wagon
- helping to protect refugees from a newly-pillaged village, or
- going to talk to a minor NPC noble you made up yourself to drum up support.
- taking out a whole camp of enemy soldiers, or killing a general, or cutting off a key resource
- capturing more than a couple enemy soldiers, or any enemy that might be expected to have useful information, or
- going to talk to a major noble with enough resources to make a real difference or a big enough reputation to potentially sway others.
As always, remember to post a report for player plots! There's also a mechanism there for posting private reports just for mods, if your character gets up to something that they wouldn't officially report to the organization. If reports aren't submitted, it's almost impossible for us (or other players) to keep track of what all's been happening and take it into account in later plotting.
IC Leader Updates
No new appointments this month! A number of leadership roles are currently available. If you're interested, you can apply here. Applications are evaluated at the end of each month.
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