Imperial institutions
Overview
One of the things that makes Empire unique as a fest role-playing game is that the events take place within the context and setting of a civilized nation. The Empire has a fully detailed government, populated solely by PCs, which acts at the events. It has a school system for teaching children, a legal system for punishing offenders, a formal military council and the power to govern is divided between five great political houses, each with their own unique character. All of these institutions offer avenues for plot.
The Senate
The Senate is primary ruling institution of the Empire - it is the Imperial Senate that creates new laws, new titles and raises armies. We have two civil servants who work in this area acting as impartial chairman of the debates and votes that take place.
The Senate presents many opportunities for plot - NPCs may want new laws passed - or old laws repealed. They may want a new title created. The Senate has many different powers and for every power they have, there are a dozen different reasons an NPC might want them to use it.
When writing plot that involves the Senate please try to avoid motions that are going to pass without anyone voting against them. An NPC could pay a Senator 5 crowns to raise a motion saying that that NPC was brilliant - but nobody is ever going to vote against that motion - why should they? So the plot is not going to create any ramifications or political fall-out of any kind. It will take longer to brief the NPC than the plot will endure in the field. Good Senate plot should present the players with controversial motions that cause political disagreement and fall-out. That is the sort of plot that will reverberate around the field.
There is also potential for us to present opportunities to the players in the Senate. This gives the players the chance to use the powers of the Senate in ways that they would not normally be able to achieve - the example used is the chance to upgrade the armour of an Imperial Army more cheaply. Like any other Senate plot - these motions need to be controversial, they need to cost the players something. We want motions that cause the players to fall to bickering amongst themselves trying to decide whether or not to take advantage of the opportunity.
An easy way to achieve this is to prejudice an opportunity and load it with problems. An opportunity to upgrade an army is interesting - but is fundamentally unlikely to cause a lot of trouble - it will pass or fail and then everyone will move on. An opportunity to upgrade a League army is more interesting - because now the League wants to take advantage of that and their enemies don't want them to get it. An opportunity to upgrade a League army - but at the cost of reducing the output of every farm in the Empire as food is diverted to pay for the new army... That will cause massive ructions if written right - now the League desperately want it - while the Marchers will be desperate to prevent it from happening.
Of course all these things need good IC explanations for the motion or the opportunity - the key point though is to understand the structural opportunities that the Senate presents.
Titles
The Senate has the ability to create titles - these are official posts with cool sounding official names. Master of the Mint, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Warden of the North, Lord of the Seven Ringtailed Lemurs. Titles can do loads of different things, the holder can receive income - or have special legal powers. Some titles called mercantile investments grant particular downtime abilities to the holder of the title, giving them an unusual economic power - e.g. the ability to turn money into herbs at a special rate.
Titles offer three good avenues for plot - some titles called sinecures are appointments for life - this is done precisely so that plot writers can come up with a cool title - then say that the person who held it is now dead - and we can throw it at the players for reassignment. Of course the reassignment may come laden with related plot opportunities - but simply putting something up for grabs will provoke plot.
The second is that you can create title opportunities - that is you can give the Senate the opportunity to create a title that is more powerful, more effective, or more efficient than it would normally be. The Senate will have to vote whether to pay the price to get the plot opportunity created - which will create more plot on the field.
The third avenue is that titles are great target hooks for plot. If you want to do a piece of plot about a troll loose in the Northern Wastes, you can throw that plot into the field with no target and someone will pick it up. That's fine, but the plot is automatically more interesting if you target the plot at the Warden of the North, the man charged with defending the North from Trolls. Have NPC civil servants go to him and explain the problem to him - because now it's his problem to deal with.
All titles can be hooks in this way - a plot about a problem with the Third Dawnish army? Aim it directly at the General of the army. A concept for a trade based plot with foreigners? Throw it at the Master of the Mint. As players create more titles - and we add them to the wiki - it will hopefully give us more hooks for plot - and more ideas for things to throw at them.
Research Projects
The Senate has the power to order historical research to be done. This exists largely because some plot teams like to create the potential for plot exposition - if you're running a piece of plot about the ancient Highborn artefact - the Ring of Atun - how will the players find out the background for this item? They can submit a research project - and - assuming you've written the results for them - they'll get your plot exposition.
In fact there are much better ways to handle this kind of plot exposition than research projects - we have an entire team of NPC bards in the game - who you could give the plot exposition to - and who could then pass it on to the players when they get the chance or get asked. You can roleplay with a bard and it's cool - you can't roleplay with a piece of paper... You can roleplay with other players about what's on it - but you can't roleplay with a piece of paper - it's inert.
There is a charge for submitting research requests which the Senate has to pay to get the research done. This charge exists to dissuade the players from flooding us with hundreds of requests. In theory if the research has been done before (because some other person asked) then there is no charge/less charge - because the work has already been done - and the answer takes less time - because the work has already been done. So... if you simply must ensure that your plot exposition gets out - and you absolutely have to use a piece of paper instead of a bard - then you can include the response to a research request with your plot - and ask for it to be tagged with a lower research cost. This will make it much more likely to happen.
Even if you don't want to do plot exposition via a research request, it is well worth thinking about what answers you will want to give if the players try and submit a historical research request anyway. If you've briefed one of the bards to know everything about Atun's Ring and you don't want to give this plot out on a piece of paper - tell the team that handle the historical research requests that if they are asked about Atun's Ring they should tell the PC asking that they can look into it if they like, but there is a known expert on the subject here in the field - that they should go and ask that Bard.
The mere existence of the option for historical research has the potential to fuck up every single plot we ever run, delaying it for an event or more while the players piss around submitting historical research requests we don't want. So be aware of this thing and how it can mess up your plot and if time is critical - take steps to prevent it doing so - by including any response to research requests as part of your plot. It's perfectly reasonable for the historical research request to be immediately told "We don't know anything about that - we know because we've been asked to look into it before and we found nothing last time". But we won't know to tell the players that unless your plot brief includes it in advance.
One positive thing to say about research requests - it would be really cool to keep a historical record - on the plot wiki - of all requests. Then, if you were looking for inspiration one day you could go rummage through the "crank file" of old research requests. Imagine if you submitted a request a year earlier looking for something and got told "no information on that sorry" - and then a year later some plot came up to you in the field and said "Hi - I'm civil servant X, I believe you were looking for information on Y - well... we've just found this..." That would be cool!
Relevant NPCs
The Speakers for the Senate are John of Meade, a Marcher character played by Harry Harrold.
The civil servant in charge of research requests is Angelo i Ceneiza a Freeborn character played by Daniel Williams.
The Military Council
The Military Council is the military body that controls the armies of the Empire and is charged with its defence. The Generals who sit on the council are appointed by the Senators, but in theory they are independent of them once appointed. Each General has sole control of a single Imperial army - they usually submit their orders together, but there is no requirement to do so. Generals are good hooks for plot - the well being of their army is their responsibility - and most are powerful and influential characters able to source resources to solve problems they are facing.
The empire is at war and this creates limitless opportunities for plot. Scouting reports can be provided to generals - or to the Military Council as a whole through the civil servants who support it. There are opportunities for battles and skirmishes that the Military Council must choose between.
You can aim opportunities at the Military Council - they have a constant need for Mithril, White Granite and Weirwood to equip their armies. Any chance to gain these materials will be seized on - but likewise you can offer them opportunities to restore armies, improve armies or build fortifications more cheaply. They may have the opportunity to create a powerful fortification or to restore a damaged or destroyed one.
If you are doing any plot with an army then it is important to get the scale right. An army is a huge thing - roughly five thousand fighting men - you can't run a plot where the army will get stronger by being given a single magic weapon.
If you are interested in doing plot with the Military Council - then it is important to read the entire section on war on the page about structural elements.
Relevant NPCs
The functionary who serves the Military Council is Pavel Gregorivitch Milyukov, a Varushkan played by Liam Spinage.
The Bourse
The Imperial Bourse is the economic centre of the Empire - it is deliberately created as a counterweight to the power of the Senate.
As a political body the Bourse is the least powerful of all the political institutions of the Empire. Rather than acting as a single cohesive body to wield powers, the Bourse is made up of individuals who each control one of the centres of production for Mithril, Weirwood, or White Granite in the Empire. This gives them the power to make themselves them very rich - and it gives them considerable political and economic power - but their only cooperative power comes from working together to create monopolistic control of these resources. Plot that concerns the economics of the Empire, of nations or of individuals is likely to be of interest to the characters in the Bourse.
Because they control the supply of vital resources, plot that is attempting to acquire those resources is likely to end up targeting bourse members. Plot that offers to provide these resources should be handled with care (see economics and you need to think carefully whether to target this plot at the Bourse or is aiming to avoid it. In fact if you are keen to run trade based plot in the Bourse (or without) then it is important to read the section on economics carefully - it is as central to the Bourse as war in Empire is to the Military Council.
The most prominent avenue for plot in the Bourse is the private auction - described below.
The Private Auction
There are actually two auctions that take place in the Bourse - the first is the economic one - the public one. In the economic auction, herbs, mana, items, resources and materials are sold to the player base for money. This works as a money sink, turning permanent money into expendable commodities that can then be used up by the players. It's core function is to balance elements of the game economics and it may be of little interest to plot.
Of much more interest to plot writers is the private auction which is only open to Bourse members. A single private auction takes place every event - the background is that employees of the Bourse scour the Empire looking for interesting items to bring to the Bourse members at Anvil for auction. That creates a great avenue for the plot team - it is direct route to bring exotic items into play - but it also means the plot team has an obligation - we need to work to create these items every event.
The auction should provide for a range of plot options. Plots that involve the collection of pieces can have one of the pieces appear in the private auction. An eternal, a foreign power or just an Imperial NPC may want to acquire an item that is due to appear in the private auction. A plot that involves an item with strange or mystical powers can begin in the auction. If we wrote the plot of Lord of the Rings in Empire - the obvious place to start it would be the players bidding for a beautiful ring in the auction.
It is important to try to avoid creating dozens of plots that all involve ancient artefacts of immeasurable power. One a year, by the entire collected plot team, is more than enough. The goal with the Bourse is to create interesting items, items with history, minor powers or a strange nature. Magical items are fine, but they are best if they have charges or need recharging. It is fair to assume that most Imperial citizens who own ancient artefacts of immeasurable power are quite happy to keep hold of them rather than sell them in the auction. The auction should ideally be for quirky, strange, interesting items.
Relevant NPCs
The functionaries who serve the Bourse are Elgar Nithenhow, an Urizen played by Dave Jones and Marta Vaskovich Kovar, a Varushkan played by Elinor Kershaw.
The Conclave
The Imperial Conclave is a political body of magicians. They meet in the Hall of Worlds, a magical demi-plane that is hard to enter if you are not a magician. The Conclave is the usual place to direct plot involving magic, the realms and the Eternals. Plot that involves magical phenomena, arcane threats, or esoteric knowledge can all be based here.
The Conclave has a complex political structure involving political parties - called orders who elect grandmasters. The Conclave's powers are considerable but focussed on issues involving and affecting magic. Voting is done by the grandmasters who expend mana to a limit set by the number who elected them.
The Conclave can declare a character to be a Sorcerer - indicating they have used magic to the detriment of the Empire. Sorcerers are forbidden to use magic and any magical resource they control is confiscated by the Conclave. They can also forbid Imperial citizens from dealing with Eternals considered to be enemies of the Empire and censor magics - rituals or magical items - if their use or manufacture would damage the Empire. These votes are also used to elect appointed officials of the Conclave, such as the Archmages and the Dean of the Lyceum (who is able to research new rituals).
All these powers bring opportunities for plot - Eternals may intrigue with Conclave Mages to attempt to change their legal standing in the Empire - or the standing of their enemies. NPCs may seek to have magics forbidden, or may be attempting to access forbidden magic. They may be striving to have a character declared a Sorcerer - or appealing to the Conclave to lift a previous judgement. NPC Imperial mages may have developed a new ritual that they are seeking Conclave approval for.
If you are interested in doing plot with the Conclave - then it is useful to read the section on magic.
Gambits
The most common business of the are gambits - these are requests for the use of the Conclave's magical resources to perform rituals or create items. The Conclave has access to a supply of mana, through mana sites operated by the Conclave and through mana raised by voting. Control of these resources is vested in the Archmages - one for each of the six realms of magic. Mages may supplicate the Archmages to provide the resources requested, if successful they are granted the resources to attempt their project.
Gambits provide a number of opportunities for plot - NPCs may be seeking to have a powerful ritual performed - or they may be seeking the magical resources of the Conclave to allow them to perform such a ritual.
Relevant NPCs
Khaytanus Everwatch of Urizen is the primary civil servant who works in the Conclave.
The Synod
The Synod is the religious heart of the Empire, every character who possesses a congregation (most characters whose primary character identity is that they are a priest will have one) is automatically a member of the Synod and able to vote there. The Synod is charged with watching over the Empire to ensure it remains spiritually pure and it has powers to veto motions passed by the Senate, to revoke individuals (removing any Imperial title they hold) and even excommunication.
The Synod serves as the highest religious authority in the Empire, determining what constitutes heresy, blasphemy, and orthodoxy. The religion of the Empire is complex and subtle with a number of different interpretations, some of which amount to outright schisms. If you are interested in creating plot that raises complex moral issues for the players then it is well worth reading about the Imperial theology. The players who are members of the Synod should welcome any plot that features complex philosophical arguments and ideas, based on the Imperial religion.
The political interactions between the Synod and the other houses are difficult to do plot with. In effect the Synod has little power other than over religion - but it has very strong powers to control and police the Senate and the Military Council (and to a lesser extent the Bourse and the Conclave, though it's powers here are much more limited). This interaction is an important part of the PvP political arena of the game - in theory it would be easy to write a group of NPCs who were agitating to have some senator removed from office - but in practice that kind of movement is very much the remit of PCs in Empire - plot is better advised to try and avoid involving themselves directly in the politics of the Empire. It's great to create plot that causes political divisions - but it's not a good idea to write plot in which NPCs take a stance against individual characters.
The other major area of plot for the Synod is the true liao visions. The Synod controls the only known supply of true liao. This powerful substance causes any human character who imbibes it to experience a vision - an experience of a past life according to Imperial theology. We have a team whose job is to create these vision experiences for the players - so that the experience is played out live. These visions are great opportunities to create an epic experience for an individual character as well as a mechanism to introduce plot elements into the game. Past life visions are discussed in detail on the page on religion.
Relevant NPCs
The civil servant in charge of Synod Judgments is Angelo i Ceneiza a Freeborn character played by Daniel Williams.
The Civil Service
The civil service are a group of NPCs who exist to try and ensure that the political processes of the Empire run as smoothly as is possible. They are strictly politically neutral, honest and fair, their role is to facilitate the game - not be the game. There are many options for antagonists who can act consciously to cause problems for the PCs, but the civil service is not one of them.
One of the key conceptual roles of the civil service is to serve as an in-character screen between the players and the underlying game mechanics - the goal being to keep the experience live as much as is possible. For example, we can't phys-rep an Imperial army - so if a general wants to know how many troops are part of his army he has two choices - he can drop out-of-character and come to GOD to ask us for the information. Or he can speak to a civil servant and ask them to obtain that information for him.
From a plot perspective, the civil service serve as an in-character narrator to set the scene for plot. Because we guarantee not to run plot with corrupt or partisan civil servants, the players know that they can trust that the briefings they receive represent the reality of their world. If you want to run a plot in which an army is affected by dysentery - the easiest way to set this plot up is to use a civil servant to provide the PC army general with a detailed IC briefing on the situation. For this reason, it is very important to avoid running plot that undermines the credibility and impartiality of the civil service. We will not allow the civil service to be used for [unreliable narrator] style plots - if you want to trick the players use a plot device that makes a good antagonist - like an eternal or a foreigner to do it.
From an out-of-character perspective, the civil service are also a critical set of eyes and ears on the ground, watching the game and trying to help the players get the most from it. If you are running a piece of plot involving the politics of the Empire or one of the five political houses, then the civil service can provide you with invaluable information before, during, and after your plot is running.
Relevant NPCs
- reference to Kate Forsters character required. Complete list of civil servants would be useful, and a work in progress version is here
The Tavern
The tavern is the largest set piece location in the game, located in the centre of the IC field. The tavern includes a number of NPCs who can help to orchestrate plot in this area.
Although the tavern does not have a political or cultural role akin to the political houses of the Empire like the Senate, it does fill a significant niche. The tavern is the most neutral and most public location on site, it is an area that any character can enter at any time. This is especially important for new players - and for anyone who is playing the game and looking for somewhere to go to become involved in what is happening at the event. An area like the Senate or the Military Council can be intimidating and off-putting, but every character is confident that they can enter the tavern.
The tavern is thus for a great area to run plot that is looking for new players, or characters that are not already confidently engaged with the game elsewhere. The NPCs who operate the tavern can be treated similarly to the civil service who run the political houses. The Empire is a world filled with darkness and danger - but the tavern in Anvil is literally populated by the greatest heroes of the Empire four times a year. It is the perfect place for people to go to seek help.
It may not be the natural home for complex political plots involving great forces that threaten the Empire, but it should not be overlooked as a location for plot, particularly given the tavern's role as the default location for players who have not yet become embroiled in the game elsewhere.
Relevant NPCs
- reference to Andy Rimmers tavern owner required.
The Academy
The Academy is where civil servants arrange tuition and instruction for those who have not yet taken their citizenship exams. Our NPCs (supported by PC volunteers), provide lessons in magic, religion, the history of the Empire and other subjects. The Academy plays a critical role, providing young players aged 5 to 15 with an introduction to roleplaying and to Empire. Once our NPCs judge them to be ready, the young players are allowed to become citizens - which in effect allows them to play a full role within the game.
Any plot writers looking at writing plot involving the children of the Empire should chat to the civil servants who run this area of the game first. Our civil servants are much more hands-on in this area of the game - they run the Academy and that requires a significant degree of organization. They are very keen to include as much plot as possible in the Academy, but it needs to fit with their organization and planning for the whole event.
Kids are a great audience for plot, they engage with a passion and lack of cynicism which is always refreshing and rewarding. Although it takes some work to imagine why foreign powers are interested in the Academy, there are many other powers, like Eternals, who have good reason to take an interest in the future of the Empire. There was a great plot in the first year of Empire, involving the ghost of a child who was too scared to be approached by adults - a natural plot for the children to become involved with.
Plots that occur within the Academy may exhibit remarkable levels of serendipity, but should avoid being unconvincingly accessible to anyone but children. If the Academy undertake a field trip - it is acceptable for the field trip to be attacked or discover some other unusual occurrence. However the plot shouldn't become all "Harry Potter", with the entire world suddenly under threat from some powerful force which can only be stopped by the action of children. Plot should respond naturally if the children choose to engage their parents or other adults. Plot in the academy should be focussed around the children who choose to attend, but not to the point that breaks immersion for children and adults playing the game. We want to involve the children as much as possible, but the end-goal is to help them become involved in the wider game, not create a separate game for them to play.
Relevant NPCs
- reference to Tom Francis, Gill Francis, Jerry and other Academy civil servants required
Further Reading
- Organization
- Writing
- Skirmish