Anvil ref processes

This page contains guidance information for a number of processes typically encountered by Anvil refs. It does not cover specific rituals that require unusual handling, as that is a fairly extensive topic by itself, and has a separate page here.

For ease of finding what you need, and avoiding overwhelming amounts of text, each section on this page starts out collapsed and can be individually expanded and collapsed.

Generating S&P/Visions Packets

• On the database, under the Plot menu, Schedule sub-menu:
  • Select "Rituals" in Summary (the upper left dropdown box)
  • Select Sign And Portents in Ritual (2nd row of dropdown boxes, 3rd from right)
  • Press the "Print Signs" button - this will generate a PDF of the visions in a random order
    • Note that it is helpful for each pack of visions to be in a (different) random order, to make it more likely that each individual vision gets issued at least once
  • Send the document to a printer
    • Generally the printer in the Ref Access Tent should be used, but the GOD printers can also be used if needed or more convenient
    • The document is formatted to use A5 pages - if possible, set the page size as A5 and load the printer with A5 paper
  • To print additional packs, refresh the page (to reset the random order) and repeat from the Press the "Print Signs" button step

Pop-up Box on Rituals

• When you process a ritual there is a green information box that pops up with stuff about roleplaying effects etc. and anything additional you need to do as a ref
• Remember to read this after processing a ritual, even if you have processed it before, This is because:
  • Ritual effects change, people forget things, and humans make mistakes. This helps limit the impact of that.
  • Rich has the access rights needed to edit ritual information, and usually tries to update these reminders about event-specific effects where relevant (but note that obviously this info appears after you have processed the ritual)

Recording database notes

There are 2 types of note you can record, “User” or “Ref”, each with different uses and visibility

• User notes are:
  • Visible to anyone with crew database access
  • Typically entered on records for something that exists In Character (e.g. item, ritual, character etc.)
  • Usually used to provide additional information, not otherwise captured in standard database fields
• Ref notes are:
  • Visible only to those with specific access rights
  • Typically entered on player records
  • Usually used to record referee write-ups of individuals and incidents

When you enter a note on the “Notes” tab of any record, there is a dropdown box labelled “Type” – this defaults to “User Note”; if you need it to be recorded as a Ref Note instead then make sure you select this in the dropdown. Some processes (e.g rituals, item bondings, and ceremonies) have a “Notes” field on the processing page - these are stored separately to the “Notes” tab, and do not have a type. For practical purposes they have the same visibility as User Notes.

User Notes are visible to anyone with access to the record that they are on. They are used for providing additional information that may be required, but for which there is no standard database field – e.g. if the performance of a ritual has taken an event-specific plot opportunity; or on a potion record, where the potion says “see ref”, to tell you what to do when the player comes to see you. They are typically made in relation to something (or someone) who exists in game - ribboned items, potions, traumatic wounds, characters etc.

Ref Notes are only visible to those with specific access rights – this includes anyone with a crew ref role, plus certain other individuals or departments with a need to know (e.g. the Game Team). They are used for information that only those people/departments need to see – typically for referee writeups on player records.

Retraining skills

Characters have a single "retraining" slot after each event they attend, allowing them to drop a single skill or a single artisan item they know how to make or up to 2 rituals that they have mastered - to free up XP or make the slot(s) available for something else. In general, participants should be encouraged to do this via their own accounts – our ability to do it is primarily in order to avoid having multi-player ritual processing held up while 1 or 2 people go to GOD to update their characters.
If you are unsure whether you should perform this process for a participant then check with your Shift Lead.

• Rules on the wiki
• Go to the Character, on the Skills tab page
• Check if they've dropped a skill/ritual/item since the last event (See the RefInfo page for the current event for the correct date). All dropped skills/rituals/items are time stamped at the bottom
  • They have one retrain slot per season, which can be used for a skill or ritual mastery or an item recipe (not separate retrain slots for each)
• If they have dropped a skill/ritual/item since the last event, then they cannot drop another, the answer is no.
• Assuming that they've not dropped a skill, hit the "Drop Skill", "Drop Ritual" or "Drop Item" button as appropriate, hit "Retrain" for the appropriate skill/ritual/item, and then hit save.
  • Note that if they are using the retrain slot for ritual mastery then they can drop two rituals if they want, but both have to be done at the same time (i.e. hit "Retrain" for both at this step, before hitting "Save"). They cannot drop one now and come back to drop another later on (until the slot "refreshes" after the event). They can use the slot to drop only one if they want.
  • If they drop a skill which means they have to empty any other slots then the system will enforce that at this point and ask for selections (e.g. if they drop a level of realm lore, reducing the number of ritual mastery slots they have, they will have to pick which rituals to drop if they don't have enough free slots remaining)
• Then hit "Edit Skill", "Edit Rituals" or "Edit Items" as appropriate, and add the appropriate skill/ritual/item

The main thing to note here is that the system will let you do this even if they've already used their retrain slot this season. Note: The "Skills Dropped" list correctly includes ritual masteries and artisan items - and any one of those things being listed counts as the retrain slot being used. (i.e. that's good and all working as intended)

Targeting via general of Citadel Guard

• This effect applies at all events until further notice. Location and character affected will be detailed on the RefInfo page for each event
• One of the Imperial armies, the Citadel Guard, has the Highest Discipline quality, which includes the Magic quality
• The army (via their General as a ritual focus) can be used to meet targeting requirements for the territory they are currently in
  • This counts as meeting a requirement for a ritual which targets a territory/region/fortification to be performed in a regio within the territory it targets
  • All other requirements for such a ritual still need to be met
    • e.g. if the ritual requires a region with a specific keyword then this effect does not bypass that requirement
  • The General must be present throughout the ritual
    • If the General is not at the event then an Urizen egregore may stand in for them
  • If the army is in a region normally targetable from the Imperial regio then there is generally little to no benefit in this effect, and the Imperial regio will typically be used instead