Crewing

Overview

These guidelines are for our existing crew and for anyone who is considering volunteering to crew an Empire event. They explain how crewing works, what options are available and what is expected of our crew.

If you are interested in crewing after reading these guidelines then email us and let us know what areas of crewing interest you.

Enjoyment

Volunteer crew are an essential part of Profound Decisions; the events simply couldn't happen without them. We need a large crew to put on the Empire events, so we are dependent on people to volunteer to take part as crew. Crewing is hard work and may mean that you miss out on the fun of playing but crewing is great fun for those that enjoy it; you'll be part of an elite team of people helping to create a fantastic LRP event for over a thousand players. It's a huge responsibility and very rewarding when you see what you've helped to create.

It is really important to us that the crewing experience is enjoyable and rewarding not just because we depend on our crew for so much but because the only ethical basis on which a commercial company can run events using a volunteer crew is if the crew enjoy the events too. So if you are crewing the event then please remember that you come to events to enjoy yourself and that, as the people who do the work to put the event on, you have more right than anyone else to enjoy it!

Commitment

You are welcome to crew as many events as you wish, but please don’t feel that you are expected to crew them all. Some roles are only suitable for crew who can make the majority of the events, but there are many crew roles that are useful even if you only make one event a year. Please book for the events that you plan to crew, this will mean that we have a pack ready for you when you arrive.

When you are working at an event, please take care and don’t carry on if you are exhausted or have had enough. Please do not work beyond your personal limits, this is a holiday, you are here to enjoy the event not hospitalize yourself.

We operate a permanent crew system and encourage people to become a full time member of the crew team rather than play some events and crew others. However, you are welcome to resume playing in the future if you choose to do so. Please let us know if you’re not enjoying what you are doing as crew and equally we’ll be honest with you if we feel it’s not working out.

Behaviour

When you talk to players, remember that you will be seen as a representative of Profound Decisions, so be as polite and positive as you can. You are not required to deal with problems or put up with complaints, so if a player brings an issue to you, then bring the matter to Matt as quickly as possible.

Our players are required to be polite and courteous to our crew. If players are rude to you then please report the matter to Matt. We expect you to behave in a respectful manner towards other crew. If you have any problems then talk to Matt or the head of crew welfare.

Crew Facebook Group

We have a Facebook group for all Empire crew. This is a way for crew to stay in touch with each other and plan for the events and discuss improvements. If you're a member of crew who has a Facebook account then please follow the link and join the group. Feel free to visit this forum regularly and share your ideas or join in any of the discussions.

The Facebook group is just for crew, so please don't ask to join unless you've been confirmed as crew by a member of the crew welfare team.

Crewing Logistics

Crewing the event is free and includes vouchers for meals up to £4.50 from the caterers. You will need to bring your own tent, a sleeping bag and something to sleep on. The crew have their own camp, which is designated for use by crew members only. If you plan to share a tent with a player then you will need to camp in the player area.

Hot drinks and snacks are provided in the crew area. If you have any allergies or special dietary requirements then you should get in touch before an event; you may need to make your own food provision.

We organise our crew into departments, with crew allocated to departments, based on their roles at the event. Each department has a head who confirms crew spaces for their department. If you want to volunteer for crewing then it's useful to tell us what departments you'd like to help out in. If you are an existing crew member and you want to get involved with the work another department are doing, then the head of that department is the first person to speak to about it.

Some departments, like the red hats (site crew), comprise multiple specialist teams such as set-dressing, tent-erection and sparkies. If you want to help out on any team, just talk to the head of the team involved.

Set-up Crew

The set-up crew help us get the event ready by putting up tents, setting up the electrics, etc. Those who are helping with set-up need to be on site roughly two days before time-in. Those who are helping with take-down need to be on site until roughly one day after time-out. We aim to complete take-down by nightfall the day after the event.

If you are part of the set-up crew then you are encouraged to get involved and take part in crewing the rest of the event, but if you prefer to play then you are welcome to do that instead. Bear in mind though that you might be called on during the event to help with the set-up for the battles and so on.

The set-up crew departments are: Gate, Set dressing, Site set-up, and Sparkies.

Event Crew

The event crew help us to run the event, filling a wide variety of roles. Event crew write and run plot, they play NPC roles throughout the weekend and man areas like GOD and the tavern. Event crew are allocated to a single department, based on their primary role at the event, but you can be a member of more than one department and help out in different areas if you want to do so.

Event crew will be busy most of the event, so it is not possible to play the game and be a member of the event crew. Event crew are welcome to take some time off during the event and roleplay and socialize with friends by playing a zero point character. You should avoid playing roles such as spies, assassins and political aides as they’re more fitting for player characters than crew enjoying the game during a break.

The event crew departments are: Crew welfare, God, Plot, Refs, Security, Tavern, and Weapon check