WAR TABLE

[faderifting]

↞NAVIGATION—

WAR TABLE

To claim a War Table assignment for your character, reply to the appropriate division below with the name of the assignment you want. You can claim one assignment at a time. This is per player, not per character. To claim a second assignment for the same or a different character, you need to either post a report for your first assignment or reply to the information to let that division head know you need to give the first assignment back.

OOC DETAILS

REPORTS & DEADLINES: The information you receive will include a deadline to file a report. The deadline will generally be a month away from the date you receive the information, so you should wait to claim an assignment until you have time to get started on it right away and anticipate being able to establish an outcome and post a report within a month. (You don't have to finish RPing everything in a month. Backtagging after posting the report is fine.)

The character who claims the assignment is the one in charge of the mission in the field and responsible for the report. Delegating the report to another character IC is fine, but it will remain your job to make sure it is posted on time. Put it on your calendar or in your task app or whatever else you use to make sure you don't forget.

If you aren't able to post a report by the deadline, reply to your info comment to tell the assigning division head what's up. If you've started RPing about the assignment but need a bit more time to establish a conclusion or write the report, you can request an extension. But if you don't have RP already underway as of the deadline, you'll have to give the assignment back for someone else to claim.

Many assignments are steps in longer chains of events, and leaving them in limbo for extended periods of time will bring other plot plans to a halt. So if you neither file a report nor reach out to the division head by the deadline, what happens with your assignment will be left to the division head's discretion. Depending on what has been visibly RPed so far, they may treat it as an IC failure to file the report on time (and react IC accordingly), or they might decide that the mission ultimately failed–everyone tried their best but they just couldn't reach the prisoner, for example, so someone else has to try a different way in–or they might put the assignment back up for someone else to claim without addressing the previous claim at all.

RP REQUIREMENTS: Unless otherwise noted, assignments can be RPed at whatever scale you feel is appropriate for the assignment and the complications you've added yourself. That includes:

• Taking along one or two other characters for a single thread focused on one scene from the mission.
  
• Expanding missions into big plots with sign-up posts, multiple parts, NPCs, dice mechanics, etc.
  
• Handwaving the mission itself and RPing the preparation or aftermath, such as your character worrying about whether they'll have to kill someone, coming home injured, or reporting in-person to the division head (which does not replace the need to file a report on the comms for everyone else).
  
• For relatively simple meetings with an NPC or letter writing campaigns, epistolary RP in the form of just writing the report summarizing how your character's work has gone.

And probably anything else you can think of. As long as there is some form of IC writing about the mission on the IC game comms or character inboxes, that is RPing about the mission and will count.

EXPANSION: The information you're given for a mission will generally not be as in-depth as previous war table write-ups. It's designed to be a starting point. Once you've received it you can expand on it with your own NPCs and location details. You can also add complications and obstacles and mechanics, as long as you're not changing the objective you've been given or adding things that contradict the info provided. It is totally fine to, for example, take a mission to meet with an ally and decide your characters will get lost in a forest on their way there. You can focus on RPing the forest adventure rather than the meeting and just include the meeting results (“arrived two days late covered in sticks and mud, but the merchant was very gracious” etc.) in your report.

You don't have to do your own plot request for your expanded form of the mission unless:

(1) You want to add something that would have a wider plot or reputation impact than just succeeding or failing at the assigned mission objective. Here are some examples of the sorts of thing that would need a plot request:

• If your character is being sent to meet an ally, and you decide that actually your character is going to accidentally burn down a whole town while trying to meet with this ally
  
• Your character is being sent to meet an ally, and you decide that the ally's maid is Calpernia in disguise.
  
• Your character is being sent to meet an ally, and in the process you'd like them to discover that someone has betrayed Riftwatch and given up all of Riftwatch's allies in Minrathous to the enemy.
  
• Your character is being sent to meet an ally, and in the process you'd like them to uncover clues to the location of a Gate.
  
• Your character is being sent to meet an ally in Rivain, and you'd like them to encounter an enemy military camp in this currently-neutral country.

(2) You want to introduce non-canonical magic, enchantment, or status effects. For example, there are canon hallucinogens (blood lotus) that characters can encounter if you want to add people crossing a swamp full of pollen and having a hallucination interlude to your mission. But there is not canonically a mushroom that compels people to tell the truth, so to do something like that, you'd need to check with us first.

If you aren't sure whether your expansion requires a plot request or not, you can drop us a quick question about it in mod contact or the mod questions channel on the Discord and we'll let you know.

FAILURE: Failing at these assignments ICly is acceptable and maybe even good! You can choose to have your characters get their asses kicked or add mechanics that make failure possible. If failing at the main objective isn't an option for OOC reasons–such as if the division head has other time-sensitive plans that hinge on this specific task being achieved first–that will be noted in the info you receive. Otherwise you should always feel free to RP failing at some or all of the goals of the mission.

CLAIM FORM

To claim a mission, you can reply to the comment for the appropriate reporting division with this form. (The reporting division is the division that the assignment is tagged with on the War Table, which may not be your character's division. Reply to this division's comment regardless of what division your character is in or how they would approach the assignment, because that's the division head who has more information to give you.)

<b>PLAYER:</b> <b>CHARACTER:</b> <b>DIVISION:</b> The division your character belongs to, which can be different from the division giving them this mission. <b>ASSIGNMENT:</b> What you're claiming. (Please copy + paste the full text of the assignment—it's helpful for record-keeping.)

—NAVIGATION↠

Comments

RESEARCH

[youwonscience]

[pathlit]

PLAYER: Mini
CHARACTER: Jayce
DIVISION: Research
ASSIGNMENT:

Two different Hightown auction houses are claiming they have the original renown "Young Woman with Nug" painting to be sold at their next event. A Kirkwall noble has offered a large sum of money to anyone who can verify which of the two paintings is the counterfeit.

[youwonscience]

No need for sign-ups for anything in the "Jobs Board" section (unless you're spinning it out into something bigger)! Since Jayce is in Research, the gig is automatically his if he wants it. I've gone ahead and added him to the wiki to make it official.

Play it out however you like within the next month or two and remember to move it to the "Completed" section with a link once you have. If you want to bounce ideas off me OOCly, or Jayce to chat with Cosima ICly, feel free, but neither is required. Go forth and enjoy.

[pathlit]

OH shit, my bad!

[youwonscience]

No, no need to apologize! Just letting you know that in the future, feel free to go for it. The new War Table system has only been up a couple weeks, we're all figuring it out.

[quaestionespatris]

PLAYER: ray
CHARACTER: Tavi and Bastien
DIVISION: Tavi is currently without a division; Bastien is in diplomacy
ASSIGNMENT:

Captured Venatori researchers said that Corypheus is having academics look into the potential location of new gates by searching for anything connected to the old gods. There have been rumors of a text related to Razikale covertly passed between Southern academics. Get your hands on it if you can.

Subgoal(s): locate Gates and Old God artifacts; impede Venatori Gate research and eliminate related personnel

[youwonscience]

All yours! Cosima would highlight the public report regarding the prior mission during which the intel that Venatori researchers are focusing on Old Gods-related materials came up. The specific rumors about Razikale were flagged during later routine correspondence with some of Riftwatch's academic contacts. As Tavi hasn't chosen a division yet, Cosima expects he'll be reporting directly to her for the duration of the mission, but is aware that this mission may include diplomacy and/or scouting-adjacent tasks. (ICly, Cosima would love them to not make this a combat mission, though OOCly if you want to beat someone up and take the book, we can deal with those consequences.)

Some resources:

• The two researchers are still in custody, though note you need to contact the mods if you want to draw on this resource. They may or may not have any ideas about this specific text; Cosima would make clear that this info didn't come from them, but rather larger-scale data about Corypheus' plans. (Also note they've been in custody for over a year, so their knowledge is not the freshest at this point.)


• Cosima has pulled a text or two related to Razikale from the Gallows library as a starting place; you should feel free to find some clues in them or not as you like. As this is a research task, if you want a National Treasure-style montage of digging through old tomes and going to other libraries or archives, go for it.


• On the other hand, if you want to do some wheeling and dealing, you might consider reaching out to some academics at the University of Val Royeaux or elsewhere. Feel free to make up your own NPCs if you'd like. If you'd optionally like to handwave Julius putting them in touch with his ongoing contact there, she's more likely to introduce them to someone else than be much help directly, but she will certainly make the introduction. (Julius would lightly ask that they not annoy her or get her in trouble.) You can also encounter Lucrèce Langlois if desired; she is a senior lecturer in the history department and will be busier than Fioranati but possibly more directly useful. If you need more info on either Fioranati or Langlois, let me know.


• If you have a fully different idea for how you'd like to pursue this, feel free! If you'd like to secure a copy of the book, that's on the table, but if you'd like to fail or set up a mixed success (confirm the book exists but without getting your hands on it, for example), that's also fine. The book is rare, but is not magical.

I'm available if you have questions or need support OOCly, but happy to see what you come up with. Please file a report by April 15 (or alert me if that's a problem).

[cozen]

Look at us meeting deadlines.

[youwonscience]

Hell yeah, gold star for you two.

[aberratic]

PLAYER: Nina
CHARACTER: Ness
DIVISION: Diplomacy
ASSIGNMENT: In preparation for offering further cross-cultural dialogue outside the organization, organize and compile information of use from the rifter population. Examples might include the basics of germ theory, technological upgrades that would be easy to apply in Thedas, and generally other information that open-minded natives might appreciate knowing.

Am I allowed to claim a mission in my first 24 hours in the game, idk, look I'm very enthusiastic

[youwonscience]

Huge mea culpa; Dreamwidth says this is, in fact, tracked the way I expected it to be so I'm not sure why I missed it (other than it looks like this was the tail end of my run-in with covid, so maybe the brain fog is to blame). Feel free to bug me sooner next time if you want to.

That said! This is all yours. Given the nature of the project, it doesn't seem like you'll need much additional information from me, though I will flag the Riftwatch Cultural Exposition that happened last year as a good place to look for some of the stuff already in play. That report is public, so feel free to assume Ness has IC access to notes about the event, who was involved, etc. Cosima would also make herself available for this, if that's something you want to either run or handwave, depending on how you'd like to RP about this assignment.

If you need any more info, IC or OOC, reach out here or directly via Discord/Plurk. Please file a report by September 9 (or alert me by then if there's a problem).

[aberratic]

as if ness wasn't going to be an overachiever about this.

[youwonscience]

I'd expect nothing less, tbh

[wythersake]

PLAYER: k2
CHARACTER: Isaac, Julius, Gela
DIVISION: Forces & Diplomacy
ASSIGNMENT:

As part of his work with Sashamiri, Julius identified several potential avenues for pressuring Cedric Marquette to knock it off working with Venatori. Pick one or more of these individuals and see if either honey or vinegar works.

[youwonscience]

Cosima flinging this file on Julius's desk like "you're as much in charge of Diplomacy as anyone else until-unless we appoint someone, enjoy."

Joking aside, this is all yours/ours. I have a file with 20 possible NPCs I was going to rng for people in the original incarnation of this plot, but if we want to just discuss who on that list we'd like to interact with or pressure, I think that's fine. Mostly Orlesian, but there are a few in other places or who are mobile enough to find elsewhere if desired.

Given the in and out of December schedules, let's set the report deadline for January 10. I'll be in the loop since I'm participating, but let's plan to have a report or a plan for a new timeline by then.

[youwonscience]

I fell off the face of the earth and also December happened so just checking in: Would you like us to regroup on how this went, since Isaac is technically suspended for a minute? Or would you like us to extend the deadline and circle back? I'm good either way, just let me know.

[boeric]

Wow I missed the notif for this! I'm happy to circle back and backdate or to stick it back in the pile for now. Let's check on how Cadence feels, I know everyone's plates are a lil full right now.

[youwonscience]

Discussed on Discord but making it official here: extension granted until February 14

[wythersake]

amazing how on time this is

[pathlit]

Second attempt at a mission, let's goooo. (Very belatedly removed Jayce from the nug painting list, mb!!)

PLAYER: Mini
CHARACTER: Jayce
DIVISION: Research
ASSIGNMENT:

Riftwatch is going to need enchantment-capable artisans for a variety of projects (including but not limited to the proposed airship). But before we can convince them of the merit of working to stop Corypheus, and thus steeply discounting their services, we need to identify a few likely candidates.

[youwonscience]

It's all yours! If you'd like to make up the answers from whole cloth, that's fine, go forth. (Remember to check with the mods when they're back from break if you're going to do anything significant with a canon Dragon Age NPC, though.) If you'd like some bespoke NPC options for Jayce and whoever he recruits to pursue/choose between, I'm very happy to spin a few up for you if needed; just let me know.

For NPC generation, or any other questions, reach out to me here, via Discord, or via Plurk. Please file a report by February 7 (or alert me by then if there's a problem).

[pathlit]

re: bespoke NPCs, yes please and thank you!! We'll also toss in one sketchy artisan overselling or scamming their enchantments for Hermione who will be joining him on this endeavor.

As requested

[youwonscience]

Melora: A Dalish keeper who has been rumored to be, if not friendly with humans, then at least willing to do business with them in good faith. The complications will be, first, tracking her down given her nomadic lifestyle, and second, convincing her that the cause is worth supporting (or at least discounting work for).

Gerron Ulver: A surface dwarf from Ferelden, Gerron is a young enchanter with a reputation for ambition. It's possible you could convince him that hitching his wagon to Riftwatch could build him credit that he can parlay into better business after Corypheus is defeated. On the other hand, he's one of the less experienced options on the list.

Barral Rovo: An Orzammar dwarf who has a reputation for a creative approach to runework. (Whether "creative" is impressed or derogatory depends on the source.) While Barral does not leave Orzammar himself, his brother is a merchant who periodically travels to the surface. Unlikely to be interested in politics, but potentially interested in clients who won't fuss if his products' effects are a bit off the beaten path.

Floriana de Alzedo: Not capable of enchanting items herself, Floriana is a fence and broker based in Dairsmuid. Not only does rumor hold she's one of the favored fences for Rivain's pirates, but she's supposed to know a particularly skilled rune worker who wishes to remain anonymous. Whether this person is a dwarf, a Tranquil, Dalish, or fully fictional is unclear. But Floriana is supposed to get results and might be willing to make a connection for a price.

Veryn Helcan: Surfacer dwarf who has a little bit of talent with enchanting but a ton of talent with scamming people. Who knows where he's originally from, but he's wandering the Free Marches now. Some of the simpler enchantments actually work, but way fewer than he's trying to sell. Super fun to have a drink with, though.


Feel free to adjust any of these for fun or profit. No need to reference or use all of them, pick what the two of you like!

[pathlit]

Look at this smorgasbord of NPCs, thank you so much!! (Jayce already likes this Barral fellow.)