A Guide to Noble Projects
The projects system allows PCs to kick off IC projects that directly alter city metrics for a period of time if successful. Projects can take many forms: they can represent offscreen events, for example, or involve active public works. Noble projects can be sponsored by anyone who is considered a member of the nobility, including Great Lords of the realm. This guide will walk you through the process of creating a new project and what to do and expect after it has been submitted.
Recommended help files for reading: PROJECTS, CITY METRICS, SUPPORT, INFLUENCE, IP, PRESTIGE, LORE.
To see examples of projects that have already been done, type project list, then project review #. Projects marked as Expired are those that have been approved, succeeded, and have run their course.
Starting a New Project
To start, use the project new <title> command, where <title> is the title of the project you want to create. While creating your project, it's good to keep in mind the timing of how things might play out and to frame your project (and make your plans) accordingly. For this example, we'll call the new project A Feast to Remember. The blank Project POLCA will look something like this:
Code: Select all
project new A Feast to Remember
Project POLCA
Sponsor : Kirill
Sponsor_Vis : no
Lore : (null)
IP Shift : 10
Type : Support
Metric : Error case
Metric Affect : Terrible
Status : Pending
Deadline : 3 days
Subject : Subject is auto set by the metric.
Rumor : (null)
Title : A Feast to Remember
Proposal Event:
(null)
STitle : (null)
Success Event :
(null)
Type "submit" to kick-off the project or "cancel" to abort.
Type "commands" alone for a list of commands.- Sponsor : <name> (automatically set)
Your character is the sponsor! The system will set this value automatically when you enter the POLCA.
- Sponsor_Vis : no (optional toggle to yes)
This field controls whether the project sponsor will be visible to others when they type project review #. A value of yes means your character's name will be attached to the project; no means your character's name will be hidden from the pbase. Use vis by itself to toggle visibility between yes/no. Default is no.
- Lore : (null) (optional)
You can provide a lore entry now if you know what you want it to say, or you can ignore this field and submit one later by posting a request board note. The command to enter a lore entry while in the POLCA is lore.
- IP Shift : 10 (default set at 10, can be raised)
This value represents the total number of influence points that will need to go into the project to achieve success. It directly affects how much of an impact your project will have on your chosen city metric. A project requiring only 10 or 15 IP will succeed fairly easily but will have a relatively low impact compared to a much more difficult project requiring 60 or more IP. Keep in mind that you will only have so much time to raise support for your project and that if there are other projects in play, they will be competing for the same resources. To set the IP goal, use the command shift <number>. The default is 10, which is also the minimum.
- Type : Support (automatically set)
A toggle that determines whether the project will support or subvert the metric. Set to support by default.
- Metric : Error case (required)
This is where you set which city metric you want to affect! Type metric <metric name> to set the metric. For metrics with two words, such as race relations, you just need the first word, e.g. metric race. Note: you may need to set this before you set the IP shift.
- Metric Affect : <adjective> (information only)
This value represents the level of impact your project will have on your chosen metric. The system will calculate this automatically for you, based on the metric you've chosen and the IP shift you've set. This is for your own planning purposes. Setting the shift value higher or lower will change the affect accordingly. Try it and see!
- Status : Pending (information only)
Your project will be in Pending status until it is Approved or Rejected. Once Approved, you have until the deadline to achieve Success, otherwise the project will be marked as Failed. Projects that are no longer in effect are marked as Expired. You're seeing the status because you can (as I'll explain below) edit some aspects of your project after it has been approved and before it has succeeded!
- Deadline : X days (information only)
This is the deadline for achieving success. It is automatically set by the system at a minimum of 3 days plus 1 day per 10 IP over the baseline added to the IP Shift. Even if you have enough IP, your project will not succeed until this timer is up. You can check the timer by using the project list command.
- Subject : Subject is auto set by the metric. (automatically set)
This is the subject of the rumor that will be posted when your project is approved. It is automatically set by the system when you choose a metric. If Sponsor_vis is set to yes, it will say something like, Kirill's Race Relations Project. If visibility is set to no, it will just say the metric but not attach your character's name.
- Rumor : (null) (optional)
This is the body of the rumor that will be posted when your project is approved. To set the rumor, use the command rumor <text>, just like you would inside the rumor POLCA. Rumors posted through the project system automatically target the Nobility circle.
- Title : A Feast to Remember (automatically set)
This is the title of the project, which will also be the title of the IC Event that is posted when your project is approved. It is automatically set when you use the project new command to enter the POLCA. If you want to change it, you have to cancel and start the project POLCA from scratch.
- Proposal Event: (required)
This is the body of the IC Event that will be posted when the project is approved. To enter the editor, type proposal. Your proposal can be as brief as one paragraph or as lengthy as you like.
- STitle : (null) (required)
This is the title of the IC Event that will be posted if your project is successful. To set this, use the command stitle <title>.
- Success Event : (required)
This is the body of the IC Event that will be posted if your project is successful. To enter the editor, type success. While your project is Approved and has not yet succeeded, you can use the command project edit # to re-enter the POLCA and update your success event. This is super handy if you would like to add information to the event about who helped you with your project and what you did to ensure it was a success.
Project Example, Step by Step
I recommend setting the required fields in the following order: metric, shift, rumor, proposal, stitle, success. Let's walk through it step by step! First we'll set the metric to Race Relations...
Code: Select all
metric race
City Metric set to Race RelationsCode: Select all
shift 30
Metric influence shift set.Code: Select all
rumor Word on the street is that Kirill is planning to throw the greatest feast of all time! Everyone's invited!
Rumor set to: rumor Word on the street is that Kirill is planning to throw the greatest feast of all time! Everyone's invited!Code: Select all
proposal
-=========- Entering the Editor -=========-
Troubadours have been hired to spread the word about Kirill's plans for a feast of epic proportions! Apparently, the whole city will
be invited to break bread together at a massive table in Town Hall. Kirill is purportedly gathering support for the event to ensure a
good turnout from the city's various quarters. He's also hiring cooks. Lots and lots of cooks.
@f
@xCode: Select all
stitle Date set for Kirill's feast!
Success note title changed.Code: Select all
success
-=========- Entering the Editor -=========-
A date has been set! Having achieved enough support for his enormous feast, Kirill has set a date of Octobris 20 SC 380 (OOC:
Noseday, Snotember 1 at 3PM). Fliers have been posted around town to advertise the upcoming festivities, which are rumored
to include a huge three-tiered cake that Kirill himself plans to pop out of!
@f
@xCode: Select all
Project POLCA
Sponsor : Kirill
Sponsor_Vis : no
Lore : (null)
IP Shift : 30
Type : Support
Metric : Race Relations
Metric Affect : Average
Status : Pending
Deadline : 5 days
Subject : A Race Relations Project
Rumor : Word on the street is that Kirill is planning to throw the greatest feast of all time! Everyone's invited!
Title : A Feast to Remember
Proposal Event:
Troubadours have been hired to spread the word about Kirill's plans for a feast of epic proportions! Apparently, the whole city will
be invited to break bread together at a massive table in Town Hall. Kirill is purportedly gathering support for the event to ensure a
good turnout from the city's various quarters. He's also hiring cooks. Lots and lots of cooks.
STitle : (null)
Success Event :
A date has been set! Having achieved enough support for his enormous feast, Kirill has set a date of Octobris 20 SC 380 (OOC:
Noseday, Snotember 1 at 3PM). Fliers have been posted around town to advertise the upcoming festivities, which are rumored
to include a huge three-tiered cake that Kirill himself plans to pop out of!
Type "submit" to kick-off the project or "cancel" to abort.
Type "commands" alone for a list of commands.I submitted my project, now what?
- It should only take a couple of days for staff to review your project and either a) approve it, or b) reject it with feedback. I've never had a project rejected, but I'm guessing the standard reasons apply: e.g. project runs counter to theme in some way, project doesn't seem to have anything to do with the metric you chose, or you set a low goal for a project that sounds like it should be really tough. Probably, they'll tell you where you went astray and allow you to resubmit with corrections.
- You can check the status and progress of your project anytime using the project review # command.
- Once your project is approved, it's time to start meeting with people and collecting support! There are two ways people can support your project: 1) directly, using the project support # <IP amount> command if they're a noble, or 2) use the influence command to share their IP directly with you or someone else who can support the project directly.
- Typing project list will show how much time you have remaining to collect support. Keep in mind that even if you have the required support, your project will not succeed until the timer is up. This is to prevent projects from being approved and succeeding so quickly that people do not have a chance to participate. Remember: support rollover happens every two weeks. Any unspent IP does not carry over.
- You'll know your project has succeeded when the success event you wrote is posted to the IC Event board at nightly rollover. Now, when you check the project list, the timer will show how long your project will remain in effect. Projects stay in effect for a full month. For the first two weeks, they apply full strength to the metric, but after that the impact fades. You cannot start a new project while you have one active in the system. Thus, you will only ever be able to sponsor one project every 4-6 weeks, so make each one count!
- While your project is in Approved, Success, or Failed status, a member of the Troubadours (op or above) can check the list of project contributors (supporters and subverters) for you for 100 silver. The command for this is project # contributors.