Ask the Storytellers

[Taven]

I have a few more. I don't think any questions along these lines have been asked yet, though I could have missed them.

• Do you still play a mortal PC, or does staffing take up too much of your time?
• If you play, is it usually mundane or magicker/bendy?
• What sort of restrictions are put on your play? (for example, it's safe to say you can't play in a clan you oversee)
• When you play, do you ever get staff echoes, and is that ever weird? xD

[Talia]

• Do you still play a mortal PC, or does staffing take up too much of your time?
• If you play, is it usually mundane or magicker/bendy?
• What sort of restrictions are put on your play? (for example, it's safe to say you can't play in a clan you oversee)
• When you play, do you ever get staff echoes, and is that ever weird? xD

I try to keep playing a mortal PC because it helps me feel part of the game. I start to feel a little frustrated and pent-up if I'm not playing a mortal PC actively too. Staffing is awesome in certain ways, but there is nothing like playing a mortal PC and not knowing what is up with the PCs around you, or if whatever you're encountering is going to kill you dead. For example, I did some animation of some NPCs in the recent Allanak RPT, and it was super fun to interact with the PCs who were there--but I was totally blase about whether my NPC was going to die. Yes, I do put effort into building and animating NPCs, and they have relationships with the PCs around them to a certain extent, but it's just not the same.

When I do play a PC, it's usually mundane. I enjoy PCs who can have a lot of social interaction and that's simply harder to do with most non-mundane PCs. That being said, I have stretched myself to play some non-mundanes because I think it improves me as a player to try things I haven't before, and it also grows my understanding of the game. But non-mundanes aren't really my bag. (I'm really appreciative of the fact that we do have some staffers who love non-mundanes, because we need a full understanding as a group. Likewise, I have specific areas of knowledge that I contribute in.)

Staff cannot play in the clans that are in the clan group we work with, nor can we play closely with the characters in that group. So, for me, that's southlands clans; I'm the primary ST for the AoD, but I also can't play in or with any of the noble clans. Staff are also limited as to how many spots we can take up in a capped clan, for example any of the tribes, or Bards of Poets' Circle, etc. That is to say, staff CAN play in those clans, but if there are deemed to be already too many staffers in those roles, no other staff can start one. Just like any other player, if I want to play a role in a clan that requires a Role Application, I send one of those in and wait for a yes or no from the clan staff. Same thing goes for special apps.

Oh, also we can't play any sponsored roles, but I think that's common knowledge.

I've never noticed my clan staff echoing just for me, but I have had instances where clan staff were interacting with the group as a whole through animation or echoes and I got to participate in that. If my clan staff did echo just for me, I imagine it would be hilarious, because it would probably be some kind of really obnoxious echo since they would know that I would know (Like an inside joke.) I think for the most part we tend to concentrate on making things special for the other players in our clans, though. Then when we're in our immvatars, that's when we harass and tease each other.

[Nergal]

I have a few more. I don't think any questions along these lines have been asked yet, though I could have missed them.

• Do you still play a mortal PC, or does staffing take up too much of your time?
• If you play, is it usually mundane or magicker/bendy?
• What sort of restrictions are put on your play? (for example, it's safe to say you can't play in a clan you oversee)
• When you play, do you ever get staff echoes, and is that ever weird? xD

I don't have a mortal PC at the moment, but I'm not against the idea of playing one. It's just that staffing is fun enough for me that I don't feel like I need to play one right now. But maybe in a month or two I'll feel differently about that! If I were to play though, I would mix it up between mundane and magicker, and in general just try to keep things interesting and fill in any parts of the game that need filling.

[Taven]

I try to keep playing a mortal PC because it helps me feel part of the game. I start to feel a little frustrated and pent-up if I'm not playing a mortal PC actively too. Staffing is awesome in certain ways, but there is nothing like playing a mortal PC and not knowing what is up with the PCs around you, or if whatever you're encountering is going to kill you dead.

I don't have a mortal PC at the moment, but I'm not against the idea of playing one. It's just that staffing is fun enough for me that I don't feel like I need to play one right now.

I don't still play a PC.  I have a finite amount of time for this hobby, and unfortunately, it is not enough to allow me to play.

Every six months or so I try and make a PC and join in the fun. What I find is that I just don't have the time to play a PC that gets deeply involved in storyline, and that makes me frustrated.

I can definitely understand all three of these views. Since staff all start as players, I imagine the urge to play is still there, especially to have deeper interactions then just NPCs can have. On the other hand, you are devoting time and effort staff side to make other sorts of changes, which is also a good thing to focus on. I think if I was ever a staffer, I would be very challenged to try to have a PC, though. I spend too much time on Armageddon as it is!

[seidhr]

Talia answered most of your questions pretty well.

For myself, I'm coming up on my one year anniversary on staff next month.  In that time, I've played a few PCs.  They were all supporting roles, nothing major, and a variety of types -- mostly mundane, but one magicker.  Right now I don't have a PC, I'll probably get around to making another one when life and staffing gets a little less busy.  A lot going on right now on both fronts.

As far as echos or animations, we don't treat other staffers' PCs any differently than anyone else.  But I will harass the heck out of other staffers when we're on our imms.  RIGHT TALIA!?   

[Cerys]

I haven't played a PC since I came on staff.  Entertaining the rest of you is just too much fun, I can't stop! 

[Talia]

As far as echos or animations, we don't treat other staffers' PCs any differently than anyone else.  But I will harass the heck out of other staffers when we're on our imms.  RIGHT TALIA!?   

This troll right here is indeed who I was apparently-not-subtly-enough referring to!

[Rahnevyn]

I have a few more. I don't think any questions along these lines have been asked yet, though I could have missed them.

• Do you still play a mortal PC, or does staffing take up too much of your time?
• If you play, is it usually mundane or magicker/bendy?
• What sort of restrictions are put on your play? (for example, it's safe to say you can't play in a clan you oversee)
• When you play, do you ever get staff echoes, and is that ever weird? xD

I don't play a mortal PC and haven't since I rejoined staff. I have plenty of fun just by working to make Armageddon an enjoyable experience for you guys, and that's enough for me. When I really want to roleplay, there are a half-dozen or so NPCs I enjoy animating across my clans, so I can always jump into one of them and cruise around a bit. Now and then I have an idea for a character concept, but invariably I either just find a way to work elements of that concept into an existing NPC I can animate, or I decide playing the concept would take up time I'd rather focus into staff work.

If I had time I'd love to play a mercenary or a shopkeeper. I tend to stay away from playing karma-required roles, mainly because I don't want to embarass myself at them in front of all my staff colleagues.

[Zoan]

I like that staff don't treat staff differently when they're on their characters. After all, all I'd want to do, if I was a staffie, is immerse myself in the game and trust the Dungeon Masters to aid in this immersion, not crack silly jokes when I'm trying to be a badass hunter out on the range.

[Zoan]

I have a few more. I don't think any questions along these lines have been asked yet, though I could have missed them.

• Do you still play a mortal PC, or does staffing take up too much of your time?
• If you play, is it usually mundane or magicker/bendy?
• What sort of restrictions are put on your play? (for example, it's safe to say you can't play in a clan you oversee)
• When you play, do you ever get staff echoes, and is that ever weird? xD

I don't play a mortal PC and haven't since I rejoined staff. I have plenty of fun just by working to make Armageddon an enjoyable experience for you guys, and that's enough for me. When I really want to roleplay, there are a half-dozen or so NPCs I enjoy animating across my clans, so I can always jump into one of them and cruise around a bit. Now and then I have an idea for a character concept, but invariably I either just find a way to work elements of that concept into an existing NPC I can animate, or I decide playing the concept would take up time I'd rather focus into staff work.

If I had time I'd love to play a mercenary or a shopkeeper. I tend to stay away from playing karma-required roles, mainly because I don't want to embarass myself at them in front of all my staff colleagues.

Rahn plays the best face-in-the-crowd PCs ever.