LPT: Arm leadership thread

[Aruven]

Recent inquiry in AMA for staff had me thinking of ways to explain some of the nuances of arm leadership in regards to PC leadership.
Is there not a longtime thread somewhere? If so, maybe this can be transferred over and we can bump it.
I know some clan documentation has some decent threads but I can't recall anything distinct public.

If not, let's compile some input for folks to scrawl through for consideration!

I think the topic would be beneficial on all clans, but lets START with a focus on city oriented leaders and GMH leaders as that seems to be the primary population of the game at the moment.

I think my contribution to this piece would be that most leadership roles require you to surrender much of your personal ambition on the surface.
You aren't really ever going to be worried about checking your 'skills' tab no matter what guild/subguild you pick in many sponsored roles.

Your character development is going to be set in a reactive way by your: Minions, allies, and enemies from that point forward after you get loaded up into the game. You will often be the middle-man between your minions and staff. If you do not act, or play, their initiatives die and flounder. This often gets negative results round table.

This is because if you're taking a sponsored role, you've decided:

I have the ability to enhance and influence the RP of players around me, and I can help drive a story/many stories that would interact with and make the game world entertaining, meaningful, or exciting. (Plus, you've decided you understand the game environment well enough to provide this all within meaningful parameters of the game you can explain to a staff member)

As opposed to: I finally got that karma, I should be recognized, I finally get my shot to lord over minions and tap that fat bank account.

If you RP, and focus on building a story you will be rewarded, because there is no failure. If you set material goals in the game as a measure of success you will be disappointed.

Life pro tip: Make it about the story you want to build with other players, not the wagon you think you want.

Added:

GMH leaders:

DELEGATE. Don't do anything unless you absolutely have no minions or one of your people is absolutely swamped and needs your help. Or that big time templaret heat or city-state heat is dangling them over the spike pit. Or that guy/girl has been waiting a RL year for something.

Share some of your plans with your underlings so they have some vision with you.

Create an air of:

My rank is meaningful not just a tier up to the big show where everything is really done. Let your folks feel and know they represent your organization (often times in a place where their mistakes cost money or time to YOUR family or superiors) and that they actually have a job other than being YOUR pez dispenser.

I think initially GMH was one of the few clans where NOT MICRO managing your minions was actually one of the best play styles. Delineate clear expectations with your underlings, as per what staff are saying the needs are/what you need... And let 'em go!

This allows you to focus on developing that solo/sponsored role RP development while your minions are constantly busy and business is still moving forward, it brings problems from time to time, exciting RP, not business as usual. It allows you to let your minions develop as a clan and on their own, and it allows you to have meaningful 'leader' interaction to hold people accountable when IC expectations aren't met, because you let them do whatever they want and now someone more important isn't happy.

Having one solid time even within 7 days that people KNOW they can find you is usually great for your GMH check ins. Sometimes, it is too much to be the cool guy that has sekrit meetings with 6 people a day.

[Lizzie]

I don't see why you can't do both, actually. The plot-driving minion-leading part has to take priority of course, but there's no reason why you can't ALSO work on mastering and branching skills. You can even use your desire to master/branch, as a platform from which to drive plotlines. I want to "git gud" at this, therefore I need those materials. Hey Amos - send your crew out to bring me back 10 of these things. When you get back, I'll need 20 of those other things, in the other direction. Meanwhile, Aide, let Lady Dingbat know her 4 widgets are on the way, just as soon as Malik gets back with the materials I sent out for two weeks ago. And tell her that I -might- be able to come up with a new thingamabob for her pinky toe, I'm working on a new faceting technique for sapphires.

[Aruven]

Sure, and no leadership role would really have any life if you weren't trying to develop your character also... I suppose I was making a distinction that for me the focus shifts largely from my personal player development in the skills category to:

I have a shitload of documentation and other avenues of roleplay, my character is already the person he/she is because they have been sponsored into the clan at some level of accomplishment, and that, plus my bank account (likely), and the rich history I have to draw into my character negate my need to drive RP based on my ability to use coded skills.

This does vary, a tribal leader or AoD member might have a tougher time if all their skills are novice and they are supposed to be leading patrols safely or training other people.

If it came off like NO MORE USING SKILLZ maybe I should edit it

[Grapes]

I only bother to skill up when I'm bored as a non-leader. If nothing is going on I'll get to the grind, but typically I'm more interested in pursuing character development. This leads to my skill-sheet being somewhat sub-par, but that's ok because it's ok to fail at something. My least favorite grind is the combat grind.

[Delirium]

Whatever you do, play a character first, and a leader second. This may mean taking your time diving into the leadership part of things if you're an apped-in leader, which is fine. Build up your contacts, reserve time for yourself to explore your PC and settle into their likes, dislikes, and mannerisms, and delegate everything you can. If you play a character who has workable goals and involve people in them, you're already doing good for the game, leadership role or not.

On the flip side of that, if you are an apped-in leader... lead. That 4 hour mudsex session is adding nothing to the game.

[evilcabbage]

Whatever you do, play a character first, and a leader second. This may mean taking your time diving into the leadership part of things if you're an apped-in leader, which is fine. Build up your contacts, reserve time for yourself to explore your PC and settle into their likes, dislikes, and mannerisms, and delegate everything you can. If you play a character who has workable goals and involve people in them, you're already doing good for the game, leadership role or not.

On the flip side of that, if you are an apped-in leader... lead. That 4 hour mudsex session is adding nothing to the game.

who mudsexes for 4 hours?!

[Delirium]

#hyperbole

#butsadlyprobablynot

[Grapes]

It can strengthen unit cohesion via bonding, or other sticky substances.

[Fredd]

Tip for leader roles in general:

Barrier

Cause sometimes you need time to think.

Also, take time to think. As a leader you should almost never react immediately, and should always look into things further.

[solera]

I love leaders that are guided by their strengths and weaknesses. 

[650Booger]

hire aide.
send aide on dangerous assignment.
aide stops reporting.  assumed dead.
hire another aide, send on another mission.
aide survives, a miracle!  this one's a keeper.
first aide reappears, kills second aide.
first aide resumes being inactive.

[Hauwke]

Sounds about right.

[Cind]

I remember a recent leader who had a passion that required a mastered crafting skill and they were very good at it. It was a facet of them that wasn't work, work, work.

Another one was good at most <certain category> type skills. They had done all that before leadership, and then after gaining leadership didn't have to try to fit time into their schedule to skill up appropriately (as these were skills that were useful to their role.)

I have seen someone become a member of a merchant house family, but only after an extremely long-lived play. For most of my time here (and I swear I knew of a couple) I thought that a very few commoners could become Templars. I thought Samos was one--- he was from Yaroch or something. Was that retconned, or never a thing to begin with?

[Delirium]

Samos Rennik was never a commoner, he was stationed in Yaroch when he was a baby Blue robe (i.e., that was his virtual job before play).

[sleepyhead]

Well some members of merchant houses can become templars but I'm not sure how that process works

[evilcabbage]

the same way it works with any House.

they get taken very young, probably via bribes, and get trained as a templar.

i think that's how it happens. it's like becoming a jedi. you get taken at a super young age so they can indoctrinate you.

[Molten Heart]

.

[slipshod]

Here's a previous discussion on this topic worth looking at again, perhaps...
I knew I had posted in such a thread once before.

https://gdb.armageddon.org/index.php/topic,45200.msg742454.html#msg742454

[Riev]

I remember a recent leader who had a passion that required a mastered crafting skill and they were very good at it. It was a facet of them that wasn't work, work, work.

I had a recent leader who did something similar, and it was a nice refreshing pace for "There's nobody around to lead" or "I'm sick of running <x> miniplots". It was something to spend coin on, and was intended on being not only a focus for "after their leadership days" (which I talked with staff about, so they knew I had NO OOC expectation of it coming true) but also a weakness if someone wanted to try and steal his ideas.

He died for completely unrelated things in an unceremonious manner, that I could have escaped from but chose the RP over the code. Nobody cared.

[Aruven]

Here's a previous discussion on this topic worth looking at again, perhaps...
I knew I had posted in such a thread once before.

https://gdb.armageddon.org/index.php/topic,45200.msg742454.html#msg742454

Thanks man, couldn't find this

[Cind]

I feel tired just thinking about the last time I played regularly with someone in a leadership role. It was probably because it was a merchant house leader, the busiest role in the game. What I mean is, isn't there some way to lift the workload from them? I mean, sure, I'm sure some have mastered the art of balancing work and play, but you never see these guys sitting in Red's. I may be wrong, they may be slaves to the people who are -their- bosses, but it seems like they should be able to take a RL day off every once in a while drinking whiskey that most people can't afford.

[Veselka]

Here's a previous discussion on this topic worth looking at again, perhaps...
I knew I had posted in such a thread once before.

https://gdb.armageddon.org/index.php/topic,45200.msg742454.html#msg742454

This is a great thread, thanks.

[Miradus]

Cordie Kadius taught me everything I know about leadership.

Except for killing people. She didn't really kill enough people, I think. But when it came to roping some unwilling, recalcitrant mofos into a plot ... Cordie was KING.

#AllHailKingCordie