Leadership

For information about specific titles, claiming available positions, and the full leadership structures, see the Getting Started and Temple guides.

This guide covers the practical side of playing a leader, including handling requests, responding to things happening around your character, keeping up with relevant events, and earning Leadership Points that can be used to unlock new things for the community to interact with.

Interaction Options

There are three primary ways leadership interacts with the game: Requests are questions from other players about something falling under your character's authority, Responses allow your leader to react to things that have already happened, and Influence allows you to use points generated through relevant activity to unlock something new.

Requests & Decisions

Leadership uses an OOC-first system. If another player's plot depends on something your character has authority to decide, they can ask in #leadership and you can simply answer OOC. Once you've made the decision, it is considered established; nobody needs to wait for an IC council meeting, audience, ritual, proclamation, or other thread before continuing their plot.

• Small questions should generally be answered within a few days, while larger decisions may take up to a week.
• An IC thread can always be written afterward if the interaction sounds fun.
• Support can help with decisions that are especially large, complicated, or involve overlapping areas of authority.
• Different forms of authority may overlap without one automatically replacing another. A secular leader and Shrinekeeper, for example, may both have legitimate interests in the same situation while governing different aspects of it.

Reported Events & Leadership Responses

The Living Lore System gives players a quick, optional way to share things happening in their RP that they are comfortable bringing into the wider game. This means leaders can see noteworthy things happening around their territory, Shrine, community, or other area of authority without needing to follow every relevant thread.

Leadership Responses are free. They are simply part of playing a character who already holds that authority. Depending on their position and the situation, a leader might use the #leadership channel to:

• Grant a title, honor, medal, or commendation.
• Send a letter, invitation, warning, or thank-you.
• Issue an IC fine or other sanction.
• Place a bounty on a character, NPC, creature, group, or other target.
  • Bounties can be added to the Bounties Hub upon request to grant completion prizes.
• Publicly praise, criticize, or acknowledge someone's actions.
• Recognize a character, organization, business, congregation, or accomplishment.
• Offer someone an audience or meeting, request an explanation, or make a public statement.
• Offer sanctuary, support, patronage, or recognition.
• Hold a ceremony, celebration, observance, or service.
• Decide they have absolutely no interest in getting involved.
• Take another reasonable action appropriate to their position.

Responses can be serious, generous, petty, bureaucratic, funny, sarcastic, ceremonial, or anything else appropriate to the characters involved. They do not require another thread, and there is no expectation that a leader respond to every Event Report.

Reacting Beyond Your Own Jurisdiction

An Event does not need to occur directly under a leader's authority for them to have an opinion about it. Leaders may reasonably hear about noteworthy Events through spies, diplomats, merchants, clergy, travelers, political contacts, newspapers, ordinary rumor, or other appropriate sources.

Outside leaders might then:

• Offer aid, resources, or personnel.
• Send condolences or congratulations.
• Criticize or defend another leader's response.
• Increase security within their own jurisdiction.
• Question whether an incident poses a threat to their people.
• Spread or respond to political gossip.
• Use the situation to strengthen or damage a diplomatic relationship.
• Ask another secular or religious leader for information or advice.

Player Agency

Authority does not override player agency. Leaders can reasonably react to things another character has publicly done, but they shouldn't use their position to force another player's character into a particular reaction, plot, or major consequence without the player's permission. If you have a fun idea but think it may influence the character in a significant way, just ask the players involved first!

Influence

Relevant activity connected to a leadership position automatically generates Influence, which can be spent to unlock new events, opportunities, developments, decisions, and other things for characters to interact with. Influence is an OOC resource representing how established and active that part of the setting has become through roleplay; it does not necessarily represent how popular, respected, wealthy, successful, or politically powerful the leader is IC. A beloved Shrinekeeper and a widely despised Duke can both accumulate Influence. Players do not need to submit individual posts, claim activity, or calculate their own balances -- qualifying activity and Influence are tracked automatically.

Earning Influence

Influence is generated by IC activity, with rates adjusted to reflect the amount of activity each leadership position draws from. Posts may contribute to multiple appropriate levels of leadership at the same time; Influence is not divided between them.

Secular Leadership Rates

• Monarchy: Every 20 IC posts throughout New Ognos = 1 Influence.
• Archdukes/Archduchesses: Every 10 IC posts within their quadrant = 1 Influence.
• Dukes/Duchesses: Every 5 IC posts within their territory = 1 Influence.
• Mayors: Every 15 IC posts within the territory containing their settlement = 1 Influence.

Spiritual Leadership Rates

The Temple: The Temple receives Influence based on activity throughout New Ognos, similar to the Monarchy, but at one-third the Monarchy's rate. This reflects the current balance of authority in New Ognos, where the Monarchy holds greater institutional and political power while still allowing the Temple to build Influence as the overall setting becomes more active.

• The Temple: Every 60 IC posts throughout New Ognos = 1 Influence.
• Shrinekeepers: Every 15 IC posts within the territory containing their Shrine = 1 Influence.

Influence Types

• Available Influence is the amount currently available to spend. It increases as Influence is earned and decreases when an Influence Actions are purchased.
• Lifetime Influence is the total amount that leadership position has earned over time. It never decreases and can be used to unlock access to increasingly unusual or substantial Actions.
• Spending Influence does not slow Lifetime progression. If a position has earned 12 Influence and spent 10, it has 2 Available Influence but still has 12 Lifetime Influence.

Lifetime Influence Tiers

Lifetime Influence gradually expands the kinds of Actions available through the Influence Storefront.

• 0+ Lifetime Influence: Access to the standard Influence Storefront, including smaller disturbances, opportunities, decisions, events, and other everyday additions.
• 10+ Lifetime Influence: Unlocks more unusual situations, meaningful developments, larger events, and Actions capable of creating more substantial opportunities.
• 25+ Lifetime Influence: Unlocks broader or rarer Actions, including situations that may affect multiple groups or locations and additions with greater potential to become lasting parts of the setting.
• 50+ Lifetime Influence: Unlocks the rarest Influence Actions, including particularly unusual events, major developments, and opportunities capable of producing significant or lasting changes.

Reaching a tier permanently unlocks it for that leadership position. Individual Actions may have their own Influence costs, requirements, limitations, or cooldowns.

Influence Belongs to the Position

Influence represents activity surrounding a leadership sphere rather than a personal reward belonging exclusively to its current player or character. If leadership changes hands, the position's accumulated Lifetime Influence, Available Influence, unlocked tiers, and existing progress remain with that position. A newly appointed ruler, Mayor, or Shrinekeeper inherits an established institution rather than resetting the community activity that came before them.

Influence Actions

Influence can be spent through the Influence Storefront on Actions that introduce something new for characters to interact with. You are not expected to design an entire plot when purchasing one; most Actions should require no more than selecting an option and providing some context.

Offerings may include:

• Disturbances: Introduce a new problem or complication.
• Opportunities: Introduce something useful, beneficial, strange, or interesting to pursue.
• Events: Trigger a larger situation connected to the leader's area of authority.
• Public Decisions: Put an issue before the relevant community through a poll or similar choice.
• Developments: Introduce or propose a project, improvement, service, tradition, or other lasting addition.
• Escalations: Take something reported through the Monthly Reported Events Thread and develop it into a larger playable situation.
• Special Actions: Unlock unusual options tied to a particular kind of leadership or Lifetime Influence tier.

Actions should generally reflect the scope of the position purchasing them. A Shrinekeeper might introduce a religious festival, omen, pilgrimage, relic discovery, or problem affecting their congregation, while a Mayor might introduce a local shortage, public project, celebration, crime wave, visiting merchant, or civic dispute. Leaders with broader authority may have access to appropriately broader Actions.

Resolving Influence Actions

Players may request specific resolution requirements when activating an Action, or ask Support to generate them. Some example requirements include:

• A certain number of posts within the affected area.
• A certain amount of relevant activity involving an institution or community.
• A certain number of posts involving the leader.
• Participation from a certain number of characters or players.
• A community poll or decision.
• Another simple requirement specific to the Action.

For example:

• Local Disturbance: A commonly traveled bridge has been damaged. Resolution: 10 posts within the affected territory.
• Shrine Event: Offerings have begun mysteriously disappearing overnight. Resolution: 5 qualifying posts involving the affected Shrine.
• Public Decision: Residents are divided over what should replace a destroyed monument. Resolution: Decide the outcome through a community poll.

Qualifying posts do not necessarily need to directly address the situation unless the Action says otherwise. A post requirement may simply represent activity and time passing until circumstances progress or resolve, while other Actions may instead invite characters to directly determine what happens.

Free Response or Influence Action?

Reacting to something that already happened is free, unlocking something new for characters to interact with uses Influence.

For example, if someone destroys a public statue, its local leader could freely fine them, place a bounty where appropriate, demand an apology, condemn their actions, send them a bill, congratulate them because the statue was hideous, or give them an extremely sarcastic honorary title. An Influence Action could instead establish that the destruction uncovered something beneath the statue, create a dispute over what should replace it, trigger a new local problem, or open a public decision about what happens to the site.

The same applies to religious leadership. If characters recover a lost relic, a Shrinekeeper can freely recognize them, thank them, reward them ICly, or hold a service. Influence could instead unlock a new pilgrimage connected to the relic, a discovery hidden within it, an unusual phenomenon at the Shrine, or another situation for characters to interact with.

Purchasing an Influence Action

To purchase an Action, post the following template in #leadership:

Action Name: The Influence Action being purchased from the Storefront.

Details: Tell Support what you would like the Action to involve. This can be as specific or open-ended as you prefer. You might provide a location, NPC or group involved, the general situation you want introduced, or simply a starting idea and leave the remaining details to Support.

Leadership Account Used: The leadership position whose Influence will be spent. Influence belongs to the position rather than the individual character, so list the relevant Monarchy, Archduchy, Duchy, Mayoralty, Temple, or Shrine here.

Preferred Resolution: How you would like the Action to progress or resolve. You may choose a specific requirement, describe the general kind of resolution you want, or leave this to Support.

Resolution methods may include:

• A certain number of posts within the affected area.
• A certain amount of activity involving a particular settlement, Shrine, institution, or community.
• A certain number of posts involving the leader.
• Participation from a certain number of characters or players.
• A community poll or decision.
• Direct character involvement in investigating, completing, preventing, deciding, or otherwise affecting the situation.
• Another simple requirement appropriate to the Action.

Post requirements do not necessarily mean every qualifying post must directly address the Action. They can also represent activity and time passing before the situation progresses or reaches its resolution. If direct interaction is required, that will be established as part of the Action.

If you don't have a preferred resolution, just put Support Choice and we'll determine something appropriate for the Action.