Staffing Guides

Following please find a few "guides" for approaching/playing various aspects of the game.

Buffs and Nice Things: A General Guideline

1. Any crunchy-level creature should never hand out buffs.

2. When going out as a face-character, check your character sheet to clarify the amount and what kind of buffs that character has. If you do not have a character sheet, ask yourself whether or not your character would reasonably have buffs and, if so, what kind.
Example: A Wizard would not have Healing, just like a Shaman would not have Stone Skins. Higher-level skills such as Ice Shell should only be given out by people like Ice or perhaps Water Mages. Keep CP costs for skills in mind when you do this.

3. After setting yourself a reasonable limit on buffs, make sure not to exceed that limit while out in-game, regardless of temptation.

4. Unless your character has a compelling reason to simply offer buffs to other people, do not actively give these buffs out. Instead, wait for a PC to approach you and ask for one, or offer it after you chat, if you deem it appropriate.

5. If your character is a legitimate altruist, ask the PC in question if he already has some kind of protection. If so, pass him up—your power to give is not without its limits, and you should focus on those who have nothing first.
Corollary: Before going out to grant buffs, ask around Staff Center to see if it is actually needed. Did anyone else go out recently to heal or buff? Are there upcoming events that the PCs should be a little buffed up for?

6. If a PC dies because she made a stupid decision or provoked the attack, allow that PC to die. Skills such as Restore Spirit should be very rare and mostly wielded by higher-tier Shamans—keep in mind that it is a 5CP per purchase skill.
Example: If someone pokes a bogey enough to make it throw a Death spell and does not get out of the way, she should die.

Crunching at Adventurers Wanted: A Beginner’s Guide

General Rules

1. Every staffer must read and understand the list of calls, basic and advanced, such that he can react correctly without clarification as often as possible. This is absolutely essential to keeping things consistent, fair, and in-game.

2. Crunchies are weak. You should not grant yourself any Spell Shields, Stone Skins, or other magical protections. Unless explicitly stated in a creature’s stats, you should not carry more than one weapon; likewise, do not wear armor or carry a shield.

3. Check and thoroughly understand your creature’s stats and write-up before you go out. Again, this relates directly to the consistency of information being released to PCs and is therefore vital. If someone directs a question to you about the creature whose answer you do not know or cannot remember, just tell him that you do not know, assuming that your creature even can speak.

4. Unless otherwise stated in a creature’s description, take whatever hits you.

5. If you are ever in doubt, play your creature on the weak side.

6. Try to vary the kinds of creatures you crunch as. In other words, do not go out as a velociraptor all the time; try playing a goblin, a zombie, whatever. Mix it up.


Recycling

1. If you are recycling, set yourself a specific point. After eidoloning away, make sure to walk all the way to this point before returning.

2. In general, try to avoid recycling as the same creature more than three times—if that.

3. Crunchies should stay down for a full five minutes before recycling unless otherwise directed.


Things to Note

1. Turning. All Undead are susceptible to Turning, to varying degrees. Crunchy-level Undead should always respond to being Turned unless explicitly directed otherwise.
A correctly Turning Shaman:
- Has no weapons in his hands
- Is holding a disc (ask to see an example) OR a red light-spell, such that it is pointed directly at you
- Is chanting with confidence (must not be loud)
If any PC or NPC approaches you like this, you may not attack him. Instead, you should cower and back away from him at a reasonable pace (if he is walking, walk; if he is moving quickly, you may move quickly in response). Please note that crunchy-level Undead are not intelligent or sentient enough to complete complex actions like circling or flanking around anyone, let alone an actively Turning Shaman.
If this Shaman stops focusing on you, you may resume your normal actions.
If this Shaman traps you against a wall and continues to Turn with confidence, you should “pop” after a few seconds—i.e., collapse. Your Undead is now just dead.

Corollary: Voidspawn should note that certain people may be able to turn them. If someone approaches you with a red light while chanting, you should run away or "pop." If someone approaches you with an orange light while chanting, follow the Rebuking rules, below.


2. Rebuking. All Undead are susceptible to Rebuking, to varying degrees. Crunchy-level Undead should always respond to anyone chanting and holding a purple light by kneeling or cowering on the ground and not moving.


3. Goblin Mages. These creatures are healed by damage and damaged with healing. However, although a weapon strike will heal you, goblin mages should still take the effect of a call. That means that a Maim deals one point of healing, but the arm still breaks. Likewise, Subdue deals a point of healing but still knocks you out.