Odyssey – The Ten Commandments

[Fyni]

I’ve played in most of the test Odyssey rounds now, both as command, a grunt and an actor, alongside one round as the Storyteller. Therefore, I’d like to compile this little nugget of wisdom I think are applicable to any future Storytellers.

These are not rules – rather, things to always keep in mind.

1.       Thou wilt keep it simple, stupid.

ST gimmicks should not be overly complex, and should be able to be summed up in two or three sentences, tops. You can add details on top of that, but the basics should be simple. This allows actors to improvise and add to your story. Make something too complex and your actors might struggle to know what you’re going for, which will make the crew struggle more.

 

2.       Thou wilt improvise and adapt.

No plan survives the crew. Mistakes from actors and the Horizon will complicate things, and even mistakes from yourself. Be willing to improvise, study the flow of the round and know what will make for a better story – change things as best you can without contradicting yourself.

 

3.       Thou wilt acknowledge the 2 hours.

Sadly, it usually takes an hour to get things set up and going – assuming the Horizon is also on the ball. Most rounds are about 2 hours + transfer time, and like antags and command (which you are whitelisted for) you should at least nod to it. Be ready to wrap things up nearing the end of the two hours so your story doesn’t get cut off by bored and lobby voters. An ending can be escalation in such a way which forces a Horizon retreat/evac, a fight, deaths, faxes etc.

 

4.       Thou wilt have an ending in mind.

This kind of ties into point 3, but I think it is essential. Tasks such as reconstructing an entire outpost or endless mob wave defence will inevitably grow boring, especially if there is absolutely no way for players to make a difference. For engineering, consider a simpler project (“Make a SM generator / set up a hospital!”) rather then a vague “do everything”, for example, or against mobs give them a macguffin to destroy with clear directions. With actors, ask them to escalate so they are eventually killed / evacuated / arrested / saying “it’s all fine now thanks!”

 

5.       Thou wilt involve as many people as possible.

This is less of a numbers thing, and more of a departmental thing. It’s a well known fact that on the Horizon, Security get most of the time to play with antags. Involve other departments – service can provide food and drink to actors (even if they are evac’d to the Horizon), medical can deal with injuries and psychological issues, engineering can fix things (but remember, goals focussed, not a “fix everything!”). This is imo the hardest commandment to do, but do try. Key rule here: do not make areas atmospheric hell, or filled with enemies, or you will not involve anyone but those who are absolutely necessary.

 

6.       Thou wilt not force the Horizon / Command.

As the voice of god, you have the power to send “must obey” messages to Command. This is good for some things – getting the ship going someplace, sending certain people down etc. but you should not force them to make certain decisions. Your job is to present a situation, a (hopefully simple and mostly achievable in one round) task and to allow them to figure out how to resolve it. If you want the Horizon to disobey orders as part of your gimmick (“this task is clear impossible!”) it might be worth using your storyteller LOOC to inform an appropriate command member of your intent as I am sure most will go along with trying.

 

7.       Thou wilt make it easy.

Always always ALWAYS make scenarios easier then you think they need to be. Less hostile mobs, less damage to structures, less demands for tasks. Why? Because it is far far easier to make things harder on the fly then it is to make things easier. Have an APC blow up, or more mobs appear just down the hall if you need to. But once the crew are dealing with a problem, it’s hard to remove it. Remember, RNG events and crew incompetence can lead to problems which you have not factored into “balance”, so always err on the easier side.

 

8.       Thou wilt use all IC means available to you.

Often, something goes wrong. You can’t get an item to work, or players are not set up, or someone DC’d. It’s too easy to ask OOC for time, or to ignore something, but this can often be accomplished by a simple excuse delivered IC, by an actor or a fax / announcement. Always try and do this over communicating OOC.

 

9.       Thou must not be afraid to ask for help.

Your actors are there to tell a story too. Admins are often willing to help – especially with the tools which for many (me included) are unfamiliar. Don’t be afraid to ask for help from both groups, and to take and use recommendations.

 

10.   Thou will aid Fyni.

This list needs others to look at it. While I agree with most of it’s points, and have seen each failures on some of them (some by myself in my one chance in the ST chair), I think it is a good list of guidelines to create a fun round but I welcome feedback to improve it.

[Fyni]

Further small tips:

• Don't be afraid to just walls off parts of a map you don't need, especially in low intensity Ody gimmicks. The crew likes to wander, and maybe leave a few areas to explore, but cut rooms and doors with new walls without hestiation.
• Need a somewhat clean site? Unleashe a horde of cleanbots at roundstart to clean up the muck
• Give your actors chemeleon kits to dress themselves. You can also give them uplinks, but I recommend against this unless you trust them - far too easily abused.
• It can take the Horizon some time from your first annoucement to actually show up - don't be afraid to call them in before your fully ready to help get the round going.
• Too many actors? Spawn more actor vendors - it has the IDs and radios they need.
• In fact, vendors let them equip themselves fairly easily without giving them the free reign uplinks do.

I'll add more as I think of them!

Edited Friday at 01:41 by Fyni