This article was authored by Tycho Veg, Chancellor of PaxLair, with additions by Winfield, Mayor of PaxLair, and Shen, Chancellor of PaxLair. We are proposing a restructuring of the PaxLair citizen stone. The restructuring will involve the creation of two stones: One for those wishing to become a citizen of PaxLair and another for the accepted citizens. The intent of these changes is to enhance the role-playing in the town of PaxLair, give the people dedicated to role-playing recognition in other towns and throughout the realm, and still allow those interested in PaxLair to become a part of it in as natural a way as we can.
Need for a changeThere are two important reasons for restructuring the use of the PaxLair citizen stone (and with it the structure of the town a bit). First, the citizen stone itself is in need of updating. There are several people on the stone whom have rarely been seen in town---some were in PaxLair only long enough to get added to the stone, then have disappeared. We need to clear the defunct members from the citizen stone and put newer ideas in place, which will give PaxLair a larger sense of community and role-playing.
Second, PaxLair itself needs to place more emphasis on role-playing. While the town is open to all, role-players and non-role-players alike, one of the stated goals of the town is to facilitate role-playing. Such a goal can be better realized with a readily identifiable group of players, who engage in and encourage role-playing on a daily basis. The PaxLair citizen stone is one way to identify these dedicated "town" role-players, along with other PaxLair associated "group stones". A long-term goal of this reorganization is to bring the town of PaxLair to life. Buildings like the twin towers, the taverns and the marketplace can give a town a physical presence, but to give the town an emotional presence, we need active role-playing citizens. Imagine the following scenario:
A newcomer to town approaches the city limits. He is greeted by a slightly grumpy man on patrol duty, who has clearly not had enough sleep: a little unfriendly, but civil, he directs the visitor to the twin towers, and to seek out Chancellor Tycho Veg, or Shen, or Mystarr, or any citizen, to learn a little more about the city. As he makes his way through the streets, our newcomer hears the distant sound of a blacksmith's hammer: as he continues, the sound grows steadily louder, until he sees a large man, covered in grease and sweat, hard at work. He is about to greet the smith, but at the last moment thinks better of disturbing a man so clearly hard at work, and who is also so clearly holding a very heavy hammer…
The newcomer passes on, but makes a note to come back another time to make the acquaintance of the resident iron-worker. A few private buildings later, the twin towers loom up: the dweomer of magic fills the air as an apprentice does battle with a summoned fire elemental, with two senior mages watching and noting the apprentice's technique, ready to heal should the wizard in training find himself in trouble. A simple man, unaccustomed to things magical, our visitor gives the tower a wide berth, heading round it and towards the second tower, now visible through the mist of the early morning. He spies a man, with a long white beard and carrying a walking staff, coming down the steps. Could that be Mayor Winfield himself? Our visitor adjusts his cap, takes a deep breath, and steps forward to introduce himself…
The PaxLair citizen stone will help identify and unify those individuals interested in being a part of the town of PaxLair---those who would like to help make this scenario a reality. Yet, the PaxLair citizen stone should be explained a bit to keep it in perspective for all who come to PaxLair. Many role-play in PaxLair from various groups and guilds, and perhaps more role-play as individuals. The citizen stone grants an opportunity mainly for the individual role-players to become associated with the town in a public way, and with some "role" in mind. We recognize many individuals are not willing to leave their own guild stones to become an official or "recognized" role-player in PaxLair and leaving one's roots or family is not a requirement to participate in PaxLair. In the future, we will venture to offer a larger framework to recognize those who are "citizens" of PaxLair but not listed on the citizen or group stones. For now, we only focus on the citizen stones themselves.
The reorganization of the PaxLair citizen stone should achieve these goals:
The restructured PaxLair citizenship systemIn broad terms, the reorganization will be achieved by have two stones for the PaxLair town proper: the PaxLair citizen stone (Pax) and the PaxLair initiates stone (PxI). The PaxLair citizen stone will be strictly for role-playing---its members will be considered the full citizens of PaxLair. Those on the Pax citizen stone will be expected to remain in-character at all times, provide a written character history (to be posted at the PaxLair website), and to assist the Initiates in their transition to Pax. The members of the Pax citizen stone will also be expected to help further role-playing on the Chesapeake shard by becoming involved in other towns such as Corwyn, Aryslan and Duir, and groups such as the orcs and Clan of Vampires. The citizen stone will be warred with other roleplaying groups to facilitate role-playing. Except in special cases, membership to the PaxLair citizen stone will be by approval of the Mayor, typically after spending time as an initiate (see below). The PxI initiate stone will be for characters who have expressed an interest in becoming a citizen of PaxLair, but are not yet established in the town. Members of this stone will be expected to develop themselves in the town of PaxLair, including writing a personal history and establishing relationships with others, with the intention of becoming full citizens by moving to the Pax citizen stone. Membership will be granted on a liberal basis (typically, will need only to express a genuine interest in Pax), but no character may stay on the stone for more than three weeks. To apply to the Pax citizen stone from the Pax initiate stone, characters must satisfy the following:
After the application is submitted, the citizens of PaxLair will be able to make comments in support of or opposition to the application. The final decision to accept or reject the application will be made by the Mayor. Obviously, staying in-character at all times and otherwise behaving as if already on the PaxLair citizen stone are key elements that will be considered in the evaluation. Benefits of being a citizen of Pax include:
Requirements to retain citizenship in PaxLair include:
Assisting Initiates through inclusion in plots and mini-quests
A common problem many people encounter when first getting involved in a group is that they are not known and do not know others. While other people talk and interact, the newcomer is often left out, though rarely intentionally. Part of the purpose of having the PaxLair Initiate stone is to help identify those people who are new to PaxLair but want to become a part of it. This will provide an automatic "ice-breaker" for many of the citizens, who will be ready to include the initiates in their conversations and adventures. One way for initiates to become involved is to assist in whatever plots the PaxLair citizens are involved in. Initiates can form a ready supply of "extras" who play small, but important parts in the plots, or perhaps even have a major role (n.b., the initiates should play these roles as themselves, not as some newly created person). Assisting in plots is an excellent way for new people in PaxLair to become acquainted with the more established folks. Another suggested method of including initiates is to give them mini-quests -- short "adventures" designed to introduce the initiate to a citizen and give the initiate the chance to role-play their character. These quests could be simple ones, such as "Go find a man called Fleeble in Moonglow. He has a book that I need for my work. Please get it from him and bring it to me." The initiate will have to interact with Fleeble, perhaps even perform another task for him in order to obtain the book. The intent is not to turn the initiate into a lackey, but to give him a chance to have some fun role-playing, as well as the citizen.
FAQ
Citizens of PaxLair pledge to aid visitors and citizens whenever they can, but this pledge is made in a role-played sense. Even when faced by a pk, citizens of PaxLair are encouraged to remain in-character. Since many of the citizens are craftsmen or scholars---not fighters---they will avoid combat whenever possible. This is another difference between a guild and the citizen stone. PaxLair is a town made up of individuals---individuals able and encouraged to make their own choices with respect to how their characters act (or don't act). Keep in mind also that some people come to PaxLair with the express purpose of causing trouble, in the hopes of gaining easy loot. Since these bothersome people are not in town to role-play, or interact with others in a positive way, even citizens that are quite able to fight may ignore them. All people are reminded that PaxLair is a wilderness town and as such they should behave as they would in any non-guarded zone: be careful, have your wits about you, keep your guard up. There are no guards, though chances are that there will be people in town willing to help. However, that is their individual choice---there is little that any citizen "should" do besides remain in-character.
If you have questions or comments regarding this system, please contact Tycho Veg, Chancellor of PaxLair. |
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