Weyrlinghood: Month 6

How to Plan an On-Camera Fall / Drill

This material was orginally written by Weyrlingmaster I'sai for Ista Weyr's weyrling training program.

Here's the rundown! This information will give you a good outline or plan for preparing Falls in general, and can apply to formal drills/displays as well.

All this may sound complicated, but keep in mind that some aspects just don't take much time, even though a lot may be written about them. Not only that, but you're getting the extravagant Fall version so you get maximum information, and that it can be trimmed for a drill. Also, note that all of this prep isn't strictly necessary if you just want to RP a drill - there's nothing stopping anyone from mounting up and @emitting some ropes coming down, unrehearsed and spur-of-the-moment, just for the sake of a fun scene! This guide is useful if you're planning a major event, however - these preparations will help keep the spam down and your sanity within reach. :)

Preliminary Planning

1. How long do you want the event to take? This will affect how much of the Fall-related rp you can feasibly cover. Note that Threadfalls are, like flights, notorious for starting late and running long (and while people can drop out, it's not much fun to do so), so it's important to figure out a solid timeline (with room to maneuver built in) and stick to it. Generally an hour and a half from the posted start time makes for a solid event, and if you segue out into post-Fall, anyone who wants to continue roleplaying can do so. Asking people to commit more than two hours of their time to an event is not recommended.

2. How much of the Fall do you want to roleplay? OOCly, Ista has three kinds of Falls, here listed from most common to least:

   • Entirely off-camera - As Fall is assumed to be regularly occurring, this kind of Fall is the most common. Sometimes a bulletin board post will give information about a specific Fall, and is usually posted by a wingleader or someone to whom s/he has delegated the task; the two or three wings participating are usually spoken of in general terms (and permission is gotten from any other PC wingleaders), but optionally the poster may have solicited specific character information from those characters' players ('Z'bac was inexplicably late, D'feg's dragon got his left wingtip singed, H'jik's cold was still too bad for him to fly, ...'). These can provide a lot of fodder to rp around and they're the easiest to do.

   • Partly on-camera, partly off - This lets the roleplayers focus on one or two particular aspects of Fall in depth, usually pre- and/or post- but sometimes including all or part of the Fall itself.

     • Pre-Fall: General preparation, such as weyrlings scampering around to distribute firestone sacks and run errands, healers setting up their gear, riders checking straps and feeding firestone to their dragons, groundcrews checking their flamethrowers, everyone taking a last look at their battle plans, possibly-tearful goodbyes, everything up to and including the wings' leaving the Bowl. If doing this with a PC area, there may be activity at that area as well, particularly with groundcrew; a representative rider (PC or NPC) will have shown up to let them know what to expect.
       
       The weyrlings will not fly off with the 'first wave' of riders; instead, they'll then load their own dragons with sacks with which to resupply the full riders, get into formation, and wait in the Bowl with the 'second wave' of greens and smallest blues who don't last the full Fall. This is a great time for weyrling characters to be nervous! ICly, nearly halfway through (which, if you and the wings like, can be OOCly right after they leave with a 'time passes and this is what happens' pose in between), the weyrlings will join them for resupply.

     • The Fall itself: See silvery Thread writhe as it falls and falls and falls! Flame the Thread and see it char to a blackened crisp! Dodge more Thread! Have a close call! Let some Thread slip past for others! Flame some Thread that's slipped past from above! Blanch as a fellow wingrider gets scored! Flame some more! (repeat as necessary)
       
       Note that during their first Fall, weyrlings will be flying resupply (tossing firestone sacks to full riders) rather than actually flaming Thread.

     • Post-Fall: the Fall leader gives the 'All clear', reporting to the PC leader if the Fall was held over a PC area. Some of the wings land to assist the ground crews as necessary (and possibly to receive the Hall/Hold's thanks and wash them down with wine...), while others return to the Bowl. There, minor and major injuries are tended to, and wineskins are distributed, along with food and klah and whatever else. (Note that alcohol is considered dangerously inappropriate until the Fall has concluded.)

   • Entirely on-camera - This is the least common Fall. It gives the most thorough Fall experience, but unless it's very well planned, it can feel like just a summary 'wham, bam, thank you ma'am'... or it can drag on forever. Use with caution.

3. Where do you want the Fall to be held? Whether PC or NPC, each type of area has its merits.

   • PC area: When a Fall is held over a Hold or Hall's territory (or even the Weyr itself), it allows them the opportunity to get involved, send groundcrews on cleanup duty, and RP the events surrounding a Fall. However, to do a Fall over an IC area, we need the permission of that area's leaders, and will have to coordinate the time and type of Fall with them. It also usually takes more time for the actual RP, since naturally we want to involve that area's residents. Depending on the area's population, and on the area leader's advertising of the event, there may or may not be much of a turnout. Ask if there's anything you can do to fit in with their preexisting tinyplots.

   • NPC area (such as Ista Hold or another of our TP room's locales): this has the advantages of OOCly requiring less time/energy for setup prior to the Fall and potentially less time during the Fall itself, as above, but the disadvantage of excluding other areas.

4. When do you want the Fall to be held? For the weyrlings' first Fall, it's wisest to plan the Fall so as to include as many of the weyrlings as possible. If you're doing it over a PC area, coordinate the timing with its area leaders. If possible, try and also arrange it so that other wing representatives and weyrfolk can make it, too. Last, check to ensure that nothing else game-wide is planned for that time that might diminish turnout, such as Gathers, Hatchings, flights, and other special events (check the general bb and +flights, and also via word of mouth). Not everyone will be able to agree to make it, and of those, not everyone who's agreed to make it actually will, but trying to make it at a convenient time will maximize turnout.

5. What do you want the IC weather to be like? The weather should be appropriate for the location and time of day/year, unless tinyplotted otherwise. For the weyrlings' first Fall, the weather should be expected to be relatively mild (no strong gusts, say) for an easy Fall, and should at least start out being so, because if it looked like a rough Fall, the weyrlings wouldn't be allowed to fly... but the weather can certainly get unexpectedly bad after the weyrlings arrive! The weather should not be freezing, as that would mean that the Thread would freeze to black crackdust and there wouldn't be any Thread to fight. If you choose a PC area, as usual, +mail the area leaders to get the okay.

6. How do you want to handle the Thread/weather/background @emits?

   • How will those poses be @emitted? Generally speaking, during the Fall itself the Thread/etc. (as opposed to dragon/rider) poses are handled by one person so nothing conflicts, but it's wise for there to be a second person with the 'keys' in case the first person is unexpectedly disconnected. The emits are done through an object in the room; if you do it yourself from your dragon, the viewers will see something like, 'From Dragoneth's neckridges, Thread falls toward...')! There are three main ways to handle such poses: an ordered emitter or a random emitter, both set up ahead of time, and a person doing on-the-fly emits. Usually a combination of an emitter plus some impromptu emits is used.

     • Ordered emitter: With this sort of emitter, you can 'tell a story'. For example, the weather might get worse, the gusts harder to compensate for, that sort of thing. It requires the most pre-planning, but-particularly when combined with the impromptu emits-can have the most dramatic effects.

     • Random emitter: This emitter has the benefit of requiring minimal planning, and is good for those who like surprises. All you do is write some fairly generic poses and plug them in. This can also be nice when a lot of different people contribute poses, as they're relatively easy to work in together (provided the poses aren't too specific).

     • Impromptu emits: These are really great because you can tailor the emits to the other participants' reactions, and some can be partially scripted ahead of time. However, it's advised that you use them in addition to an emitter, because an emitter lets you include other people in the planning, and also lets the person emitting get some posing of her or his own done instead of being on the spot to type fast and furiously (and possibly repetitively)... and it also provides backup in case s/he unexpectedly disconnects. Though usually only one person emits in order to avoid conflicting poses, if there's a large turnout, there might be multiple people emitting so that one person can focus on each wing. Beware of not scripting any emits ahead of time. It's easy to accidentally start dragging on while you try to write them on the spot and that can lead to the Fall taking far longer than you'd expected.

   • How many of (and what kind of) those emits do you need? The rule of thumb is one emit per two minutes or so during an actual Fall, so if the Fall part of the rp were half an hour, you'd need about fifteen emits. It's also good to have at least one beginning pose, to set the scene/weather/tone, and one closing pose to finish things up and indicate that Thread is no longer falling. Some 'on the fly' emits are also great to respond to participants' poses, and there can be more of those if they're directed to individuals rather than, say, a wing.

   • Who's going to write those emits? This is a great way to include people if they're interested, especially if they can't make it to the event itself. They should be given the location/weather/time-of-day info, how much of the Fall-related rp needs emits, the general 'tone' of the Fall, how many emits you'd like them to write, and anything else they should know; if you're going to have a 'storyline' Fall, let them know what part of the storyline their emits should cover. They should also be given a deadline that will let you still hold the Fall if for some reason they aren't able to come through! Note that it's okay for poses/emits to have different styles, but someone should proofread them for spelling/punctuation/grammar ahead of time. People who plan to run Falls regularly often stockpile emits if there are extra.

ORDER OF EVENTS

1. Handle the preliminary planning, as above - Be sure to +mail Ista's WLs to make sure there aren't any conflicts (before approaching the PC area, if you'd like to use a PC area); give them a couple days to respond. You should have a fairly thorough game plan/timeline before moving on to the next step, but you don't have to have all the emits finished, just under way.

2. If held over a PC area that's not Ista, formally +mail an invitation to its area leaders - You should do this even though you should have been planning with them ahead of time. Give them the date and time, as well as any special circumstances such as IC weather or time of day, so they have all the info in one place and can post to their bb. Please do not +bbpost the Fall yourself without receiving the okay to do so from the area leaders, even if you're on their knot or if you're a watchrider there.

3. +BBpost to Ista Weyr bboard - Invite Ista's riders and weyrfolk to participate. If you know the date more than a week and a half or so ahead of time, first post a 'save the date' message. A week ahead of time (if you have that long), post a more detailed message. In the detailed post, riders planning injuries should be told to get the OK from their wingleaders and to let those planning the event know. If injuries are planned, healers and/or dragonhealers should be invited; they need experience roleplaying their crafts for advancement, and tend to really appreciate an advance invitation. (If they're not able to show up in person, you can refer to healers/dragonhealers in a general way, provided that they do a good job and you aren't too specific (for example, 'Dragoneth lands and a cluster of healers immediately sees to his rider.'), but ask first before referring to someone specific.).

4. At least a day ahead of time - The @emits for the weather and Fall itself should be collected and loaded into the emitter. Consider advertising in your @doing.

5. The day before - post a reminder to the Ista Weyr bboard. If you're using the TP room, load the location.

6. Pre-Fall - The day of the Fall if not before, the location should be announced. If it's not a room that's already in the between list ('btwlist'), check with the area admin to have it added. While for the most part pre-Fall RP runs on its own, depending on the turnout, some @emits of weyrfolk's activities may be helpful. The ranking rider participating is ICly leading; they should be reminded of this, and the riders informed. They will, however, OOCly defer to the person OOCly in charge as to when to send the wings up, so be ready to answer their questions. Remember that the weyrlings will be showing up for resupply with the 'second wave' of dragons.

7. Fall - As previously mentioned, the majority of the emits are handled by an emitter, and any injuries, beyond simple ashburns that wouldn't take a rider out of duty, should have been cleared ahead of time. If there are planned injuries, the healers and/or dragonhealers should be advised that the Fall is beginning, and told the approximate time that the injured rider/dragon will be heading back to Ista. The basic order here goes: The wings arrive. A weather-specific emit is given, then a pre-Fall one. Next comes about half an hour of Fall, with Thread emits, and details as to any changes in the weather. Fall usually ends with an indication that the end is coming, then a 'clear skies' emit.

8. Post-Fall - The majority of the wings will return to the Bowl to recuperate; if the Fall was over a PC area and PC residents were present, remember that at least one PC and some NPCs should show up there to give the 'all clear' and offer any assistance needed. Later that day, +bbpost a summary to the Ista Weyr bboard, and if the Fall was over a PC area, +mail the area leaders thanking them for their hospitality and the chance to RP with their members. In both cases, if there were any incidents such as a burrow that got cleared or someone that got hurt, let them know so they can RP around it!

9. Afterglow - Relax, stretch, get a drink of water. Take notes for yourself for next time: what worked, what didn't. Good job!