The Puppet Master
Season 2
Season 2
Become the Puppet MasterPuppet Master is an initiative designed to encourage players to create encounters for characters outside their usual circle.
Rather than running something for your own character, or for someone you regularly DM for, the idea is to look across the guild, find a character you think would be interesting to build something around, and come up with an encounter specifically for them. The goal is to make DMing feel a little less predictable and give players opportunities to experience stories, threats and situations they might never think to create for themselves.
We particularly want to encourage people to run things for characters they do not normally interact with. Friends can already DM for friends whenever they like; Puppet Master is intended to reward people for stepping outside those familiar groups and creating something unexpected for somebody else.
You may propose an encounter for any eligible character who has not already been selected for Puppet Master during the current season. The Officer Team will review the proposal and, if we approve both the concept and you as the Puppet Master for that character, the character will be added to the list below.
Once a character has an approved Puppet Master, they cannot be selected again until the following season. This is intended to spread the initiative across as many different characters as possible.
If your proposal is approved, you will have one month to run the encounter in order to receive the Puppet Master reward.
Encounters
We wish to be clear that an encounter does not have to be an event, it could be something smaller in scale and still be accepted. The important thing is that it will provide something personalised for that character that will inject something unexpected into their story. Some examples of appropriate encounters are as follows:
The Martial Challenge
A Sith Lord arrives unannounced to challenge a martial Sith of Perfidious. Before the assembled powerbase, the duel will continue until one submits or falls unconscious. Victory may bring reward, while defeat will carry a price.
The Sniper Hunt
A Special Operations Group operative must lead a mission to planet Puppety, where a sniper has been methodically eliminating Imperials. The trail of bodies leaves a path to their hidden nest, but the assassin may yet have the upper hand.
The Supplicant Heir
A young man presents himself, claiming distant blood ties to a player character. He begs for financial support to elevate himself from poverty. The character may roll for wealth to grant aid, or cast him aside to face destitution.
The Duel of Philosophy
A wandering Sith challenges a member of the powerbase not with blade or Force, but with words. Before the powerbase they must lock wills in debate, proving strength of mind rather than martial supremacy.
The Crash Landing
The player characters shuttle crashes in the wilderness. Badly injured, they must escape to freedom. But something or someone is hunting them....
Each encounter must provide at least a couple of hours of entertainment, though it could last longer and involve a pre-amble. For example the Supplicant Heir in the example above could send a few messages ahead of time to the player character to build the narrative, of the Martial Challenge could begin with some updates or comm messages making the targetted character know they should expect a challenge.
We'll specifically be looking for the ideas that sound the most engaging, a simple hack and slash mission that feels uninspired will not be accepted.
Targeting and Targeted
When writing for the targetted players, we'd obviously like to avoid treading on any story threads they feel are very personal.
For example, it would not be appropriate to turn up at the base as a former lover referenced in their backstory if they don't give permission for you to do this as it may impact their existing narrative. It would be fine to turn up as someone who claims to be their former lover though, causing a scene for them and allowing those present to react to the drama.
The way to avoid this is to only tread on personal storylines if you are confident it will be welcome, or to ask a player if they might be open to you exploring a specific angle in their background or existing storyline. If you don't want to reveal exactly what your plan is, you could ask them to comment on a few ideas, hiding your true intentions amongst others.
If you are selected to run something for a player, you will need to reach out to them to arrange dates and times for it to happen, especially if the player is not someone who tends to be around daily.
Equally, as a player who may be targetted, you can avoid any specific storylines or encourage particular themes by posting in the thread below saying "I'm open to exploring X, Y and Z. I would prefer not to have anything targetting 1, 2, and 3 as these are very important to my internal plot."
Submitting an Idea
Please submit your Puppet Master ideas as a ticket: here
Please use one ticket per idea and explicitly state the name of the target in the Title.
If you wish to submit an idea for an Officer, please send the idea via Private Message (Conversations) on the forum to another member of the Officer Team.
RewardsAs a reward for running an encounter for another player, you may choose one of the rewards listed below.
You will notice that the first two options list their effect as a minimum of +20. This is because the final reward may be increased where we feel you have chosen to spotlight a character who has not received much attention recently, or where the encounter itself was particularly well conceived or executed.
Once you have completed your encounter, please update your ticket with a brief overview of how the encounter went and your chosen reward. The Officer Team will then review the completed encounter and confirm the final value of the reward.
Name | Description | Effect | Rules |
|---|---|---|---|
Unexpected Income | Your character receives an unexpected windfall of cash and can now invest it into an asset. Perhaps a family member died, perhaps they got lucky in a gamble. Whatever the case, they received some cash. | Minimum +20 to a Wealth roll | Must be applied to your next Wealth roll. Can stack with other bonuses. |
Good Word | People are talking about your character, and they are saying good things. Maybe tongues are wagging in the Dominion, or perhaps someone is talking about them back on Kaas. Either way, they receive a temporary boost to their reputation. | Minimum +20 to an Influence roll. | Must be applied to your next Influence roll. Can stack with other bonuses. |
Imperial Support | A rich or influential benefactor within the Empire has decided to offer your character some support. Inspired by a story of your characters struggles and efforts, they've decided to send them some support. | Free Purchase | Can be used for a Wealth or Influence purchase up to a maximum of rank 6. Note you cannot purchase an influence reward you do not have the minimum influence for. |