CG Proposals For Your Event

Why do CG elements need special approval?

Well, items, characters, monsters, and places included in a Continuing Game can last forever, game to game, affecting all future CG events. So we're just checking to make sure everything looks okay before the event runs – after that, problematic things become hard to "unwrite". Don't get too worried; the Committee almost never votes "no" on anything.

We're mostly checking that your elements aren't contradicting something else that's already out there, or aren't redundant with something that's already been introduced. For magic items and treasure, we're monitoring what's out there to make sure there isn't too much of one thing, or too little. Overall, we're checking to make sure things fit the CG "milieu".

If you're not sure if something needs approval, please feel free to ask the Game World Chair (cg-chair@quest.org) first. And if you're concerned about revealing a secret to the EC or GWC, there are ways to deal with that, too.

1. Locale & Gameworld

Your game proposals should mention where in the Continuing Game world your particular game occurs. This will be no big deal if your game is simply to take place in a forest or small town and will just include "common folk".

This rarely affects the EC's opinion of your proposal; rather, we want to make sure that we are aware of what you're adding so we can add it to the CG canon. We also just want to make sure that whatever you're adding doesn't conflict with something that's already there.

If you have any gameworld geography questions, please feel free to contact the Game World Committee. (And the head of that Committee is on the Events Committee.)

Big effects

If your event might have a significant effect on the world outside of the game area, you'll want to include that. (For instance, suppose the PCs' failure results in the release of a large monster that creates havoc over a region.)

This is not a bad thing that the Committee will oppose; quite the contrary, since we like to see games that give the PCs agency in the world. A few things to keep in mind:

2. Important Persons

Figures of significant distinction (and this includes royalty, nobles, bishops, Collegiates, and the like) should get included in your proposal. It's not that Quest is likely to vote you down; in fact, this rarely affects the EC's opinion of your proposal at all. Instead, we just want to add your person(s) to the CG canon.

The CG generally tries to avoid having monarchs, their heirs, and similar "high nobility" at regular CG games. Those kind of folks have large retinues, and lots of guards and servants, which is something that Quest can't normally stage — so having them show up under-attended would feel unrealistic, and make the event feel implausible. (Persons like kings and queens also tend not to travel to the lawless and dangerous areas where many Quest events are set.)

However, other notable figures are perfectly fine. If your game needs an important person, consider a local lord/lady, country gentleman/-woman, knight, squire, merchant, or even a baron/-ess or earl/count/countess. For that matter, churches can be important landowners as well, so a bishop or abbot might be the local authority.

Lastly, if you're going to have a god/dess show up, please include that in your proposal, too. We try to play it spare with direct manifestations of the divine – that's part of why we have luminaries and celestials for GMs to use! (Which is to say, you don't need to get any approval to use a luminary or celestial.)

3. Money, Treasure, and Magic Items

Money and Treasure:

All CG games are pre-approved for some treasure; GMs don't need to propose for this. "Treasure" here means coins, jewelry and similar items that can be sold out-of-game for coins, and potions from the standard potion list at standard potion sale price (using the "Selling" rules for selling potions out-of-game).

This standard, pre-approved treasure is a maximum of 5 marks per PC per day. So a three-day weekend game can put out up to 15 marks per PC. This is the maximum, and games may always choose to put out less, or none. (The CG GWC suggests that plotless games or other low-risk games put out less treasure than standard games, so that the reward matches the risk. )

In addition, each game is approved for 50 marks of "good guy money". This represents treasure that the GMs do not expect will leave the game in PC hands unless the PCs are disreputable or dishonest: pocket change in the hands of friendly NPCs, cash behind the bar, fancy decor in the friendly NPC's house, etc.

GMs who feel their event needs additional treasure beyond these figures are still welcome to make a proposal to the EC or CG GWC. As a guideline, the CG GWC prefers to see no more than one or two of these events per year, and prefers not to go beyond about 150% of these figures. (You may also find more success putting out more magic items instead of more money.)

Magic Items:

Magic items that can't leave game or affect a future game, for whatever reason (e.g. they have magic that prevents their removal, they go inert after a few days, they go inert if removed from the area) require no approval whatsoever.

Magic items that survive a game can affect all future CG games, so they'll need to run by the EC or CG GWC. This includes scrolls, plus any potions that aren't on the standard potion list or which have side effects.

Please include the item's details – that is, what will be on the item's State of Being Scroll.

How many is enough?

Many games don't put out any magic items at all. The CG GWC doesn't want you to be stingy, either, since magic items can be fun, but if having magic loot doesn't fit the game, that's a good reason not to have any.

Most importantly, reward should match the risk. This means most plotless or low-danger events will have no magic items at all, or at best a minor item. Tavern nights with moderate risk might have a few minor items, and occasionally a medium item. A high-danger tavern night might even put out a major item and a few medium items. Longer games (like two-day or weekend-long games) can roughly double these numbers.

In addition, if recent games have put out a large number of items, the EC or CG GWC will probably not want to put out a lot more. (If you're not sure how many items have gone out recently, just ask.)

Finally, special conditions can play into this; if your game has a particular reason for a higher-than-normal number of items, just provide an explanation in your proposal. For instance, a game set at a magical bazaar could get away with having a higher number, because those items will be sold (rather than looted for free), so the cost to PCs is also higher than normal.

How do you classify an item?
  • minor items: this includes single-use items that produce low-level spells, or other short-term, single-use items (e.g. an item that gives a boost to a stat for five minutes.)
  • medium items: this includes single-use items that produce medium-level spells, items that give a minor stat boost with a moderate time duration (e.g. a ring of Will +1 that works for an hour, once per day), or items that give a larger stat boost but with a negative (e.g. a ring usable once per day that gives Awareness +2 for an hour, but you have Foolhardy while it's on).
  • major items: this includes items from the above category that don't have a time limit, e.g. a ring that always gives a stat boost while it's on. It also includes single-use items that give powerful spells (e.g. a scroll of Resurrection).
  • powerful items, such as a magic (blue-sock) weapon. We don't like to see a lot of these, since otherwise they become commonplace and devalued, so these should be rare. However, if it's important to a game's plot, an occasional item of this kind is okay, provided the game is high-risk (and usually a two-day or weekend event.)
  • 4. Races & Monsters

    Creatures that are unique to the game locale, and which have no effect outside the game locale, do not require any approval. So the evil archmage's unique magical creation is one-of-a-kind, and doesn't need approval – since its like won't show up again.

    However, monsters or races that can show up at other events, or which may affect something outside your game locale (e.g. something cosmological), need approval, since they can affect future CG games. When in doubt, just ask and we can help clarify.

    (When we say "game locale", we mean the town/village/valley where the game takes place. A game set in a town in Allondell has the town as its locale, not all of Allondell.)

    The Committee rarely has a problem with new monsters; again, we ask this mostly just so we can add your material to the CG canon. In some cases, we may be able to suggest that an existing monster might work, rather than add a new one. (Be sure to give the Bestiary a check before proposing a new monster.) If you're concerned with variety, consider giving an old race some player skills (i.e. give some of your plain-old orcs Mage 3, high Stealth, and Quicktalk, and watch the fun).

    5. Rules Modifications

    For special circumstances, GMs are able to modify existing Quest material, such as the rules. However, you'll need the approval of the relevant committee to do so (the Rules Committee for rules changes, the GWC for game world material.)

    For example, you might want to add a new spell for just this one event, or might want to modify the effects of an existing spell. You'd need to run this by the Rules Committee. Or you might want to feature a dwarf without dwarven Honor or a mahiri without mahiri Honor (aka an "unbalanced mahiri"). Since these defy the official racial kit, you'll want to run them by the CG Game World Committee. That's all it takes.