How-To: Create and run a troupe

All Dark Metal players are welcome to create troupes - there is no specific requirement.  If you have a few friends who want to play together, or a notion for a campaign, that's all you need.

Website Troupe Setup:

  1. Create a character to act as primary troupe owner.  You can choose to play this as an actual character or exclusively as a Storyteller - it's up to you.
  2. Register for a website account.  (See +help register on-game.)
  3. Put in a +request on-game: +request troupe/<troupe name>=<a brief description of the troupe's intent>.  A member of staff will set up a troupe for you on the website - when you log into the site, you'll see it on the Troupes page.
  4. Visit your Troupe page.  While logged in, you'll see Edit and Group tabs at the top.  Edit the troupe to add a description of your troupe's policies, ideas, intent, and so on.  Give it some personality!
  5. Go to the Group tab to edit permissions settings, manage members, and handle other administrative details.
  6. Use Post to Troupe to add Reference links, Logs, and general communications to your people.

That's about it.  Find some people, add them, play!  Expect further developments in website-based troupe tools; feel free to put in +requests for them if you have ideas you'd like to see implemented, too - troupe admins and members are, after all, the people who know best what they need for their purposes.

On-MUSH Troupe Setup:

Useful on-game Storyteller commands.  Usable by anyone marked as an admin on the troupe channel.

  • <alias> +user <name>:  Add <name> to the troupe channel (whose three-letter alias you can find in +comm/list).  This designates that character as a formal part of the troupe, permitting use of other Storyteller commands on them.  Characters may be removed with -user.  (See +help comm admin.)
  • <alias> +admin <name>: Make another member a Storyteller for the group.  As above, may be removed with -admin.
  • +xp/grant <name>=<#>:  Provide <#> XP to the character (who must be on the troupe channel).  This CAN be a negative value.  (See +help xp.)

Commands to suggest to your players:

  • +sheetconf/allow <name, name, name>:  Gives the specified characters permission to view your +sheet. (See +help sheetconf.)
  • +bg/add <name>:  Gives the specified character permission to view your +bg. (See +help bg.)

Storyteller stat commands:

Storytellers (Troupe channel admins) now have the ability to set (up OR down) certain stats on their troupe members - things not available in the XP room. This includes all backgrounds, merits, and flaws (I have not implemented the Chargen restrictions on STs - sanity left up to ST judgment). For Shifters, it includes rank, gifts, rites, and species-dependent renown types. For Vampires, disciplines.

Syntax:
        @setstat <name>/p:<stat>=<#>, e.g. @setstat Bob/p:rank=3
        @setlist <name>/<list>=<stat>/[<comment>], e.g. @setlist Jane/gift=Heightened Senses/Spirit-earned

(Comment field on list stats is optional, but the terminating / is required.)  Rank, renown, disciplines, and backgrounds fall under stats. Temp values can be set by eliminating the p: (for 'permanent'). Gifts, rites, merits, and flaws are lists. List items can be removed with a ! (e.g., @setlist Jane/gift=!Heightened Senses/)

Additional Info

Troupe Territories

There are three types of grid on Dark Metal, the public grid which isn't up for grabs by any particular troupe (except in their private canon, but more on that in a moment), the troupe-maintained public grid, and private troupe areas.

  • Public grid.  Includes all locations into which regular characters can simply walk while exploring that are not explicitly troupe- or individual-owned.  These areas are typically not available to be claimed, ICly or otherwise.
  • Troupe-maintained public grid.  Troupes are welcome (even encouraged) to create and maintain public territories - locations which, though under their protection, are open to other characters.  These are required to conform to public canon, but troupes may dictate the situation in those locations - the camera status, weapons policy, and so on.
  • Private grid.  Troupes may also choose to create private troupe domains, which do not have to conform to any but the troupe's own canon.  While we will continue to maintain a certain amount of quota limitation (flexible) to avoid serious database bloat, what you build there is up to you.

To begin building a troupe-maintained or private troupe area, use +request BUILD/Troupe Location (or similar title)=A brief description of what you intend to build and which type of grid it will be.  Players are also welcome to suggest or ask to create new public grid areas, but we are less likely to add more of these - the grid is already quite a sprawl, and we're attempting to thin it down rather than expand it.