Speaker Guidelines

As the speaker your role is to keep order in the Council Chamber and make sure that events proceed in an effective and timely manner.

Things to enforce

All talk should be in character.

Seating

• No clumping near door, fill the room
• Sit by organisation

No fiddling with phones in council room. Although we're not enforcing having them on silent in the council room, it would be nice.

Managing Motions

When running motions, don't let the conversation progress to players stating their view points in the council room. If it's not a question or a proposed solution, no one really cares.

Types of good questions could include:

• What are the potential consequences / benefits of this action?
• Can you clarify what you meant by (word)?
• Questions about the background / setting / implementation of solutions.
• Questions about the unfamiliar.

Questions should not include:

• Is this morally good or evil?
• Anything which surrounds personal (PC) opinion.
• Questions which have already been asked by someone else (circular).
• Non-clarifying questions about the minutia. e.g. "Which new laws would you institute?"

Between Mission Schedule

Between missions there are several stages that need addressing. You will be informed of any required deviations from this script by the head GM.

Each should be done in order.

1. Debriefs (~1 minute each)
   1. The GMs from each mission should give the report that the players in the mission wrote down on the mission card.
   2. They should also nominate a player from the group (aim for newbies / shybies? - get their consent first) to answer any questions that may arise, this should be done later.
   3. They will finish by stating the outcome of the mission, in the form of region statistic changes and the like.
   4. The exception is for main plot missions which can have a question and answer session.
2. End of Season (5 minutes, if appropriate)
   1. If the season has ended one SGM from each region should have the opportunity to summarise what has happened and what attrition happens, possibly reassign complications.
3. Resolve Motions (~3 minutes, if any)
   1. Announce the result of the motion.
   2. Ensure the relevant GM describes any immediate consequence.
4. Introduce Motions (5-10 minutes, if any)
   1. If a new motion has been introduced then one or more faction NPCs will need an opportunity to speak.
   2. After each has said their piece, chair a brief Q&A discussion with each NPC given the opportunity to answer questions from the council. (see guidance above)
      1. Opinions are not questions
      2. Take questions from people who have not asked one yet and newer/quieter people
   3. END OF QUESTIONS
      1. NPCs leave
   4. Gather options from the council for how to resolve the motion.
      1. NO DEBATE
      2. Plans should not be specific
      3. Try to get an idea of what effects each solution would have (the GM responsible for the motion / head GM should be able to answer)
   5. If there are more than 3 options get a show of hands for each and only write up the most popular 3. People can vote more than once.
5. Announcements, Heralds and Envoys (if appropriate)
   1. Announcement
   2. Q&A
6. Open Discussion (5-15 minutes, optional)
   1. In this time players should be encouraged to:
      1. Seek audiences with NPCs.
      2. Ask questions of each other about missions.
      3. Discuss motions.
7. Motion Debate (up to 8 minutes)
   1. Each side has 1 minute to make a point
   2. Brief conference (max 2 mins)
   3. Each side has 1 minute for rebuttals
8. Organise Missions (5 minutes)
   1. Someone else will organise which missions exist and who goes on which.
   2. Your job at this point is to maintain order and make sure no one disappears without a finish time. Make sure someone is posted to the door.