What Comes Next
First of all, on behalf of the Red Feather Roleplaying Board, I want to offer my full support for the decision made by Port Katherine organizational staff to step back from the game. This was not an easy decision to come to, or one they made lightly, and I have full confidence that they made this decision because they had no other choice, and it was necessary for their health. This may not be the outcome I wanted as a player, but as their friend I care first and foremost about their wellbeing.
The intention and desire of Port Katherine’s organizational staff is that the game ends here, and is not continued by a new group. Despite this, the Board has decided that if a group wishes to take over as staff of Port Katherine and continue the game, we will consider the feasibility of their proposal, and the Board will have final say over whether that group may continue as Port Katherine under the auspices of RFR. If the Board denies such a proposal, or no such group steps forward by the Board’s winter meeting, Port Katherine will end.
I want to recognize and acknowledge the discomfort of making this invitation, since I know it goes against the wishes of the current Port Katherine organizational staff to continue the game. However, the Board also feels it’s important to give the community a chance to consider all options for the future of a game that many of us love very much, in keeping with our organizational value of Stewardship: “Games belong to their players, and each event are given anew to staff that they may oversee and protect them.”
Part of what has made Port Katherine such an amazing game from the player side is also what has made it unsustainable from a staff side, which is that every game, staff has written an incredible amount of BGS, created new mechanics, new skills, and new items, and put out a huge amount of plot. This has burned the current organizational staff out, and I ask that any group considering putting themselves forward to pick up Port Katherine’s mantle think very hard about their capacity and ability to run the game before putting forward a proposal. The current organizational staff of Port Katherine deserve the chance to make a clean break from the game for their own health and recovery, and do not owe you their time or answers to your questions. Please do not count on being able to pick up where the current staff has left off. That said, if you represent a group of staff who want to pick up the organization and running of Port Katherine, please contact me, and we can talk more about what the Board would need to know to consider your proposal.
This does not mean the end of RFR, regardless of what happens with Port Katherine. We are a vibrant and caring community, and I am confident we can withstand whatever happens now. We have two continuing games that will have full fall seasons, Witchwood and Entanglement. I’d love to see you there.
We are also always accepting proposals for new games, including both campaigns and one-shots, though we don’t guarantee that all proposed games will be adopted by the organization. Proposals for new games should include descriptions of setting, rules, themes, and tone, as well as an acknowledgement of the various implications of running under the RFR umbrella, including being in line with the RFR Values and Code of Conduct, oversight from the Conduct Committee and the Board, etc. A detailed description of the game’s projected financial structure, including startup capital, event pricing, projected attendance, and budgets is also important. Bios for senior staff and contributing writing staff are helpful. Proposals are submitted to the Board and will be discussed with the proposing staff at the next Board meeting after their submission. If you would like to start a new campaign for Spring 2024, you have about six months until our winter Board meeting to prepare the proposal.
The Board’s upcoming summer meeting will be in late August or early September, and the winter meeting will be sometime between December and February. Decisions about both new games and any proposals for continuing Port Katherine will be made by the Board as it stands in August, after the conclusion of this summer’s election cycle. Proposals for continuing Port Katherine will be accepted until the Board’s winter meeting.
I know that the next few weeks and months are going to be a hard time for many in our community as this news settles in and becomes real for all of us. Please reach out to each other for support and commiseration as you need to, whether directly, through our facebook group, or in our RFR-related channels on the Boston Larp slack (contact me if you need an invite to slack). In this time of change, please also be considerate of Port Katherine staff’s feelings. They love this world as much as the players do, and are heartbroken to see it change or end. Yelling at them about their decision won’t grant them the capacity to continue running the game.
My dms are open on Messenger, Slack, and the forums if you need to reach out to an official representative of the organization for any reason, or just to a fellow player to talk about this game we both love.
I know that together, we will get through this.
Sarah
For the RFR Board