What is a Band?
A band is a catchall term for a group of Concord characters bound together by loyalty and purpose. They come in many forms and functions ranging from prominent families, to mercantile combines, to martial orders, and more. There are even some band concepts unique to each of the Realms of Concord, available HERE.
Bands contrast to Sects in that Sects are aligned under the worship and reverence of The Spheres, while a Band is bound in loyalty that may not neatly map onto the Spheres and is often far more mundane and human. That being said, it is not uncommon for a sect and a band to have identical membership.
Bands are often formed around character creation, being interwoven with your character concept. But many characters find their bands through play, aligning themselves with found allies rather than those found in their history. Both are perfectly valid but it is important to note that your band should be a key part of your character regardless.
Being in a Band
There are few hard rules when it comes to being in a band but there are plenty of guidelines.
In terms of requirements, the only one of note is as follows:
Colours and Liveries
Bands need to be bound together and not hidden. As such we ask each band to have a set of colours, a symbol or symbols that represent them, and a way of wearing this that is obvious. This doesn’t need to be so extreme that you are all matching dancers in a chorus line (although that would be a sight), but while you are standing alone I should be able to look at you from ten paces and immediately identify what group you belong to.
Work with your Band out-of-character to make your colours and livery something that evokes both your realm and your bands themes, while also being a piece of kit that you enjoy wearing, enjoy making, or at least doesn’t break the bank.
In terms of guidelines, there are likely hundreds, but for the sake of brevity, here are five:
Stand by your Oaths
At the core of a band is an oath. In the magical world of Concord, oaths have magic all of their own. Swearing your oath to your band should be a momentous moment, perhaps one retaken from time to time. These words should guide you and form part of the core at the centre of your character. They should not be taken lightly and the moment they are broken should be the crux of a great story.
It is far more interesting and powerful to take the world earnestly and heavily than flippantly. Oaths are no different.
Stand by your Band
Being in a band is one of the best ways to LARP. The shared burden of logistics, communications, and story can not only lighten the load but also raise the scale of what is possible. Work with your band out of character to help members who might be struggling to get to the event, or just get everything they need to the event. Work with your band to make events better when it comes to things like food, camping, and gear. Work with your band to bring more of the world to life with a better camp, sanctioned events, and simply more of the LARP.
A good band not only makes LARP easier, it makes it better.
Stand by your Word
Characters in your band should be your closest allies, akin to family. And just like family, they need not always get along. But opening up your character to the trust, support, and perhaps betrayal that can come from having close connections can only improve your game.
Trust in your band members, and stand by what you say to them.
Stand by your Colours
The physical presentation of your band to the world shouldn’t be an afterthought. It shouldn’t be something tacked onto your costume to meet a requirement a game designer thought up. Your colours and livery are a representation of your oath and your bond to your band. Wear them with pride. Work with your band to make doing so easy and accessible for all your members. Don’t take mistreatment of them lightly, and make it a great part of your kit, not a necessary annoyance.
Your colours will often be the first and most important part of your band to other people. Make it as important to you as it is to them.
Stand by your Story
As with all things, your band story will end. Either because your character moves beyond it (either into retirement, death, or greater things) or because the band is sundered (perhaps due to time, betrayal, or misfortune). But this band story is something you should put creativity and joy into. Don’t let your band become the place where you drop character all the time and leave your motivations at the door. Don’t let your band be cut off from the world. Bring the world into your band, and have your internal roleplay be as dedicated, interesting, and complex as what you have outside. Make sure you make time for your band to have that time together not as an afterthought.
Your band story will be a huge part of your story, don’t let it be forgotten.
A Note on Bands
A band is intended to be a group that characters and players use as the basis for their interactions with the world of Concord. It should be an organisation that is close, that is united in their story, their experiences, the successes and their failures. Characters within a band should be the closest cohort you have in the world, and while you need not agree with them all the time, you should be united in purpose and share the burdens of heroism together. You should wear the same livery, stand and die under the same banner, raise toasts to your history, and stand together around the graves of your friends. It is a stronger bond than realmic, more akin to family, it is an oath taken beneath the eyes of the Spheres and the traditions of your people.
It is not a formality you move through to maximise numbers and grab a tier 3 enterprise. Its not a race to the highest measures to keys conversion. It is not a checklist to get 1500 points of free upkeep defence in a borderland. It is not a conversation about how “I know we want to play together, but if we split into two groups of three we’ll get double the enterprises.”
These mechanical advantages exist to reward the effort and love that goes into great Bands. It is to show the power and prominence of groups of powerful people working together in the world of Esterra. It is the strength, the quality, and the importance of those bonds between heroes being matched by the mechanics of the game.
I do hope that this update is met with this energy, and that we see some great bands in the future. I will always write Concord with trust in the community and I can’t wait to see what becomes of it.
- Michael ‘Skittles’ Harris, Lead Organiser / Lead Storyteller.
Creating a Band
Creating a band requires three steps. They are as follows:
Band Submission
To start creating your band, you need to fill out the Band Submission form HERE. This lets you work with the Player Support Team to create a band that fits into the world of Concord, detail your oath and theme, and pick your Band Enterprise details. This needs to be done outside of Summit time. You want to have your submission approved prior to the Summit beginning.
Bonding Ceremony
Once your band has been approved by the Player Support Team, you need to complete the ‘Bless the Warhost’ Ceremony. This binds your band together magically, ensuring that the relevant magical effects that function around a Warband take effect, and that you are unified in the eyes of the Spheres. There will be a Band Approval slip in your Band leader’s character pack. Once the ceremony has been completed, this will be signed off on by the Curate. Once signed off it should be given to the Civil Service with your Band Charter.
Band Charter
Once your band has been approved and blessed, you need to turn in a charter to the Civil Service. An example charter can be found HERE. Your charter needs to include your Bands Name, Oath, and a list of its members. The function of the Band Charter is to ensure that the Civil Service / Game team can keep an up-to-date record of the Band Members, and ensures that they are recognised throughout the Concord. It is important to note that this is an In-Character document, and that should be reflected in the making of it.
The Charter should then be handed to The Symposiarch or The Archivists, or if none of them are available, to the Exchange.
Following completion of these three steps, your Band will be functional and your Band Enterprise will begin to function. Your band leader (indicated on the charter) will be able to submit an action for your enterprise at the coming downtime and you will receive your first results at the following Summit. Your band will be able to be bonded to a Concordia immediately.
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3 Example Oaths
We are the coals in the ashes, the breath before flame.
We burn for one another, not for kings nor coin.
When one falls, we carry their fire.
When we fall, we fall together.
May oath-breakers find only cold.
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By stone, by stream, by star, we swear:
To guard what is broken, to build what is lost,
To stand when others turn, to speak when others whisper.
In unity, strength. In honour, legacy.
We are the Valleyfolks, and this is our vow.
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We kneel beneath the soil, where no light treads.
We speak to roots, not Barons.
The forest knows our names — and we forget the rest.
Let the weald bind us, the dark see us through,
And the dead walk alone, whispering the oath.
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Band Leader
Each Band has a leader who acts as the In-Character and Out-of-Character point of contact for the band. This person should be identified as the band leader on the Band’s charter. It is the band leaders job to submit enterprise downtime, and to manage any other contact between the Concord team and the band regarding band business.
A band leader can be changed IC by requesting the Bands Charter at a Summit and having the new Band leader update the charter with a majority of the band present.
Ideally the Band Leader is the same OoC and IC, but we understand this isn’t always possible. In this circumstance please email [email protected] to advise the player support team of this.
Joining a Band
Joining a band is a simplified version of creating a band. To join, you need to:
- Complete the ‘Blessing of the Warhost’ ceremony. It's important to note that the Blessing of the Warhost ceremony can add as many members to a Band to the Band as there are existing members taking part.
- Sign the Band Charter, this can be done by requesting the charter at a Summit and signing it in the presence of a Civil Service worker.
Leaving and Ending a Band
Leaving a band is even simpler than joining one. Simply obtain the Band Charter, and strike out your name. Only the Warband Leader or the individual who is named may strike out a name on the charter. Individuals will automatically be struck out once the Civil Service learns of their death, banishment, or any other circumstance that may make them ineligible to remain within the band.
Following this act you must find a priest of Anarch. While a ceremony is not needed to leave a band, you do need to break the bond forged in sight of Arcadian when you joined the band. This involves being present before a priest of Anarch and stating; “I break my bond and rescind my oath. I stand alone.” three times. At which point the curate will note your action and you will be free of your bond.
A band will cease to exist if any of the following circumstances are met:
- The band fails to have a minimum of three members at three consecutive summits. (Worth noting that a band cannot submit downtime if it does not have at least 3 members at a Summit) Note: bands who's membership is primarily from outside Western Australia are exempt from this requirement to avoid being disbanded, but still require 3 to able to obtain enterprise income and use Concordia)
- All members of the Band leave the band of their own volition.
- There are no members of the band left due to movement to other realms, banishment, or similar.
- All members of the band are dead at any one moment.
- The Band leader burns the band charter in front of a priest of Cervitas.
In all circumstances where you believe your band has ended, please inform the Concord Player Support team at [email protected]
Band Concordia
In the same way that sects bond to Reliquaries, Bands bond to Concordia to gain benefits. Concordia are a magical item type that come in two parts:
- The Concordia
This is the part of the item that the Band bonds to. Each band can only bond to one Concordia at a time.
- The Fragments
These are the parts of the Concordia that each member of the band takes from the Concordia and attaches to themselves, gaining their part of the boon. Each Fragment occupies the ‘Talisman’ magical item slot, meaning a character cannot have a Fragment and a Talisman at the same time.
Details for Concordia can be found on the Magic Items page and the Artisan Crafts page.
Band Enterprises
Each Band in Concord gains what is known as an ‘Enterprise’ representing a powerful organisation, structure, business, or similar that the group maintains, part of what grants it notoriety. Enterprises function similarly to personal investments in that they generally provide income and have a set of downtime actions that they can perform. Management of the Enterprise falls to the designated ‘Band Leader’ of a band, but it should be a decision made by the band as a whole, depending on how the band functions.
More information can be found regarding Band Enterprises on the 'Band Enterprises' page.
