Collaborative Writing Roulette

Shore leave isn’t a joint-writing mission by default - your crew can spend all four weeks on their own. But if you’d like to extend your circle of writing partners and meet someone new from across the fleet, the Collaborative Writing Roulette is for you.

The idea is simple: sign up, get matched with one or two other participants, and write a scene together. That’s it! No campaign-critical stakes, no obligation to tie it into anything else - just an excuse to write with someone you might not have crossed paths with otherwise.

How matching works

When you sign up, you’ll be asked which of the following best describes what you’re looking for in a writing partner:

I’m happy to take the lead on a JP - you’re comfortable kicking things off, keeping the scene moving, and driving the structure if needed.
I’d prefer to write with someone else willing to take the lead - you would rather follow someone else’s lead than set the pace yourself.
I’m good either way - happy to do either, depending on who else is in the pool.

Groups are capped at three writers, which lets us match roughly once “I’ll take the lead”-writer with up to two “I prefer someone else takes the lead”-writers per group, with “I’m good either way”-folks filling whatever side a given round needs.

If a group ends up with nobody who explicitly wants to take the lead - it happens - that’s not a problem, just a heads-up. The group will be told this is the case, and it’s down to you to sort out between yourselves how to start.

Prompts

Don’t want to come up with your own scene from scratch? Take a look at the Campaign Tables! The First Meetings table is a particularly good fit when characters don’t know each other at all.

You can also opt in to receive a prompt provided to you by the Intelligence Office. Prompts are entirely optional - if your group would rather build your own scene from your own characters and ideas, that’s just as welcome.

Timing

There are two Roulette rounds during Shore Leave 2403.

Round 1 opens in the first week of the event.
Round 2 opens in the third week of the event.

You can sign up for one round, or both, or neither - they’re independent, and you’ll be matched separately for each. There is no hard deadline for finishing your JP once matched. The soft target is to have it wrapped up by the end of the event (August 9th), but nobody is holding a stopwatch. Take the time your scene needs.

Joint Post Guide

You don’t need experience to write a JP, and you don’t need a contract either - but a few light habits make the difference between a JP that runs smoothly and one that quietly stalls out.

None of this is mandatory. Think of it as a self-check, not a rulebook.

Getting started

Connect on Discord, say hi to each other!
Agree on the basics before starting:
What’s the relationship between your characters? Strangers, colleagues, old friends, rivals?
Where and when is this happening, and who else is involved?
What tone are you going for? A comic misadventure and a quiet character study are both valid.
Agree on character boundaries. Reacting to what your partners wrote is always fine. Deciding/ Editing what their character does, says, and decides isn’t the default.

During the JP

Build on what’s there, don’t override it. If you want to take the scene somewhere that doesn’t fit with what your partner just established, check in out-of-character before you post, rather than overwriting it.
Keep each other posted - literally! Let your partner know when you’ve replied, and if it’s ever unclear whose turn it is, just ask.
If a writing partner goes quiet: give it about 72h (but remember we all live in different time zones!), and send a check-in. It’s fine to leave the JP unfinished or post whatever exists. Life happens.
If you have to step back: say so. One sentence is enough, and it's the thing that prevents the rule from above from being needed.
If the scene’s run its course: it’s fine to mutually agree to wrap it up rather than push for a ‘proper’ ending.

Before you Publish

Read the finished scene before either of you posts it. Either team member can flag lines that don’t sit right with them - not as craft feedback, just to make sure your character’s portrayal feels right to you.
Spellcheck!
If you’re all happy, post it!