A Short Guide to the Crisis

What is a crisis break?

Crisis breaks are short scenes acted out by JAMUN crisis staff every 15-30 minutes. These breaks evolve the committee's crisis storyline and require immediate responses from delegates.

What is the backroom?

“The backroom” is an imaginary space where your character's private actions take place. You interact with it via crisis notes.

What are crisis notes?

These are short letters your character writes to fictional or real figures outside the committee. Staff respond in character. Be creative and strategic.

Example: In a Civil War crisis, Ulysses S. Grant might write Abraham Lincoln requesting troops.

What is a frontroom break?

When your crisis note affects the committee's plot directly and is incorporated into a live scene, you've “broken” into the frontroom.

What is a directive?

Directives are short committee-wide documents outlining how the group responds to events. Passed by simple majority, they guide crisis progression and are often fast-paced.

A Short Timeline of Backroom Arcs

Phase 1: Establish Your Relationship

Decide who your character is writing to and why. Establish motivations and background early.

• Example: “It feels like just yesterday that we created ciphers behind Mr. Varon's back...”

Fictional characters are allowed! Just build a solid backstory and relationship.

Build Up Your Resources

Start collecting assets and allies. These form the foundation for impactful later moves. Adapt based on the backroom's responses.

Phase 2: Disruption

Use small actions (e.g. a skirmish, a leaked rumor) to test your arc's strength and gather momentum.

A Note Against War

Not every arc must be violent. Politics, negotiation, and diplomacy can be just as effective. Violent arcs carry both risks and rewards.

Phase 3: Final Steps

Use all your resources to accomplish your main goal. Keep things realistic and proportional to what you've built throughout the committee.

A Short Timeline of the Frontroom

The frontroom doesn't follow clear phases. Instead, it repeats a cyclical pattern:

• Crisis Break: Live action update from crisis staff.
• Questions: Clarify the scene.
• Timed Crisis (Optional): Solve a problem fast—fail, and face consequences.
• Directive Writing: Work in caucuses to create and promote directives.
• Bloc Formation: Allies may change with each crisis cycle.
• Voting: Directives are debated and voted on. Passed directives are sent to the backroom.

A Couple Notes on the Crisis Frontroom

• Write crisis notes during moderated caucuses.
• Frontroom resembles GA procedure, just faster and more intense.
• Collaboration makes big moves more likely to succeed.