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The Commander's Handbook

This guide includes the basic points covered in the main body of the SRC Charter for this topic, as well as additional rules, clarifications, and examples. This guide is considered part of the SRC Charter. This guide is subject to frequent revision, so please return at least monthly to be certain you are working with the latest available set of rules. Updated information will be added in the appropriate section of this guide. When an update for this guide is issued, the guide name and date of most recent update will appear on the Revisions page.

Guilds

Applying to SRC

Any existing guild interested in becoming a member of the SRC must submit an application to the SRC Chancellor of Admissions. The Application can be found at Appendix 1 - Applications, and must be filled out and returned by the GC. There are presently no forums from which SRC will not accept transfers (that is, on the basis of forum membership alone). Acceptance into SRC is in large part based on a guild's activity and purpose. Guild alignment plays no factor in acceptance to the SRC at present, however we will strive to maintain a balance when or if it becomes a problem.

In addition to the completed application, the GC must submit the most recent guild roster, which must state the screen name, dice, and total experience to date for each member. Gold should also be included if applicable. This roster will be kept on file, and will not be shared or sold under any circumstances. It will not be viewed by the guild's review board. In short, it is held confidential. In the event that a guild is denied entrance to SRC, the roster will be deleted from SRC files. The roster is necessary to ascertain if the guild has enough members to qualify as a guild, and to determine the starting experience and gold pools for the guild once it has been accepted. Please be sure this roster is black type on white background, otherwise it will be deleted, and a new copy requested before any further action is taken on the application.

Every SRC guild or house must have at least one Certified Proctor at all times. We strongly recommend that all GCs become Certified Proctors, if only because guild memberships tend to fluctuate. Additionally, many of the discussions in council meetings are likely to be dice, experience, and fighting related, and if the GC is a Certified Proctor, this will facilitate communication with fewer misunderstandings.

The guild may have a total of two representatives to the SRC Council. One of these two positions will be the held by GC or Second. As with GCs, it is suggested that representatives to the SRC Council be Certified Proctors, so that there will be no misunderstandings of discussions regarding dice and fighting standards. Representative's character name and SN must be included in the appropriate space on the SRC application.

Guilds will be more or less autonomous as far as structure is concerned.  Your guild may have as many units as desired, however only a limited number of officers per guild will be recognized as officers. Because per-log payments from the Council are based on rank, the number of officers is based on guild membership. It is intended to prevent guilds made up only of GCs and unit officers.  As a general rule, any unit must have a minimum of five members in order to qualify its commander as an officer. Additionally, we do not feel that a guild of 50 members needs 10 units, therefore for each 100 members, a guild is allowed 8 unit commanders.  Further, for every 100 members, only 4 upper level officers (GCs, SICs, etc) will be recognized. Any additional officers must be paid from the guild's gold pool.

It is suggested but not required that Guilds appoint and have trained one or more dicemasters. Unit commanders, DCs, LCs (or whatever the leaders of the various divisions of the Guild may be called)  as well as higher level officers should seek training as dicemasters, as this will usually be a large part of their job. There is presently no additional gold or experience for being a dicemaster, and there is no limit (at present) to the number of dicemasters a guild may have. All logs must be processed through a dicemaster or unit commander and the GC, and ultimately they will be held accountable if a guildmember's dice and experience are disputed and found to be inaccurate. It is therefore recommended that all officers be aware of the most recent changes in xp rules, for their own as well as their members' protection.

 A guild must have a minimum of 15 members in order to qualify as a guild. If the number of members drops below 15, the guild has 30 days in which to return to the minimum number before being assumed to have accepted House status. If a guild's membership drops below 15, they may choose to become a House, but must update their status with the SRC Paymaster immediately upon doing so.
           

New Guild Experience/Gold Pools

Guilds accepted into SRC, whether newly created or transferring in from other forums,  will be granted a starting gold fund and experience pool, based on  present membership. These pools are GUILD property, not grants to the GC, and abuse of these pools by guild officers is subject to heavy fines.  SRC requires that the current balance of each pool be listed on the roster each week, and a copy of the roster turned in.   For any week in which a guild's roster is not received, the guild will get no xp or gold allotment.

A Guild's gold pool will start at 25gp times the number of  members, and the weekly gold allotment to the Guild account will be 5 gp times the number of members. So, a guild of 20 would receive a starting pool of 500 gold, and assuming they did not gain or lose any members, 100 gold per week.

The Guild experience pool will start at 100 xp times the number of members, and the weekly allotment to the Guild xp pool will be 10 xp times the number of members. So, in the example used above where the guild has 20 members, the Guild would receive 2000 xp initially, and again assuming they maintained 20 members, 200 xp per week.

SRC will attempt to keep those with existing experience and dice as close to the dice they already hold as possible, but will use as fair a conversion factor as possible as well. Because SRC uses the same xp chart as UGC and some of the other forums, in many cases experience will transfer directly with no change in xps or dice. Members transferring from certain other councils will probably lose dice, but may actually gain sides. Still others will be drastically reduced in both dice and sides, however we feel that they will still get a fair representation for the amount of work they have put in to attain those dice.

Guild Application Process

The Application and Roster

The guild application is short, and mostly self-explanatory. There are a few items which cannot be stressed enough, however, and which, if not done correctly, will result in the application being rejected.

Anywhere a screen name is requested in the application, use lower case letters. The same is true for the roster that is to be attached to the application. All screen names will be checked, and any that are not valid will be dropped from database, and not counted toward the guild's gold or experience pools.  If you wish to be really kind to the Chancellor of Admissions, you may attach the guild mailstring at the bottom of either the application or the roster.

Be sure that all items in the application are filled out. The application is confidential, and most answers will not affect the judgement of the review board. However, if any item in the app later proves to have been falsified, the guild will be removed from SRC, and any member of it will be refused re-admission. Item 5, which refers to division or unit commanders may be optional in some cases, as some guilds will not have divisions. Item 9, the guild's focus, refers to the type of guild, such as spy guild, warriors' guild, assassin's guild, etc. Item 11, referring to dicemasters, may be optional if no guildmembers wish to be trained as dicemasters. Items 12 and 12a are only optional for guilds forming within SRC. Any guild transferring from another forum MUST fill in Items 12 and 12a.

The application must be cut and pasted into an email, black text on white background only. The roster may be attached as a separate file, or may also be cut and pasted into the same email as the application, however it too must be black text on white background.

Review of Application

The next stage in the process is for the application to be reviewed.  An SRC Admissions Review Board will be appointed to review each application. This board will be made up of 5 randomly chosen GCs, the Chancellor of Admissions, and the three SRC council heads. The board will either assemble in a chatroom to discuss the application, or each member of the board will be sent a copy of the application to review and vote on.

The review board will not be given a copy of the applying guild's roster, nor will the roster be made available to anyone except the Chancellor of Admissions, and the council heads. If the application is approved, the roster will be forwarded to the Paymaster (so that the guild may begin receiving weekly gold allotments) and the DiceMaster (so that the guild may begin receiving weekly experience allotments). In the event that the guild is not accepted into SRC, the roster will be deleted, but the application will be kept on file for six months.

Each member of the board will have one vote on the application, and any member voting No will be requested to state their reasoning. If after investigation there proves to be a valid reason for rejecting the application, the GC will be informed and given the chance to defend the application if desired. If the the reason for rejection is not validated to the satisfaction of all board members, the application will be accepted, however the guild may be placed on probationary status at the discretion of the review board.

Orientation

Once the guild has been accepted into SRC, the GC, SIC, proctor and dicemaster candidates, and the guild's additional representative to the council will be sent an information packet (including the Charter and appropriate handbooks) and asked to meet with the Chancellor of Admissions.  It is preferable that all of these people attend the same meeting, however scheduling may make this difficult or impossible. If necessary, other arrangements will be made. The purpose of this meeting is to provide guild officers with the guidelines and information they will need, provide information on any regular reports that must be turned in to the council, and to allow time for questions to be answered. The information should be read carefully prior to the meeting so that questions or problems that come up can be addressed in the orientation meeting.  This may be the only time the Chancellor of Admissions will be available for such a meeting, so GCs and other guild officers are encouraged to take advantage of the time and use it well. DiceMaster and proctor candidates will be scheduled for their classes at this time also.
           

General Information for GCs And HCs

Responsibilities of a Commander

A Guild or House is, for all intents and purposes, a military unit. The members train (spar) against the day when their guild will end up going to war, and some of course, hope never to see that day. The Commander's job then, is to see to it that their unit runs smoothly. They handle disputes, approve all treaties or contracts involving their Guild or House, and handle a ton of paperwork, among other things.

The Commander may run the guild or house however they see fit, whether that be as a strict military command, or as a family, or as a street gang, or whatever model presents itself. The ultimate responsibility for the behavior of those in the Guild or House lies with the Commander, therefore the Commander has pretty much the ultimate authority within the guild or house. This authority extends no further into real life than the bonds of friendship among players allow, however, and the Commander should always keep in mind that game disputes can do very real and lasting damage to friendships. Further, no commander, however wise or canny, is going to be able to please everyone all the time. Someone is going to get their toes stepped on, and they are going to complain.

Part of the Commander's responsibility is settling rules disputes. They should keep the most recent versions of the Charter and all the handbooks on hand, or at the very least, the link to the SRC website, so that rules can be checked on when needed.  The Commander is also responsible for seeing to it that members get the latest information as it is passed down from the council. This includes making sure members can contact the correct council member to send in forms, such as wills, or shop registrations. The list of council seats will be sent out once per month, or anytime an office changes. These lists are not confidential, and can be freely distributed to members if desired. There are no council members who are above any other member of SRC, or who will not take the time to answer an email or a question. If there are, they won't have jobs for very long. 

Weekly Reports

Each week the GC/HC will have reports which must be updated, some of which must be turned in to the appropriate SRC Council member. The forms for these reports are available in Appendix 2 - Worksheets. In most cases the GC/HC is required to use the form provided, however certain reports that go only to guildmembers may be in any format the GC/HC chooses.  

Roster - The Roster is a listing of every member of the guild, and their current dice, total experience, and pay for the week. A copy of the roster should be sent to every member of the guild every week, preferably on the same day each week. Members may not legally update their dice until they receive the roster from their primary guild.  The roster may be as simple or as creative as the GC chooses to make it; it may be a newsletter, or include links to the Guild's meeting rooms and hangouts. It can and should include any announcements to the guild populace. Additionally, the roster should include a statistics section which should contain the current experience and gold pool totals, the number of members in the guild, the war status, the alignment, any alliances or treaties the guild holds.

Membership Report - This report is sent to Guild/House Reports Liaison. It is a listing of the current number of members in the guild, and an update of new or dropped screen names from the guild. The purpose of this report is to keep the SRC database current, and to request the weekly allotment for the guild's gold and xp pools. Failure to turn in this report will prevent payments to the guild pools. Falsifying this report in an effort to increase guild pools may result in the GC/HC being stripped of their command, a substantial gold or experience fine, or all of these.

Log Report to Paymaster - This report allows the Paymaster to determine how much gold each member receives each week. The GC/HC must turn in a listing of all members along with their rank and the number of logs each turned in for pay. The maximum number of logs any member will be paid for regardless of rank is 25 per week. If the GC/HC does not file this report, the gold pool will not be reimbursed for the amount paid out to members for logs.

Weekly xp reports for members (GC/HC files) - Each week the GC/HC or guild/house dicemaster(s) audits all logs turned in to them by members. An up-to-date list of these logs is then made, and kept in the GCs/HCs files. This list need not be turned in to the council unless requested as part of a dice audit, however it is in the GCs best interest to keep this report up to date. The GC/HC and any dicemasters related to the case can be fined if a member's dice are challenged and found illegal. If this report is updated weekly, it can be used as a reference in the case.  The member is required to send their logs in to the GC/HC or their dicemaster, who then audits them for validity, records the xp from them and deletes them. It is the member's responsibility to keep copies of their logs, not the GC/HC or the dicemaster's.  It is also the member's responsibility to compare their own xp records with those of the GC/HC and dicemaster to be certain they are all up-to-date.

Houses
        The SRC recognizes that many players prefer to work in smaller, more intimate groups, and has therefore made allowances to join SRC as a House. In general the rules for Guilds apply to Houses as well, with a few exceptions. The application process for a House is exactly the same as for a Guild (See Guild Application Process, above). The application itself is somewhat different, however, so House Commanders should take care to return the appropriate application and supplements. (See Appendix 1-Applications, and Sample House Application, below.)

Specific Rules for Houses

A House may never have more than 14 members. In the event that a House reaches 15 members, it must either drop members to comply with the maximum membership for houses, or must apply for recognition as a Guild.

A House may have only one representative to the SRC Council. This representative will be the House Commander, unless there is a very strong reason for another House member to be chosen.

A House is not required to have its own Certified Proctor, however this is strongly suggested.

Houses are granted experience and gold pools, from which to pay bonuses, etc. These pools are property of the House, NOT its commander, and any abuse of House pools is subject to fine or other penalty.

If a House chooses to become a Guild, it is not granted an additional starting gold or experience pool, however the status of their existing pools is upgraded as soon as the application has been approved. Additionally, the per-log pay increases as soon as the application is approved.

A House may have as many dicemasters as desired. It is recommended that the House Commander take the training, and stay current on xp rules for their own protection as well as for the protection of House members. Because part of the job of the HC is to audit logs for validity, if a member's dice or xp are questioned and found invalid, the HC and/or official dicemaster is held responsible as well as the member.

Because a House is considered to have lesser resources at its command than a Guild, the per-log pay to House members is somewhat less than to Guild members.  Regular members earn 5 gp per log, up to 25 logs per week, and the HC earn 10 gp per log, also up to 25 logs per week.

Experience Pool
Houses are granted an initial experience pool of 50xp times the number of members. The weekly allotment to this pool thereafter is 5xp times the number of members. A House of 10 members, for example, would start with an experience pool of 500, and assuming there was no change in the number of members, would be allotted 50xp per week. This experience pool is the property of the House, and is to be used for any experience bonuses the House wishes to grant which are not covered by the Council.

Gold Pool
Houses are granted an initial gold pool of 25 gp times the number of members. The weekly allotment to this pool thereafter is 5 gp times the number of members. Using the example of a 10 member House, the initial gold pool would be 250, and assuming no changes to the number of members, 50 gp added weekly. The House gold pool is the property of the House, and may be used for paying bonuses to members for special services that are not covered by the Council.         

On Earning Gold as a Guild or House Member

Sometimes guilds grow strong enough and wealthy enough to pay their members a regular wage (in addition to the per log pay), simply for being members. This is more often the exception than the rule. It should also be considered carefully before it is implemented, as this can lead to a rapid depletion of a group's funds, and can cause a great deal of strife if it must, at some later date, be stopped. Further, the use of the group gold pool to pay individual members may use up resources that will be desperately needed should the group ever go to war.

Primary Guild Rule - Regrettably, there are some people who will "collect" guilds for the sole purpose of earning gold and/or xp from several guilds at once. Therefore, any person who is a member of more than one SRC guild must choose a "primary" guild from among their SRC guilds. The primary guild will pay xp and gold bonuses as usual, however the  character's secondary guilds do not pay, except for recruiting or other guild-specific bonuses. The character may choose which guild is primary, however logically it should be the guild in which they hold the highest rank.

Per Log Pay - Members of guilds and houses are paid by their primary guild (or house) on a per-log basis. Logs may be spar logs, healing logs, or any other log for which the character would normally earn experience. Logs of pay statements from shops or customers DO NOT earn gold from the primary guild, as these services have already been paid. Per Log Pay for House Members - Because Houses are smaller and considered to have fewer resources, they pay less for logs than do Guilds. However, the Primary Guild Rule applies, even if your Primary Guild is actually a House.  

Pay Scale as Presently Supported by the Council

SRC will allot a weekly gold amount to pay guild members for their "work" with the guild. This allotment is based on the log report turned in to the paymaster each week, and is sent to the GC for distribution. The Paymaster's office does NOT keep track of how much gold individuals earn, only the weekly allotments to the guild.  GCs MUST turn in a list each week to the SRC Paymaster of logs to be paid.  List must include the member's SN, rank, and the number of logs turned in for pay.

(1) Non-officer members receive 10 gp per log, not to exceed 25* logs per week.
(2) LCs , DCs , Unit Commanders, etc. (Mid-level officers) receive 12 gp per log, not to exceed 25* logs per week.
(3) GCs SICs, etc (Upper level officers) receive 15 gp per log, not to exceed 25* logs per week.
(4) House Commanders are paid 10gp per log, not to exceed 25* logs per week
(5) House members earn 5gp per log, not to exceed 25* logs per week.

*Please note that while there is a limit to the number of logs which will be paid in gold, this limit does not apply to the amount of xp earned from logs.

Suggested Log Format
Commanders or dicemasters are free to set their own guidelines for how they wish logs to be turned in, however the format in the chart below works well with the worksheet provided in Appendix 2 - Worksheets.  The log itself must be in the body of an email. For fight logs, the log must include the terms and dice for the match, and must include the final score. In cases where a log cannot be sent as a cut&paste email, the entire log should be attached, and the first and final 20 lines in the body of the email. In the case of MS losses, an incomplete log is acceptable, as long as it is complete to the point where the  character turning in the log is taken out of the MS. In such cases, the score for the turn immediately following the one in which you were taken out must be included, but anything after that point is optional.

The worksheet in Appendix 2 will also be available in Excel Workbook form, in the download area for those who wish to use it. An update to the sheets is in progress, and the new versions will include the ability to handle other types of experience as well as fighting logs.

Reports a Commander Should Receive

Each GC, HC and Mentor can expect to receive the following reports:

• D90s List - Updated weekly
• Council Seats - Updated monthly or as changed
• Legal Mods List - Updated every other month
• Council Meeting Summary - Monthly (if available)
• Website Update Notice - as needed

The SRC Facts Grab Bag
(miscellaneous information Commanders might need that they probably won't find anywhere else)

There is a one-time gift to anyone joining SRC. This is a gold award equivalent of pay for 10 logs.   Independent- 20gp;  House Member- 50 gp; House Commander- 100gp; Guild Rank 1- 100gp; Guild Rank 2- 120gp; Guild rank 3- 150gp

Revisions:

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