General Rules All factions are subject to overarching rules and regulations set forth by Galaxy Citizen Regardless of type, all active factions have a set number of minimum OOC members that must be met to be acknowledged as a faction. Members can play more than one character within a faction. Exceptions can be made if the faction is event related. This however requires the faction also abide by the ‘Event Only’ rules in that the extra flexibility is revoked once the event is over, and the event only aspects do not venture outside of the event and its related arcs. Event Only factions must be approved by staff. When interacting in ways that may alter a hub, such as: Occupation, conquering, stationing, or holding a large conflict with another player group(s), faction owners are required to communicate and organize with the hub owner(s) prior. This reduces the chances of OOC argument and other such mishaps and miscommunications during the actions that follow. When looking to enter combat with another faction or group of players, the faction owner(s) are required to communicate with the other party(s). This communication includes: gathering consents of active participants, setting ground rules for which both parties mutually abide by, and- optionally, determining the outcome prior to the conflict. This reduces the chances of OOC argument and other such mishaps and miscommunications during the actions that follow. All members within a faction must be active in the community and actively contribute to the faction to be included in the OOC roster. Inclusion of banned members or inactive members will not be counted towards the ratios. Ratios are to be considered the faction’s base combat capacity. A fresh-started faction can have assets up to the maximum that ratio can support from the get-go. Factions may exceed these ratios if the assets are acquired through legitimate means. (ex: Your nation was gifted an additional cruiser by its ally for an upcoming battle. Your company purchases mercenaries for security.) These ratios can also be exceeded if the participating characters have acquired these assets through legitimate means prior to forming the faction (ex: turning a house into a home base). These ratios do not apply to non-military units such as civilian npcs or transport ships, however non-military units must also be kept within reason. Note that Ships refers to vessels between the sizes of sub-corvette to frigate. Larger craft require a means of attaining them through one’s own efforts. These ratios are for what you’d have during the zenith of your operation. It takes time to get this many people or ships, and it’s expected you RP it out somehow. Equally, it’s totally possible to run under these ratios, don’t feel like you NEED to take them all. Keep the tech and resources of your faction reasonable for what they are. Pirate crews often retrofit older models, whereas mining crews might just use industrial equipment as weapons in dire situations. General Faction TypesSovereign Entity Sovereign entities are considered to be nations, empires, territories and so on that have large populations and a system that exerts laws or the lack of on the populace within their border. As such, Sovereign entities will impact the setting on a much grander scale than other factions, requiring a strong presence in the community to be acknowledged. To qualify as a Sovereign Entity: The faction must have some form of territory or jurisdiction under their control that houses their ‘capital’ or center of organization. This can include but is not limited to: Settlements and/or colonies on, within, or around heavenly bodies (includes space stations), or mobile units capable of carrying the populace, acting as a mobile border. The faction must have a physical location for players to interact upon. This can be expressed as an on or off server location, and does not need to be open to outsiders. The faction must provide a codex to be passed by staff, explaining the lore behind the Sovereign Entity. The faction must have a minimum of 10 players Ratios Npcs: 10 for every 1 ooc member. Ships: 1 for every 1.5 ooc members. New Sovereign entities may begin with one colonized world, and may go on to colonize other worlds afterwards if they have the numbers to support expansion. Sovereign entities created by merging existing parties such as in the case of uniting other sovereign entities under one flag may combine assets of their subordinates. Sovereign entities may start with steady infrastructure to build upon. Corporation Corporations are economic entities that express themselves as large or small scale businesses and business ventures that provide goods and/or services to the player populace. The profit of a corporation is dependent on their presence and IC activities. To Qualify as a Corporation The Faction must have a nexus store page, on-server store, or other tangible means of enacting business with the community in order to gain profit. The faction must have a minimum of 5 players Ratios Npcs: 8 for every 1 ooc members Ships: 1 for every 5 ooc members Mega-Corporations fall under Sovereign Entities, as the scope of a mega-corporation surpasses your typical business. Profit gain is not restricted to player customers, and can be simulated via npcs, however these npc profits must be kept within reason. Corporations do not start with ownership over any world or territory -unless already acquired by the characters within- but may acquire one through IC actions. Corporations do not start with steady infrastructure unless using prebuilt infrastructure of a character, world, or other faction. Corporations may build up to infrastructure within their outlets or territory if none exists already. Corporations are not limited in how many outlets they are allowed to have in civilized regions. Militia Militia include factions that are considered openly aggressive. This includes groups such as pirates, scavengers, mercenaries, or personal military companies. Factions such as these are often without infrastructure to back them, instead wandering open space for their next mark, however this is not always the case. To qualify as a Militia The faction must primarily acquire profit or other gains through aggressive means The faction must have a minimum of 5 players Ratios Npcs: 4 for every 1 ooc members Ships: 1 for every 2 ooc members. Profit gain is not restricted to player exchanges, and can be simulated via npcs, however these npc profits must be kept within reason. Militias do not start with ownership over any world or territory -unless already acquired by the characters within- but may acquire one through IC actions. Militias do not start with steady infrastructure unless using prebuilt infrastructure of a character, world, or other faction. Militias rarely build up infrastructure among their ranks or within conquered territory if none exists already. Militias may split up into smaller new militias even if the subsequent smaller militias do not meet the default minimum requirement, however this cannot happen without a parent militia. Misc Any other miscellaneous congregation of people that do not fit into either previous label fall here. This is your typical baseline faction and where most people start, as to have an official faction to promote growth to expand into the other types listed, or simply stay miscellaneous and grow into its own identity. To qualify as Misc This is your typical faction that does not fall under any previous label and abides by the general faction rules. The faction must have a minimum of 3 players Ratios Npcs: 5 for every 1 ooc member Ships: 1 for every 3 ooc members “Miscellaneous Factions” do not start with ownership of any world or territory -unless already acquired by the characters within- but may acquire one through IC actions. Misc factions do not start with steady infrastructure unless using prebuilt infrastructure of a character, world, or other faction. Misc Factions may build up to steady infrastructure within their claims if none exists already. Misc Factions may evolve into other kinds of factions through IC actions. Lore Faction Lore factions are to be expressed as existing powers within the setting in lore and name only. They may fall in any of the previous categories but do not have the player population and server presence to enforce their existence outside of the lore they were written in. This includes but is not limited to empires from species applications, and former factions who had canonically not fallen ICly. To Qualify as a Lore Faction At one point had a large presence, or is written in the lore for a world, species, or set of characters. Has no player base large enough to make use of the faction. Ratios Npcs: Not Applicable Ships: Not Applicable By nature, no one plays a lore faction. Lore factions instead are used as a setting for some sort of narrative, meaning that the lore faction may be treated as a setting. Lore factions are not considered major ic powers, and will hold very little influence outside of the lore they are written from. This however can change depending on if a group of players choose to consolidate the lore faction into a proper faction. When being consolidated into a proper faction, the ratio of the faction type it is turning into applies to the faction, however the true number of assets is context dependent on the state of the lore faction before or during their time as a lore faction. Ex: if [nation x] had fallen into a dark age when its player base had left, and later is picked up by new players, its assets would be less so, and of less quality than before. Guild PagePublic information that you are able to present to the community at large. The page can be either IC or OOC, and must be specified which. IC guild pages may divert from this guideline, but should have the excluded information be posted in OOC fashion. Mission Statement The faction’s intentions and why. Their cause. Faction Description The known details of your faction. This description should be treated as your faction’s codex, stating how and why it was formed, how it functions, et cetera. Member List IC & OOC A list of all active members of the faction, IC and OOC names.- The IC list does not need to be public in-universe. Public Asset List A list of publicly known assets. This may prevent accusations of pulling assets from nowhere. Keep a full asset list handy in the event of staff inspection. This asset list should include: faction only applications, IC assets, Owned worlds/territories. Supplementary information Any additional information that is imperative for us to know about your faction not covered prior.
NPC Use Guidelines . . The majority of issues seen with NPCs come from GMing issues, rather than any inherent flaws with the rules. As such, treat this as a guideline, not a ruleset- If you have solid reason to defy what is said here, and believe it would work well, feel free to. . . The core tenants of what I believe good NPC use equate to the following: Tenants of NPC Use NPCs are only used to hinder the PCs when they are set up prior to being encountered. Haven Guard NPCs are expected to come when a crime is committed on Haven, and can be planned around. NPCs are mediocre at most skills when compared to an actual character, unless prior established to have talents or working under the supervision of a PC. A Forlorn Shaman is expected to be very good at driving, due to the nature of their pattern. NPCs are always lesser than a PC unless they’re used as plot elements. Any NPC used as a boss fight for an event is invariably stronger then an individual character, or in some way just as skilled as they are. . . There are different tenants specifically used for NPCs in combat, which are the following: Tenants of NPC Combat NPCs should only kill PCs as the punishment for repeated failure or stupidity. No one likes being killed by an NPC. NPCs should shoot to maim, or cause damage that makes the fight and its effects more dramatically interesting, unless following up on repeated failure or stupidity.