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guide:factions [2015/01/22 16:46] – Links adapted because of a move operation | faction [2023/12/20 15:23] (current) – external edit 127.0.0.1 | ||
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- | ====== | + | ====== |
In the Star Army RP, a faction is an in-character group or organization such as a nation. | In the Star Army RP, a faction is an in-character group or organization such as a nation. | ||
- | {{yamatai: | + | ===== Playable |
- | + | ||
- | ==== Played | + | |
//Played factions// are factions that contain player characters and role-playing plots. They are the heart of the site's roleplay and are living, ever-changing entities made possible by combined effort of multiple people. Played factions should have a comprehensive collection of information about them on the wiki. | //Played factions// are factions that contain player characters and role-playing plots. They are the heart of the site's roleplay and are living, ever-changing entities made possible by combined effort of multiple people. Played factions should have a comprehensive collection of information about them on the wiki. | ||
- | === Requirements === | + | |
+ | ==== Factions List ==== | ||
+ | ---- struct table ---- | ||
+ | schema: factions | ||
+ | cols: faction_flag, | ||
+ | filter: faction_playable = Yes | ||
+ | csv: 0 | ||
+ | rownumbers: 1 | ||
+ | sort: faction_name | ||
+ | ---- | ||
+ | |||
+ | Note: [[corp: | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Requirements | ||
* An active [[# | * An active [[# | ||
- | * At least one active [[gamemaster]] running an [[active_plots|active | + | * At least one active [[guide: |
* A faction with two or more plots is considered a "major faction." | * A faction with two or more plots is considered a "major faction." | ||
* [[guide: | * [[guide: | ||
+ | * [[guide: | ||
- | === Perks === | + | ==== Perks ==== |
- | * FM gets a green name on the forums. | + | * FM gets a green name on the forums |
* FM gets control of the faction. | * FM gets control of the faction. | ||
* The faction gets a roleplay forum | * The faction gets a roleplay forum | ||
- | === Examples | + | ===== Non-Player Factions |
- | * [[:Yamatai Star Empire]] | + | //Non-Player |
- | * [[nepleslia: | + | |
- | + | ||
- | ==== Background Factions | + | |
- | //Background | + | |
* Enemy factions to serve as opponents in plots. | * Enemy factions to serve as opponents in plots. | ||
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It's okay for player characters to be from a background faction. In fact, this can be a great way to flesh the faction out. | It's okay for player characters to be from a background faction. In fact, this can be a great way to flesh the faction out. | ||
- | === Requirements === | + | These factions currently do not have an RP running for them, although some may have in the past. |
+ | |||
+ | ==== Factions List ==== | ||
+ | ---- struct table ---- | ||
+ | schema: factions | ||
+ | cols: faction_flag, | ||
+ | filter: faction_playable = No | ||
+ | csv: 0 | ||
+ | rownumbers: 1 | ||
+ | ---- | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Requirements | ||
* They should generally not unbalance the setting or overshadow the played factions. | * They should generally not unbalance the setting or overshadow the played factions. | ||
* They should appear or have a solid plan to appear in a roleplay plot at some point. | * They should appear or have a solid plan to appear in a roleplay plot at some point. | ||
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* Species physiology | * Species physiology | ||
- | === Adversaries | + | ===== Defunct Factions ===== |
- | When writing up enemy factions, be sure to include: | + | These factions |
- | * Group Leaders | + | ^ Faction ^ Historic Managers ^ Fate ^ |
- | * Personalities and motivations. | + | | [[faction: |
- | | + | | [[faction: |
- | * Stats for a tough member | + | | [[faction: |
- | * Notes about different weapons and armor. | + | | [[faction: |
- | * Range of Damage Capacity | + | | [[faction: |
- | | + | | [[faction: |
+ | | [[faction: | ||
- | === Examples | + | ===== Faction Managers ===== |
- | * [[mishhuvurthyar: | + | On Star Army a //Faction Manager// (FM) is a person responsible for the out-of-character management of a playable faction. |
- | ==== Faction | + | Faction |
- | If you thinking about making a faction, please be mindful that there are a number of minor played factions short on players, and a new played faction might further divide | + | |
- | At the same time, there' | + | ==== Faction Rights ==== |
- | === Creating Played | + | Managed |
- | Be willing to work hard. Respect the process. Ideas formulate easily. Making those ideas into a reality is a long, arduous process | + | |
- | * Unrealistic expectations are the death of a creation. Expect | + | |
- | * Understand that you will have to run a plotship, so you're going to do double duty as FM/GM. Can you handle this workload? | + | - An active faction cannot be destroyed or conquered without its manager' |
+ | - Diplomatic, military, and other important events should be discussed in advance. | ||
+ | - This permission should be obtained in **plot planning threads** and/ | ||
+ | - Failure to do so may result in the setting manager marking the RP thread as [[guide: | ||
+ | - **Factions have a right to control their assets.** | ||
+ | - Additions and changes | ||
+ | - This is done in the Setting Submissions (NTSE) forum. | ||
+ | - Factions have the ability to control their technology base. | ||
+ | - Characters can only acquire other factions' | ||
+ | - For non-RP acquisition, | ||
+ | - Other factions may not reverse engineer or reproduce a faction' | ||
+ | - Failure to obtain permission will bar the item from being approved. | ||
+ | - Other factions may not, without permission, involve or destroy a faction' | ||
+ | - Notable Factional NPCs, such as leadership, media, | ||
+ | - businesses | ||
+ | - cities | ||
+ | - military units | ||
+ | - Unauthorized use of factional assets may result in an RP thread being marked as non-canon by the Setting Manager. | ||
+ | | ||
+ | - Factions are typically managed by their creator, but creators do not necessarily have to manage a faction. | ||
+ | - If a faction's manager leaves, is banned, or becomes inactive, the longest-serving assistant FM becomes the faction manager. | ||
+ | - Faction Managers may designate one or two assistant faction managers and delegate powers | ||
+ | - Faction Managers manage recruiting, cooperation, | ||
+ | - Factions without a clear faction manager have the right to internally elect their Faction Manager by popular vote. The Setting Manager has veto power but should use it sparingly. | ||
+ | - **Factions have some rights to control their image.** | ||
+ | - In the case where a faction manager feels a player, GM, or another | ||
+ | - Faction managers have a say in artwork that depicts their faction. Artwork that improperly represents their faction (such as incorrect uniforms, etc) can be removed from the wiki. | ||
- | === Fill A Niche ==== | + | === Notes === |
- | Your faction/ | + | Making things [[guide: |
- | * Many factions/ | + | Faction rights do not supercede [[guide:player_rights]]. |
- | * While you're making your creation, step back several times and ask yourself these questions: How is my creation going to get players? What interesting things can I highlight that make the casual observer stand back and go "Wow. That's something I can really sink my teeth into."? | + | |
- | * Think of what you can do with your creation after they' | + | |
- | === Balance Originality | + | The reason we have plot planning threads is so that FMs get their chance to raise concerns to GM plans and to keep communication lines open between all the GMs and the FMs. While this is not explicitly asking FMs for permission, the assumption is that if there' |
- | As more and more species/ | + | |
- | Take comments from the NTSE community, admins and players. Pitch ideas. Find out what gets their interest | + | Try to give your GMs the autonomy they need to do their thing. It's important to know when to bend and when to step back and get out of the way so they can deliver an awesome plot. |
- | === Worldbuilding | + | ==== FM Responsibilities |
- | Here's some things to consider when making your faction: | + | |
- | + | ||
- | == Questions: == | + | |
- | + | ||
- | - Who hates who and why? | + | |
- | - Who are the outsiders in your society and who are the insiders? | + | |
- | - Where is the friction? **This will be where stories and RP opportunities can flourish.** | + | |
- | - What makes people care about this faction? | + | |
- | - What's life like for everyday people? | + | |
- | + | ||
- | == Suggestions: | + | |
- | + | ||
- | - Put plot hooks and "kegs of dynamite" | + | |
- | - Humanize your faction enough that players can relate to its people. | + | |
- | - Start small and build outward. | + | |
- | - Start with a change and think about what other things would change to make that work. | + | |
- | - Star Army is a vast and mysterious universe. Revealing a mystery should open more mysteries. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | + | ||
- | === Species Submission Rules === | + | |
- | The Golden Rule of race creation is //race approval is a privilege, not a right//. Just because you spent a lot of time on writing your species, worked hard on it, and you //want// to change it so it's approvable //that doesn' | + | |
- | + | ||
- | ==You should have some experience roleplaying in the community == | + | |
- | The staff is only willing to accept submissions for major setting additions if you have been on SARP for at least 3 months, and shown you are consistently active as well as a competent roleplayer. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | == If you intend to run the race as a faction manager, you should have at least one other person with the time and inclination to Co-GM with you.== | + | |
- | + | ||
- | In the event you have to take a hiatus and you have no GMs to take over for you it's very likely your player base may fall apart in your absence. Always have a backup GM. | + | |
- | == Unless the race is for GM use only, you must create a race-specific Character Creation Guide == | + | |
- | This is to help potential players understand and play your race in the future. See the [[guide: | + | |
- | ==You should have at least one player-character for every additional planet your faction owns.== | + | |
- | Sorry, no major empires run by one or two players. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | == Order == | + | |
- | Adding a new culture should generally be submitted for approval in this order: | + | |
- | + | ||
- | - Start with art! **Concept art is required**. | + | |
- | - Initial Submissions (try to submit these at the same time): | + | |
- | - Species biology and basic culture | + | |
- | - Cultural quirks | + | |
- | - Star System | + | |
- | - Planet (species' | + | |
- | - Any relevant new core technologies | + | |
- | - Detailed cultural stuff | + | |
- | - Character creation guide, if applicable | + | |
- | - Everything else, like guns and tech | + | |
- | + | ||
- | == Don't be more powerful than existing factions == | + | |
- | Starting at a lower technology level is okay. If you start as an advanced species it may make it harder to explain the lack of encounters with your race so far in the IC timeline, as well as make the staff wary of potential power gaming. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | ==A civilization should start with average resources.== | + | |
- | We frown on so many species starting with heavily industrialized nations on very resource rich homeworlds, or those that have some miraculous new wonder fuel/ | + | |
- | + | ||
- | ===Cliches to Avoid=== | + | |
- | These are less important than the above. Breaking the one or two is pretty common for most approved races, but breaking several at once may mean your race is quite cliche. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | ==Avoid being pseudohuman.== | + | |
- | That means you shouldn' | + | |
- | + | ||
- | If you can't easily interchange the word " | + | |
- | + | ||
- | ==Avoid physiologically unbalanced species.== | + | |
- | **This is a big one**. This means avoid making your species stronger, faster, smarter, and longer-lived than humans with bonus powers to boot (such as telepathy, heightened senses, etc), while at the same time having absolutely no weaknesses, or negligible weaknesses that don't really bother them too much. Emphasis on the " | + | |
- | + | ||
- | Telepathy should be avoided. In the past so many species were submitted with telepathy that it became very, very cliche in SARP. In addition, there is also the potential powergaming/ | + | |
- | + | ||
- | + | ||
- | ==Avoid the big bad mysterious foe cliche.== | + | |
- | The mysterious evil alien attackers and/or overlords and/or monsters has been done to death. Having an antagonist species rule over yours is fine, but make sure you give it depth to avoid the aforementioned cliche. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | ==Avoid the " | + | |
- | Try not to make your race one that has a perfect corruption free government, and whose entire citizenship is always extremely virtuous to the point of dying for righteousness, | + | |
- | + | ||
- | //For example, a race without crime or corruption may be that way because they are religious zealots who exile nonbelievers and criminals from their cities. Another example might be a police state carries extremely heavy punishments for criminals, such as torture and execution.// | + | |
- | + | ||
- | ==Avoid the " | + | |
- | What is meant by this is having your race possess a unique martial art, swordfighting technique, or mastery over Ki that allows a single person to decimate an entire squad of infantry. Having unique fighting arts is fine; just be sure to keep the power levels reasonable given their technology level. Also keep in mind your race's society; a pacifistic free society shouldn' | + | |
- | + | ||
- | //Examples of what to avoid: An ancient sword technique that allows your race's swordfighters to block bullets, or a traditional martial art that gives your fighters the ability to punch through battle armor. // | + | |
- | + | ||
- | ==Avoid the " | + | |
- | Try to avoid having any materials totally unique to this race or planet that totally compensates for their lack of technology. This is essentially attempting to exploit or avoid the technology limitations of starting races, and is generally frowned upon. It's also considered quite cliche to have a special resource that naturally occurs on your planet, but nowhere else in the entire galaxy. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | //Examples of what to avoid: Ancient alien artifacts that give you a totally unique and copyrighted weapon that no one else has. A natural super-potent power source that allows your predominantly low-tech race to match the weapons technology of interstellar empires. An ore unique to your planet that allows knights with plate armor to withstand laser fire.// | + | |
- | + | ||
- | ==== Nurturing New Played Factions ==== | + | |
- | The three keys here are: finding players, generating momentum and keeping things together. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | === Find a cause to rally behind. === | + | |
- | Now that your faction/ | + | |
- | + | ||
- | === Create a strong, unifying figurehead === | + | |
- | All causes need leaders to put a face on them. For your faction or species, make someone who represents the cause and pushes it forward. If not one person, make several notable PC/NPCs who represent the ' | + | |
- | + | ||
- | === Honor Your First Few Players === | + | |
- | - The first few players who join your faction will make or break it. Goodwill, as well as negativity, is contagious. Work hard to make them happy. | + | |
- | - One of the easiest ways to do this is to let them in on the process of managing the faction/ | + | |
- | - Run your plot. Show that you're active and dedicated enough to see things through. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | === Emphasize fun first. The rest will follow === | + | |
- | Players come up with wild ideas. Aethersperm, | + | |
- | + | ||
- | Now that your faction/ | + | |
- | + | ||
- | === Democratize the process === | + | |
- | + | ||
- | If and when you've reached a point where your creation no longer needs you tending to it so closely. It's time to respect what your creation has become and step into the role of adviser instead of leader. Advise, do not demand. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | //**Tom:** What I did with Nepleslia was form a group of trusted players who I treated as equals. These were players who were with me from the early days of Nepleslia and who I worked closely with. Because I had treated them so well in the past, let them in on the process, they respected my opinions when I brought them up. I only stepped in directly when there were disagreements and an ' | + | |
- | + | ||
- | === When it's time, walk away === | + | |
- | You can't be by your creation' | + | |
- | + | ||
- | * Place the faction/ | + | |
- | * This isn't saying that you can't come back. Just don't feel entitled. You know your community will welcome you back if you've done a good job. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | + | ||
- | + | ||
- | ==== Faction Managers ==== | + | |
- | On Star Army a //Faction Manager// (FM) is a person responsible for the out-of-character management of a playable [[guide: | + | |
- | + | ||
- | === Responsibilities | + | |
Responsibilities of the Faction Manager include: | Responsibilities of the Faction Manager include: | ||
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* Approving factional characters | * Approving factional characters | ||
* Final authority controlling NPCs of the faction | * Final authority controlling NPCs of the faction | ||
- | * Recruiting and approving factional plot [[gamemaster|Game Masters]]. | + | * Recruiting and approving factional plot [[guide: |
- | * Ensuring factional compliance with the [[: | + | * Ensuring factional compliance with the [[guide: |
* Roleplaying the leadership and other NPCs of his faction as necessary | * Roleplaying the leadership and other NPCs of his faction as necessary | ||
* Designating an assistant and/or backup FM who can run his faction should the FM become indisposed | * Designating an assistant and/or backup FM who can run his faction should the FM become indisposed | ||
- | Faction Managers do not necessarily have the ability to approve articles (that falls to staff of New Technologies and Setting | + | Faction Managers do not necessarily have the ability to approve articles (that falls to site staff/Setting |
- | + | ||
- | === Current FMs on Star Army === | + | |
- | + | ||
- | ^ Faction ^ Manager ^ Assistant/ | + | |
- | | [[abwehran star empire: | + | |
- | | [[: | + | |
- | | [[nepleslia: | + | |
- | | [[: | + | |
- | | [[: | + | |
- | | [[species: | + | |
- | | [[: | + | |
- | | [[: | + | |
- | | [[: | + | |
- | | [[Origin: | + | |
- | | [[: | + | |
- | | [[:Yamatai Star Empire]] | [[user: | + | |
- | | [[: | + | |
- | | [[sesestran_colonial_union: | + | |
- | [[http:// | ||