Settlements: Player Leadership
This is an outline for the system we use for positions of player leadership in settlements. The goal for this setup is to minimize favoritism, both by DMs and by settlement leaders, and to encourage players in these positions to actively engage with the IC community they represent. It will also outline rules and guidelines for players and DMs to reference.
This system is strict enough to encourage players to actively participate without making them feel forced to put 30 hours a week into the game. But it also ensures that when players vanish, we don't let it stall the rest of the players who are still actively trying to participate in the settlement affairs. A month won't be too hard on the players, since there will very likely be others who are able to push things, but any more than a month before a replacement system starts is too much to ask other players to sit around and wait for the leader to return without any certainty that they will.
Ground Rules
- Settlements may have a single PC leader or a Council of any mixture of PCs or NPCs, dependent on what the involved PCs and NPCs want. This will vary between the settlements. (For example, Winya Ravana has a Council and may want to keep that instead of having a single PC leader.)
- Settlements with existing important figureheads, like the Kingdom of Cetha, will retain their NPC leader until RP leads elsewhere. Kings generally don't just step down, after all! But these top leader positions are absolutely available to PCs, and each settlement has the ability to change their setups based on PC actions and RP.
- Settlements with an existing important NPC figurehead, who will be remaining in that position for now, will more immediately create a secondary leadership position (or Council) for a PC or PCs to fill. (For example, say there's no IC reason for Nicholas Selwyn to give the Triumvir to someone else to handle. So a Mayor position is formed and Nicholas just remains the caretaker while the Mayor handles everything else.)
- Councils will have a PC majority over NPCs.
- This means that the PC leader does have an NPC above them while that NPC is still in power, but that position is not 100% guaranteed to remain, depending on events, plots, RP, and player involvement.
- This will further prevent existing prevalent NPCs from needing to all just mass-quit or something. It could be very strange IC.
- Settlements with a primary or secondary leadership council may elect a Speaker/Chair/Similar role for a PC to fill. This PC will be the primary PC settlement leader with the rights and responsibilities outlined below. For example, a Speaker role may be created in Cetha, who acts as the chair of the King's Cabinet and is second only to the King (whoever the king may be).
- Settlement PC leaders will have regular elections or appointments, based on player and NPC votes or IC policies. Leaders can of course be re-elected or renewed. There is no limit to the number of times a PC can serve as leader.
- A player can have only one Primary settlement leader character. Alternate characters are automatically disqualified from other Primary leadership positions in any settlement. This will remove conflict of interest. Players may have up to one other alt character in a settlement leadership position, but this will be limited to Secondary or Tertiary positions only. All other non-categorized settlement positions are fair game, provided other rules are followed to prevent alts of the same player being everywhere.
- Settlement leader players who have alternate characters will be expected to spend most of their time on their settlement leader character. You can play your other characters, of course, but you must make a reasonable attempt to be most active on the character that is leading your settlement.
- Alternate characters can have other positions (like if the leader in Kohlingen appoints you as a Magister) in other settlements, but not in the same settlement as your Primary, Secondary, or Tertiary character.
- Faction leaders can still be settlement leaders. The faction leader character does not need to be the same character as the settlement leader, but it is highly encouraged due to the above limitations.
- Each settlement PC leader (individual or council member) will be expected to maintain Active participation and status within the game world. See below.
- Each settlement PC leader (individual or council member) will have responsibilities they must maintain. See below.
Settlement Leader Activity
This applies to ALL PC leaders, whether an individual in charge or as a member of a Council. It will also apply to any individual who is appointed to a position of power by another leader but is not an "official" leader.
- All settlement PC leaders must be actively present in the game world, currently verified by the Discord player list bot.
- ACTIVE status can be maintained by logging in at least twice a week and showing active IC participation. For example, you cannot just log in, stay in the entry until the Discord player list populates your name, and then log off to maintain your position.
- Active IC Participation can be shown through forum posts, participation in events/meetings/gatherings/etc. in-game, and maintaining a general presence in the game world. We recommend hosting weekly or bi-weekly events (meetings or whatever you want) at a minimum.
- Activity requirements are monitored by other participating players and the DM Team. This is to ensure that PC leaders disappearing for any reason does not hinder progress with other participating players.
- Activity requirements can be temporarily waived for RL reasons for up to three weeks if the PC leader player announces a need for time away from the game. If you need more time than this, then you should allow someone to take over even if it is agreed between participating players that it will be temporary.
- Note: DMs will not uphold these agreements OOC, as it may well be IC for one to renege on a deal. However consequences may apply to either party based on NPC perspective if this happens.
- If a settlement PC leader vanishes from the game and does not indicate a need for a break or that they will be away for some amount of time, then after two weeks the staff will reach out to them to see if everything is okay and to ask if there is any update on when they will be able to return.
- If there is no response from the PC leader and they have been absent without response for one month, then the staff will help other players facilitate in-character means for a replacement to be chosen through public election or majority vote from a PC-led council. Other player leaders or settlement representatives may call for this means at any time. The DMs will be there to assist.
- Players removed for inactivity will be eligible to return to a settlement leadership position after one month of returned activity. We realize that things come up in real life and that it is by far more important, so we don't want to overly hinder you or your fellow players in settlement positions.
Settlement Leader Responsibilities
This applies to ALL PC leaders, whether an individual in charge or as a member of a Council. It will also apply to any individual who is appointed to a position of power by another leader but is not an "official" leader.
All settlement PC leaders will be expected to:
- Maintain, set, and uphold the policies of their settlements. Including but not limited to:
- Laws
- Banishments
- Diplomatic Stances
- Appointing Other PCs to Management Positions
- Ensure the efficient running of their settlement by ensuring important roles are given to other active characters. Do not try to do everything yourself or you will burn out quickly!
- Act as liaison between the settlement and the Staff regarding DM assistance with events and development needs.
- Take feedback from DMs regarding the NPC population and how current policies or actions may have affected how the population perceives you. Do with it what you will, for better or worse. Ignoring it may also have consequences.
- Note: We recommend you keep your people happy. Every settlement will be different and each will have its own general outline to help keep you on the right track (or help you find a way to change/subvert it, if you're that kind of leader).
- Engage with your settlement. This includes NPCs and other PCs. You can do this by planning events, keeping lines of communication open, and being active on the forums. There are many outlets for you.
- Keep the DM Team apprised of your activities. There will be a place for you to share important policies/changes/events that could do with having DM attention which are private from the public for the sake of minimizing accidental (or intentional) metagaming.