IC Leadership: What is appropriate?

[Neology]

What does appropriate mean? Before any words get put down in a new leadership character application, we (the staff) like to hear the concept first. This procedure, we hope, saves the applicant the trouble of having to rewrite large sections of their backstory. But it doesn’t always happen exactly that way. Sometimes the applicant already has more than just a concept ready, sometimes people miss the “how to” guide at the end of the much-more-exciting position list. And sometimes, we encounter the same questions time and again. (What do you mean, you can’t read our minds?) Hopefully this will help cut down on some of that and give you a better idea of what we’re looking for. All Positions All leadership characters for our canon factions should be “Rank 3,” widely acknowledged as experts in their craft. They are probably at least middle aged for their species, though some wiggle room is to be expected - especially for factions with less “formulaic” paths to advancement such as the Sith Order and Fringe factions. While a stat sheet is not required, we definitely encourage their use for leadership characters. Everyone will be curious to see what exactly these characters are capable of, after all! Additionally, we believe defined statistics may suggest new, ready-made roleplay opportunities such as mentorships and rivalries. Position titles and duties will not be changed to suit the applying character. We are not looking to add any new positions at this time. Jedi High Council Members of the Jedi Council must have reached the rank of master in the traditional method: by training at least one student to knighthood. (The student does not have to have been another player, though it by all means could be! Hit up our wanted ads or #swu-connections on Discord if that’s something that interests you.) Council members need to be committed to the Order -- and that commitment must be lifelong. While the Order as a whole might be willing to take back past members who have strayed, or even consider admitting sincerely contrite former enemies … Those individuals will typically not make it to the very top of intra-Order politics In a similar vein, if the character has had struggles with the darkside, it should be something they’ve worked past in their backstory -- or something you keep in your back pocket to explore at a later date through roleplay. It is in our opinion that dangerously unstable individuals would generally not be elected to lead an organization of peaceful, psychic warrior monks. Publicly, members of the High Council must appear to follow the Jedi code and the other tenets of the Order, including those forbidding marriage, family bonds, and owning personal property. (But we’re all fans of the tragic or forbidden love story, right? Prequels, anybody?) If you want your HCM to have a bit more of complicated personal life, it needs to be something they could conceivably hide from their incredibly talented peers while going about their other duties. If the character can’t lie their way out of a paper sack, you should be excited to explore getting found out! The Sith Order The Sith are known for meteoric rises to power and brutal, rock bottom falls. Their chief qualifications are mastery within a particular cult’s area of influence and the ability to attract -- and maintain -- the Empress’s favor. Ambition is encouraged, but of course Empress Renata is unlikely to tolerate foolishness or outright treason. Consider the Hierarchy of the Sith guide required reading. Republic Chiefs of Staff & The Imperial Cabinet Applicants for these positions need to be citizens and patriots of their respective faction. Their outside interests should be very minimal - if they have any at all. They should each have a career background in a field related to their position of choice. They should be relatively free of political and tabloid scandal at the time of their appointment. (The Galactic News Network sees all! Especially your glitterstim habit and secret, half-rodian lovechild.) The Mando'ade Mandalorian clan leaders need to be tough, clever, and charismatic enough to maintain command. They probably shouldn’t be painfully shy, eh? Leadership of a clan doesn’t happen accidently, and mandalorians won’t follow just anyone. A prospective leader must earn the respect of their fellows with lots of determination and a few grand deeds! They must be loyal to Mandalore and live by the Resol’nare. They cannot be a Force user of any kind. Don’t even ask. Additionally, you should be aware before writing that any Force users involved with such a character (family, romantic interest, etc.) would be in grave danger if ever discovered -- even or especially by their own clan. Consider the Mandalorians and SWU guide required reading. Fringe The Supreme Moghul, leader of the Hutt Cartels, must be a Hutt themselves. Our crimelords must all be out for themselves at their core and their faction on good days. They’re encouraged to play any and all sides of any conflict but the unsavory nature of their business should prevent them from fully aligning themselves with any of our more legitimate canon factions. Our three large canon criminal factions are, after recent events, more or less evenly matched -- and are generally intended to stay that way with the occasional dip. We want them all to be valid options for roleplay! So, the Cartels cannot fully wipe out the Exchange, which cannot fully absorb the Black Suns, or any other combination of the three.