Faction Rules | esterwellchronicles

How to Create Factions or Groups on Esterwell

Esterwell is an extremely open conscept story SIM that allows for creativity in almost every endeavor and that means that the factions and groups on SIM are not controled In-character by the administration or staff on SIM. Anyone can create a faction or group or pack but just to make sure that all such things are condusive with the structure of the SIM here are a few guidlines and important things to know about undertaking such an endeavor. Factions can also mean pretty much anything, from Families to Gangs, to School Groups to Heads of Organizations like the Police chief are hospitals. Usually a faction is anything made up of a group of people with similar values, talents, or ideals that can come together to form a group. There are also Racial factions, like shifter packs or The Camarilla Vampires.

The Golden Rule

The Golden rule that everyone needs to know about factions is simple, any leader of any group on the SIM Can be subject to a challenge by any other person, that includes and is not limited to roles held by the SIM Owners Admins and any player on SIM. IC faction heads have IC power which means that they are subject to the idea that IC actions have IC consequences and are not chosen specifically for their roles by the SIM staff. In order to committ a hostile takeover however you must sway 75% of that factions active players away from their leader and convince them to join you or submitt to you in some way.

You can also do this by taking over more territory in the city by picking up roles that are strong politically or significant to the running of your particular group or faction. This means that you will need people loyal to yu that are in influential positions in character that can help secure you place at the head of the proverbial table. It is also good to know that the more territory a faction has, the more political influence, the more power the said faction has to sway the city as a whole. Keep that in mind when setting up your group or planning a hostile take over.

Becoming a Leader

There are some roles on SIM that can only support one leader and one faction, the Camarilla Vampires for instance only have one Prince, the Police department only has one Chief, the Hospital only has one Head Chief of Staff and so on, so if you are interested in becoming the leader of one of the set factions all machinations to obtain that Role have to be done in Character. That being said there is plenty of oppratunities for such things as Crime faction heads, Family heads, Covens, Cabals and the like that can be set up by any player on SIM with enough of a following.

In order to set up a faction or a group you must have at least three people willing to join you or four people all together. Controling territory having a headquarters and making and controling political situations are also important for factions heads or groups to be able to do through their people and their membership. Once you have the membership in you factions it is your responsibility to continue to recruit members in character.

Decclaring yourself the faction head OOC is not allowed. Just because a person decclares themself the leader in OOC group chat or through IMs does not mean they are. The leader of a faction or group is the one who has the most support and IC resources to sustain that support. Also if leaders use the idea of manifest destiny to decclare themselves leaders thy can absolutely still be challenged and such story points do /not/ automatically make them the unquestioned leader of a group. This destiny has to be believed and acknowledged in character by enough people with enough resources to allow them to maintain it, and it can be challenged at any time by any other player.

Faction heads must also be active at least once a week to maintain their leadership Roles, unless there is an important OOC reason why they cannot be. Leaders who are not active for more than 1 month for any reason could lose their role entirely.

Faction Headquarters

A group is not really a group unless it has a Headquarters or a place to call home so to speak and in Esterwell there are many options, from office rentals to home rentals to businesses to caves and little hidey holes found throughout the city. It is just a matter of taking them and controling them when you can. Some areas are rented properties but there are others that are open for public use that can be held completely in-character. If you want to lead a faction, you must have a headquarters or main base of operations on the Esterwell SIM.

Group Creation

Anyone can create an SL group for their faction, group, organization or family but in order for it to be recognized as a political force in esterwell it must have at least four loyal members and the presence of one Admin in an officer role or higher. That way the admin can still maintain the integrity of the group of there is a hostile take over, or if leadership ever passes to someone else. It will allow things to flow more smoothly In-character.

It should also be noted here that Leading a faction is done completely IC and factions leaders do not have the power to enforce rules or regulations on their players OOC. Faction leaders are not always admins and the only set of rules that can be enforced on Esterwell are those that are listed on the SIM rule page, and these rules can only be enforced by one of the admins. Using your IC power to eject or ostrasize people from your group or the RP OOCly will result in the immediate removal of your faction's head and the disolution of his or her power.

Advertising Your Faction

Because all players on Esterwell are responsible for their own RP they are also responsible for doing their own advertising and securing their players. This means that we will not control the way that you are advertising your own faction, and it is up to the IC leaders to choose the way they will recruit and draw players in. You can do it most easily by using the forums to talk about your group or faction, and give our players information on who the leaders are, what your purpose is and what sorts of roles you are looking to fill along with any information about what it is you stand for. You can also make web pages, use RP groups outside of the SIM that allow for advertising to advertise for positions and roles, or whatever other means you can find.

Just be sure that webpages and outside advertisements contain only IC information. And IC leadership role does not denote OOC power and at the end of the day only the admins can enforce rules on Esterwell.

When recruiting players OOC harassment or pushing your leadership on others in OOC chat or in IMs is also not allowed. New players should be recruited in character, through the RP by players or group heads within the faction. Admins or staff members will not recruit for you OOC and will not appoint membership OOC.