Amendment Six to the Roleplay Handbook

This Roleplay Handbook will be divided into several Chapters which will be further divided into Sections, but all clauses will be numbered and remain consecutive throughout the chapter. These numbers may be renumbered as needed to maintain this consecutive order, and the Archiver will be responsible for maintaining this Handbook.

Chapter 1: General Provisions

1.     All general provisions of the roleplay shall be listed in this chapter.

Section 1: Roleplay Availability

2.     The Roleplay shall be free and open to all Citizens who are in the regional Discord.

3.     Residents who have been in the Discord for a minimum of three days and have registered an account on the regional forum may request permission from the Roleplay Committee to begin roleplaying while they wait for their citizenship to be granted. The Committee shall approve or reject these requests on a case-by-case basis and by majority vote. Residents who are granted permission shall be restricted from applying for and serving on the Roleplay Committee in accordance with regional law.

Section 2: Discord and Forum Roleplay Section

4.     The roleplay section on Discord shall house the following channels, respectively: events, confidential, discussion, rpc, and archive.

     4.1.     The events channel shall be used for in-character posts that are to be considered public knowledge such as major events, news coverage, etc.

     4.2.     The confidential channel shall be used for in-character posts that are generally not to be considered public knowledge, including but not limited to classified information or dialogue between two or more people. Some events posted therein may qualify for public discovery if they are large in scale, occur close to another nation, or are discovered through reasonable and realistic means.

     4.3.     The discussion channel shall be used for out-of-character commenting on in-character posts or anything roleplay related.

     4.4.     The rpc channel shall be used by the Roleplay Committee to discuss roleplay management.

     4.5.      The archive channel shall house the in-character history of the first revived regional roleplay that was retired on August 1, 2017. Asairia shall be responsible for transferring this archive to the roleplay section of the new forum so that the channel may be deleted to reduce clutter. Upon the completion of this transfer, due on August 31, 2018, and a receipt of its completion given to the Committee, this clause shall be considered spent and all reference of the channel shall be automatically removed from this Handbook.

5.    The "In-Character Roleplay" section of the Forum may be used for in-character posts that are part of lengthy conversations or international summits and events. In order for the posts therein to be considered canon, a link to the respective thread shall be posted in the appropriate Discord roleplay channel once the exchange has concluded to simulate the publication of minutes.

Section 3: Types of Regulation

6.    The Roleplay Committee shall review, establish, and address all rules, guidelines, and regulations for the roleplay and all its participants members in the form of policies Handbook Amendments, which shall be adopted by a majority vote of the Committee.

7.     The Roleplay Committee shall approve or reject appeals made regarding an individual's claim(s), submitted information, in-character posts, outsourcing work, or any other disputed roleplay matter review and address all other roleplay matters and to add, remove, or record outsourced employees in the form of resolutions, which shall be adopted by a majority of the Committee.

Section 4: Committee Application

8.     Qualifying Citizens interested in serving on the Roleplay Committee shall fill out this application by replying to an application thread created at the time of the opening.5 All amendments to the application hereafter shall require Committee vote.

Section 5: Legislative Process

9.     Each Commissioner shall retain the right to bring up any matter for Committee review. All formal Committee discussions shall take place in the Roleplay Committee (rpc) channel.

10.     In order for a matter to be scheduled for vote, the proposal must first be written in a style identical to Parliament legislation. Second, the proposal must have already been open for discussion for a reasonable amount of time. It shall then be submitted to the Chair for scheduling. The Chair may block the scheduling but may be unanimously overruled by the other Commissioners excluding the Chair.

11.     Upon passage and adoption, each amendment policy shall be added to this Handbook. Resolutions shall be recorded in a separate thread.

Section 6: Outsourcing

12. The Committee shall designate by majority vote one or more Citizens to fill the following position(s):

     12.1.     The Cartographer, who shall be responsible for managing the regional map, approving claim and expansion requests, and performing any responsibility provided to them by this Handbook. Akohos is the current Cartographer.

     12.2.     The Archiver, who shall be responsible for overseeing the general upkeep of roleplay archives, recording all roleplay policies and resolutions, and performing any responsibility provided to them by this Handbook. Asairia is the current Archiver.

13.     Citizens who receive outsourced work shall not be given any compensation for their work. They shall, however, be given the ability to post in the Committee discussion channel to provide input on matters within their field(s). They shall not be permitted to vote on Committee proposals. Citizens may serve in multiple outsourced roles, and once they have been confirmed by the Committee, this Handbook shall be automatically updated to reflect the new assistants.

Section 7: Definitions

13.     ‘In-character” (IC) defines any post that is made from the perspective of one’s fictional nation and influences events, people, etc. in the roleplay.

14.     ‘Out-of-character’ (OOC) defines any post that isn’t from the perspective of one’s fictional nation and is often used to talk about in-character posts. These posts have no influence on in-character events, people, etc.

15.     ‘Godmodding’ defines any action or ability that gives a player or a group of players an unfair advantage or is otherwise not realistically feasible. It is also used to define the abuse of out-of-character information for in-character gain. Godmodding shall not be permitted.

15.     ‘Canon’ shall define any truth of a nation or of the roleplay. Most canon is adopted through the posting of statements, facts, or events about one’s nation or its people in the in-character channels.

Chapter 2: Map Management Claims

1.     All policies regarding map claims shall be recorded in this Chapter, and all claims shall be treated on a first come, first serve basis.

Section 1: Adding Claims

2.     Nations who qualify to become Roleplayers may approach the designated Cartographer and request a copy of the latest map. They shall describe or outline an area no larger than the largest claim already on the map and return it to the Cartographer for approval. The Cartographer may reject the claim if it is larger than allowed, or is not realistically feasible, or conflicts with another roleplayer’s claim. All rejected claim requests may be appealed to or reviewed by the Committee. The Cartographer shall keep track of when each Nation’s claim was officially placed on the map. New nations shall be prevented from going to war and be protected from having war declared upon them for one month.

Section 2: Expanding Claims

3.     Nations who have been on the map for more than two one months and have been reasonably active in the roleplay during this time may request one up to two an expansions to increase the size of their claim, which cannot. No expansion may exceed one-half of their claim’s current size. The Cartographer may reject the desired expansion if it is larger than allowed, the roleplayer nation wasn’t reasonably active, or the expansion is not realistically feasible, or for any other legitimate concern. All rejected claim expansion requests may be appealed to or reviewed by the Committee. If the Cartographer requests an expansion, the Committee shall approve the request through majority vote.

Section 3: Changing Claims

4.     Nations who wish to change their claim’s location shall repeat the same process used to add a new claim. The Committee shall be informed, and if no appeal or objection is made within a reasonable time, the location switch shall be enacted. Any nation whose claim has been switched shall be prevented from going to war and be protected from having war declared upon them for one month. Nations may request a location change whenever they wish, but the Cartographer shall be responsible for ensuring they only happen at a reasonable frequency.

5.     Nations who change locations shall have all posts regarding conflict, tension, and interaction with neighbors removed, within reason. Prior to their removal, all qualifying posts shall be screenshotted and presented to the committee and to the authors for archiving. The posts may then be deleted. Alternatively, if the nation who wishes to change locations also wishes to reset their lore or roleplay as a new nation entirely, they may opt out of having their posts removed and all actions undergone by the old claim shall be treated as the acts of another nation entirely.

Section 4: Removing Claims

6.     Nations may request to have their claim removed at any time and may return to the roleplay at any time. Should they return, they shall have to repeat the same process used to add a new claim. In the event that their previous location is taken, they will have to find a new location and shall not be compensated for the loss.

7.     Nations who have claims but have not submitted any in-character posts within the past two months may qualify for removal by the Cartographer. Should an inactive roleplayer be removed, the cartographer shall inform the roleplayer of their removal and shall submit a receipt of the notice to the Committee for possible appeal. The Committee may also order the removal of qualifying inactive nations by majority vote. Roleplayers who are removed shall be required to wait two weeks before rejoining at their request. Should they rejoin and be removed for inactivity again, they shall be disallowed from rejoining the roleplay for two (2) one months.

Section 5: Amending the Map Layout

8.     Should there be cause to amend the official roleplay map other than to add or remove claims, the following process shall be used:

   8.1.     A Commissioner or Cartographer may propose a scope of work for desired alterations to the regional map. This can be as simple or as detailed as desired, but it needs to be able to show what areas of the map will be impacted the most by the proposed changes.

     8.2.     The Committee shall then vote to approve or reject the scope of work through the adoption of a resolution. If approved, the Cartographer and all other assisting parties shall be permitted to finalize their proposed changes and submit a final product to the Committee for final ratification, after which, the amended map shall be considered canon.

          8.2.1.     During the map editing phase, the Cartographer shall still be required to continually update the current map version as needed for claim adjustments.

Chapter 3: Roleplay Traits

1.     All traits of the roleplay shall be recorded in this Chapter.

Section 1: Time, Type, and Location

2.     The regional roleplay shall be a Modern Technology + 5 Year variance scenario where each Roleplayer controls a nation on the planet Versutia, which is round, earth-like, orbited by one moon, and has no defined poles, climates, or equator.

3.     The solar system shall be identical to the Sol System. Nations may assign new in-character names to all but the planet to simulate language variation. Should a planet in the solar system be referenced in-character, roleplayers shall specify which planet they are talking about by noting the planet’s real out-of-character name in their post.

4.     The in-character year is 2018 shall reflect the current out-of-character year, and New Year's Day falls shall fall on January 1st.

Section 2: Lore Provisions

5.     No new nation may in-characterly claim to have been to the moon without having roleplayed a mission to it. They may, however, claim that they have modern satellites and have conducted space experiments from national space stations. Prior to the adoption of this Chapter, no nation has built an International Space Station or has traveled to the moon; however, in the past, individual nations have built small scale space stations to conduct space tests and to train their astronauts.

6.     Science has not progressed enough to allow human cloning or mass-produced laser or railgun weaponry. Science fiction equipment and technology shall be regulated by the Committee on a case-by-case basis through the use of resolutions.

Section 3: Removing or Altering Lore

7.     Roleplayers who wish to remove or edit all or parts of their nation's in-character history shall first screenshot the appropriate posts for Committee archiving. They shall then screenshot any posts from other roleplayers that directly respond to their posts for additional archiving or and editing. The Roleplay Committee will shall then discuss the changes and if no vote to prevent the deletion or editing of the posts is initiated, the changes may be made after twenty-four (24) hours of their cataloging. Should another roleplayer’s posts be removed or considered for removal, they, too, shall be informed. If the Committee rejects the changes, the events shall remain the same. No resolution shall be necessary for minor edits and removals, but all edits and removals associated with war or extended diplomacy shall require a resolution to approve or reject. This process shall be used sparingly.

     7.1.     Erasures and edits made within one hour thirty (30) minutes of posting shall not qualify for this process.

Chapter 4: Player Interactions and National Provisions

1.     All player-versus-player policies shall be recorded in this Chapter.

Section 1: Diplomacy

2.      Nations are free to enter into or exit out of diplomatic, economic, or militaristic agreements with other roleplayers. In order for an alliance, pact, agreement, or treaty to be considered canon, the final declaration and its major details must be posted in an in-character channel. The negotiation of said agreements may be done either in-character or out-of-character.

Section 2: Infrastructure

3.     All infrastructure such as roadways, hospitals, airports, etc. are assumed to exist upon the creation of a map claim.

Section 3: Population

4.     All roleplayers shall be expected to use a feasible and realistic population. All fluctuations in population shall also be feasible and realistic, as shall be the methods of housing and supporting drastic changes.

Section 3: National Focus

4.     Each nation may declare to the cartographer a general focus to provide other nations with a sense about the new nation’s commitments and priorities. Nations may switch general focuses at any time or not select one at all. The following focuses are available for use:

     4.1.     Scientific
     4.2.     Economic
     4.3.     Humanitarian
     4.4.     Cultural / Spiritual
     4.5.     Militaristic
     4.6.     Other (Please Specify)

Section 4: Incursions

     5.     In order to qualify for an incursion or invasion with another nation, potential aggressors must spend a reasonable amount of time preparing for it by moving all associated forces to a position where they can realistically strike from. This movement shall be done through the use of of in-character posts. Potential aggressors shall not be required to state the name of their target until the day of the attack (in which case the aggressor(s) shall “@” the nation(s) being attacked). It shall be possible for the defender or any other nation to discover the mass relocation of troops and equipment so long as the discovery is made using realistic means and methods.

     6.      Upon the issuance of a declaration of war on another nation, the aggressor(s) shall be required to submit the number of all ground, naval, and air forces being used in the attack to the Roleplay Committee for potential appeal. The defender(s) shall do the same, but their numbers must be less than the aggressor(s) to simulate the surprise attack. The Defender will be able to reasonably increase the number of their forces as they mobilize for their defense over time. If the aggressor’s asset allocation was discovered through legitimate means and shared with potential targets, the possible defender(s) shall only be permitted to increase the number and response time of ground, naval, and air forces so long as they have raised the alert status of their forces through in-character means prior to the incursion (posting that the discovery of disturbing intel has forced the President to recall soldiers from leave and heighten their defense condition will suffice, just specify how many ground forces are on alert). Should an aggressor or defender be on the Committee, they shall be disallowed from voting on any Committee appeal related to their engagement. If all or most of the Committee is conflicted out, three non-conflicted government officials shall be asked to settle any disputes.

     7.     It shall take a minimum of one week to fully conquer an average-sized nation unless the defending nation surrenders. The duration of the conflict, size and focus of the nations, scale of the conflict attack, past in-character conflict veterancies, and position and composition, both in number and in technology, of all known forces shall all be factors when considering the progress made during a war. All aggressors and defenders shall be expected to be good sports during the engagement and make gains and take losses in a realistic and reasonable manner. War shall be subject to strict godmodding scrutiny by the Committee when necessary. Should a defending nation be conquered or surrender, the victor(s) may establish a puppet government to regulate the defeated player’s in-character domestic policies (only inside of the roleplay; not in NationStates); however, the defeated nation’s name shall not be changed or removed (unless agreed to by all parties) and their claim shall be striped to match the colors of both the victor and the defeated player. The defeated player may flee their nation and establish a government in exile in another nation and may only regain their claim through diplomacy or an allied invasion. Should a roleplayer not reclaim full control of their nation again within two months, they may request that the Committee force the conquerors to return control of the nation back to them. During this two-month wait, the conquerors shall allow the defeated roleplayer to still issue posts to ensure they do not become bored and leave the roleplay.

Section 4: Weapons of Mass Destruction

     8.     The Roleplay Committee shall address the use and impact of Weapons of Mass Destruction on a case-by-case scenario.

Chapter 5: Roleplay Violation Code

     1.     No roleplayer may be punished for any violation that is not listed in this chapter. Regional law and punishments supercede this chapter.

Section 1: Godmodding

     2.     ‘Godmodding’ defines any action or ability that gives a player or a group of players an unfair advantage or is otherwise not realistically feasible. It is also used to define the abuse of out-of-character information for in-character gain.

Section 2: Abuse of Lore Editing and Deletion Procedure

     3.     ‘Abuse of lore editing and deletion procedure’ is directly taking action to edit or remove posts in in-character channel(s) without following the proper way(s) of doing so as defined by this Handbook.

Chapter 6: Roleplay Penal Code

     1.     All appropriate responses to Handbook Violations shall be recorded in this chapter.

     2.     The Roleplay Committee shall declare Handbook violations and issue appropriate responses through majority vote in the form of resolutions and in accordance with this chapter. Roleplayers who are accused of violating the Handbook shall be provided an opportunity to defend their posts and to voluntarily remedy the issue before the vote to declare a violation concludes. The maximum defense period shall be twenty-four hours, and the Committee shall reserve the right to suspend the post from impacting the roleplay during this time until it is resolved.

Section 1: Godmodding

     2.     Roleplayers declared to be godmodders shall have all violating post(s) screenshotted, posted in the rpc channel for archiving, and then deleted with notice being provided to the poster, the Committee, and anyone who was directly impacted by the post(s).

Section 2: Abuse of Lore Editing and Deletion Procedure

     3.     Roleplayers declared to have abused the lore editing and deletion procedure shall have all violating post(s) screenshotted, posted in the rpc channel for archiving, and then reviewed to determine how the post(s) impacted other in-character events due to the editing or deletion.

Section 3: Two Strike System

     4.     When a specific roleplayer commits a violation, said person shall be issued one strike. Should the Committee decide the offense is too minor to warrant a strike, they shall reserve the right to waive it. Should a roleplayer receive two strikes within two months, they shall be suspended from roleplaying for one month upon the issuance of a third strike. Upon the dawning of a third month, all strikes shall be reset.

Section 4: Contingency

     5.     Should one Commissioner be conflicted out or subject to violation review, the remaining non-conflicted Commissioners shall review the violation(s) and address them as if they were committed by an ordinary Roleplayer.

     6.     Should all or most of the Committee be conflicted out or subject to violation review, three non-conflicted government officials shall review the violation(s) and address them as if they were committed by an ordinary Roleplayer.

Chapter 7: Spent Provisions

Section 1: Voiding of the Old Policies

1. Upon the passage of this Handbook, all previous Roleplay Policies shall be repealed.

Section 2: Lore Reset

2. Upon the passage of this Handbook, the current lore and roleplay shall be reset and the channels wiped to start anew.

Section 3: Repeal of Spent Provisions

3. Upon passage and enactment of this Handbook and all provisions therein, this Chapter shall be considered “spent” and repealed in its entirety.