| BOOK OF COMMAND 1. ADVANCING RANK As CO, you have the authority to bestow the following ranks on player characters: * Lieutenant Junior Grade In the interest of level-headed promotions, there must be a minimum six-month evaluation period between promotions. As such the minimum time spent in the FRPG before attaining the rank of Commander will be two full years. After this evaluation period, players will be graded using a template loosely based on the ACT grading form; a minimum score of 5/10 must be achieved in order to be considered for promotion. A Commanding Officer may place their limits higher than this, but not lower (Res 0514). Grading Template: Quantity of Posts - on a scale of 0-3 Grammar - on a scale of 0-2 Contribution to Missions - on a scale of 0-2 Player Involvement - on a scale of 0-3 Notes: Input from the Federation Council is required before a player can advance in rank above that of Lt. Commander. The Council *reviews* every promotion to the rank of Commander (Res 9947). The Council must approve assigning ranks of Captain and above. When a player's character receives a change of rank, please inform the Chief of Operations (currently Peter Aspinall <paspinall@blueyonder.co.uk>). Non-player characters (NPC's) may be of any rank. As CO, you may choose to promote NPC's. As CO, you may assign the following AWARDS to characters who deserve special recognition: Exceptional Service Awards Command Award Science Award: Engineering Award Medical Award Intelligence Award Other awards are available, but their use requires approval from the Federation Council. These awards are: Exceptional Service Awards: Command Award Science Award: Engineering Award Medical Award Intelligence Award
Every player has the right to propose an award for his or her CO. Any player who wishes to make a recommendation should contact his or her ExO. The ExO should then poll the crew about the proposed award. If there is substantial support, the ExO should make a formal proposal to all ExO's in the FRPG. This proposal would indicate which award is being sought, provide evidence of crew support, and include a personal recommendation from the submitting ExO. The council of ExO's formed for this purpose would then discuss and vote on the proposal. If the measure is passed and the award in question needs Council approval, then the proposal is sent to the Federation Council. This Council then votes on whether the CO in question should receive the award. See Federation Council Resolutions 9811 and 0073. ACT GRADUATES The COO assigns new ACT graduates to the fleet, based on player preference and available positions. All ACT graduates come into the fleet with the rank of ensign. The COO will assign all ACT graduates to an assistant position (e.g. aFCO, aCEO, aCSciO, aSec/Tac, aCns or aCMO; see Res0009). As CO, you may promote these new players to vacant "department head" positions whenever their skills, commitment and knowledge of the game have been established to your satisfaction. A player who already occupies a department head position can often serve as a mentor to the new player assigned to his or her department as an assistant. All player characters are considered members of the "Senior Staff." Even if there are other assistant level characters listed as personnel, player characters who serve in this capacity are afforded greater authority because of their Advanced Command Training. A new graduate should *never* be placed in a department head position above an existing player in the assistant position. When possible, capable assistants who have served a successful apprenticeship under the department head on one ship should be transferred to a second ship (where they may become full department heads). See "Transfers," below. The following positions are considered standard (see OLG). You may transfer members of your crew to any of these positions, without submitting those transfers for Council approval. Ops - Operations Officer As graduates of Advanced Command Training, player characters are recognized as leaders of extraordinary ability. Those assigned to the above positions have authority over other members of their department, regardless of rank. In other words, ACT allows player characters holding the rank of ensign to exercise authority over others of higher rank. NOTE: When a player's character is transferred to a new position aboard your ship, please inform the Chief of Operations (currently Peter Aspinall <paspinall@blueyonder.co.uk>).
You may wish to assign players to non-standard positions aboard your ship. Here are examples of non-standard assignments (others are possible, reflecting the mission profile of various ships): MCO - Marine Commanding Officer Because these positions are outside the regular command structure, they should be reserved for experienced players. Technically, adding a non-standard position to your roster does not require the Federation Council's explicit approval. However, in the interest of creating a "united" fleet, it would be wise to seek Council approval for any new position. Doing so: 1. will allow other CO's the opportunity to adopt your good ideas
Executive Officers and Commanding Officers are assigned by the authority of the Federation Council. According to Res 9931, all ExOs are required to serve in ACT. While ACT participation is not prerequisite to becoming an ExO, it is essential to becoming a CO. The duties of ExO and ACT Instructor should occur concurrently. Exceptions and/or variations to this part of the rule may be granted by simple majority in the Federation Council. For a player to transfer his or her character from one ship to another, 3 OKs are required. 1) Current CO The COO regulates this transfer process for the following reasons: 1) To ensure the transfering character is not just trying to run away from a situation which could very well be addressed internally; 2) To ensure that the transfering character is heading for a healthy ship and will not displace an established character out of his or her position. 3) To ensure that all transfers comply with fleet-based restrictions: probational stays within the fleet, JAG judgements, etc. As CO, you may wish to invite "Guest Writers" to introduce important characters who will either play a temporary role. The guidelines for guest writers are as follows: 1 - An active member of the FRPG may guest write for you RP unit after obtaining approval from his or her current CO. 2 - A former member of the FRPG requires approval from the Federation Council before he or she can make an appearance. 3 - A writer with no affiliation to the FRPG (players who have never gone through training) also requires Council approval. 4 - All approval must be accomplished prior to the beginning of the appropriate mission. Also, approval is required for even the briefest guest appearances. See Res 0107. Qualified players may create an additional character to participate in the adventures of a second RP unit. These are the requirements for forming a second character: * the consent of those CO's affected. Upon the creation of a second permanent character, a four (4) month probation period starts. At the end of the probation period, the CO of the primary character, the CO of the second character, and the COO review the performance of the writer. At that point, the three superior officers have three options: a) lift the probation status, b) extend the probation status, c) request that one of the permanent characters be dropped. If a writer has a character 'on probation' that writer cannot create another character that would go on 'probation' status. If a writer is required to drop a character due to a request by the COs at the end of a probation period, that writer cannot create a character that would go on 'probation' unless six (6) months have passed between the request to drop a character and the creation of a new character. If a player accepts an Administrative Position (COO, Council Chairperson, DACT, etc), he or she must wait six (6) months before requesting an additional permanent character. Those truly ambitious players who want a *third* active character must receive approval from the Federation Council in addition to the above requirements. See Res 0309.
Those serving as Executive Officers are required to create a second character for service as an ACT Instructor (see "Positions" above). Other qualified characters may also serve as ACT Instructors. To create a second character for this purpose, the player must: * obtain their CO's recommendation See Res 0101. At the end of each mission, CO's need to summarize the final storyline and its outcome (including promotions). Mission logs should be sent to the following recipients (Res 0037): * his or her ship's moderator Members of your crew and any CO's or ExO's not on the Federation Council will probably appreciate a copy of the mission log, too. By sending our mission logs to one another, players in the command structure can stay informed as to the activities on other ships. If missions last longer than a month, monthly "mission updates" should be sent. POSTING FREQUENCY (Res 0514) ALL ACTIVE PLAYERS IN THE FRPG MUST POST AT LEAST TWICE A MONTH. If they are unable to do so, they should contact their CO or send an NRPG explaining their reasons. Every effort will be made to accommodate players who have RL issues. Players with additional responsibilities to their unit outside of posting, namely: i) the unit's Webmaster, responsible for satellite site maintenance, and ii) the player responsible for that unit's administrative duties such as the Ship's Books (usually the CO or ExO), are are omitted from the 2/month minimum rate -but- must post at least once a month in order to remain active players. In the case of the CO/ExO posting once per month, the other command officer must keep up a 2/month minimum.
1) The game has a rating of PG13.
The Judge Advocate General works to resolve conflict at a fleetwide level. More complete information on JAG is available from the FRPG website (see the JAG section and Res9933 in the Council archives). NOTE: If you remove a player, please inform the Chief of Operations (currently Peter Aspinall <paspinall@blueyonder.co.uk>). Include the grounds for the dismissal (e.g. real life, lack of posting, etc.). Every RP unit must maintain an up-to-date set of "Ship's Books." However they are configured, the books must present the following information: 1. Ship/Station specs The exact number of books and the inclusion of other information is left to the discretion of the CO.
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