Rhydin War Council
Operations
Date: February 16, 2003

I. Prelude to War

A. Declaration of War
    A valid war declaration:
    1. Is a letter sent from the leader of the attacking guild to the leader of the defending guild;
        CC'd to the FC, SC, and CA(s).
    2. Must be an independent missive clearly stating, in the 'subject line,' the intent to wage
        war on the targeted guild. It cannot be a reply to another missive.
    3. Has a seven day time limit meaning that it cannot be sent months in advance. Add one
        day for each mundane holiday that falls into the allotted time.
    4. NOTE: A guild may only be involved in one war at a time.

B. Terms of War
    1. After a declaration, the main two warring guild leaders attend a meeting or correspond by
       missive to discuss the terms of war. Guild Leaders may elect representatives to speak
       on behalf of their guild for matters of war.
    2. A Council Administrator (CA) mediates the war term discussion.
        a. Whether by meeting or missive, war negotiations are held within five days of the
            declaration. If war terms are not concluded within five days, defaults are considered
            official terms of the war.
        b. The deadline may be extended if agreed upon by both warring guilds.
        c. Negotiating war terms is considered an official function and the code of conduct 
            does apply.
        d. After negotiations are completed, the CA sends the meeting log containing the
            official terms to all of the guilds involved, the FC and SC. If by missives, the CA
            sends a summary of the official terms agreed to / defaulted on to the same offices
            and guilds involved.
    3. The following items must be covered in the war discussion:
        a. Victory Points (VPs): Determined by mutual agreement. If neither can come to
            an agreement, the default applies.
        b. Allies: May be excluded by mutual agreement. If included, the default applies
            unless the representatives define ally effects.
        c. Healers: May be excluded by mutual agreement. If included, the default applies
            unless the representatives define healer effects.
        d. Assassins: May be excluded by mutual agreement. If included, the default applies
            unless the representatives define assassin effects.
        e. Start Time: The war should begin no less than 24 hours after guild rosters have
            been submitted, unless otherwise agreed upon during the talks.
        f. Rosters: All war rosters must be submitted 24 hours after the terms for war have
           been agreed to by the representatives, unless an alternate deadline has been agreed
           upon during talks.
            1) Allies that do not meet the roster deadline will be excluded from the war.
            2) Main warring guilds that do not meet the roster deadline will be penalized 30 VPs.
                This penalty is added to the opposing side's score.
        g. War Mailstring: This mailing string may have members added or removed as
            needed. It must contain the two main warring guild representatives, the CA's office,
            and anyone else that is to receive war updates and logs.
        h. Other topics to be discussed: Auto-releases, Forfeits, War Rooms, Safe Havens,
            and Resurrections.
        j. War Default Terms: If agreement in terms cannot be established, these terms are
           set as default terms of war. These terms are set and nonnegotiable once called.

        VPs: 80.
        Allies: Yes.
        VPs for allies: +20 per additional ally.
        Healers: Max. of 3 and no less then equal.
        Assassins: Yes.
        DMs: Combatant's discretion.
        Matches: Open.
        Auto-Release of PoWs: No.
        Forfeits: Standard as per RWC rules.
        War Rooms: Each side must declare one.
        Rosters Due: 24 hours after the war talks/war missives end.
        War Starts: 24 hours after rosters are due.
        War Mailstring: List of names to receive war mail.

C. War Rosters
    1. A war roster must be sent to the War Mailstring.
    2. War rosters must include all guild members that carry combat, healing and/or
        assassin rank.
    3. Healer guilds may not participate in the war unless they have turned in a roster to the
        War Mailstring.
    4. Assassin guilds may not participate in the war unless they have turned in a roster to
        the CA's office.
    5. The CA's office checks all war rosters for validity and accuracy.
    6. The CA's office publishes the check results of rosters to the War Mailstring. War
        rosters may be verified by a CA's assistant and sent out if the CA is unavailable.
    7. Once a roster is submitted, no amendments are permitted (I.e., the roster is considered
        frozen) until official completion of the war.
    8. If a roster has more than 10% of its members invalid, the invalid fighter(s) cannot 
        participate and 10 VPs are added to the opposing side's score.
    9. War commences when the roster check is complete or at the designated start time,
        whichever is later.


II. Charts and Dice

A. Combat Experience and Hit Chart
    1. Match Value determines how many Victory Points are won/lost per war match.
    2. The number of Experience Points (XP) carried determines combat rank and dice.
        It does not reflect positions of leadership within a guild.
    3. Fighters are allowed to spar to earn XP up to 1000 XP. Fighting in a spar earns
        10 XP per spar. Once 1000 XP is attained, spars cannot be used to earn XP.

B. Healer Experience and Heal Chart
    1. The number of Experience Points (XP) carried determines healer rank and dice.
        It does not reflect positions of leadership within a guild.
    2. Healers earn XP per healing attempt not per match.
    3. Healers are allowed to heal during spars to earn XP up to 500 XP. Healing in a
        spar earns 5 XP per attempt. Once 500 XP is attained, spars cannot be used to
        earn XP.

C. Match Types, Trades, Reschedules, and Resurrections
    1. Prisoner of War Match (PoW)
        a. The winner earns 50 XPs, the loser earns 25 XPs.
        b. The winner earns 10 VPs toward their side's score and is the PoW's captor.
            The PoW cannot fight, heal, or assassinate until they are released, escape,
            or the war ends.
        c. PoWs are considered to be under an 'open dungeon policy.'
    2. Death Match (DM) - SN deletion is not required.
        a. The winner earns 100 XPs, the loser earns 50 XPs.
        b. The winner ears 20 VPs toward their side's score. The dead cannot fight, heal,
            assassinate until they are resurrected or the war ends.
        c. Resurrections will not be allowed unless agreed upon in the War Terms.
    3. Jailbreaks
        a. The PoW rolls 1d20 before a proctor who must log the attempt.
            1) If successful (16 or higher), the fighter's free and returns to combat status.
            2) If unsuccessful (15 or lower), the fighter remains PoW until the end of the war.
        b. JBs may only be attempted once per fighter.
        c. JBs may be performed between 48 and 96 hours after the PoW.
        d. A member of the opposing force or RWC council must witness the escape attempt.
    4. Resurrections
        a. Only a High Priest/ess may attempt a resurrection or "Rezz" on a fighter killed in 
             a DM.
        b. The High Priest/ess rolls 1d20 before a proctor who must log the resurrection.
            1) If successful (15 or higher), the fighter lives and returns to combat status.
            2) If unsuccessful (14 or lower), the fighter remains dead until the end of the war.
        c. Rezz may be performed between 24 and 96 hours after the DM.
        d. A member of the opposing force or RWC council must witness the resurrection.
    5. Trades - Guild reps may negotiate to trade for the release of PoW's. Negotiations must
                     be logged and sent to all warring guild reps and the CA's office for accurate 
                     scoring.
    6. Reschedules
        a. If a fighter is unable to accept a war match, they are required to reschedule the
            match by setting both a date and time with their opponent. The date and time must
            be sent out over the War Mailstring.
        b. The rescheduled date cannot be set more than two days from the initial challenge.
        c. If an opponent cannot attend a rescheduled match, their GL has the option of offering
            a replacement fighter of the same (or lower) rank for the previously scheduled date
            and time.
        d. If an opponent does not show at the agreed date and time, they forfeit the match to
            the opposing side's score. Regardless of who issued the initial challenge.
        e. If neither opponent shows for a match, it as not counted against either side.

D. War Options
    1. Mass Combat - Minimum of 2 vs 2, Maximum of 5 vs 5.
        a. Each fighter begins the match with Hit Points.
            1) 2 vs 2 = 50 hit points per fighter
            2) 3 vs 3 = 40 hit points per fighter
            3) 4 vs 4 = 30 hit points per fighter
            4) 5 vs 5 = 20 hit points per fighter
        b. Each side's fighters must be equal in number.
        c. The fighter to lose all of their Hit Points first is out of the match.
        d. No healing allowed.
        e. No initiative roll needed, fighters strike in alphabetical room order.
        f. After each fighter strikes, the proctor announces remaining Hit Points for each fighter.
           (Ex: Aragorn 37, Gimli 40, Legolas 42, Theoden 32)
        g. Fighters cannot be struck more than two times a round.
           (Ex: If Aragorn and Gimli both attack Legolas, Legolas cannot be hit again until after
            Theoden has made his attack and the proctor has announced remaining hit points.)
        h. Mass Spars are not allowed unless agreed upon by the main warring guild reps.
    2. Team Match - 3 vs 3
        a. Each team must determine a Team Captain.
        b. Each fighter begins the match with 50 Hit Points.
        c. The fighter to lose all of their Hit Points first is out of the match.
        d. No healing allowed.
        e. Team Captains determine the match's worth. They also determine the order their
            team will fight in and announces the order to the proctor. (Ex: Aragorn is Team
            Captain. He offers 30 VPs as the match's worth and announces team order as Gimli,
            himself, then Legolas.)
        f. First two fighters from each team roll initiative (1d6).
        g. First fighter to run out of HP is out, bringing the Second fighter out to pick up where
            the First one left off. (Ex: Gimili gets knocked out by Sarumon, Aragorn's up to face
            off Sarumon and it's Aragorn's strike. Sarumon continues with his remaining HP
            against Aragorn's full HP.)
        h. Match is over when one team has no remaining fighters standing.
            (Ex: Legolas is still standing, but all 3 fighters of the opposing team are out. Legolas'
            team wins.)
        g. Team Matches are not allowed unless agreed upon by the main warring guild reps.
    3. Default Match Values for these options are 10 VPs per fighter. Higher values can be
        negotiated in War Terms or per match by the fighters depending on the leniency of the
        guild reps.
    4. For these options, experience points are earned by which side won the match, not which
        fighter. Winning side receives 50 XP per fighter, the losing side receives 25 XP per fighter.


E. War Match Proctoring
    1. All matches occur in Private Rooms (PRs) and are recorded.
    2. Before battle, the Proctor (official scorekeeper) starts the log, which means all terms and
        rules are binding.
        a. The Proctor also insures one other person is recording in the event of unusual
            circumstances.
        b. If a fighter walks out of a match after the proctor's log has officially begun, that match
            will be considered a win to the opposing guild with VP's scored as if the match were
            actually fought and XP earned only to the 'winning' fighter.
    3. Standard war match log contents:
        a. Date and time the log is opened (It is suggested that all times be given EST as a
            method of standardization. If in doubt, indicate local time and zone).
        b. The war that the match is being fought for.
        c. The type of match (I.e., PoW / DM).
    4. Fighter's terms of engagement. Addressed before Fighter initiative roll.
        a. One minute action rule, ten minute punt rule.
        b. Each fighter begins the match with 50 Hit Points.
        c. The fighter to lose all of their Hit Points first loses the match.
        d. Healers can be called at any time.
    5. Fighter statement of Rank, Guild, Dice, and Status (I.e., whether fighter is a PoW or dead).
    6. Healer statement of Rank, Guild, Dice, and Status.
        a. Before initiative, healers may be changed but both sides must agree to the change.
        b. After initiative, only those ranks stated may heal (see F. The Healer's Role in War).
    7. Fighters roll initiative of 1d6.
    8. The fighter must perform (RP) an action before rolling their attempt to strike.
    9. After each fighter strikes, the proctor announces the round and remaining Hit Points for
        each fighter. (Ex: Faramir 28 ~ Witchking 39, End of Round 1)
    10. If either fighter disappears (I.e., punted) after initiative:
        a. The proctor will immediately state time and continue calling time every 2 minutes.
        b. When fighter returns, state returned time.
        c. If the fighter does not return, it must be stated at the end of the 10 minute count.
        d. The fighter remaining is declared winner if their opponent does not return in time.
    11. When the fight ends, the Proctor declares a winner.
        a. After the winner is declared, the Proctor asks if fighters want the CA's office to
           review the log.
        b. If both fighters say "no," the log is closed and the match ends.
        c. If a fighter states "yes," the proctor asks for a reason. The fighter's reason is noted
            and then log is closed.
        d. The CA's office reviews the log for the reason stated to determine if the log is valid.
        e. Matches are not invalidated if the date/time are given but incorrect. The correct
           date/time can be verified by fighters, proctor, or witnesses.
    12. The Proctor's log is the official transcript for the war (barring unusual circumstances).
    13. The Proctor sends the log to the War Mailstring for scoring.
    14. The log should be addressed in the following manner: War, PoW/DM, Fighters.
    15. All match logs must be turned in directly after the match (barring any unusual
         circumstances).

F. The Healer's Role in War
    1. The fighter may call for healers before they attack in any round of combat.
        a. PoW Match: Healer may heal once during combat.
        b. Death Match: Healer may heal twice during combat.
    2. The healer must perform (RP) an action before rolling their attempt to heal.
    3. Each Healer has one minute to perform their healing.
        a. If punted before their heal, the last healer to heal performs additional healing in the
            place of the disappeared healer(s).
        b. Ex: 3 healers equals 3 healing actions. If one healer disappears, Healer1
            would heal once and Healer2 would heal twice.
        c. The replacement healer will heal at the rank of the disappeared healer(s).
    4. The Proctor notes the number of points healed and adds that to the fighter's Hit
        Points. Ex: Aragorn has 25 HP left, Sauron has 10 HP left. Legolas heals for
        Aragorn and rolls a 17 (5pt heal). New score is Aragorn 30, Sauron 10.
    5. Successful heals are stated in the round's score, XP is earned per attempt.
        a. If healing is successful, healer earns 20 XP.
        b. If healing is unsuccessful, healer earns 10 XP.
        c. Healing any time other then in RWC war is not covered by this document and does
            not earn the healer RWC XP.
    6. After all healing attempts are made or healing time has expired, the fighter may attack.
        Healers may leave immediately following their collective healing.


III. Rules of War

A. Victory, Surrender, Truce, War Halts, and Post War
    1. Winning via Victory Points: A war is over when one side gains the agreed number of
        VPs before the opposing side.
    2. Winning via surrender: Surrender terms are nonnegotiable.
        a. If a guild is unable to continue a war, they must surrender (I.e., All it's members /
            allies are PoWs, dead, or lack the will to continue).
        b. Voluntary surrender may also occur with notification from either side's main warring
            guild reps to the War Mailstring.
    3. Truce: If all warring parties agree to end hostilities, truce is called.
    4. War Halts: When a halted war resumes, the restart date is 24 hours after the CA's office
        sends a 'resume war' missive. PoWs may still attempt their jailbreaks and attempts will
        count regardless of success or failure.
    5. Post War: Neither of the two main guilds may declare war on each other for 14 days.

B. Forfeiture
    1. Definition: Avoiding combat or neglecting negotiated war terms.
        a. If there is substantial evidence of the above, a guild may petition a call of forfeiture.
        b. The petition must be addressed to the CA's office and include all relevant evidence.
        c. If forfeiture is rejected, the war continues.
        d. If forfeiture is granted, the forfeiting guild loses the war.
    2. Valid Evidence of Forfeiture:
        a. Declining challenges to fight / refusing to fight.
            1) This is defined as 10% of a guild's member count, including 10% of each combat
                ally, refusing to fight. (Ex: Main guild has 80 members, allied guild has 30. Take
                10% of each guild's member count and add the numbers: 8 + 3 = 11 members
                allowed to refuse before they are considered avoiding combat).
            2) Failure to make a rescheduled match counts as a war match loss not as a
                declined challenge.
        b. Failure to turn in a war roster by main warring guild.
        c. Documentation of members being ordered not to fight.

C. War Stipulations
    1. Promotions occur after the end of a war.
    2. Any rulings pertaining to the war or war matches can be overturned through mutual
        agreement of the main warring guild reps.
    3. If a war lasts longer than 14 days, the CA's office may investigate to ensure that the
        rules are being upheld. If evidence is found of a war being purposely delayed, the 
        delaying side loses the war. If both sides have delayed the war, the war ends with no 
        winner declared. The matter can be sent to the JC, if needed.

D. Cheating
    1. Weapons (Random Number Generation/dice strings) allowed in RWC matches:
        ( X = #of die, Y = #of sides on the die )
        a. //roll-diceX-sidesY
        b. //roll-sidesY-diceX
        c. //roll-sidesY
        d. Keyword: Dice (AOL dice roller)
    2. Repercussions of weapon manipulation (I.e., attempting to use a "cheater" string):
        a. First offense: Loss of 100 XP.
        b. Second offense: Loss of 200 XP.
        c. Third offense: Permanent individual ban and loss of all XP.
    3. Proggies - unauthorized programs/shareware
        a. Use of proggies during war matches are not allowed.
        b. Proctor Protocol is to determine the affiliation of the proggie user.
    4. If the user is one of the fighters:
        a. Match victory declared to the opposing side.
        b. Fighter earns no XP for the match and is barred from further war participation.
    5. If user is not one of the fighters:
        a. Proctor is allowed to move the war match to a sealed (no spectator) location.
        b. Neither fighter is disqualified from further war participation.
    6. Any RWC member activating a proggie during a war match falls under Repercussions
        of weapon manipulation.

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Character names from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings Trilogy and Copyrighted © by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Copyrighted © 2003 - Rhydin War Council. All rights reserved.
War Options Copyrighted © 1998 - 2003, Shadow Warriors. All rights reserved. Permission granted to the RWC for use.