TEXT: Duchy of Urnst Metagaming Guidelines v1.0 
   
  26 February 2002 
   
   
   
   
  1 of 3 
  Duchy of Urnst 
  Metagaming 
  Guidelines 
  This document describes the 
  general rules for metgaming 
  organizations set in the Duchy 
  of Urnst Living Greyhawk region. You should 
  follow these guidelines when proposing new 
  metagame organizations to the Duchy of Urnst 
  Triad. 
  Regionally Appropriate 
  The first rule for any proposed metagame 
  organization is that it must be appropriate the 
  Duchy of Urnst region. Organizations that are 
  deemed to not fit the regional culture and 
  structure will not be approved. However, the 
  Triad will gladly work with you to modify your 
  proposal into something appropriate to the 
  culture that will also capture the flavor you had 
  in mind. 
  Allowable Benefits 
  All metagaming organizations must adhere to 
  certain rules regarding the benefits they can 
  provide to their members. If this document 
  doesn’t say you can do it, then you can’t do it. 
   
  Most of these rules are provided by the Circle of 
  Six and are non-negotiable. Others are specified 
  by the Triad for the purposes of maintaining 
  regional flavor (for instance, you can’t give non-
  Suel PCs the right to own land – that privilege is 
  typically reserved for nobility). 
   
  Finding loopholes in these rules will simply 
  result in the loopholes being closed by the Triad. 
  Abusing loopholes is a sure way to make sure 
  your organization isn’t approved. 
   
  If you feel that something you want to do isn’t 
  covered by these rules, consult the Triad for 
  advice. Typically, if the request is unique 
  enough, it can at least get run by the Circle of 
  Six for consideration. 
  Access to Builder Books 
  Metagaming organizations can grant access to 
  equipment, feats, prestige classes, magical 
  “features”, spells, and magical items identified in 
  the various “builder books”. Access to prestige 
  classes is limited to those listed as “Adaptable” 
  in RUP-1.  
   
  Your 
  organization 
  cannot 
  reduce 
  the 
  requirements to take levels in an adaptable 
  prestige class, but you can add to the 
  requirements; in fact, you’re encouraged to do so 
  in order to make the prestige class fit the regional 
  flavor of the Duchy more closely. 
  Access to Facilities 
  You may grant members of your organization 
  access to smithies, arcane labs, etc as a standard 
  benefit. Naturally, this access does not exist 
  outside the Duchy of Urnst region.  
   
  This access cannot substitute for ownership of 
  workshops and facilities (as specified by RUP 2). 
  Bonuses to Skills 
  Your 
  organization 
  can 
  provide 
  limited 
  circumstance bonuses to skills under very 
  specific circumstances. For instance, a blanket 
  +2 to all Ride skill checks would be prohibited, 
  but a +2 to Ride skill checks riding trained 
  warhorses would be acceptable. A blanket +2 
  bonus to Wilderness Lore is prohibited, but a +2 
  bonus to Wilderness Lore in the Celadon Forest 
  would be acceptable. 
   
  In general skill, bonuses should start at a +1 or 
  +2 bonus and proceed to a maximum of +4 over 
  time. 
  Duplicating Class Features 
  You cannot give a PC access to class features 
  from another class. For instance, you cannot 
  make Ride a class skill for all members of your 
  organization.  
   
  If you wish to give full access to skills, you 
  might consider granting access to adaptable 
  prestige classes or even designing prestige 
  classes of your own for publication in the Living 
  Greyhawk Journal. 
  Home Region 
  Metagaming organizations should (at least 
  initially) require that the PC be a resident of the 
  Duchy of Urnst. Should the PC’s residential 
  status change, all access to the benefits of the 
  metagaming organization should normally be 
  lost without recompense. 
  
  Duchy of Urnst Metagaming Guidelines v1.0 
   
  26 February 2002 
   
   
   
   
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  Price Discounts 
  You may offer price discounts of up to 10% on 
  mundane and masterwork equipment while 
  adventuring in the Duchy of Urnst.  
   
  Thus, if someone in your organization wanted to 
  purchase masterwork full plate and you provided 
  a 10% discount on armor, the cost would be 
  1485gp rather than the normal cost of 1650gp. 
   
  The discount does not apply to the cost of 
  magical enhancements of any item. So, a suit of 
  full plate +1 would cost 2000gp for the 
  enchantment and 1485gp for the armor itself, for 
  a total of 3485gp. 
  Reduced Lifestyle Costs 
  You may reduce or eliminate lifestyle costs for 
  members of your organizations, but only under 
  certain circumstances (or with a corresponding 
  restriction) and only while playing in the Duchy 
  of Urnst region. 
  Members Obligations 
  Members of the organization must have some 
  kind of obligation. Typically this takes the form 
  of time units (hereafter TUs) or some monetary 
  cost or both. However, anything imaginable can 
  generally be used, so long as it compensates the 
  system for the benefits the PC gets by reducing 
  the PCs abilities to do other things. 
  Joining Costs 
  Joining costs are usually paid only initially. This 
  can be a block of time units required for service, 
  training, indoctrination, etc. It can be an amount 
  of gold. It can be the creation of a magical item 
  or a special mini-mission at an interactive. Use 
  your imagination. 
  Recurring Membership Costs 
  Each 
  game 
  year, 
  there 
  must 
  be 
  some 
  membership cost to continue receiving the 
  benefits provided by the organization. 
   
  These costs do not have to be as steep as the 
  joining cost (or they may be even more steep), 
  but they should adequately “pay back” the 
  system for the bonuses given the PC. 
  Joining Again 
  It’s up to you whether or not former members of 
  your organization could rejoin. You should make 
  this decision based on the nature of your 
  organization and how it fits within the Duchy of 
  Urnst. 
  You 
  should 
  also 
  consider 
  the 
  circumstances under which the PC left the 
  organization. 
  Volunteers 
  Someone has to run your organization. Expect to 
  be a busy bee if your organization is approved, 
  as you are the de facto coordinator. The Triad 
  will not set up booths at conventions for you – if 
  you want this kind of thing, it’s your 
  responsibility to organize it.  
   
  The Triad will ask you to identify two 
  individuals who can serve as points of contact 
  for your organization. Na mes and e-mail 
  addresses (or, if no e-mail is available, a valid 
  mailing address or phone number) must appear 
  in the documentation provided to the PCs and 
  again on the Duchy of Urnst web site. 
   
  If you cannot provide two points of contact, your 
  organization will not be allowed to proceed. This 
  is to insure that members of the organization 
  receive prompt responses to their inquiries. 
  The Process 
  If you’ve read these rules and understand them, 
  you’re ready to begin working on a metagame 
  organization. Here are the steps you need to go 
  through: 
   
  1. 
  Come up with a concept for your 
  organization. Research canon to make 
  sure that all canonical references are 
  correct and that it fits in with the Duchy 
  culture. 
  2. 
  Write a description of the organization 
  and submit it to the Duchy Triad. 
  3. 
  Wait for a response. You’ll usually get 
  a response back with detailed comments 
  about the organization and how it fits 
  in. Only rarely will you get an “Ok”, as 
  that implies that you got it all right the 
  first time – and honestly, how often 
  does that happen? 
  4. 
  Work with the appointed Triad member 
  or Magistrar (the trusted lackeys of the 
  Triad) to whip your organization into 
  shape concept-wise. 
  
  Duchy of Urnst Metagaming Guidelines v1.0 
   
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  5. 
  Decide what the benefits and costs for 
  your organization should be. There’s no 
  hard and fast rules here other than those 
  laid down by the Circle of Six, but in 
  general you should try to balance things 
  out. (It’s ok to have high costs and low 
  benefits at the beginning to help 
  compensate for benefits over time that 
  outweigh the costs. The rank of Colonel 
  in the Ducal Guard is a prime example 
  of this.) 
  6. 
  Write up a formal document for your 
  organization that defines the structure, 
  important NPCs, how it fits the Duchy, 
  etc. Submit this to the Magistrar or 
  Triad member you’ve been working 
  with. 
  7. 
  Wait some more (sorry, we have lots of 
  work to do). 
  8. 
  Get comments back from the Triad.  
  9. 
  Repeat steps 6-8 as necessary until you 
  get approval from the Triad. 
  10. If you’ve developed custom spells, 
  prestige 
  classes, 
  etc. 
  for 
  your 
  organization, those features will have to 
  be approved by Wizards of the Coast 
  R&D. 
  11. Work with the Triad to develop the 
  certificate(s) for your organization. This 
  could take some time, as certificates 
  aren’t dreadfully easy to lay out in a 
  nice arrangement. When the process is 
  done, you’ll get a PDF file of the cert(s) 
  for your organization from the Triad. 
  12. Schedule 
  the 
  premiere 
  of 
  your 
  organization. Typically, you’ll want to 
  tie this in with an interactive. As the 
  founder of the organization, you know 
  best 
  what 
  kind 
  of 
  interactive 
  is 
  appropriate 
  to 
  introduce 
  the 
  organization. So, start writing! Get help 
  from the Duchy writers’ list as well – 
  you are on the Duchy writers’ list, 
  aren’t you? 
  13. Write the interactive and line up the 
  minis. Get the minis approved by the 
  Triad. 
  14. The premiere! You should have a booth 
  of some kind set up, and you should 
  definitely be there helping with the 
  interactive and/or running the booth. 
  15. You’ve got tons of work to do getting 
  members 
  signed 
  up. 
  Metagame 
  organizations 
  that 
  die 
  off 
  may 
  occasionally 
  be 
  pruned 
  from 
  the 
  campaign, so your job is  to keep things 
  going. 
   
  That’s it! Yes, it’s a lot of work, but the result is 
  that you’ve contributed something uniquely 
  Duchy to the Living Greyhawk campaign that 
  folks can enjoy. 
  Running Your Organization 
  You have to make some decisions to make about 
  how your organization will run. Do you want a 
  mail in process? Do you want to require folks to 
  sign up at booths? Either way, you’ve got some 
  work to do. 
   
  If you opt for a mail-in process, you may require 
  that folks send you a SASE (self addressed 
  stamped enveloped) with sufficient postage for 
  you to mail back their membership certificate 
  and paperwork. You may not collect monies 
  from applicants. 
   
  If you opt for in person registration, you may not 
  charge any fees for registration. This is not a 
  money-making venture. Furthermore, it’s your 
  responsibility to make sure that your booth is 
  manned and that the people manning it have the 
  proper materials to do the signups. 
  Promoting Your Organization 
  If you want booths run for your organization or 
  you want to spread the word about your 
  organization, it’s your responsibility.  Would you 
  like your organization to be featured in a 
  scenario? Recruit a scenario author to help on the 
  Duchy writers’ list. 
   
  Triad members and Magistrars are glad to help 
  out whenever possible, but they have other 
  duties. The primary responsibility for the success 
  or failure of your efforts lies with you. 
  Featuring Your Organization 
  in Scenarios 
  If your organization plays a prominent role in a 
  scenario, one of the coordinators may be 
  required to forego playing the scenario in order 
  to make sure that all aspects of the organization 
  are properly represented in the scenario. This 
  should be a rare occurrence, but it is possible, so 
  be prepared for the possibility. 
   
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Living Greyhawk/Metaorg Material/Duchy of Urnst/duchy_metagaming_guidelines.pdf