[05] Organization Template

[Eiji Shigara]

Name

* Name of your Organization. What is the name of it? The name of the organization is what draws people into it. You must give out a good unique name. If you give out an unoriginal name such as Akatsuki or The Missing Ninja Group -- expect for staff to ask for the name to be changed. The name of the organization can be in any language, but please provide the English translation in parenthesis "( )" next to the name. Try to give it meaning to the entire group, and not a random name like Pizza Fighters.. How does it tie in with the other members of the group and the overall goal? Be creative here.



History

* One of the most lengthly section within the aspects of the Organization template. Within this section you must state how and why it the Organization was created. when it was created, how old the Organization is. Who created the Organization, and who else knows about the Organization. It must be in depth, and creative. Without this stated the Organization will be denied, and will be archived. The History can not state anything about it being in existence since an unknown time, and it can not just suddenly appear out of the blue one day through the magic of society and love with peace. The questions within the history must be answered such as the Who, the Why, the Where, the When, and the How it was created. Something can not be suddenly mysterious in creation. Reasons why is because of the fact that in depth history creates Roleplay Capability, it adds story line for other people to interact with. Just because if something we know out of character does not mean that we would know it exists in character. Within this section the user must take the time to write out at least four paragraphs of description. Each Paragraph must have an average of at least Five sentences. Note: This is Especially for Religions, or City Based Organizations such as ANBU Divisions.



Purpose:

* What is the reason for the Organization's existence? Organizations generally do not form without good reason; they serve a particular aim or intention. Pick a reason for your Organization and flesh it out. Organization purposes typically fall into one of several basic categories:

o Control: At times a Organization's existence may not be for the benefit of the members but to allow the Organization or another agency to regulate and control certain activities. Members might be required to join the Organization and abide by its rules whether they want to or not. Members’ activities would usually be closely monitored and they would have limits on what they could or could not do. The classic example is that of a city thieves’ Organization; if you’re not in the Organization you don’t steal things. Bad things happen to those who break this rule. (Not Accepting These Types)

o Economic: The whole purpose of an economic Organization is to make money. The members intend to get rich by being part of the Organization. Depending on the structure of the Organization, individual members may or may not see immediate benefits, but as a whole the Organization maximizes its profit-making potential. The perfect example of an economic Organization is a trading conglomerate or merchant house, such as the Hudson Bay Company.

o Goal: The primary reason for the Organization is to achieve some goal or aim, usually a definable purpose that can be gained in a finite period. In certain cases the goal may be conspiratorial and quite secret. Generally the aim is something that might take a considerable length of time to achieve. Perhaps in one city the baker’s Organization is attempting to legalize a particular strain of wheat which makes bread making easier but which has been claimed by the local clergy as sacred to the region’s patron god.

o Protection: Safety in numbers is often the way to tread. By banding together, members of such a Organization are in a better position to look after their interests more effectively and work together to protect and defend individual members’ safety and rights. Such a group could also be intent on preserving traditional methods and techniques that might otherwise be lost. Consider an Organization of sailors in a town that has recently been assimilated by a neighboring realm who wish to ensure that newcomers don’t steal away their business and “corrupt” the local waters with their newfangled ideas of how sailing should be done.

o Sharing: This type of Organization has been established so that its members can exchange knowledge and skills. By grouping together, the people within the Organization broaden the knowledge base and maximize their potential for learning new skills and ideas, as well as for helping each other improve. An Organization of mercenaries may travel the world to learn many techniques of war and battle, which they subsequently share among themselves.



Membership:

* Beyond an Organization’s purpose, some distinct feature usually links its members together. This is some characteristic that can be easily identified by outside observers. Note that this is what existing members have in common, not what they have to do to join, which is detailed next. Decide what links the members of your Organization. Membership features generally fall into one or more of the following categories:

o Belief/Code: Members all share some form of belief or opinion. It may be religious, political, or social. A bard’s Organization might exist only so that the members can get together for a good laugh.

o Family: Members of the Organization are all related by blood or marriage to one or more founding families. Every member has some family tie to at least one, likely several, other Organization members.

o Location: Members all live in a particular settlement or region. A town Organization might be created when pioneers found a new community, which allows them to decide who can live in the area.

o Profession: All of the members share a common profession or character class.



Joining the Organization:

* Just because someone agrees with the purpose of a Organization and meets its membership requirements does not mean that membership is automatic. Most Organizations will control access to
their ranks and have certain rules and traditions for joining. Define how nonmembers can join the Organization. Entry to a Organization is nearly always through one of the following methods:

o Application: Prospective members ask to join the Organization. Usually local or Organization laws decree that an applying member who meets the selection rules must be accepted.

o Edict: Members have no choice but to be in the Organization. This may be local law or by decree of the Organization itself. Either way, people who meet the criteria are told to join the Organization or else.

o Foundation: A new Organization is being formed and the individual is one of its founding members.

o Invitation: Members deemed as suitable are invited to join the Organization. Without the invitation they may not join, even if they are otherwise suited to be a member.

o Purchase: A member must buy his way into the Organization, through money or through deeds and effort on the Organization's behalf.



Membership Criteria:

* In addition to how one can become a part of a Organization, it is also important to define the selection criteria that dictate what types of people are eligible for membership. Such criteria usually can be categorized by one or more of the following:

o Alignment: Members must meet particular alignment criteria to join the Organization. A conspiratorial Organization might accept only Lawful Evil members.

o Deed: All members of the Organization have performed a particular deed, one that cannot be described merely as an examination.

o Sex: Members must all be of one sex.

o Level-based: Each member has achieved a certain level in his chosen capability, but what that class is does not matter, nor do the actual skills and abilities of the member. He is of sufficient experience to be considered desirable by the Organization. Such a Organization might value experience and wisdom, or it might just be elitist.

o Miscellaneous: Members must meet some esoteric criterion to join the Organization. For example, only left-handed people may join a certain Organization of smiths.

o Number Limit: The Organization either has a minimum or maximum member limit. With a minimum limit new members are sought to keep the numbers up. With a maximum limit in place prospective members will have to wait until a position becomes available.

o Qualification: Each member meets a set of skills, knowledge, and abilities desired by the Organization. Class or profession doesn’t matter, only that one’s abilities are up to scratch. Members might need to have one or more skills at a number of ranks or a particular skill total, or they may need to know a particular skill.

o Race: Only folk of a particular race may join the Organization.

o Social Class: Only people of a particular social class may join the Organization. The neighborhood thieves’ Organization might accept only commoners, in contrast with the banking house that requires members to be at least of the minor nobility.

o Test/Examination: Each member has passed a particular test or tests. Their actual skills and abilities may vary, and some members may be of a low standard, but whether by luck or talent they passed the tests to get in. The difference between this and the qualification criterion is that here each member need only have made a small number of tests successfully; the actual total of one’s skill or ability is not important.

o Wealth: Members must have a certain degree (minimum or maximum) of wealth to join. A charitable or beggar’s Organization might deem that when members have reached a certain higher level of funds it is time for them to move on.



Size and Scope:

* A Organization may be small or large, depending on what its purpose is. Similarly, its influence may extend no further than the local village, or perhaps the city gates, or it may make its presence felt across the known world. Define the size of the Organization, how many members it has, where it is located, and what the reach of its influence is.



Structure & Advancement:

* How the Organization organizes itself can have a bearing on how members advance within the Organization, or indeed if there is any concept of rank and advancement. Choose from one of the following structures (graded Organizations may have more than one type of gradation). Define titles for each rank within the Organization, and the requirements to advance through these ranks.

o Collective: All members of the Organization are considered equals and there is no rank or advancement. Decisions are made by consensus, and Organization activities can at times be rather disordered.

o Dominated: The group is under the control of one or more powerful individuals. There are two levels within the Organization—those who are in charge and those who are not. The control may be internal, with Organization members directing what goes on, or external, where someone outside of the Organization calls the shots.

o Graded (Criteria): Membership is ranked and advancement is through meeting certain rules and criteria set down by the Organization. Usually this has to with meeting requirements that have little to do with skill or ability. Length or service in the Organization is a good example, or just plain age of the member.

o Graded (Elective): Membership within the Organization is ranked and advancement is by choice or decree of other members, often through election. Actual skill or ability may have nothing to do with the member’s rise though the ranks.

o Graded (Merit): The Organization has a number of ranks and levels, and advancement is by deed and merit. Achieving certain skill levels or passing several tests determines how members climb the ranks.

o Graded (Wealth/Purchase): A member’s standing or rank in the Organization is controlled by how much wealth he has, or it is purchased directly. This may take the form of open purchase, or secretive bribes and the buying of influence.



Benefits:

* More often than not the reason for joining a Organization is due to the benefits that membership provides. Some of the benefits are tangible; others are less obvious. Most Organizations will provide their members with several advantages, noticeable or not. Define what the benefits are for your Organization, using the following options as a guide. It should be noted that some of the benefits received as Organization members can also act as disadvantages, as members may have obligations resulting from some of the benefits detailed. Such benefits are marked with an asterisk (*).

o Access to Items: The Organization provides its members with access to rare or restricted items. Additionally, members may be able to purchase more common items at a reduced price.

o Access to Prestige Classes: Organization members may take on a prestige class that they might not otherwise have access to.

o Access to Skills, Feats, or Techniques: Members of the Organization gain improved access to skills, feats, or techniques that would otherwise be restricted or even disallowed.

o Bonuses: To reflect the improved knowledge and training available to members of the Organization, a distinct bonus is applied to one or more of each member’s capabilities, skills, techniques, feats, attacks, defense, or so on. Training at a fighter’s school might give its members a reduction in training.

o Experience Bonus: Members gain a percentage increase in training points allocated for advancement in a capability or profession closely associated with the Organization. Members of a blacksmithing Organization might gain a training points reduction bonus for the the people they interact with and learn from.

o Fraternity*: The Organization members provide a support structure for each other, and individual members can call upon the assistance of their fellows in times of need. Usually the assistance comes from Organization members the character would view as peers. This could take many forms; loans, physical assistance, character statements. The fraternity could also extend to an alliance with people or groups outside of the Organization.

o Good Reputation: The Organization is held in high regard or is otherwise respected or feared, and its members benefit from that reputation. They themselves are well reputed because of their membership, and this will beneficially affect encounters with those who know and respect the Organization. This might take the form of a roleplaying to create a shift in a NPC’s initial reactions to Organization members.

o Henchmen*: A member who has advanced in seniority might have subordinates from the Organization assigned as henchmen, followers, or minions.

o Income: Whether through an allowance, payment based on skill tests, or some other method, Organization members enjoy a regular income in the form of coinage or goods.

o Patronage*: Akin to fraternity, Organization members receive support and assistance from other members of the Organization. In this instance, though, the folk assisting are superior in some way to the character, be it in authority, influence, wealth, or some other fashion.

o Shelter*: The Organization provides its members with some type of free housing or other form of accommodation. This may be an actual Organizationhouse, an inn with agreements to lodge members, or individual members who shelter their fellows in their own residences.

o Social Rights: The Organization has managed to reserve for its members certain social rights that would otherwise not be allowed. Perhaps only members of a fighter school are allowed to wear weapons publicly. Only members of the scribes’ Organization may be allowed to read certain texts. Or consider the club of gentlemen who are the only ones in town who may vote.

o Special Abilities: The Organization has access to special knowledge or skills that it teaches only to its members. Characters will be taught such special abilities or at least be permitted to gain them upon meeting certain conditions. These abilities would likely be akin to Specialist abilities—things that aren’t otherwise detailed by skills.



Disadvantages:

* Regardless of a Organization’s particular nature, the odds are that there are some disadvantages to being a member. Most often these would be more than balanced by the benefits, but this may not always be the case. Some more restrictive Organizations with less than voluntary membership might be rather detrimental to their members.

o Apprenticeship: In order to become a Organization member, a character must suffer through an apprenticeship period, during which time he is bonded to one or more masters. This can be effective slavery, where the master is completely in control of the apprentice’s existence. At the very least the apprentice will suffer serious restrictions to his freedom of movement and activities, often for a period of
several years.

o Bad Reputation: The Organization, and thus its members, is looked upon with ill feeling by society as a whole or by some significant group. This adversely affects social encounters for its members, be it through penalties to Roleplay in which may create an unfavorable shift in the reactions of NPCs.

o Deterioration: Due in some way to activities performed in the Organization’s service, the members suffer some form of deterioration, usually in the form of health or skills. Look at the miners’ Organization whose members all suffer from a lung disease, and loose their capabilities to perform better.

o Enemies: Beyond even a bad reputation, the Organization has one or more groups who harbor enmity toward it and its members. This will result in the chance of the members being abused or assaulted in some way by the enemy organization.

o Exclusions: Members of the Organization are barred from partaking in some activity or associating with a particular group of people. A town miller in a countrywide Organization may be allowed to mill grain only for folk in his local region. A Organization of rangers may be on bad terms with the local army that has a history of despoiling nature, and thus the rangers may not associate with those other warriors. Certain skills, feats, or spells may not be allowed for members of the Organization. This can lead to restrictions in experiments by members (“We don’t do things that way!”).

o Experience Cost: The Organization expects members to put much effort into Organization activities, to the extent that their personal time is reduced. Members must make one or more payments of training points, or loosing knowledge of techniques to reflect this. Each member of a bardic college whose members teach local children must expend the knowlege of two hundred training points worth of techniques a year for the Organization. A fighter Organization that puts prospective members through rigorous testing means a new member must pay a once-only Fighting Style Mastery cost to join. Organization designers should take care to balance such a cost, along with other disadvantages, against the benefits received.

o Experience Reduction: Similar to an training points cost, the reduction in training points when learning or gaining is ongoing and constant. An adventurer’s Organization might require its members to help common folk in small ways whenever they can, resulting in a general 5% reduction of all training point awards.

o Fees: The Organization demands payment of some form from its members. This may be dues, bribes, gifts, or other forms of expenditure. The fee may be a one-time payment, such as an entry charge, or a regular tithe such as a general percentage reduction of each member’s wealth.

o Regulations/Traditions: Unlike exclusions, where members are restricted from doing something, some Organizations may demand that its members do certain things. These may range from duties that make sense (“It’s your turn to tend the ovens tomorrow.”) to traditions that may seem foolish (“Lodge night tonight; don’t forget your goose hat.”). This might also take the form of obedience to the wishes and desires of superiors within the Organization.

o Time: Membership in the Organization is time-consuming. Members may be expected to attend meetings, perform menial duties, assist other members, etc. Unlike other disadvantages listed, this will result in a reduction of time available to members. The time may be as little as a few days or as much as several months in a year. It might be one large period. A monastery of warrior monks may require that all members must at some stage spend a year as a hermit doing nothing but meditating.



Affiliations:

* Unless a good reason exists for remaining isolated, most Organizations will form at least a loose affiliation with other Organizations that complement their purpose or membership criteria. Thieves’ Organizations have affiliations with other thieves’ Organizations in neighboring regions to provide a place to hide members who’ve made the ten-most-wanted list and to fence loot that’s too hot for the local area. Town Organizations form alliances with neighboring towns to provide better protection against marauding bands of monsters. Generic adventuring Organizations, such as The Collective, form associations with any other Organization that can be of use to them (and vice versa). Groups of mercenaries, like Neric’s Avengers, form no alliances, as these may bring undue influence to bear. Determine which Organizations, if any, would have direct associations with yours.



Leaving the Organization:

* From time to time, characters will leave Organizations, either because they choose to or because the Organizations no longer accept them as members. There are almost always consequences of leaving, and their severity depends on the circumstances. Define how characters can leave the Organization and what happens to them when they do. A character generally has three options for leaving, although some Organizations do not allow members to leave at all.

o With Permission: If a character wishes to leave a Organization and requests (and obtains) the permission of the Organizationmaster(s), the consequences are generally limited to loss of membership rights. Accrued benefits are usually retained.

o Without Permission: To leave a Organization without the blessing of the leader(s) is generally a serious infraction of the rules. Whether permission to leave was denied or not sought, the penalties are usually loss of all Organization-associated benefits.

o Expulsion: This is the most serious way of leaving a Organization. It is only for use when a character has committed a serious offense against the Organization and will often result in punitive action, up to the death of the offender.


* Place any additional information (such as org only jutsu, seals, and rituals) here after the main information has been set within the Organization

Name
History:
Purpose:
Membership:
Joining the Organization:
Membership Criteria:
Size and Scope:
Structure & Advancement:
Benefits:
Disadvantages:
Affiliations:
Leaving the Organization: