Starfleet' Guide

CHAPTER ONE: RULES AND PUNISHMENTS
Unless stated otherwise by the highest ranking officer in the game or on the group wall or wherever it is, all standard Starfleet regulations apply. For instance, some high ranks might need you to call out “Captain on the bridge!” every time the captain comes on the bridge, and some might require you to call out sir. I (cvscvs2) do not require either of these things, but it’s wise to assume the high rank does until he says otherwise.

If you are insubordinate, you can be punished at the discretion of a high rank. HRs don’t, however, have the authority to suspend a person of duty for more than a week, the ability to exile, or the ability to demote without a trial. If a trial is necessary, send a message to the Head Admiral saying so, and he will set up a time for everything.

CHAPTER TWO: RANKS, PROMOs, THE CHAIN OF COMMAND
Below are a list of the ranks of Starfleet’ (from lowest to highest), and next to them what you must do in order to earn them. LR stands for Low Rank, MR for Middle Rank, and HR for High Rank. LDR stands for leader, SUS for suspended, REP for Representative, 2iC for Second in Command and 3iC for Third in Command.

(LR) Cadet – Simply join the group; the default rank of anyone who does so.

(LR) Petty Officer 2nd Class – Attend, and do well (at a high rank’s discretion) at a roleplay or training.

(LR) Petty Officer 1st Class – Attend, and do well (at a high rank’s discretion) at a roleplay or training.

(LR) Warrant Officer – Attend, and do well (at a high rank’s discretion) at a roleplay or training.

(LR) Ensign – Attend, and do well (at a high rank’s discretion) at a roleplay or training.

(MR) Lieutenant – Attend, and do well (at a high rank’s discretion) at a roleplay or training.

(MR) Lieutenant Commander – Attend, and do well (at a high rank’s discretion) at a roleplay or training.

(MR) Commander – Host and or attend, and do well (at a high rank’s discretion) at a roleplay or training.

(MR) Captain – Be generally active in the group and pass the Captain’s Test (see Chapter Seven)

(MR) Commodore – Host several roleplays or trainings while a Captain, and demonstrate skills as a good leader.

(HR) Lower Admiral – Do well while a Commodore, and pass the Admiral’s Test (see Chapter Seven).

(HR) Upper Admiral – Be very active, and host and attend large amounts of roleplays and trainings.

(3iC) Vice Admiral – Be extremely active, and go beyond simply hosting and attending to make the group better.

The next few ranks are not normally obtainable, so they are listed separately from the others.

(SUS) Suspended – Commit some kind of infraction that a High Rank deemed worthy of temporary suspension from duty.

(REP) Representative – Be a representative of an allied group.

(2iC) Fleet Admiral – Be appointed by the President and Head Admiral to be the second in command of the entirety of Starfleet.

(LDR) Federation President – Be elected in by your peers. See Chapter Six.

(LRD) Head Admiral – This rank is not obtainable. The Head Admiral, cvscvs2, created the group, and therefore keeps his rank. If public opinion of him were to drop low enough, he might resign, but other than that extreme case, he is here for good.

CHAPTER THREE: ROLEPLAYS AND TRAININGS
There are two main events at which you can be promoted: trainings and roleplays.

Roleplays are events held on a Starfleet ship. In this event, you create your own episode of Star Trek so to speak, by role playing as the characters. These roleplays are typically led by whoever is the “host”, or whoever decided to start the roleplay (only people with the rank of Commander and above can host). However, if a higher rank shows up to a roleplay, the higher rank has the ability to take over this roleplay. Roleplays can be “canon”, meaning they are official and add to the overall storyline of the group, or “noncanon”, meaning they are not. In canon roleplays, you aren’t going to be able to destroy ships completely, for the most part. The host controls most of how the roleplay goes, and a varying degree of control is given to attendees, depending on which host it is.

Trainings are events where, instead of trying to create your own Star Trek episode, the main agenda is for the host to teach the attendees a specific skill, such as obstacle courses (parkour), how to drive a shuttle, teamwork, how to roleplay, trivia, how to use a phaser, etc. They are usually held at Starfleet’ Meadows, which serves as our main training base.

In both cases, the highest ranking officer is in command if they desire to be. If the captain (or commanding officer) leaves the bridge in a roleplay, the highest ranking officer is automatically in charge of the bridge.

As before stated, promotions are given entirely at the discretion of the host. If the host does not think you did well enough to warrant a promotion, you will not be promoted. Do not be discouraged though, you aren’t going to be promoted for every roleplay!

Uniforms of some type are typically required at roleplays. Usually, though, there are morphs.

CHAPTER FOUR: CHARACTERS
In order to make roleplays more interesting, you are allowed to have characters. These characters can recur, have their own personality, be a different rank than you, have their own backstory, have their own love interests- it’s a whole new world of roleplay.

A good example is the character of Admiral Eugene Ugly (you can find a full article about him on our group’s wikia). He has an emotionally scarring back-story, as well as a redemption plot arc, a love interest, a son he didn’t know he had, a quest to find his long last parents, and the fact that he is Fleet Admiral of Starfleet’, and has a lot of responsibility on his shoulders. He has been used in roleplays for years, and his character is very fleshed out.

You are allowed to make your own character like this, but there are a few guidelines.

1.	Your character must be a known species in the Star Trek universe. The only exceptions to this are the species found in our groups canon, as seen on this wikia. They are canon in our version of the Star Trek universe. If you want to be either of these species, contact zeuscallum and cvscvs2 respectively.

2.	Your character cannot be a higher rank than you actually are. For instance, if you are a Lieutenant, you cannot have a character with the rank of Captain.

3.	Your character can not be over powered. For instance, it can’t be a Q. You can’t survive 100 phaser blasts to the chest. Your character must be able to die; able to be defeated. Your character must also not be a super genius. You can have a character who is very good at one thing, but usually this means he has to be bad at every other thing.

4.	In order for your character to have a back-story that connects with another character, you must ask the other person first. For instance, you cannot claim that you were the creator of the android Dollay unless zeuscallum agrees with it.

There are also a couple more rules. If your character dies in a canon roleplay, it can no longer be used. At the end of roleplays, if there is debate over whether or not it is canon, the people who are there must vote on the canon-ness. Majority rules.

Do not use a character as an excuse to break the rules of Starfleet. If your character does something, you may be held responsible for it.

There may be others that are not listed here, but you will not be held accountable if you are not aware of them.

CHAPTER FIVE: STARSHIPS/STARBASES
If you don’t know what these things are, pull up an episode of Star Trek, and watch it right now. Anyone has the ability to build these things. The only official ones are listed on the group page. In order for your ship to be officially commissioned, contact the 2iC, President, or Head Admiral. You must be at least at the rank of Commander for your ship to be commissioned.

If you build your own ship, you outrank everyone when you are on it, except Admirals. For instance, if you are a commander, and on a ship of your own making, a Captain or Commodore couldn’t take command based on solely rank. However, and Admiral still could.

In land bases, the President has command. In space bases, the Head Admiral has command.

CHAPTER SIX: THE PRESIDENCY
The rank of Federation President was put in place for the purpose of making the group not a dictatorship, but more of a democracy. The President is elected once every 3 months. Anyone with the rank of Petty Officer and above is allowed to vote in the election, and anyone with the rank of Captain and above is allowed to run in the election.

In the election, you are allowed to have a campaign committee, slogans, propaganda- everything that the real candidates do. There are also usually debates, moderated by the Head Admiral, that are hosted at the Starfleet Meadows. It is usually good for both candidates and voters to watch these.

Once elected as President, your rank is moved to (LDR) Federation President for the duration of your term. After your term, your rank is returned to whatever it was in the first place. While President, your rank is equal to that of the Head Admiral in every way. Any major decisions made by the President can be vetoed by the Head Admiral, and vice versa. Speaking of which, the President often has to make major decisions for the continuity and safety of the group. It is not a job to be taken lightly, although many do.

Presidents may only have two consecutive terms in office. After this, they must take a one term break before being reelected.

CHAPTER SEVEN: THE CAPTAIN’S/ADMIRAL’S TESTS
In order to become a captain, you must take a test called the Captain’s Test. It is basically a test taken on the bridge of a simulated starship, designed to test the captaining abilities of the person taking the test. It is like a miniature roleplay, but most likely much more intense and rapid, with little control being given to the test taker. You are graded by the other officers on the bridge, who, though roleplaying as people below you, are probably admirals. This test is given when a commander requests it to be.

The Admiral’s test is a much different thing. This test is a written test of knowledge of the Star Trek universe, as well as logic and problem solving skills. Once you answer the questions, they are then given to several HRs on a Board of Review who dissect your answers and grade you on how you did. You must get at least a 75% on this test to pass. This test is only administered when the leadership of the group sees a lot of activity and promise in you. It can be given at any time, but the typical go to rule is to not give anyone this test until they are at least a commander.

The tests are subject to much change over time, but the basics always stay like the above.

EPILOGUE
That about covers most of the information you need to know to do well in this group. Of course, there are dozens of things you might be interested in that aren’t listed here. For information on those, please contact the Head Admiral. If any of the information here is redundant or out of date, please contact the Head Admiral.

One rule not listed in any of the sections above is the following, and my main philosophy on groups: They are for fun! The point of this is to have fun being a geek and roleplaying as Star Trek characters, not having your spirit crushed in a quasi-military online dominion. Yes, there has to be a certain amount of discipline in order to make anything work, but as you will see, we aren’t that strict with most of these rules.

If you have any complains, feel free to contact me about those as well. Again, this is about having fun, for everyone. If you joined my group, it’s as much yours as it is mine. With that being said, I wish you good roleplaying.