Rule Updates
Contents
Rule Changes 2024
Gold Firelizard Ownership
July 2024, See: Pet Rules
In the past, bronze and gold dragons were considered "ranking pets" along with goldfirelizards, preventing any gold or bronze dragonriders from Impressing a gold flit.
Going forward, any character can Impress a gold flit, pending Council approval. There is still a one gold-firelizard limit, unless one purchases another as per the Member Rewards. Council approval just means that the Council will consider how many other member rewards a character has before approving more. For example, a HAD that Impresses gold from the Stands may be discouraged from also Impressing a gold firelizard. They've already got a lot going on!
Backdated Posts, Rank Requirements, Inactivity Checks
July 2024
Backdating: Posts no longer require the designation “backdated.” Months will no longer "close" as the timeline moves. Going forward, posts may freely take place any time in the current month(s) or 6 months prior. You may still use flashbacks if you would like, but it is not required. Continue posting your headers with the correct turn in the When line. Posts taking place further than 6 months back would need to be a flashback.
Ranker Steps: L1 and L2s will remain in place for now. L1s and L2s manage areas within Triad, and encourage plots and writing in their areas. L1 characters should be posted with at least once every 3 OOC months, while members that hold other L2-L4 ranks should be posting at least once every 3 OOC months (but the post can be with any character).
Inactivity Checks: Council will continue to host periodic roll calls for members to check in. In it, we'll ask what to do with your characters if you don't respond to a future role call.
L1s may reach out to members if Ranker characters haven't been played for an extended period of time. This could end up in the rank being freed for another, a new plotline or character arc, or something entirely new! The end goal is to encourage activity to the level the writer is comfortable with.
Rules Remaining Unchanged: A member can only play 1 Weyrwoman or 1 Weyrleader at Triad. If they want to apply for another role, their current Weyrwoman or Weyrleader would need to step down.
Female Crafters
July 2024
After 20+ years of OOC writing, and nearly 12 Turns of in-character developments, we'd like to announce that female crafters are now allowed in two more halls: the Healercraft and the Weavercraft.
In-character we'd like to write it as though the Healers have slowly been allowing females in over the last three or so Turns. Now, remember, if your female healer is at the Weyr, that's been allowed for a while, so this only affects non-Weyr females who want to join the craft! A new branch of the Healer Hall will be coming to Amber Hills Hold in the future for those interested!
Also, for the Weavercraft, we would like for this to be a new development! Estelle and I are currently working on a post where the Weaver Hallmaster is fired. He will be replaced with a new Hallmaster who will begin accepting female apprentices! This is a great opportunity for a new Hallmaster if someone is interested and has the marks for the purchase!
Updated List of Halls that accept Female Crafters:
- Dolphin
- Harper & Printer
- Technician
- Weaver (NEW)
- Healer (NEW, but writing it as though it has been slowly happening over the last few Turns!)
Member Rewards
March & May 2024
We have updated the Member Rewards page - adjusting the prices of some rewards, adding some new ones and removing those which are no longer needed.
The main changes are:
- Added reward to make adjustments to the appearance of an existing persona, for example changing hair or eye colour
- Added reward for creating a new sub-location (for example, a minor hold) and adjusted the prices of creating a major Hold or Hall. Re-activating an existing Hold or Hall from Triad's history is now available at a reduced cost!
- After creating a new Hold or Hall, there is a reward to the creators after the first 10 posts there :)
- Removed rewards relating to rank requirements and dragonrider sexuality
- Generally adjusted down some costs, to make the rewards more accessible to newer members
If you have an idea for a new reward or way to earn marks, please feel free to share it with the Council!
The Council has made some additional updates to the Member Reward values. The main change is that we want to make sure we're encouraging writing stories as much as other activities - as that's what we're all here for!
The changes are:
- Posting Rewards: Increased the number of marks awarded per post by 1 (so 2 for posting at a Weyr, 3 for a Hold, 4 for a bonus location)
- Advertising: This will be a maximum reward of 10 marks/month, in line with other admin duties. 1 mark per advert for a simple link, 2 marks for at least a paragraph of original text in the advert (you can describe the group in your own words or talk about new plots that are going on). Advertising locations should be either other Pern roleplaying groups or closely related (writing sci-fi/fantasy fan fiction).
- New Reward #1: 10 marks for successfully completing mentorship! This will be backdated (so if you've finished mentorship in the past you should get this.
- New Reward #2: 10 marks for participating in a contest! This is to recognise the effort that goes creating an entry, and will be awarded to those who entered the recent 2024 Goldrider Contest.
We have backdated the posting award for active members for the last five years of posting (from the beginning of 2019) by adding 1 mark per post, so everyone should get an increase!
Adverts posted up until today that haven't yet received rewards will be rewarded at the previous rate, but any future ones will be at the new reward rate.
If you think your reward total doesn't look right, please email the webbies at webadmin@triadweyrs.org or post in the Bug Reporting board.
Also, don't forget that there are member rewards for getting a Weyr/Hold/Hall-wide storyline approved (one that requires L1/council approval), for filling an open L2/L3 rank and for recruiting a new member! If you think that you qualify (or want to nominate the person who recruited you) then drop us an email at webadmin@triadweyrs.org and we'll get those added.
Weyrlingmaster Rank Changes
April 2024
Given the recent promotion of R'lor, we have updated a couple of the FAQ articles regarding Weyrlingmasters. The main change is that the Weyrlingmaster is now "usually" a bronzerider, rather than "always" - the decision is up to the Weyrleader!
Canon Changes, Dragonrider Gender & Sexuality, One Goldrider Rule
January 2024
Strict Canon Rules
Rule 4 is now: There are no absolute restrictions on dragonriders' sexuality, but please be aware of our FAQ on dragon color and sexual orientation when creating and writing about a dragonrider or candidate character's preferences. Any issues with mating flights which would cause a rider or their dragon serious distress must be approved by the Council. Otherwise, mating flight situations are up to the participants; stand-ins are not allowed.
Rule 8 is now: Personas with a disability that would prevent them from fighting Thread will usually not be allowed to become a Candidate, and any such Impression must be approved by the Council (if you are not sure, please ask). Injuries which happen after Impression are allowed (with approval from the L1 if they happen in a post and are serious) and are much more likely as we are in a Pass. Please see our FAQ on the Healer Craft for information about the state of medical care on Pern.
Sexual Orientation, Gender, and Dragon Color
This has been updated to replace the restrictions on dragonrider sexuality, with the points that you need to consider when deciding your dragonrider's preferences.
At Triad we only allow the traditional five dragon colors, with the gender of the rider depending on color as described in the books:
- GREEN - Any gender
- BLUE - Males, rarely females (as a Member Reward)
- BROWN - Males
- BRONZE - Males
- GOLD - Females
There is no absolute rule on candidate or dragonrider sexuality, but there are a few points to be aware of when deciding on your character's preferences:
As described in our Strict Canon Rules you need to be aware of the potential outcomes of your character's dragon's mating flight when deciding on their sexuality. For example, goldriders are usually heterosexual, as a gold's flight is always won by a bronze or brown, which are always ridden by men - although they may also be bisexual. For similar reasons, male greenriders are usually homosexual.
For most of Triad Weyrs' history as a club, we followed the "strict canon" rule that gold, bronze, brownriders and female greenriders are heterosexual and male green and blueriders are bisexual or homosexual. Although this restriction has now been loosened, in-character assumptions about sexuality and dragon colour still exist socially in the Weyrs and Holds on Pern. Anything that differs from the "strict canon" will be unusual - and has potential for interesting storylines as our characters challenge these assumptions and stereotypes!
If you're planning to write a character outside the "strict canon" definition of dragonrider sexuality and are not sure what's allowed, it's a good idea to discuss with your mentor (for new members) a council member or writer of the Weyrleader/Weyrwoman for the location, so we can work out how best to fit them in with established club history.
This was quite difficult to write, as we wanted to balance being consistent with the club's history and the decisions writers have had to make about their characters in the past, with making sure everyone has the chance to create characters that interest them or feel represent them without being restricted from roles (such as wing rank) that depend on dragon colour. We found the input from members in the discussion thread about how this is going to work in-character very helpful on this - thank you!
As we don't want to rewrite the club history, in-character assumptions about what a dragon's colour says about the rider's sexuality still exist and any changes will be noticed (which may lead to some interesting storylines) - although this may develop over time as we write about it! For now, if you want to do something different we may have to work together to understand how your persona fits in to that history and with how the Weyr as a whole is responding to the changes, so we don't end up with contradicting stories. This is likely to be easiest for new Impressions, but we don't want to completely exclude adult dragonriders if we can agree on a storyline that fits.
If you have any questions or want to run an idea by someone, feel free to ask a council member or your mentor if you have one!
One Goldrider Rule
This originally stated that writers of goldriders in Triad Weyrs can't have any other goldriders in Pern fandom. Due to changing times, we have modified this to only apply to Triad.
No member may have more than one goldrider within Triad Weyrs. Once you have a goldrider character you can no longer participate in contests for goldriders or apply to Impress gold at a Hatching.
