New swords Rank upcoming.

[G]

Hi gang. I wanted to get this announcement out before the end of the Madness to give everyone something to look forward to. A few players and myself had this idea around the same time as the DoF Mentor program, and any similarities are actually coincidental. The rules I've got laid out at the moment are not final, and open to discussion and suggestions. Basically, I'm looking to close loopholes I do not see, answer questions anyone may have, and improve upon the wording of what I have.

The weapons Squires get will receive will have a little backstory written to them after the rank is officially entered into the system.

All in all, I think this is a good thing that everyone can get involved in, from commoners to Barons and everyone in between. The Overlord already gets a lot of benefits so need nothing additional for that rank.

So then, I give you, the Squire!
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In Character
Squire:
A Duelist who holds the Rank of Baron may hold a once a cycle an Invitational Tournament composed of no more than 8 duelists and no less than 4. The winner of this optional Tournament will be granted the official rank of Squire to that Baron. The Baron will choose the format of the tournament excluding Double Elimination. Should the Baron choose to run this tournament, it must take place every cycle.

A Squire will gain the benefits of one rank increase over the rank determined by wins over losses. (I.E. A duelist with -1 WoL would be a commoner with one fancy; swordsman = two fancies; Master at Arms= three fancies; Grand Master = Four fancies.)

A Grand Master cannot achieve a Rank of Warlord via Squire, but may begin to accumulate Peer Wins and have Challenge Rights for as long as they hold the Squire rank. GMs may challenge the Baron they are squire to. Should the Grand Master not achieve the rank of Warlord, and lose the title of Squire, all peer wins will be lost. Should a Grand Master Achieve the rank of Warlord, they will lose the title of Squire, but retain the peer wins gained while holding the title. Only a Squire at the rank of Grand Master would have the ability to gain peer wins.

There may be no more than 7 Squires at any time. Each squire is granted use of a weapon as a symbol of their rank. These are weapons of special abilities that hold a benefit as well as a drawback.

Barony --Manor type--Weapon--Glow--Power Pros/cons

Dockside--Warehouse--Sickle--Grey--Levitation / No more than a foot off the ground

New Haven--English Manor--Rapier--White--Only intelligent Weapon / Snooty, believes itself to be smarter than the holder always and lets holder know.

Battlefield Park--Haunted Armory--Spear--Blue--Ability to turn incorporeal / Rumors of the original owners met untimely demises

Marketplace--Cardinal Inn Tavern--Axe--Green--Luck / Not always good

Old Temple--Old Church--Scepter--Gold--Tranquility / Only when not in combat

Seaside--Fortified Stone Manor--Glaive--Purple--Teleportation / Questionable accuracy

Dragons Gate--Dueling School--Staff--Red--Empathy--Good for out of ring / Bad when fighting in ring.




Out Of Character:
Being that the Baron is holding this tournament, the Baron is not permitted to have another one of their characters in the tourney.

The Tournament must be held once a cycle. This means that a squire may only hold that rank for one cycle until the next tournament.

The Baron does not have to hold a tournament, but if one is held, the Squire title only lasts a single cycle.

[G]

Question: Would a person be restricted to one tournament per cycle?
Answer: No.
Question: But, then doesn't that run the risk of a person being a Squire for more than one barony?
Answer: No. Once you are a squire you cannot enter another one.

Question: What if two tournaments are run at the same time?
Answer: The duelist must decide which tournament they prefer to be in. Duelists cannot participate in two duels at the same time.

Question: What happens to peer wins earned once the cycle's over, and that person loses the Squire title?
Answer: If the duelist is not a Warlord and loses the Squire title, they lose the Peer Wins. Covered in the GM section above: "Should the Grand Master not achieve the rank of Warlord, and lose the title of Squire, all peer wins will be lost."

[Xavior Mues]

Of the current 7 barons, 4 haven't been challenged. Why add more titles?

[Goldglo]

The Squire rank allows the lower ranked duelists more opportunity to participate in the game and potentially allows for them to get further involved in DoS politics, rivalries, etc. and the community as a whole.

[Lydia Loran]

♥♥♥♥♥

[G]

Question: Of the current 7 barons, 4 haven't been challenged. Why add more titles?

Answer: The Squire rank is not a challengeable rank. As Barons are the only ones permitted to hold a squire tournament, it is a belief that it will have the effect of making a Baronial Title more appealing. This would therefore create more challenges as more Warlords may look forward to hosting one of these tournaments.

Also, as previously stated, The Squire rank allows the lower ranked duelists more opportunity to participate in the game and potentially allows for them to get further involved in DoS politics, rivalries, etc. and the community as a whole, rather than just be looked upon as just a lower rank.

[Karen Wilder]

I can see how this would also allow for the possibility of more challenges.

A few questions...

1) Would a GM-Squire, since he is able to gather Peer Wins, count as a Peer Win for a Warlord or another GM-Squire?

2) You mentioned that a GM-Squire can Challenge the Baron (s)he is Squired to... is that the only Baron they can Challenge?

3) Should a GM-Squire be allowed to Challenge the Overlord? I realize that it would be a strange achievement to gain 15 Peer Wins over the course of a single cycle (or multiple cycles, if you manage to win a Baron's Tourney more than once in a row) without gaining 5 WoL... but it is something that should be addressed, I think.

[G]

Question: Would a GM-Squire, since he is able to gather Peer Wins, count as a Peer Win for a Warlord or another GM-Squire?

Answer: Yes. What's good for the goose and all.

Question: You mentioned that a GM-Squire can Challenge the Baron (s)he is Squired to... is that the only Baron they can Challenge?

Answer: No. The GM Squire would be able to challenge any Baron, but remember, the Squire is on a time limit and would either have to achieve Warlord or win the next Squire Tournament in order to retain peer wins gained. The GM is the only Squire able to challenge.

Question: Should a GM-Squire be allowed to Challenge the Overlord? I realize that it would be a strange achievement to gain 15 Peer Wins over the course of a single cycle (or multiple cycles, if you manage to win a Baron's Tourney more than once in a row) without gaining 5 WoL... but it is something that should be addressed, I think.

Answer: I'm going to answer "No" to this. Overlord is a unique title, and I do not feel that anything should change in regards to the Overlord. The OL already has to worry about challenges from Warlords, Barons, the WLT winner, and has the ability to give out a Grant. I would rather not complicate matters further by allowing a Squire to challenge as well. It is an unlikely scenario, but I am glad it's addressed in case such an situation does come occur.

[Xavior Mues]

According to the standings, there are more than enough warlords to keep every title in the DoS well challenged. The problem isn't in the number of warlords, or the difficulty in gaining rank. The problem is the number of players. There are too few and most of those have lost the will to challenge for any title.

I say we reduce the number of titles again. Four or five rings would keep things more interesting and encourage more people to challenge. Or that is my opinion.

[G]

According to the standings, there are more than enough warlords to keep every title in the DoS well challenged. The problem isn't in the number of warlords, or the difficulty in gaining rank. The problem is the number of players. There are too few and most of those have lost the will to challenge for any title.

I say we reduce the number of titles again. Four or five rings would keep things more interesting and encourage more people to challenge. Or that is my opinion.

Not entirely accurate, and not entirely inaccurate. However, this is a separate discussion. Let's please keep to the topic.

[Wyheree]

I just thought of something that I didn't see addressed....

Will the Squire Tournament wins count in the WoL?

[G]

Question: Will the Squire Tournament wins count in the WoL?

Answer: No. As the Baron will be the one responsible for holding the tournament, either by calling it themselves or employing another to do so in their place(Questionable, I believe it may end up being only the Baron who must call this tourney), and because these tournaments do not have to be held on regular dueling nights, wins or losses gained in a Squire tournament will not be reflected on the standings.

[Rix Favre]

What happens to the squire if their Baron is challenged and they lose?

[Napoleon Bonarat]

Does a baron have to do a tourney to get a squire? If a baron just picks his squire without a tourney, does that squire stay a squire cycle to cycle until the baron loses a challenge? The wording says "may" hold a tourney, which implies a choice.

I think this encourages cliquish behavior. :/ Not sure how this will foster community building or roleplay in a positive way if a baron can just select his/her closest buds for the tourney. I don't see how new (truly new, not alts) people can really benefit. I see them being left out even more in favor of buddies with alts.

Also, this makes the Talon of Redwin have less value. I suggest doing something that boosts the Talon up because *this* RP idea is the best way to give new characters/low rank a chance to participate in the community and get a nice little bonus of an extra fancy. Now a squire gets a special weapon? This makes the squire more valuable than a Warlord in some ways, especially since a GM-squire can challenge.

[Napoleon Bonarat]

Can a Baron pick a warlord to be a squire?

If a Baron chooses to hold a tourney to figure out who the squire will be, can s/he place arbitrary restrictions, e.g., only Warlords/certain ranks can enter the tourney, only females, only the baron's family members, only humans, etc.

If a Baron chooses to hold a tourney can s/he lay out some special rules. Something like the Panther Claw where everyone gets two mods--no more, no less regardless of rank. Or make it a mega brawl or no one gets fancies or everyone gets four, etc. Or restrict moves allowed, say, G says no one can use a slash.

Why is double elimination not allowed?