Party Charter Ideas

[Bobitron]

Do any of you fine folks have a party charter or contract that you use in your games? One that lays out the way treasure is split, what sort of jobs are taken on, the way that members need to act, etc...

I'm going to whip one up on Saturday to help ward off some of the tension that is developing in a party I'm playing in. We have a pretty standard mix, paladin, elven sorcerer, halfling druid, and a rogue. With a bunch of different goals, we are starting to run into some issues between characters, and I'm hoping a set of guidelines might help. Most of the problems are regarding money or people not working as a team.

 

[painandgreed]

We did this once for pretty much the same reason. A player's character was killed and he was making a new character to come in and kill the one who killed his previous character. We all knew this was happening and that he would make some in-game excuse for it to happen. We started to make up a simple charter (we were a mecenary comany after all) that basically said "no member may attack or kill another member". It then went on into rules for getting into the group, kicking peopel out, probationary status, dividing up treasure and senority. It took almost an entire gaming session to do it but it solved our problem (the guy decided not to play any more). We continued to use the charter and it worked out really well. It also gave us a structure for our party to build on and we started employing hirelings whose place was well defined and the party ended up being really large at one point (40+). that was all right because we were doing large scale military encounters at that point.

 

[Bobitron]

Thanks for the reply.

Here's what I have so far. Any input would be appreciated. We don't have a name yet, either, so some help there would be cool as well. My imagination gland is stunted from too much banality at work lately


The Charter of the Company

Herein lay the rules and guidelines of our noble adventuring guild, hereafter known as the Company. Each member of the Company shall be beholden to these laws, or risk ejection from the Company.

~We believe that by serving each other, we help ourselves. This is not to say that each member does not have his or her own goals, simply that the goals of the group should lie first in the thoughts of each member. We do not worry about when individual goals will be reached because we know that the other members will help us when our time comes.

~We take joy in seeing our fellowship advance in reputation and prosperity, and should do nothing that will harm the wellbeing of the Company. All members shall do their utmost to ensure that they act accordingly and bring honor upon the Company in all their actions.

~We shall treat those who wish us no harm with honor and compassion, saving our wrath for those who oppose us.

~ We believe that leadership means service in the Company, not power mongering. As such, a suitable leader will be chosen by a vote for their propensity to nourish the Company in accord with this charter and the well being of the members.

~The Company is a democracy, and all decisions will be made by the company as a whole. In the case of a split decision, the elected leader will decide.

~A member of the Company who calls for aid, whether in battle or time of peace, will not be ignored. Devotion to each other is a sacred alliance that should never be betrayed. A promise given by a member of the Company is a bond of loyalty, not to be broken.

~This Company will never accept a task known to cause harm to innocents, assassinate a victim, further the cruel grip of slavery over this land, or partake in evil acts.

~The Company will consist of Charter members, being those who have signed below, and other members as the Company sees fit. These other members will be known as Conscripts. For a Conscript to be hired, a democratic vote for admittance must be held,

~Any treasure found during the Company’s adventures is to be divided equally between the Charter members.

~Each Charter member is required to tithe a minimum of 20% of the earnings taken on an adventure with the Company to the Company’s Coffers.

~Any day-to-day, non-magical consumables, such as ammunition, foodstuff, basic weapons, etc. will be paid for from the Company’s coffers. A Charter member or conscript need never go hungry or without arms because of misfortune while under contract with the Company.

~The Company will pay for healing magic, such as scrolls and healing potions, from the Company coffers. Any other magic items should be purchased by each individual member, unless a vote from the group states otherwise.

~Any Conscripts partaking in the adventure will receive payment from the Company’s coffers, rather than from the earnings of that adventure. If additional help is required for a particular task, the Charter members will negotiate a rate of payment before the adventure. Half of that rate will be paid upon accepting the employment; the second half will be paid upon completion. If the Conscript does not survive the trials of the adventure, the money will be given to that Conscript’s estate, if one was named, or will go back to the Company’s coffers.

~The death of a charter member of the Company will result in that member’s wealth being passed on to the person’s estate as laid out in their will, after a deduction of 50%, which will go to the Company’s coffers. If no will is present, all the wealth will go to the coffers.

~The Company will strive to create a permanent base of operations in the City of Cauldron, planting roots and becoming a permanent part of the community. The Company will strive to support our City to the best of our abilities. As members of the Company, we will strive to reduce the hold of evil over the people of Cauldron.

 

[Umbran]

Do any of you fine folks have a party charter or contract that you use in your games? One that lays out the way treasure is split, what sort of jobs are taken on, the way that members need to act, etc...

I've never used one myself. If my character wouldn't trust his compatriots to divide treasure equitably, he proabaly wouldn't trust his life to them, either. If they cannot be trusted to do their jobs and be fair to one another without a piece of paper telling them what to do, that piece of paper isn't going to make them save my bacon when the chips are down.

 

[Herpes Cineplex]

We never wrote any kind of charter up or discussed it formally, either in- or out-of-character. A lot of potential party friction gets eliminated in our group during character creation anyway, because we're all sharing background ideas and building the characters with the premise that we're all working together. When you do that, you don't really need to explicitly state any kind of charter, though I suppose that anyone who watched the game for a few sessions would be able to figure out what our unwritten charter would say.

It'd just be the usual kind of stuff, I think. Don't kill each other or screw each other over. If a job is offered to the group, the group as a whole makes the decision about whether to accept it. Try to keep everyone alive, and try to pay for a resurrection if someone happens to die anyway. If the party as a whole needs to pay for something (like a cart, a license, provisions for a trip, etc.), then everyone kicks in to cover the expense; if an individual character needs to buy something that's mainly just for them, they pay for it themselves unless they can successfully convince someone else to go in with them on it.

Non-magical treasure is split evenly by cash value (and if it doesn't split evenly, whoever's keeping track of the treasure can either pocket the remainder as a tip, or throw it in to help cover a party-wide expense). Magical treasure, on the other hand, is split according to the results of a group discussion: people state what's most useful for them, what they want the most, and so on. If no one wants or can use an item, we try to sell it and then split the proceeds evenly. If two people both want an item, they can haggle with each other over it or put it up to a random die roll or do whatever else will settle the matter peacefully with a minimum of resentment.


We don't do things like have a portion of the loot set aside for party funds, though it's an idea we've toyed with in various games. We just never really got around to implementing it, I suppose. It's a decent enough idea, certainly, and might be more straightforward than adding up the expenses and asking everyone to contribute a fair share to cover them. Maybe if we ever go back to D&D we'll try it out.

--
i think most of us deal with enough paperwork in real life and don't feel like doing more of it in a game
ryan

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

Just make sure the other PCs can modify the charter as they see fit. Nothing worse than one person imposing their views on others...

 

[Bobitron]

Thanks for the input. I think I will email this back and forth with another player, and we will present it at our next session for revision/approval.