Mercenary Groups

Listed below are the rulings for the system known as Mercenary Groups within Andora. The intention of this pool of mechanics is to offer a system for players to group or align themselves to suit their interests. Somewhat like the initial idea behind Player Factions, Mercenary Groups would effectively allow players to have a shared name, banner, goal, and other benefits as they moved about the world.

***Please note this page is still a work in progress and may be updated regularly.***

## Requirements

### Player Count

At any point, a mercenary group can have between 4 and 10 players. Maximum players, and the group cannot invite new players in. Fewer players, and the group will be disbanded.

### Fees

Additionally, each month the mercenary group will be required to pay a fee. While the fee will directly be paid by the group founder, it is expected that the cost will be derived from all participants in the organization. This fee is calculated based on an expected income from the participants involved, scaled to the level of each  participant.

## Benefits

Mercenary groups have a few benefits. Primarily, they exist outside of the realm of player factions and would thus not provide active or passive benefits.

### Group Research

***At the moment, this feature is not implemented.***

~~Instead of mechanical benefits similar to player factions, the group provides the opportunity for shared research directives. The group leader may submit research for the group to complete as a collective effort. A research submitted this way would have a downtime day cost increased by 650%.~~

~~Examples:~~

~~Thus, as this is a separate research from any participant, it would not count against a particular player’s current research. Instead, the group itself would have its own researches, with tier progression being considered part of the group’s initiative. Having the 650% increase in days accounts for the issue of research double up, so that there is lenient time in between researches. The additional heavy costs of membership help offset the days spent, so that at least about 6 days of the month are not spent on research.~~

### Group Missions

***Rules for these group missions are still DM dependent. DMs that choose to allow group missions will dictate so before the mission.***

***Please do not ask for or pressure DMs to allow a mission to be a group mission.***

Players in mercenary groups can enter missions as a group. To be eligible, the mission must be marked as a group mission. Additionally, the mission must not be a mission board mission, meaning that it must be either researched or NPC given.

A group mission assumes the participants for a mission would be tied exclusively to the mercenary group(s) involved. Should the group not have enough participants, they could enter with fewer or recruit people using our typical methods.

### General RP

In addition to the listed benefits are the typical RP facilities of Mercenary Groups. Players have the option of registering a group motto and a group home channel. Doing so can offer a bit of RP flair, and helps staff as to finding the mercenary group base should the need arise.

While not generally applicable, some NPCs may additionally see Mercenary Groups of certain renown with a different perspective, though this can be for better or worse.

## Costs

In order to maintain a Mercenary Group, players must pay for the group both when founding, as well as at the start of each month. This cost is a calculated amount based on the level of each participating member, which must be paid by the founder of the mercenary group.

To pay the costs at the start of the month, please ping @Political in the #downtime-day-tracking channel, and wait for a thumbs up before voiding the cost. This is similar to making a downtime post.

A table can be found below detailing the costs per person, depending on their level.

Groups that do not pay in time will be considered delinquent for one month. The next month, the group will be disbanded.

## Founding

In order to found a Mercenary Group, please gather a group of people in a text channel of your choice. The text channel will be assumed to be your faction's home channel. Additionally, please make sure you have at least 4 players, including the founding player.

Afterwards ping @Political including the name of the group, participating players. After receiving a response, head over to #downtime-day-tracking and make the group's first payment depending on the levels of the players involved.

Once this is done, your group has been founded.

*Be sure to make payments in a timely manner, and to maintain at least 4 players or the group will be disbanded.*