Affiliations, role-playing, and politics in BSE

Note:  This sheet applies to all affiliations. 

Role-Playing in BSE

Choosing an affiliation to join is probably the most important thing 
you do when you join BSE.  It will govern your role-playing for as 
long as you are a member.  New players are entitled to enter any Imperial 
Service or Imperial Chartered Company.  Other affiliations, such as 
alien races or governments, are only for experienced BSE players.

Each affiliation has an Official Profile whch describes it in detail. 
Before joining an affiliation you should carefully read its profile 
to determine if that affiliation suits your playing style and your 
own goals in the game. 

It is possible to compare affiliation profiles to "alignment" as used 
in face-to-face role-playing games.  In such games it is common to 
classify characters as good or evil.  The actions of that character 
must be consistant with their alignment.  If not, the GM will cancel 
a player's action before it is processed.  Affiliation profiles work 
like this in BSE, although in a more complex manner. If a player attempts 
an action contrary to his affiliation profile the GM may rule against 
it and not allow that action to be done.

There is a mechanism for the players to change a profile. This is 
called a Referendum.  Obviously there are many things in a profile 
that cannot be changed, such as history.  However, other things (i.e. 
laws, policies, goals) will need to be updated from time to time.

To start a Referendum, a player submits a proposal to the GM.  If 
the GM rules that it is an appropriate Referendum he will see that 
a copy goes out to all players in the affiliation for a vote.  If 
two-thirds of voting players vote for it, the Referendum passes.  Each 
player, not position, receives one vote in a Referendum. 

If you find that you wish to leave your affiliation and join another, 
you may do so.  However before this is done several things must be 
considered.  First, anything in your control that  has a debt to your 
affiliation may not be taken with you unless other arrangements are 
made with your affiliation's leaders. Second, it must be in the interests 
of the new affiliation for you to join (i.e. you are not posted by 
other affiliations, etc). Third, it must not be against any existing 
affiliation profile or Official Treaty for you to join.  And Fourth, 
it must make sense.  For example, it would make no sense for an SMS 
player to join an alien race and take along any possessions.  Humans 
can't magically change into aliens just because a player wants to 
change affiliations.

Commonly, to change affiliations you need permission from the affiliation 
you are leaving and the affiliation you are joining.   If you don't 
care about bringing along your existing assets and you want to join 
a human affiliation, the procedure is easier. Just drop your current 
positions and rejoin the game from scratch into the affiliation of 
your choice.  You can likewise join an alien race by fulfilling any 
membership requirements listed in the affiliation profile and arranging 
for that race to transfer some positions into your control. Keep in 
mind you may only belong to one affiliation at a time.

Politics in BSE

Historically the BSE game system has had the GM act as Periphery Direcor 
for many affiliations.  This was necessary to ensure that the affiliations 
operated within certain guidelines and to prevent player actions which 
would not be consistant with these guidelines.  There were many problems 
with this, especially when the GM was required to participate in the 
game. GM actions were open to mis-interpretation by players.

Over the years the GM has passed on many of these responsibilities 
to players.  This has culminated in the development of Official Profiles 
for each affiliation.  Players have the role-playing guidelines for 
their own affiliations and can act accordingly. Players can now run 
their own affiliations as they see fit, provided the profile guidelines 
are followed. It is every player's responsibility to follow their 
profile, not to find ways to circumvent it. Players who repeatedly 
perform actions against their profile may be removed from the game 
at the discretion of the GM. Ultimately it is the responsibility of 
an affiliation's leader (usually a Periphery Director) to see that 
all his members are aware of their profile guidelines and any Official 
Treaties.  The GM will provide copies of the profile to new players 
entering an affiliation, if he hasn't already received a copy with 
his rulebook.

Although the GM will not be involved in player politics any longer, 
someone has to monitor the game to ensure that players are taking 
no action that would contradict their affiliation's profiles or Official 
Treaties.

So, when will the GM become involved?  The answer is, only in a very 
few instances as described below:

1. While Moderating Turns

In the event the player does something on a turn that goes against 
that player's affiliation profile or an Official Treaty, the GM may 
choose to leave that action unprocessed and explain why.  Keep in 
mind that the GM is not infallible. Actions may occur that the GM 
just doesn't catch in time.  If this happens, any affected players 
can take advantage of option #3, GM Arbitration.

For example, let's say that two governments have a treaty which says 
they cannot set-up outposts in each other's territory.  A player in 
one government then builds an outpost in the other government's area. 
Since the GM cannot always be aware of every fine point of every profile 
and treaty, the action goes through. When the other government reports 
this to the GM it becomes eligible for GM Arbitration if the two governments 
can't work out a settlement on their own. 

2.  Postings 

After diplomacy fails, postings are the first step in taking active 
military action against an offending party.  Some form of posting 
should always preceed a Declaration of War.  An affiliation should 
only proceed to Declare War on another affiliation when the limitations 
of posting prevent adequate resolution of a problem. Postings are 
usually limited to individual positions but sometimes posting of an 
entire affiliation is allowed if the posting is restricted to a limited 
area (for example, within the home area of a government).

The GM will rule on posting requests by the Periphery Director of 
an affiliation.  Only appropriate posting requests will be added to 
a Posted List.

Only the leader (Periphery Director) of an affiliation may submit 
requests for posting.  He must include the reasons for the posting 
so the GM may verify it is valid.  A posting may be canceled at any 
time by the affiliation leader. It may sometimes be canceled by the 
GM in the event conditions change so that the original reasons become 
invalid.

3. GM Arbitration

GM Arbitration is a process through which one player seeks justice 
from the GM because another player performed an action contrary to 
a specific binding condition.  In playing BSE, players are bound to 
abide by the game rules, affiliation profiles, and Official Treaties.
If another player welches on a deal and the deal is not covered in the 
rules, profiles, or an Official Treaty, it cannot be arbitrated by 
the GM.  For example, let's say the AFT has a clause in their profile 
saying that any AFT member may not go back on a deal once it is agreed 
to.  If an AFT member fails to deliver on a deal, the matter may be 
arbitrated through the GM. However, if the AFT profile doesn't address 
this, the matter must be worked out between players. An alternative 
to GM Arbitration is posting the offending position if you can prove 
it did not live up to its bargain.

In the event a player believes he has been wronged by another player 
he should first seek justice by contacting the other players involved.
Everyone should negotiate an acceptable conclusion to the problem, if at
all possible.  The GM should not be involved at this step.  When determining 
if an injustice has been done, the players should first look at the 
Affiliation Profiles.  If the subject is not addressed therein, they 
should next look to any Official Treaties in force at the time for 
a resolution.  Finally, if no treaty holds the answer, common sense 
should be used.

When all this fails, and the players cannot come to terms, the final 
answer is GM Arbitration of the issue.  GM Arbitration is NOT requesting 
a unilateral decision from the GM.  It is a formal mechanism that 
includes all the players involved.  An arbitration can only be submitted 
after an offense has been committed against your affiliation.  The 
GM will disallow any submission which attempts to gain a pre-emptive 
decision from the GM prior to an action. The following steps MUST 
be followed exactly as outlined below. Any deviation will cause the 
arbitration to be canceled.

A. The player seeking a GM ruling must complete the 
official GM Arbitration form.  No other forms are permitted.  The 
entire case must be explained in the briefest possible way and must 
fit on this form.  Supporting documents, statements from other players 
may accompany this form. Players should remember that this is a game!  The 
arbitration is a method of resolving differences between players.  As 
such, the GM expects to receive a clear, concise explanation of a 
problem, not a legal brief.  

When the arbitration has been written-up, copies of the arbitration
form and all supporting documents must be submitted to the GM and to
all the players involved.  All the evidence and statements submitted
in an arbitration must be truthful to the best of the player's knowledge.
A statement must also be included on the form stating exactly who was
sent copies.  Upon receiving the form, the GM will rule whether it is a
valid GM Arbitration.  If not, it will be returned to the player who
sent it, along with an explanation.

C. The players involved in the arbitration will have 
exactly 30 days (starting the day the GM receives the form in the 
mail) to reply to the arbitration.  Their reply must be on a GM Arbitration 
form and may also be accompanied by supporting documentation.  Copies 
of this rebuttal must be sent to the GM and to all the other players 
involved.  A statement must be included on the form stating exactly 
who was sent copies.

D. At the conclusion of the 30 day waiting period 
the GM will rule on the arbitration.  If a rebuttal has not been received 
the GM will assume all the statements on the original arbitration 
are being uncontested by other players.

E. The GM's ruling will be in consideration of all 
the evidence submitted by all the players involved.  The GM will not 
knowingly allow an injustice to occur through GM Arbitration.  This 
means that if the GM is aware of additional facts surrounding this 
issue, he will consider them in his decision.  These facts may or 
may not be written into the final ruling, depending if they are of 
a sensitive nature or not.

F. Absolutely no information relating to any pending 
GM Arbitration will be given out over the Hotline. Attempts by players 
to obtain GM comments related to possible future cases of GM Arbitrations 
will be met with noncommital answers from the GM. Questions related 
to the mechanics of GM Arbitration will be answered.

G. The final ruling will be made based first on the 
Affiliation Profiles, secondly upon any existing treaties, and finally 
on common sense. It is possible for the GM to decide completely in 
favor of one side or the other.  It is also possible for the GM to 
dictate a compromise solution.  Either way, by joining BSE players 
agree that the GM's decision is binding. Arbitrations may not be appealed 
and the decision of one arbitration has no bearing on any other arbitration. 
The GM will send copies of the final ruling to all the players involved.

H. By strictly defining this procedure the GM hopes 
that players will rarely find the need to use GM Arbitration. Players 
should be able to anticipate the results of GM Arbitration and therefore 
find it possible to come to agreement before formal GM Arbitration 
is necessary.

4. Declarations of War

When all else has failed, one affiliation can declare war upon another.
This is a major event.  It is expected that all other options have been 
attempted and have failed before a Declaration of War is drawn up.

A Declaration of War must include sufficient reasoning for such a 
drastic action.  It can be backed-up by material included in Affiliation 
Profiles, Official Treaties, and previous turn results.

To obtain a Declaration of War, the leader of an affiliation must 
fill-in a Declaration of War form.  The entire explanation MUST fit 
on this form, although supporting documentation may accompany it. 

When the GM rules on a Declaration of War, many things must be considered.
Of primary importance is if all alternatives have been explored.  Of 
secondary importance are the goals of the war. Players should make 
every attempt to keep the goals of the war in line with the reasons 
for the war in the first place. We cannot stress this enough!

Once another afffiliation declares war on your affiliation, you have 
the right to post any or all their ships.   It is not necessary to 
declare war on them to counterattack them.

"Surprise" Declarations of War are not allowed.  They are not fair 
to the other side.  When a Declaration of War is approved by the GM, 
copies will be sent to both sides, and the war begins one week following 
the date it is mailed out by the GM.

A war may end in any of four ways:

1) The goals are attained by one side.

2) The other side concedes your goals to you, i.e. surrenders.

3) The side who submitted the Declaration of War, withdraws the Declaration.

4) The Declaration expires over time.  While there isn't necessarily 
a time limit on a Declaration of War, other circumstances may arise 
causing the Declaration to expire. 

When Battles Occur ...

Regardless of previous postings or Declarations of War, whenever a 
battle is triggered it must be as the result of some player's enemy 
list.  Prior to running a battle the GM will review  the circumstances 
to determine if it is appropriate or not. 

There are many cases when a battle may not be appropriate.  For example, 
let's say a war has been declared against the GTT.  The conditions 
of the war limit it to five specific systems.   All the ships in your 
affiliation place "ALL GTT" on their enemy lists.  However, a battle 
is triggered outside the five system area covered by the Declaration 
of War.   When the GM reviews the battle, prior to processing it, 
he'll determine the battle not to be appropriate in this case.

Governmental Affiliations

A Governmental Affiliation is an affiliation which is widely recognized 
as controlling a certain area of space.  All other affiliations operate 
within a governmental area at the discretion of the controlling government.
The controlling government sets all the laws and policies to be enforced
within their own area.  These laws may be used as justification for 
postings, Declarations of War, or GM arbitrations.  Basically, a controlling 
government sets the rules of conduct within the systems it controls.

While this may seem like a great benefit to any affiliation which 
happens to be a government, it is a two edged sword. Governments must 
operate fairly and treat every other affiliation equally under their 
law. If a government chooses to discriminate against another affiliation 
it must issue a policy to that effect.  Such a policy must have a 
basis either in their profile, an Official Treaty, or in the actions 
of the other affiliation which would prompt such a policy to be considered. 

Governmental Interrelationships 

A very important part of BSE is the relationship between governments. 
Intergovernmental relationships may be as informal as an agreement 
over the phone or as detailed as an Official Treaty.  Obviously there 
must be a mechanism in the game for enforcement of treaties between 
governments. This is covered under the rules pertaining to Official 
Treaties.

An Official Treaty is an agreement between governments regarding how 
they interact with each other.  Commonly it will address access to 
each other's home systems, trade, colonization rights, and more.

Since Official Treaties are used by the GM when ruling on such things 
as GM Arbitrations, Declarations of War, etc., they are very important. 
Therefore the creation of an Official Treaty must be done along specific 
guidelines.

First, two governments should get their heads together and come to 
terms over a treaty.  They should write up a copy, have both sides 
review it, and each side should send a copy to the GM for consideration.

Second, the GM will review the treaty to decide if it is consistant 
with the guidelines in each affiliation's profile.  The GM will also 
review it to ensure the terms are fair and that there are not any 
obvious loopholes which would go against the intent of the treaty.

Third, the GM will type-up a draft of the treaty and send a copy to 
the leaders of each affiliation involved for their comments.  Changes 
may continue to be made in the treaty until the same version is approved 
by the leader (usually Periphery Director) of each affiliation. and 
by a Referendum of all members. At that time, the treaty becomes an 
Official Treaty.

Official Treaties are in effect for no longer than 2 years at a time.  At 
the conclusion of a treaty's effective life it must be renewed by 
the leaders of the affiliations or it expires. 
