ILLEGAL FACTION MANAGEMENT TEAM

GETTING STARTED 

Introduction

Roleplay Project is a heavy text based RP server, but we believe that great RP should not be buried under paperwork. As we currently stand, we are keeping things straightforward at this stage when it comes to Illegal Faction Threads. If you have a solid concept and you have the drive to run with it, we want to see it in the server. This thread, is going to cover everything you need to know about opening an illegal faction in Roleplay Project.

Opening a Faction Thread

You are free to post your illegal faction thread on the forums without submitting a formal application first. There is no process standing between you & getting started! However, your thread will be reviewed by IFM and may be pulled or flagged if any of the following apply:

• The concept appears to be too generic, unrealistic, or put in simple terms: it does not make sense within the server's setting
• If the thread shows CLEAR signs of AI generated writing and/or content
• The thread is EXCESSIVELY lazy or simply lacks any meaningful substance
• The faction leader has not joined the official IFM Discord

IFM in most cases will reach you out directly. It won't always mean that it is the end of your concept, sometimes it is just a simple conversation on the things we feel like you can improve.

What Makes a Good Thread These Days

There are 0 aesthetic standards here. No requirements on any particular graphic design, any photo editing, or any thread formatting, or presentation style. If your thread is a plain block of text with no images, that is completely fine. A visually elaborate thread however, with edited screenshots & custom formatting is EQUALLY welcome. How you present your faction is entirely your call as a faction leader. With that being said, if you do put effort into the look & feel of your thread, it will not go unnoticed. It is pretty much going to reflect the pride in what you're building and that always reads well to us as IFM. 

Please note: Do not mistake a pretty thread for a substitute for actual IG development.

To oversimplify, IFM is asking that you can clearly communicate:

• What your faction is: who are these people, where do they come from & what do they do
• Why it makes sense: does it fit in the city, the time, the setting
• Where you want to take it: even a rough idea of your direction simply shows us that you've thought about it 

Faction Leaders

Faction leaders carry the responsibility for everything their faction does, in RP & in terms of rule compliance. IFM will always hold leadership accountable first.

As a faction leader, you must:

• Be a member of the IFM Discord
• Be reachable by IFM when needed
• Ensure your members understand & follow server rules

Beyond the basics stated above, IFM has expectations of faction leaders that go BEYOND rule compliance. You are, whether you like it or not, a face of this community. The way you conduct yourself toward your members, toward rival faction, toward staff, reflects RPP as a whole. We expect maturity, composure and a degree of professionalism in how you handle yourself, your members and your faction.

Not every disagreement needs to become a forum report. A good faction leader handles FRICTION at their level first. Talk to the other leader, work it out and find a resolution. The report system & IFM exist for when things genuinely cannot be resolved, not as a first resort for every MINOR dispute. If you find yourself running to IFM every time something does not go your way, that indicates us something about your readiness to lead.

At the end of the day, this is a video game and we want everyone, your members included, to be having fun. The best faction leaders DEFINITELY create an environment where their people enjoy logging in. Keep perspective, don't let pixels ruin your mood & remember that the point of all this is a good story & a good time. Lead well.

IFM's Role

IFM is not here to micromanage your storyline. IFM is here to make sure the standard of RP stays high and the rules are being followed. As long as your faction is producing genuine, quality RP, you won't hear much from us.

A note on official status

Pursuing official faction status is a separate process and is not required to run a faction. IF and WHEN you feel your faction is ready, that pathway will be available to you.

Subject to Change

RPP is a new server and these guidelines will evolve with it. IFM reserves the right to update, tighten and/or loosen these requirements in the future. Any changes will be communicated clearly & in advance where possible.

For questions, reach out to IFM directly through the Discord ticket system.

0. Preface & Philosophy

RPP's prerogative towards the management of factions and the wider illegal community is founded on realism, when sensibly plausible, backed by realistic and sensible IC results. If you step outside the boundaries of what's widely recognized as realistic, expect more severe IC consequences. If this is done in a manner that's largely derogatory to the wider ongoing narrative without IFM's approval, you may also be subject to OOC consequences.

These directives aren't about winning. They exist so that conflict, growth, and loss get portrayed in a way the community can believe in. A faction that bends a rule to dodge a loss it has earned in the story has missed the point.

A few principles sit above the specific rules. Where something isn't covered, work from these:

1. Realism first. If a real organisation of your type, size, and reputation wouldn't do it, neither should you. Being able to do something doesn't mean you're allowed to.
2. Earn it, don't declare it. Power, fear, territory, and lethality are built through portrayal over time, not switched on by a request.
3. Communication is part of the job. Logging, keeping IFM informed, and squaring narratives with rival leaders are leadership responsibilities, not favours.

1. Definitions

To keep rulings consistent, these terms carry fixed meanings throughout this document.

• IFM: Illegal Faction Management. The team that oversees illegal factions, approves wars and escalations, and makes case-by-case rulings.
• RPP: the server and its community.
• Faction: an approved, scripted illegal group with recognised leadership, a roster, and a concept.
• Concept: the agreed identity and remit of a faction (street crew, established family subordinate, MC charter, and so on). Acting "outside concept norms" means behaving inconsistently with it.
• Roster: the full membership of a faction. The War Roster is the part of it cleared by IFM for a given conflict.
• Activity Rating: a measure of logged playtime. 0.8 is roughly 40 hours of logged play.
• PK (Player Kill): the character survives but loses memory of the events leading to their death and can't pursue, retaliate over, or act on that incident (New Life Rule).
• CK (Character Kill): the character is permanently retired or dead. CK rights have to be earned and approved (see §5).
• NLR (New Life Rule): the post-PK restriction described in §5.
• Turf: territory a faction holds and portrays control over.
• Umbrella Faction: a single overarching organisation operating through multiple sub-scripts under one designated leadership.
• Allied Factions: independent factions cooperating in a conflict while keeping separate leadership, rosters, and cooldowns.
• UCP: User Control Panel.
• DM / RDM: Deathmatch / Random Deathmatch, meaning violence without enough IC reasoning.
• Powergaming: forcing outcomes, denying others a fair reaction, or portraying unrealistic capability.
• Metagaming: using OOC information IC.

(IFM should confirm any of these that already carry a server-specific meaning and adjust to match existing rules.)

2. Rules of Engagement

2.1 Establishing Lethal Standard

A faction may only engage in lethal interactions when there's a generalized standard of lethal risk established, following organic and natural developments. A faction may request permission to develop lethal or potentially lethal interactions when the ideology behind future and historical interactions centers on growth, whether that's wealth or power. It doesn't have to be strictly about retaliation or protection; but when it isn't, and there's a clear prerogative to get something out of nothing, while it doesn't have to be requested, doing so is often prudent in the individual scenario.

2.2 The Escalation Ladder

There are many attack types: verbal, social, shootings, brawls, stabbings, arsons, kidnappings, torture. They aren't all the same scale of attack. Conflict is expected to climb a ladder, not skip rungs; a relationship rarely goes from cold to lethal without friction in between. As a rough ordering of severity:

1. Verbal / Social: threats, disrespect, reputation attacks, undermining business.
2. Property / Economic: theft, vandalism, disruption of operations, robbery of product.
3. Non-lethal Physical: brawls, beatdowns, warning assaults.
4. Bladed / Targeted Violence: stabbings, maimings, kidnappings.
5. Lethal: shootings, arsons against occupied premises, bombings, killings.

If any party feels that requesting IFM's opinion on interactions and developments on a case-by-case basis is prudent, IFM will and may make corrections where necessary to uphold the wider narrative. Skipping rungs without a proportionate trigger is the most common cause of IC correction.

2.3 Proportionality

A response should make sense next to what provoked it. A war of words doesn't justify a massacre, and a massacre isn't answered with a stern message. Disproportion is only fine where it's in concept (a notoriously volatile crew, for example) and where the faction is prepared to wear the consequences of that escalation.

3. Faction Conflicts

3.1 When a Conflict Begins

A faction conflict officially begins when any one faction or individual in a faction curates hostile action towards another faction, or individual within a faction. All interactions should always be logged promptly within the respective channels of each faction's Discord. Players and Faction Leaders are expected to communicate effectively for logging purposes, with the responsibility resting with each respective Faction Leader involved. A "war" does not require lethal interactions to begin; conflicts that resemble long-term "feuds" are applicable.

3.2 Notifying IFM

IFM must be notified of any conflict that has reached the standard of war. Upon reaching this standard, the respective Faction Leaders will be brought into further communication with each other and IFM to set terms and discuss previous history. IFM wills to understand your conflict just as well as you do.

A conflict has reached war standard when any of the following is true:

• Lethal interactions have occurred or are imminent on either side.
• A feud has escalated to sustained, repeated hostile action between organised groups.
• Either leader believes the conflict can no longer be resolved IC without structured terms.

3.3 War Terms

Legend: Locked terms are set by IFM and are non-negotiable. Mutable terms may be changed by the mutual agreement of faction leaders, subject to IFM oversight.

3.3.1 Participation: Activity (LOCKED)
Participating characters must hold a minimum Activity Rating of 0.8, which is roughly forty (40) hours of logged playtime, before taking part in any IFM-approved faction war. This threshold may flex slightly at IFM's discretion depending on circumstances. Substantially low activity will never be accepted as a basis for war participation, regardless of reasoning. IFM recognizes that activity requirements are harder to meet while RPP is relatively young. If faction members hold alternate characters, their main must be used for the duration of the war.

3.3.2 Participation: Age (LOCKED)
At least one faction involved must be at least fourteen (14) days old. If any faction is under that age, it can only defend until the opportunity to retaliate surfaces. Likewise, all characters involved must be at least fourteen (14) days old, and must have been part of the relevant faction script for fourteen (14) days. Characters under the restriction may not participate in attacks, retaliating or not. A faction under the age restriction may only use the original roster it requested faction approval with. Wars can wage on for longer periods; if characters age past their constraints during a war, the active War Roster must be updated privately to IFM.

3.3.3 Cooldowns (LOCKED base values; multipliers LOCKED)
Following an attack, both the faction and the individual characters who concluded it enter cooldown. IFM recognizes that multiple orchestrated attacks could realistically occur within tight time frames, for instance a shootout, then in the aftermath a known lab of the opposing faction is broken into and set alight. All such orchestrated multi-stage attacks must be approved by IFM prior to execution.

• Shootout: 8 hour faction cooldown, 20 hour character cooldown (per concluding character).
• Arson: 3 hour faction cooldown, 5 hour character cooldown (per concluding character).
• Car bombing, ram raid, or anything more creative: reviewed case by case by IFM, with cooldowns set from there.

Multi-attack multipliers, applied to the faction total and to any character who concluded multiple attacks within one scheduled attack:

• Two (2) attacks: adds 25% to the faction cooldown and to any character who concluded both.
• Three (3) or more attacks: adds 50%.

3.3.4 PK Handling in Conflict (LOCKED)
PK'ed characters are removed from their faction's conflict roster. If characters are PK'ed by police following a conflict, they are likewise PK'ed from the conflict. They may not attack or be part of executing an attack. PK'ed characters may only defend themselves, never under faction-wide defense. That means you can't sit at your turf anticipating a rival attack once you've been PK'ed. PKs may only be voided by administrators.

3.3.5 Ending a War (LOCKED)
A war or conflict ends when any of the following occurs:

• Over fifty percent (50%) of a faction's War Roster is player-killed out of the conflict;
• The acting leadership of either faction is player-killed out of the conflict;
• A faction forfeits;
• Both faction leaders agree to conclude;
• Forty-eight (48) hours pass without an attack from either side.

3.3.6 Allies & Umbrellas (LOCKED)
Allied factions' attacks count as their own individual attack; listed allies do not share cooldowns. Umbrella factions share cooldowns and losses and must be orchestrated by the umbrella's designated leadership; individual, non-orchestrated attacks invite heightened IC consequences. Where umbrella factions go to war, IFM will consolidate with leaders to reach mutual terms. Mercenaries may be used where there is sensible reasoning.

3.3.7 No Mechanical Limits (LOCKED)
There are absolutely no limits on weaponry used in attack or defense, nor on the number of characters attacking or defending. As a general rule, factions acting outside their concept norms will receive harsher IC punishment.

3.4 Portrayal of Losses

Faction leaders are expected to discuss how losses will be correctly portrayed after war; where necessary, IFM will offer guidance and correction. Leaders are expected to do everything within their capability to keep narratives true and correct; effective communication is a responsibility. Any forum-type reports should be discussed beforehand by leaders; if a matter reaches the RPP forums, IFM should be notified; if an in-game report receives an outcome, IFM should be notified.

4. Hard Limits & Conduct

These Rules of Engagement do not exhaustively list every hard limit; as a rule of thumb, if it's realistic and consistent with your faction's portrayal, it's allowed. The following clarify the recurring grey areas.

4.1 Kidnapping & Hostages

• Kidnapping requires IC reasoning and must be portrayed with risk to the kidnappers (witnesses, location, response).
• A hostage must always be given a realistic chance of survival, escape, or rescue; you may not script a no-win scenario.
• Holding a hostage indefinitely to deny another player access to the server is not permitted. Use sensible time limits and resolve scenes.
• Mass or simultaneous kidnapping of multiple key members to cripple a rivalry must be cleared with IFM.

4.2 Torture

• Torture is allowed within concept, but treat it as serious, close to lethal escalation on the ladder.
• Torture may not be used to compel genuinely character-ending consequences (forced CK, permanent disfigurement) without the victim's OOC consent or an approved CK ruling (§5).
• Excessively gratuitous or fetishised torture has no place on the server regardless of concept.

4.3 Robbery & Extortion

• Robbery requires fair, realistic setup and an opening for the victim to respond. Demands must be reasonable to the scene.
• Extortion ("taxing," protection) is encouraged as narrative but must be portrayed as an ongoing relationship, not a one-line shakedown.
• You may not rob a player of something the scene cannot realistically reach (off-character assets, scripted holdings not present).

4.4 Body Looting

• Looting a body is permitted where realistic and consistent with portrayal. You may take what the character could plausibly be carrying and what time and risk allow.
• You may not loot under fire as if at leisure, nor strip assets a character would not have on their person.

4.5 Powergaming, Metagaming & Fail RP

• Powergaming: forcing outcomes, narrating a rival's reactions for them, or portraying capability your character or faction hasn't earned. Prohibited.
• Metagaming: acting IC on OOC knowledge (Discord chatter, streams, OOC tells). Prohibited.
• Fail RP / NRP: behaving in a way no real person in the situation would, including treating death lightly, ignoring injury, or gaming a scene for a mechanical advantage that breaks the fiction.

4.6 Initiation
Lethal or violent action against another player usually needs sensible initiation, meaning a fear-RP opportunity for the target to comply or react. The exception is where the concept and scene make a clean, sudden hit realistic, like a planned assassination or an ambush. When in doubt, initiate.

5. Player Kills & Character Kills

5.1 Player Kill (PK)
A PK is the default outcome of fatal violence. The character survives but is bound by the New Life Rule:

• No memory of the events directly leading to the death.
• No pursuit of, retaliation over, or acting upon that specific incident.
• No returning to the location of death to re-engage.
• In a war context, the PK'ed character is governed by §3.3.4.

5.2 Character Kill (CK)
A CK permanently retires a character. Because it is irreversible, it carries the highest bar.

• CK rights are earned, not assumed. They come from mutual OOC agreement, from a CK clause set in war terms, or from an IFM ruling where a narrative has clearly built to a character's permanent end.
• Where war terms include CK rights, IFM and both leaders must define who is CK-eligible and under what conditions before the first qualifying attack.
• A CK should be the end of a story, not a way to remove an inconvenient player. CKs that read as spite invite OOC review.
• CKs may only be voided by administrators.

5.3 CK Agreements & Applications

• Targeted CKs outside an active, IFM-approved war require a CK application or agreement logged with IFM in advance.
• The CK'd player should, wherever possible, be given a meaningful final scene.
• Consent obtained under OOC pressure is not consent.

6. Law Enforcement, Corruption & Informants

6.1 Realistic LEO Interaction
Factions are expected to weigh police response into every escalation. A faction that attacks in broad daylight in a high-traffic zone should expect realistic heat, and portraying otherwise is fail RP.

6.2 Corruption

• Corrupt-officer relationships must be earned IC and portrayed as risky and limited. A faction does not "own" the department.
• Corruption may not be used to grant blanket immunity, mass-void charges, or feed a faction OOC information.

6.3 Informants & Snitching

• Informant relationships are valid narrative and should carry realistic risk to the informant.
• Using an alt, or OOC knowledge, to feed information across the legal and illegal divide is metagaming.

7. Logging, Evidence & Reporting

7.1 What Must Be Logged
Each faction logs, promptly and in its own Discord:

• Every hostile interaction it initiates or receives (who, when, where, what type).
• Attack approvals and their IFM clearances.
• Cooldown start and end times for the faction and concluding characters.
• War Roster and any approved updates.

7.2 Evidence Standard

• Significant interactions should be supported by screenshots and clips where reasonably possible.
• Evidence is the responsibility of the party relying on it. "It happened off-clip" is a weak position in a dispute.

7.3 Reporting Process

1. Leaders attempt to resolve the matter between themselves first.
2. If unresolved, escalate to IFM before any forum report.
3. If the matter reaches the RPP forums, notify IFM.
4. If an in-game report receives an outcome touching a faction conflict, notify IFM.

8. Faction Lifecycle

8.1 Faction Request
New factions are requested with the following. Four-member limit at request. Large faction types, like established MCs or established crime families, aren't approved without the member base to support the standing. Portray a subordinate of the larger concept instead.

A complete request includes:

• Concept & backstory.
• Roster: for each member, their UCP and forum link, Discord username, and character name.
• Asset transfers: state whether any members are transferring assets from other servers, and list all of them.
• Experience: past faction-leading experience.
• Development plan: a three to six month plan stating what leadership sees as necessary to be considered "official."
• Header: faction header or identifier.

8.2 Probation & Official Status

• New factions begin on an informal probation while they establish concept, activity, and presence.
• "Official" status is reached when the faction has clearly met its own development plan and IFM recognises a stable, active, in-concept group. Official status unlocks fuller access to escalation and war rights.

8.3 Activity & Dormancy

• Factions are expected to maintain visible, in-concept activity.
• Prolonged inactivity may place a faction into dormancy, suspending its conflict rights until activity resumes. Sustained dormancy may lead to disbandment.

8.4 Strikes & Disbandment

• IFM may issue strikes for breaches (out-of-concept conduct, dodging earned losses, poor logging, narrative-derogatory behaviour).
• Accumulated strikes, or a single severe breach, may lead to forced disbandment.
• Disbandment consequences are portrayed IC where possible.

8.5 Mergers, Splits & Leadership Changes

• Mergers, splits, name changes, and changes of acting leadership must be communicated to IFM.
• A merger does not reset age or cooldown obligations to dodge restrictions; IFM will set the resulting standing.

8.6 Roster Changes During Conflict

• Mid-war roster additions are permitted only as allowed under §3.3.2 and must be filed privately to IFM.

9. Economy & Contraband

• Illegal enterprise (labs, supply, arms, distribution) should be portrayed realistically in scale and risk relative to faction size and age.
• Claiming control of a market or product line is earned through portrayal, not declared.
• Where contraband or territory becomes the object of a conflict, it falls under the same ladder, cooldown, and notification rules as any other hostile action.

10. Closing Note

These directives will change over time, and that's expected. Where a written rule and a ruling differ, that gap is how the team learns the difference between the letter of a rule and the spirit of it. When the rules are silent, work from the principles in §0, log your reasoning, and bring IFM in early rather than late.