A Chapter of The Sundered Guard is a branch of the guild within a certain game. It is not an independent guild, though it has its own leadership and membership body. As TSG is a family, a Chapter is merely the extension of the family, providing the members with a way to play a game together.

Why are there Chapters? Forming a Chapter Initial Leadership of a Chapter Goals of a Chapter Chapter Individuality Membership of a Chapter Ranks in a Chapter Leadership of a Chapter Dissolution of a Chapter

Why are there Chapters?

The Sundered Guard was formed as a guild intent on playing the MMORPG, Shadowbane. As it was formed in the pre-beta and beta stages of the game, the foundation of the guild lies in the deep and meaningful connections that were established between members through our forums, united by the hope of playing a new game together. When Shadowbane was released, many in the guild found it to be different than they had hoped, and many good members left Shadowbane, and thus left the Guard.

As the Guard is a community and a family above all, this was a blow that we never wanted to feel again.

The newer incarnation of The Sundered Guard is one of simply a Massively-Multiplayer Online Gaming Community, with a focus on the roleplaying aspect of a Ranger's Brotherhood, signified by the phrase, "Nature's Sword, the People's Shield".

As the list of MMOGs available to play grows greatly, the chances that everyone in the guild will want to play the same game will drop. Rather than having family members with years of history together depart simply because of differences in gaming choices, they will be able to generate interest enough to start a Chapter for their choice of game, allowing them to still adventure with their family members. Most importantly, they'll always be a part of The Sundered Guard Proper - the community itself, separate from any game.

Forming a Chapter

As a Chapter is the incarnation of The Sundered Guard within a game, it has to be more than a couple of members playing together. As such, there is a process to creating a Chapter.

When a full member (a Pathfinder) of The Sundered Guard Proper becomes interested in an MMOG, and wishes to generate interest for that game, they will make a request to the Elders that an 'Interest Forum' be created.

A single message board will then be created in the Glades under the category, "Other Worlds". The person that made the request will be made the official 'Advocate' for that game (more than one Advocate is possible). They will be made the moderator for the game's interest forum, and it will be their responsibility to generate enough interest for the game within the Guard.

A Chapter is created when five TSG-Proper Pathfinders step forward and declare to the Elders that they will be the Stewards of the Chapter. This signifies that those five members have become dedicated to the game the Chapter is intended for, and will work to make the Chapter operate. It is not sufficient for the five members to be merely interested, and say they "may or not play". Dedication on the part of the Stewards is necessary. In this case, dedication can be considered to be "the near exclusive interest in one particular game and the desire to pursue that game with more energy than any other in the forseeable future." If a problem arrises in the interpretation of "dedication", the Elder Council will make a judgement.

At this time, the Chapter will become officially created: a new category will be opened on the forums, a section will be opened on the website, and documents explaining the new Chapter's goals will be written up.

Initial Leadership of a Chapter

As written above, when the Chapter is created, it is initially under the responsibility of the five Stewards. However, the leadership and administration of the Chapter is not necessarily the responsibility of the Stewards. In all Chapters, an Inner Council will be the supreme leadership.

Whether the Inner Council for the Chapter is to be elected, appointed, or drawn from a hat, is decided by the full members of TSG-Proper that wish to participate in that Chapter. The structure and nomenclature of the IC, (such as how many members will be in the council, and what the council members' titles should be, etc.), is also decided by the Chapter's participants. The original TSG template for Inner Council structure and ranks is recommended for Chapters to use, and can be found here, but not required.

Once the Inner Council is fully established, the Stewardship is dissolved.

Goals of a Chapter

As a Chapter is a pillar of The Sundered Guard, a primary goal of Chapters at all times is to maintain itself in the image of the Guard. A Chapter that ignores the Guard's focus on community, family, code and fun, is considered rogue and will be dealt with accordingly. For most people that play a game, the Chapter will be the only interaction they have with the Guard, and so it is the responsibility of that Chapter to ensure that their image is in-line with that of TSG Proper.

That being said, the specific in-game goals of a Chapter are left up to that Chapter's council and membership to decide.

Chapter Individuality

While The Sundered Guard is a Ranger's Brotherhood, that term may mean nothing in a game where there are no such things as Rangers, or in a game where the idea of what makes up a Ranger is greatly skewed. To us, "Ranger's Brotherhood" means more than a group of nature lovers. It means a family of those who believe in the role of a protector. What we protect can change from game to game. Though no matter what role a Chapter takes, "Nature's Sword, the People's Shield" should always embody the mentality of the guild. A Chapter can decide its own culture to follow, with some restrictions. For example, a Chapter choosing to play the role of a contingent of Space Marines is fine, while it is prohibited for a Chapter to undertake the role of an undead cult, or any naturally destructive entity. The Sundered Guard is a "good" guild, and this cannot change.

Membership of a Chapter

A Chapter's rules on membership are left up to the Inner Council of the Chapter to decide. Such rules may include:
Whether or not certain classes or races should be denied membership;
Whether or not petitioners should be required to post on the forums before allowed membership;
How long a person should wait before becoming a full member;
How restrictive membership is in terms of maturity;
Whether or not the Chapter will recruit openly.

While such choices are left up to the Chapter's Inner Council to decide, it is recommended that the choices made will be similar to that of TSG Proper. While a Chapter can mass recruit, if it wants to, and allow anyone and everyone to join and instantly be granted full membership, such an action will likely draw a great many people that break the rules that The Sundered Guard employs, regardless of Chapter. If such a thing were to occur, the Elder Council of the Guard would get involved in the Chapter's doings, and measures would have to be taken to ensure such a thing would not occur again.

Furthermore, if a group of immature members of a Chapter were to deface the forums in any way (outrageous cursing, insults, spam, etc.), those members, and the Chapter leadership, would be reprimanded and punitive action may result.

The Sundered Guard is a mature, respectful community. If a Chapter chooses to grant membership to people that do not fit this description, it had best make certain that those members do not negatively impact the reputation of the guild at-large.

Ranks in a Chapter

The Sundered Guard Proper employs the use of a ranking nomenclature originally found in Shadowbane. For all of the Guard, a "Yeoman" is a person who has petitioned to join the Guard, and is awaiting full membership. "Pathfinder" is the title of a full member. "Seeker" is the title of either an exemplary member, or the third-tier of leadership, being second to "Protector". "Protector" is the title of a principle leader, being the second-tier. "Lord/Lady Protector", or "Guardian", is the title of the first-tier of leadership.

The choice for what names a Chapter uses for ranks, and how many ranks exist, is up to the Chapter's Inner Council, with some limitations.

While a Chapter may choose its own rank nomenclature, the forums will not reflect this. No matter what rank titles a Chapter chooses to employ ingame, for in-chapter use, the standard TSG ranks will be used whenever the Chapter members interact with the rest of the guild, including on the forums. The reason for this is simplicity. The forums cannot realistically handle over a hundred different rank titles, nor can the guild's members keep track of what each title means. So while, for example, the Shadowbane Chapter may name its petitioners "bunnies", those people will still be known as "Yeomen" on the forums and to the rest of the guild.

Leadership of a Chapter

The leadership of a Chapter is the responsibility of the Chapter's Inner Council and the Chapter Leader. When the Chapter is first established, it is up to the full TSG-Proper members that wish to participate in the Chapter to decide how leadership is to be structured. Such decisions may include how many members should be on the Inner Council; whether all members of the Inner Council should have the same voting power; and whether the general membership of the Chapter should have voting power.

Regardless of what decisions are made, some rules will apply. The most important rule is this: All members of a Chapter's leadership MUST be full TSG Pathfinders - full members of The Sundered Guard Proper. As a Chapter is merely the extension of The Guard, it must be led by full members of the Guard, who know and participate in the full community.

Exceptions to this rule are possible. Such exceptions will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis requiring the issue to be brought up in the Hollow, and discussed by the general membership. Ultimate judgement on the matter is decided either by the Elder Council or a two-thirds majority vote by TSG Proper Pathfinders.

Failure to follow this rule will result in the involvement of the Elder Council. If this rule is repeatedly broken, the Chapter may be disbanded. If it happens that the Chapter becomes led by a majority of non-TSG Pathfinders, or there exists no significant presence of TSG Pathfinders in the Chapter, it may be disbanded.

The position of "Seeker", or its equivalent in any Chapter is immensely important in the relation between the Chapter and TSG Proper. This rank must exist in all Chapters (though the name can be changed), and in all cases, this rank should only belong to exemplary members with leadership strength in the Chapter. Only full TSG Pathfinders may hold this rank.

A Seeker's primary duty is to act as the Chapter's gatekeeper to full membership of The Sundered Guard Proper. If a member of a Chapter is interested in becoming a full member of The Sundered Guard, they must approach a Seeker in their Chapter, who will petition to the Elders on his or her behalf. The Seeker acts as the person's Guide to membership into TSG Proper, explaining what it means to be a TSG Pathfinder, if the person doesn't already know.

Dissolution of a Chapter

The Elder Council has the power to dissolve a Chapter, as does the full membership of The Sundered Guard Proper, through a vote. If a Chapter is forcefully dissolved, its forum section will be locked or erased, its website section will be closed, and the guild will officially deny the existence of the Chapter. If the former chapter members wish to continue to use the name The Sundered Guard as their guild's name, they will do so with the understanding that they are using the name, originally established by Voronwe Eldalom (Christopher Samardge) in 1999, without permission. The name is trademarked (though not registered), and the artwork and literature is copyrighted through legitimate use.

A Chapter can be dissolved for the following reasons:
There are no TSG Proper members participating in the Chapter (making the Chapter a separate guild on its own).
Non-full members of TSG Proper hold the leadership of the Chapter, and such leaders refuse to give up leadership.
The Chapter declares that it is breaking off from The Sundered Guard.
The Chapter becomes overrun with a malignant and immature membership, and the reputation of The Sundered Guard is being severely tarnished by the Chapter's existence.
The Chapter takes up an "evil" role, such as an undead cult, and refuses to change.
The Chapter disbands itself ingame.