The Master at Arms oversees a wide range of activities in the Brotherhood -- awards, promotions, competitions, titles, transfers, name and email changes, as well as managing rosters and positions. The page details various policies connected to these activities. Some items detailing more in depth policies, such as promotion guidelines, can be found in the Master at Arms Policies category. Any questions concerning these items should be directed to the MAA, currently Howlader.
Awards & Promotions
- While unit leaders are given the authority to award medals and grant promotions, the Master at Arms maintains the authority to approve, remand, or deny requests according to Brotherhood-wide standards that are known to all members and leaders. Any questions regarding a request’s authenticity should be directed to the MAA prior to submitting.
- Do not presume Independent Unit institutions confer validity on recommendations. How an Independent Unit is run is determined by the Independent Unit leaders, not the Master At Arms. However, any authority specific leaders and bodies within an Independent Unit may have (other than official Brotherhood positions) does not carry to the awarding of medals or promotions.
- All recommendations for rewards are required to contain specific, concrete details for activities described. While recommendations should detail a member’s character and personality, factual data should be provided in a contextual manner. Straight lists of activities, however, will not be accepted.
- Summits are encouraged to keep activity trackers of their members, or request members to keep personal trackers, so that medals and promotions may be granted at appropriate times.
- Awards cannot double dip activity. All activity, once recognized by a medal or promotion, cannot be used toward future awards. This does not apply to promotions, which are the sum total of all activity since the member’s last promotion.
- For the purposes of time-in-rank requirements for a promotion, a demotion is the equivalent of a promotion.
- All medals and promotions should be directed up and down the chain of command appropriately so each leader knows what is being requested and can avoid instances of denial due to double dipping.
- The Master at Arms maintains authority over all promotions. If you think a member deserves a promotion but does not yet satisfy the stated promotion guidelines, contact the MAA and explain the discrepancy.
- All promotions have time-in-rank guidelines. At the Journeyman level, time-in-rank is a hard requirement that can only be bypassed under rare and exceptional circumstances. At the Equite level, time-in-rank may be bypassed if the MAA agrees the member has accumulated the appropriate activity.
- Medals and promotions, once granted, can only be revoked by the Chamber of Justice. This includes instances in which new medals may be created, resulting in the conversion of old medals.
Transfers
- Transfer requests are not a forum for argument or discussion. Problems with unit superiors should be addressed directly between the relevant members. Transfers that are a result of conflict should be brought to the attention of the Master at Arms prior to submitting, so the MAA may ensure the transfer is a last resort option.
- Transfers between Independent Units are given a 48-hour cool down period during which time the summit of each unit is contacted to confirm the transfer. Leaders are given the opportunity to contact the member to attempt to maintain their current state.
- The direct recruitment of members from one unit to another with promises of medals, promotions, or other entitlements is forbidden and may result in disciplinary action up to and including expulsion from the Dark Jedi Brotherhood.
- This does not include application periods for positions open to the entire Brotherhood.
- Rogue hopping, wherein a member transfers to Rogue status before transferring to a new Independent Unit, is forbidden and may result in disciplinary action when discovered.
- Members accepting leadership positions in units to which they do not currently belong should first request a transfer to the appropriate unit with confirmation of the appointment given as reason.
- Independent Unit Summits maintain the authority to decline transfers into their unit by members currently on probation with sufficient reason given to the Master at Arms and Justicar.
Competitions
- Members wishing to organize a competition for a unit they are not a member of, including Brotherhood-wide competitions, must get approval from their superiors.
- Regular Competition type is the standard as it allows the submission of documents and text through the website. If a competition requires alternate submission methods, Manual type should be used with appropriate reasoning in the request.
- All competitions are expected to be judged and closed within (30) days of the end date. Competitions still open after this time will result in a warning email to the organizers. Competitions that remain open after (45) days without appropriate explanation will be judged and closed by a member of the Master at Arms staff.
- Any competition with valid participation is expected to place crescents accordingly. Competitions closed without crescent placement will be re-opened and judged by a member of the Master at Arms staff.
- Crescents levels are tiered based on a breakdown explained in Awards with appropriate upgrades or downgrades.
- Flash and mobile games are subject to a one tier downgrade due to low effort required, as determined on a case-by-case basis.
- All competitions of the “Fiction/Run-on/Poetry” type automatically award Cluster of Ice based on word count. Competitions which do not award CIs but are still writing-based should be submitted as “Other” type.
- In the event of a tie during a non-group competition, the Master at Arms expects the next placement to be one less than the previous. This means that if two members place first, the next placement should be for third, not second.
Titles and Names
- Official dossier names are limited to four total words. Hyphenated words are counted as two words, and nicknames or shortened names are counted toward the total.
- Refer to Banned Names for a list of names not accepted for members.
- Refer to Honorary Clan and Family Name Policy for more information about clan titles and Brotherhood families.
- Refer to Titles and Honorifics for more information about the granting of honorary, clan, and legacy titles.
Other
- No Emperor’s Hammer Dark Brotherhood ranks or awards are transferable to the Brotherhood except those obtained prior to the split (April 12, 2003). Evidence of the pre-split dossier is required before a dossier can be restored.
- Members who wish to leave the Brotherhood should consult the Deletion Policy for their options. Permanently deleted dossiers cannot and will not be restored under any circumstance.
- Refer to the Clan, House and Independent House Guidelines for information on requirements for clan status.
Notes