CHE Officer Guide/Influence Guide

CHE Officer Guide/Influence Guide is an Official GemStone IV Document, and it is protected from editing.

RECEIVING INFLUENCE

Houses will be able to earn up to twenty six (26) IP per year, plus the CHE Coordinator may award up to six (6) more, making a maximum total of IP earned in one calendar year to be thirty-two (32). Influence Points will roll over from year to year, but there will be a limit to the number redeemed per year (see Spending Influence below). The maximum number of IP a House can save is capped at 150.

Influence Points will be credited for the previous quarter by the end of the first week of each new quarter. Example: By April 7, the Coordinator will credit each House for all Influence earned or purchased during January, February, and March.

This will be reviewed for accuracy on a Quarterly basis upon receipt of the Quarterly Report. If report is not submitted, no influence will be awarded.

Earning Breakdown

Houses can earn two (2) IP a month by running a qualifying event (see Event Details below), for a total of twenty four (24) IP per year. A house that holds a Major Event will earn an additional (2) IP for the month in which the event was held. See details below.

The CHE Coordinator can award up to six (6) IP per year to individual Houses for their contributions above and beyond the norm to Elanthia.

Total possible annual IP earnings comes to thirty-two (32) IP points.

If a House reaches the cap of 150 IP they will be unable to earn further IP until they spend IP to bring their balance below the cap.

IP are non-transferable between Houses.

Event Details

Houses will earn two (2) IP per month for qualifying events. Each House may apply for influence awards for one (1) qualifying event per month, each event earning two (2) IP. Houses cannot purchase IP unless they have run a qualifying event.

Qualifying Event: Definition

Event must last at least 30 minutes and be applicable to the House’s Charter and purpose. Include rationale as to how a particular event meets this criteria when applying for influence consideration.

A minimum standard of IC (in-character) behavior must be adhered to. Any OOC (out-of-character) information such as websites, emails, etc. must be done via WHISPER OOC. If someone is disrupting an event, the House should consider use of the HOUSE EJECT command. They may also REPORT the situation and include any details in their post-event report to the Coordinator. Influence will not be curtailed if every reasonable effort was made to stop the instigator.

If this is a single House event, at least 1 member must be present as coordinators. If it is a joint House event, at least 1 member from each House must be present as a coordinator.

For joint events, proof must be shown that each participating House is contributing to the scheduling, planning, and running of the event.

Coordinator names must be supplied in the post-event report.

Participation Minimums

Private event: House-only or invitation-only, doesn’t appear in the NEWS and/or on the calendar. A minimum of ten people, NOT including the coordinators, must be present and participatory for a majority of the event.

Public event: Appears in the NEWS and/or on the calendar. A minimum of five people, NOT including the coordinators, must be present and participatory for a majority of the event.

Major event: A public event that lasts three or more consecutive days and includes at least one 30-minute event on each of those days. Hosting a Major event will earn two (2) additional IP for the month in which it was held.

A House can only apply for one (1) major event per calendar year.

Major events can also be joint events.

The application of a major event will not increase the maximum number of allowable influence points earned or purchased during a quarter.

Application for Influence

In order to earn influence, a Post-Event Report Form must be submitted.

All post-event reports must be in by no later than 3 days after the event, and preferably directly after the event.

Sample description of the event: House Pauper's Financial Planning Seminar. Held May 12 from 9:00 PM to 10:30 PM in the upstairs pub in WL. This is an influence-qualifying event for May because it met our purpose of providing fun and drink to all. We joked about financial planning, but it was really an excuse to play a drinking game in the name of Paupers.

Purchasing Influence Points

Houses who have under 25 IP, and that have run a Qualifying Event, have the option to purchase influence at a rate of three million (3,000,000) silvers. of (1) IP per month, for a total of twelve (12) IP per year.

Houses should include this request in their Quarterly Report (see section below).

A House can only purchase an IP for months in which they held a Qualifying Event.

SPENDING INFLUENCE: OVERVIEW

Houses can spend up to a maximum of thirty (30) IPs per year.

Procedures

Requests for GM support will be made either in their Monthly Event Request, or in their quarterly End of Quarter report (see section below). Please plan in advance! All special circumstances should be negotiated well in advance with the Coordinator.

Monthly Event Support Request

A house may submit ONE request at the beginning of each month with a list of all Event Support IP expenditures. This report should contain all event related requests. Please use the form found here: Event Support Request Form

Requests given on or before the third of the month, barring unforeseen circumstances, will be completed and made available by the first of the NEXT month. For example, if a report is submitted on January 3rd, the items will be completed by February 1st. This includes calendar requests.

End of Quarter Report

A house may submit ONE request at the beginning of each quarter with a list of all Building/Grounds Support and Prize Closet IP requested expenditures. Requests given on or before the seventh of the month, barring unforeseen circumstances, will be completed and made available by the last day of the quarter. For example, if a report is submitted on January 7th, the items will be will be completed by March 31st. Any submissions made past the due date will be placed at the very bottom of the queue. If they are not completed by the end of the quarter, they will roll over to the next quarter.

Please use the form found here: Quarterly Report Form

Quality Control

All item requests must conform to the rules stated in the in-game ALTER verb; all room requests must conform to the basic principles of GemStone room design.

Please refer to ALTER verb and ask on the officer list. Use each other as resources! Just like some people excel at creating items and using verbiage that wows us all, still others do the same for room design. Once you find a person willing, email privately and get that constructive criticism. Then submit the designs. This should streamline the process between Coordinator and House greatly.

The more flexibility you have with this process, and the more understanding and patience you can show in your communications, the better the program will run for everyone involved.

Supplementary Requests

Once a House has reached their spending limit of thirty (30) IP, they have the option to submit supplementary requests in their Quarterly Report. These requests will be worked on only after all primary requests are handled and if the CHE Controller and QC are able to handle the workload.

SPENDING INFLUENCE: EVENT SUPPORT

Below appears a list, with associated influence costs, of items typically requested in support of CHE Events. Please consider the list suggestive rather than restrictive, as new forms of support can be added on demand. Also bear in mind that the base costs outlined below may be reduced at the discretion of the CHE Coordinator as a reward for good citizenship (which includes the submission of quality, ready-to-build designs; flexibility in negotiating; and/or giving the Coordinator creative control in the case of incomplete or problematic designs).

News and Criers

Events must be open to the general population of Elanthia. Items must be entered into the system two weeks early, and preferably at the time the ESR is submitted.

Influence cost: FREE

Calendar Items

Houses may choose one event per month for publication in the calendar as part of their monthly event requests. In addition, houses may request a recurring event (the same event that occurs 3 out of 4 weeks per month on the same day and at the same time) to be placed on the community calendar. Special events may be given additional consideration at the discretion of the CHE Coordinator. Additional calendar items may be purchased at the cost of one influence point.

Influence cost: FREE for first single day event, FREE for 1 recurring event, 1 IP per additional request

Directions

Houses may design up to 10 signs to be placed at their request with directional markers to an event location. The signs must run from one landmark to the event location (i.e. a “path” of 10 directional signs). Additional signs may be purchased at the rate of 10 signs per 1 point, but Houses can only have 2 “paths” (e.g. one from North Gate and one from West Gate). The additional signs may be used as a second “path” or as additions to the first “path” if it’s long.

Influence cost: 1 point

Scenery Props

Houses may design (or re-use existing designs) up to five simple, stationary props to provide event atmosphere. You may also request specially scripted stock items such as a bonfire, blanket of snow, donation box, trash can, and more!

Influence cost: 1 point

Food Pantry Items

Once a year, Houses may design up to ten new food system items for pantry use. Copies will be put in the pantry for future House use. Original messaging will be considered, but if it is similar to other messaging already in existence, the existing messaging will be used.

Pantries are capped at 100 total food items (pantries with greater than 100 items as of January 27, 2023 will be grandfathered in at the number they have on that date). If a House has greater than 100 items, or if the new request would put them at over 100 items, they must also submit which items they wish removed from the pantry to stay at 100 items (or the total they were grandfathered with).

Influence cost: 4 points + 1 point per custom food taste

Food Tables

Houses may request a table be made with existing food items from their pantry for an event if the location of the event is somewhere the pantry cart cannot go. Otherwise, please use your food cart. A standard table will be used unless the house submits a design for the table with their request.

Influence cost: 1 point

Special Prize Item Alteration

The House must provide the item to be altered. Scripts previously developed by the House may be added to the item as appropriate. Alterations are subject to the guidelines and restrictions in the ALTER verb.

Influence cost: 1 point

Unique messaging may be added to prize items that have no other scripted abilities. Available verbs include clean, close, hug, kiss, open, pinch, poke, pull, push, raise, rub, tap, tickle, tilt, toss, turn, wave, flip, remove, wear, lace.

Influence cost: 1 point per verb (maximum 5) per item.

Games

Dunk Tank: set up a portal leading to a dunk tank for an event.
Bobbing for Apples: Set up a water barrel of apples in a room for an event.
HOUSE: Elanthian BINGO. More info here and here

Influence cost: 1 IP each

Raffle Setup

See Raffles for requirements on how to submit raffle requests.

The House must provide the item to be raffled or be charged IP and silver cost for the creation of the item, its design included in the ESR. The raffle table will be set up and deployed on a requested date, but cannot be guaranteed to be placed out at a specific time. Raffles will typically not be setup more than 5 days in advance. Raffles are not to be used for individual members to raffle off personal items. If an item is being raffled, it is effectively being donated to the House. The house is responsible for distributing all raffle prizes.

There is a limit of three (3) raffles per day, per event. For example: A three-day event may have up to nine (9) raffles.

Influence cost: Free of IP cost. 75k charge per raffle.

One-off Items

Houses may request "special" items (enchant up to 6X, some types of flares etc) at any time. Groups will be charged the full silver value of the item. These items must not end up in the hands of officers under any circumstances. Requests must be approved by the Dev Systems APM, and no request carries the guarantee of approval.

Influence cost: 1 IP per item

Silver Cost: Variable

Prize Closet Additions

Once per year, a House may submit a list of up to 10 items for creation into their prize closet with their quarterly report. These items must be of souvenir design, and cannot be any higher than 4x. Generally acceptable items include: food containers; trophies, statuettes, figurines; containers (including sheaths); jewelry; dice; flipping coins; items with House scripts. Magic items will be permitted in this category, as long as they are common in availability. No rare materials may be used. Any House-owned script may be used, but any necessary modifications will be charged as appropriate.

Please refer to the list of pre-approved items found here for details: Prize Closet Info

Prize Closets are capped at 100 total items (closets with greater than 100 items as of January 27, 2023 will be grandfathered in at the number they have on that date). If a House has greater than 100 items, or if the new request would put them at over 100 items, they must also submit which items they wish removed from the closet to stay at 100 items (or the total they were grandfathered with).

Influence cost: 3 points, up to 10 items

Merchant Services

Houses may contract with a wandering merchant to provide services during an event. Arrangements will be made only through the CHE Coordinator; service will be unavailable to groups that attempt to make arrangements in any other manner. Services are limited to GALD, tattoos, and feature alterations. Bear in mind that the latter two can be time-consuming on a per-person basis.

Influence cost: 6 points per hour

Script Development

Any new scripts developed to support CHE events will be priced on the basis of the labor required to produce the proposed code.

Influence cost: Determined individually, but a good estimate is 10-15 points

Cross-Realm Room Rentals

See Cross-Realm Event Rooms for details.

Any special requests for food, scenery props, etc. should be done via the normal monthly event support request.

Please note: Any House that is found to be using this area to circumvent limitations that they would otherwise not be able to access will lose the privilege of rental of the event areas for an entire year, after which the status will be reviewed by the CHE Controller for reinstatement.

Influence cost: 1 IP for a one-day event, 2 IP for a multi-day event (For events spanning more than 3 days, please discuss terms with the Controller)

Parades

See Parades for details.

Influence cost: 2 IP for a parade with 5 floats, 1 IP for a parade using existing floats.

H.O.U.S.E. (aka Ghoul!)

Information can be found at HOUSE.

Available at Ebonstone Manor as a Cross-Realm Room Rental, choose the pub to play your very own games. Daubers are for sale on the mantle. See the H.O.U.S.E. page for more information.

Influence cost: 1 IP

SPENDING INFLUENCE: BUILDING & GROUNDS SUPPORT

Below appears a list of typically requested additions or renovations to CHE areas. Again, please consider the list suggestive rather than restrictive, as new improvements can be added on demand. Typical prices have been listed with each item to allow leadership to estimate the total cost of enhancements, but the CHE Coordinator may offer discounts in return for following good citizenship practices (see Event Support above).

Donated Items / Removal

Houses may add existing items as stationary props (for example, a famous sword hanging on the wall, a vase with flowers on a desk, a suit of armor standing in a corner), or remove the same.

Influence cost: FREE

Renaming a Room

Houses may change the name of a generic room (i.e. North Hallway), however, houses may not change a player named room. The house may request that the room be closed.

Influence cost: FREE

Food Addition

Houses may add a food item for permanent, unlimited distribution inside their house (drinks on a bar, tarts in a basket). Long descriptions are permissible, but player names are no longer permitted on new food items. Items can go on an already created food distribution item (i.e. a bar) or a new table may be created.

Influence cost: 1 point + 1 point for custom taste

Item will not be added to the pantry automatically. If you wish this to be a pantry item, it will need to follow the pantry item submission process.

Furniture Addition / Modification

Houses may add up to four pieces of furniture or props (i.e. touchable items) per room, or modify up to four pieces of furniture in a room for one (1) influence point. Simple scripts, such as making a bench sittable or a mirror functional, will be free of charge. More complex changes, such as hidden portal additions, fountain scripts, etc. will cost 1-2 influence points depending on difficulty. The coordinator will work with you to determine if any additional points need to be spent. No locked storage containers or tabletop storage is included with this package.

Influence cost: 1 point

Atmosphere Messages

Houses may provide up to 10 messages to be delivered to a range of 1-3 rooms. No player or NPC may be named in the messaging.

Influence cost: 3 points

Dance Floor

Houses may request dancing scripts in an appropriately designed room. Dance floors may be requested for a party tent.

Influence cost: 2 points

Message Boards

Houses may request a message board be placed in one of their rooms. Anyone can post items to the board (it cannot, at this time, be limited to members or officers). It can have a base, long, and show. It does charge a fee to post (default 500 silvers), but that can be reduced to 1 silver if you prefer.

Influence cost: 2 points

Swimming Hole

Houses may add swimming scripts to an appropriately designed room.

Influence cost: 2 points

Fishing Pond

Houses may add a fishing pond to an appropriately designed room.

Influence cost: 10 points

Simple Household Item Scripting

Houses may design simple messaging scripts for existing props or portals. If you have a vase of flowers, for example, you can request a script where you could smell them and inhale the fresh scent of roses. Others might see you briefly close your eyes, stop, and smell the roses.

Verbs include analyze, attend, beam, blink, blush, bow, bounce, chortle, chuckle, clean, close, cover, cuddle, curtsy, exhale, fidget, fold, frown, gag, gasp, gaze, glance, glare, growl, hiss, hug, inspect, jeer, kick, kiss, knock, lean, lick, mock, nod, nudge, open, panic, peer, pound, pout, praise, pray, prod, pull, purr, push, puzzle, roar, rub, salute, scowl, scratch, shrug, simper, slap, smell, smooch, snap, snarl, snuggle, squeal, stare, swear, swoon, tackle, tap, thump, tinker, touch, tremble, waggle, wave, whine, whistle, and wink.

Influence cost: 1 point per verb (maximum 10) per item

Loresong Addition

Houses may design loresongs up to four verses for permanent items (props, portals, containers) in their houses. Loresongs may reflect the item’s construction, use, and history in the house. Please be circumspect in any attempts to tie items to Elanthian history, as such requests require SGM approval and may (at the determination of the CHE Coordinator) require a suitable surcharge.

Influence cost: 4 points

Libraries

New library system setup, includes a library NPC, the furniture items for the books, and 4 books. These can be placed in annexes as well. If you do not have an existing suitable room to convert to a library and wish to build a room, normal room building costs apply too.

Influence cost: 5 points

Book Addition to Existing Library System – Changes to Existing Books

For really minor and quick changes to existing books, there is no charge. For major changes to an existing book, it will be treated like a new book, as it will need QC, and thus, the pricing is the same.

Influence cost: 1 IP per book or 2 IPs for 3 books submitted simultaneously

If the house has more than one library, it will still cost 1 IP per book or 2 IPs for 3 books to have existing books recreated in each library.

Library Setup Information

NPC: name it (Fluffy, or an elderly librarian, or Franz the buff dude behind the desk) and give a brief (less than 500 characters including spaces, double-spacing after periods) description, i.e. Franz is completely buff and wearing tighter than tight leather chaps and a striped shirt. A pair of horn-rimmed glasses is perched on his nose, and his fingers are permanently stained with ink.

If you have an existing NPC you want to be used as the library NPC, include that in your request, but be prepared to provide an alternate in case that NPC is unable to convert to the library system

• Checkout cost: Price to check out a book. It can be as low as a silver or as high as you want.
• Fine: what you want the fine to be if it's late
• Number of days the book is checked out for: all books in your library system must have the same # of days.
• Furniture: what do you want the books to go on (i.e. description of the shelf, table, whatever)

Book Setup Information

• Text of the book
• In-house readability: do you want it readable right there in the library, i.e. not needing check out
• 1023 characters per page, including spaces, 50 pages max
  • For standalone, non-library books, this can change
  • It is easiest to just submit the text and let me divide it into pages and extra volumes if need be, or to decide if it’s so long, it’s better to write a script for a standalone book

Non-Library Book

These are for books such as the diary in the old Abandoned Inn. It needs to be a book or other noun that makes sense to have pages you turn. These are not books you check out.

Influence cost: 1 IP per book + the furniture it’s resting on

Houses may also request non-library books to be placed in the prize closet. There is an additional charge of 1 IP per book on the prize closet list for setup.

Perfumes

Each House may design its own signature scent with first and third person messaging, a custom bottle, and the fragrance's name. These will be for sale in the House to members like the House pins are - not sold from the prize closet. Each House is limited to 1 signature scent.

Please follow the ALTER rules, use existing fragrance for inspiration if necessary, ask if you have any questions and remember that QC has the final word on all submissions.

Influence Cost: 2 IPs

Room Renovation

This package deal includes such options as renaming the room, altering the description of furnishings, and changing the room text itself. Furnishings may be removed as part of a renovation, but none may be added unless it is paid for as above. Furnishings may be renamed but must retain their basic function (a chair may become a sofa, but not a mirror).

Influence cost: 5 points

Keyed Rooms

Houses may put a lock on an existing room, which would then be accessible only by one of three keys provided in the initial charge. These keys may be distributed to any person the House deems worthy and may be raffled, auctioned, or sold. Additional keys are available at 2 point per three keys, with no limit to the total number of keys. Key requests must be made by the House Chairperson. Lost, stolen or badly bestowed keys are not the responsibility of the CHE Coordinators. The key may be wearable (neck worn).

Influence cost: 2 points

Note: If you don't want a key for the room, but do want a private room to be able to be latched from the inside while someone is in the room, then request a latching room on the report. There is no additional IP for a latching room.

New Rooms

Houses may design a new room to be added to their structure; the price includes three basic pieces of furniture. Access to the room may require portals (doors, stairs, etc.) or cardinal directional movement. Additional furniture and/or script functionality would be paid for by the piece as above.

Influence cost: 6 points

A good resource for room design may be found at: Room design and CHE Officer Guide/Room Construction

Shrine Rooms

Appropriately designed rooms may be designated as a shrine for interaction with cleric and paladin spells. This will make the room accessible to all suitably oriented paladins, and therefore it must be located outside the private confines of the house, on the publicly accessible grounds. These are not available at Annex locations.

Influence cost: 10 points

Workshop, Enchanting

Houses may add enchanting workshop functionality to an appropriately designed room. These are not available at Annex locations.

Influence cost: 10 points

Summoning Chamber

Houses may add summoning features to an appropriately designed room. The addition of a summoning chamber to an existing house property must be approved by the current town guru. These are not available at Annex locations.

Influence cost: 10 points

Earthnode

Houses may add one node for every twenty regular rooms. Tables are not included in this calculation.

Influence cost: 10 points

Super-Earthnode

Houses may add one node for every twenty regular rooms. Tables are not included in this calculation. These are not available at Annex locations.

Influence cost: 15 points

House Vault

Houses may build officer-only storage vaults. The vault will be accessed by an officer-only portal, and each vault room will have three (3) officer-only containers that hold approximately 100 pounds of items each. The containers will be avoided by the janitor, but nothing is ever 100%, so please register everything immediately before placing in the vault containers, and in the event of a game crash, we can look at replacement.

Maximum 3 vault rooms per main House grounds and 1 per annex. Vault room and container descriptions may be submitted, but they should be fairly simple.

Influence cost: 10 points each

Sanctuary

Houses may request that an existing room be made a permanent sanctuary which prevents hostile creatures from entering, prevents attacking or stealing, and prevents casting of offensive spells. Members of certain classes will be able to meditate in this room.

Influence cost: 1 point

Tabletop Storage

Houses may request existing tables in the house be made to hold up to 100 pounds. This is not private or secure storage and items picked up or lost due to game crashes will not be replaced. Tabletop storage will be limited at Annex locations up to 2 tables or 100 pounds.

Influence cost: 1 IP per table

Script Development

Any new scripts developed to support CHE events will be priced on the basis of the labor required to produce the proposed code.

Influence cost: Determined individually, but a good base would be 10-15 points

Blackboards

Houses may request a blackboard be placed on house grounds or at an Annex location.

Influence cost: FREE

Podium

Houses may request a podium for their meeting rooms. A house officer may TOUCH the podium to register as the leader for the discussion. The room will be silenced and the leader may POINT at other people to give them the floor.

Influence cost: 1 IP

Locked Storage Containers

Houses may request to put a lock on appropriate storage containers (desk, cabinet, wardrobe, etc.) using an existing House room key.

Influence cost: 1 IP

Officer Only Cabinet

Houses may request cabinets that are accessible by officers only that hold up to 100 pounds. (No keys required.) Houses may place 2 of these on the House grounds and 1 per Annex location. If additional Officer Only storage is required, please see House Vault above.

Influence cost: 2 IP

Dart Boards

Houses may request dart boards with 4 sets of auto-returning darts and storage rack for game rooms or other appropriate areas. The dart board may not have a SHOW, however, it can have a long description. It must start as "a dart board". Darts may have a SHOW, but not a long description. The House must specify the adjective for "some,adjective,darts". The House must also submit the design for the storage rack. Darts go IN the rack.

Influence cost: 6 IP

Alternatively, the House can request 10 sets of regular darts for 1 IP for use with existing boards. These darts may be carried off by players, and will not be replaced unless additional IP is spent. A dart board without auto-returning darts and storage rack is 1 IP. These items are not included in the Furniture addition/modification bundle charge or included with the furniture/prop pieces of a new room.

Annexes

Houses may request to build annexes in towns outside of their main location. The house should submit a request to the CHE Controller for approval of a location of their choice to be reviewed and approved by the town guru. Backup locations should be provided in the event the first choice is not approved. Each annex may have up to 5 rooms, one room must be for members only and a room with lockers. The building and portal must make sense for the location. Building a new annex will move the existing locker area in the central house annex building location in town to your newly built annex structure as each house may only have one locker location in each town. Annexes are not permitted in Mist Harbor.

Influence cost: Minimum 10 IP for two rooms (i.e. a members only room and locker area), with 6 IP per room additional. All other IP charges for additional furniture, household scripting, etc. will apply.

Stove for Brewing Tea/Coffee

These are limited to 1 per House, and may be placed in your main hall or at an annex location. You may design the stove and its kettle, and you may include a long or show description for each. With the stove, you'll receive a bin that contains your brewing supplies (water, wood, tinder and matches).

Influence cost: 2 IP

Custom Tea/Coffee

Each House may have 1 custom brewable tea leaves or coffee grounds. Final product goes in the prize closet and must reflect all prize closet rules/limitations. This should be submitted with your annual prize closet request.

Influence cost: 2 IP

SPENDING INFLUENCE: OTHER

Custom INITIATE and INVEST Speeches

See Officer Speeches for details on how to write the messaging.

Houses may request a custom speech for new member initiation ceremonies or officer investments. All messaging must be supplied by the House and is subject to QC approval.

Influence cost: 2 IP for each (or 4 IP for both Initiate and Invest speeches)

Custom Officer Titles

See Officer Titles for more information on these. Changes can be submitted annually with a House's Quarterly Report for a cost of 10 IPs to change the custom titles.

House Pins

See House Pins for more information. The transport messaging can be customized for each House. The charge is 6 IP, and you need to include the first person turning the pin, third person view of leaving, and third person view of arriving (so 3 in total) with your request.