Since I've been in the Dragon Lords of the Great American Desert (Dragon Lords for short) I've yet to see a Chapter meeting or an election. The same guy has been "in charge" for the last how-many-ever years. For all I know he doesn't mind, or even likes being in charge, but it shouldn't be forced on him. Even if I totally blamed him, which I don't, I know just how hard it is to run a Chapter, and the OA Chapters are much more active than HMA Chapters (but we have very regular meetings and process set in place.........that sentence seemed contrary to what I was trying to say).
I put a posting on the KenzerCo forum boards that we need to have a Chapter meeting, elect new (even if we elect the same guys) officers, and have a formal charter. I was helping the old secretary out with a charter last year. It was way to verbose-luckily I've had to help re-write charters and amend constitutions, so it wasn't too difficult. I suggested that the Chapter adopt the charter pro-temp until we can discuss and vote in a new charter at the meeting. Hopefully my suggestions will be well met. I just hope we can get everybody involved who will not be attending the convention. I've set up a gmail account and I'm willing to mail off ballots to everybody. At most it'll cost me about $40, but I think the number will be closer to $20. More to follow.
The proposed charter:
Constitution of The Dragon Lords of the American Desert Hackmaster Association Regional Chapter
ARTICLE I – NameThe name of this organization shall be The Dragon Lords of the American Desert Hackmaster Association Regional Chapter, hereafter informally referred to as Dragon Lords.
ARTICLE II – PurposeThe purpose of this organization shall be to:
Promote Hackmaster, the Hackmaster Association, and Kenzer & Company.
Allow members to reap the full benefits of Hackmaster Association affiliation.
Develop and support player groups at local, state, and regional levels.
Unite and foster a sense of community, support, and fellowship amongst all Hackmaster players within the region.
ARTICLE III – Affiliation
This organization shall operate according to the most current rules, regulations, and policies of the National Hackmaster Association, and in compliance with all local, state, and federal laws regardless of contradictory material that may be in this document.
ARTICLE IV – Membership
Section 1 This organization shall not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, religion, gender, national origin, ancestry, disability, veteran’s status, sexual orientation, marital status, or political affiliation.
Section 2 All Hackmaster Association members residing in the states of Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, and Utah are considered full members, or Councilors.
Section 3 Until the Hackmaster Association clarifies the regional system for online players, all Hackmaster Association members playing in online games run by Dragon Lord Councilors shall be considered chapter members for the purpose of regional tournaments.
Section 4 Those players meeting all qualifications for membership other than Hackmaster Association affiliation are considered Hatchlings. Hatchlings are eligible to participate in all Dragon Lord events that are not specifically restricted to Hackmaster Association members.
Section 5 Each Councilor is responsible for:
*Playing to the best of their ability in all Hackmaster games.
*Maintaining their knowledge of Hackmaster rules.
*Retaining good working relationships with other Hackmaster players and Game Masters (the gaming table is neutral territory).
*Providing proper documentation of their characters for any chapter event.
*Abiding by the Rules of Fair Play and other portions of the Hackmaster Code of Conduct.
Section 6 Members who fail to live up to their responsibilities and commit gross violations of conduct may be expelled from the chapter by a three-fourths vote of the membership at a special or annual meeting. Members accused of expellable offenses will be allowed an audience with those councilors voting upon the matter.
ARTICLE V – Sanctioned Groups
Section 1 Councilors who play Hackmaster games with a certified GM using only official Hackmaster rules may have their gaming group sanctioned, pursuant to the
additional qualifications set forth in the HMA Bylaws. Properly registered characters from sanctioned groups are eligible for use in Dragon Lords tournaments.
Section 2 While the primary method for maintaining required information on players and characters is the HMA Website (http://www.kenzerco.com/hma/main/index.php), each sanctioned group needs to submit a roster of active and inactive members to the Dragon Lords’ Wrack Gut (Secretary/Treasurer) at the following times:
*January 1st
*July 1st
*At the time of each Dragon Lords Regional Tournament
*When ever a Councilor joins or leaves the group
Section 3 A sanctioned group that does not send required information to either the HMA or the Wrack Gut may be suspended from the Dragon Lords until updated information is received. Sanctioned characters from suspended groups are ineligible to participate in Dragon Lords events and may be ineligible to play in other HMA tournaments.
ARTICLE VI – Player Character, Protégé, and Sidekicks
Section 1 All Player Characters (PCs) must be registered on the HMA website while all Protégés and Sidekicks (Potential Player Characters, or PPCs) must be registered with the Wrack Gut. Registration must occur at the time of PC or PPC creation.
Section 2 All PPCs must be eligible for future use as sanctioned PCs and designated by the home GM as belonging to a specific sanctioned PC. No PC may have more than four Protégés at one time or more than one Sidekick (ever). PPCs may not advance more than one level per home game session.
Section 3 The following information must be submitted to the Wrack Gut on PPCs:
During PPC creation: Councilor name, PPC name, status (Protégé or Sidekick), race, class, level, and mentor (sanctioned PC).
When transferring experience: Donating PC’s name, receiving PPCs name, amount of experience received, and date transferred.
With PPC status change: PPC name, status change, and date of change.
Section 4 PPCs are an important part of Hackmaster, but are NOT to be used abusively to have characters eligible for tournaments. Any player or GM doing so is considered to have committed a gross violation of conduct and subject to expulsion from the Dragon Lords as per Article IV, Section 6.
ARTICLE VII – Chapter Officers
Section 1 The Dragon Lords will maintain a number of officer positions to assign responsibility for carrying out chapter business. These officers, collectively known as the Dragon Committee (or DC), are Councilors in good standing elected to one-year terms of office at the Dragon Lords annual meeting.
Section 2 Rot Gut (President)
The Rot Gut is responsible for overseeing Dragon Lords business and is the primary contact person for the Dragon Lords with outside entities. The Rot Gut serves as the Chair for any Dragon Lords meeting and has the important responsibility of organizing volunteers to aid Dragon Lords efforts.
Section 3 Gnarl Gut (Vice President)
The Gnarl Gut’s primary responsibility is to assist the Rot Gut in all of his/her duties and to serve in the stead of the Rot Gut when unavailable due to absence or conflict of interest.
Section 4 Wrack Gut (Secretary/Treasurer)
The Wrack Gut is responsible for maintenance of Councilor records, Dragon Lords records & history, and Dragon Lords correspondence.
Section 5 Iron Gut (Player Advocate)
The Iron Gut is a HMGMA member whose primary responsibility it to help Councilors with various rules calls, except for when those calls occur within the Iron Gut’s home group(s).
Section 6 Black Gut (Arena Managers)The Black Gut is responsible for maintaining the Dragon Lords arenas, to include both the rules and physical arenas. Each state in the Dragon Lords is allowed to have its own arena and Gut in addition to the chapter’s arena and Black Gut.
Section 7 Appointed MembersThe named officers of the Dragon Committee have the right to temporarily appoint new members to the Dragon Committee for a limited time to in order to meet the needs of a specific purpose. Once these members have fulfilled their purpose, they will have their DC membership revoked. These appointed members are considered full members of the Dragon Committee for all purposes other than appointing new members.
Section 8 Nominations for elections of new officers will be accepted by the Wrack Gut no more than six weeks and no less than two weeks prior to the annual event. Election will be by simple majority of all Councilors present at the annual meeting.
ARTICLE VIII – Chapter Meetings
Section 1 The Dragon Lords will conduct an annual meeting at least once per calendar year in order to elect new officers and conduct general business. In addition to the annual meeting, the Dragon Committee may call for a special meeting to conduct additional Dragon Lord business.
Section 2 Due to the area covered by the Dragon Lords chapter and the personal expense and hardship imposed upon Councilors to attend meetings, any Dragon Lords meeting may be held through electronic means deemed acceptable by the Dragon Committee.
Section 3 Notice of any Dragon Lords meeting must be given to Councilors at least four weeks prior to any special meeting and at least eight weeks prior to any annual meeting. At a minimum, this notice will include the time, date, location, and preliminary agenda for the meeting.
Section 4 All Councilors present at a meeting, either in person or by proxy, will be allowed to vote on any resolutions presented to the membership. While Hatchlings are encouraged to attend and contribute to the success of the chapter, they are not eligible voters. All matters brought to a vote will be resolved using a simple majority. There is not a specific number of Councilors required to meet a quorum for any meeting established with proper notice.
ARTICLE IX – Changes to the Chapter Charter
Section 1 The Rot Gut and the Wrack Gut must receive all potential changes to the Dragon Lords Charter in writing. In order to be considered at the annual meeting, proposals must be received no later than four weeks prior to the meeting.
Section 2 Once a proposal has been received, the Dragon Committee will decide if a special meeting needs to be called or table the proposal until the next annual meeting. All proposals submitted will be forwarded to the Councilors for review no less than two weeks prior.
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