Society Bylaws (ROUGH draft)

sieg · Post by **sieg** » Fri May 11, 2007 5:42 pm

As requested by the Lord Chancellor, here are the "rough" bylaws I've designed. Needless to say this is NOT the final version; by all means make suggestions.
Bylaws of the

Castle & Crusade Society

Article I

Principle Place of Business

The offices of The Castle & Crusade Society, (C&CS) shall be located at the following mailing address:

(TLG address); and on the Internet at www.castle&crusadesociety.com.

Article II

Mission

Mission: To extend the dominion of Castles and Crusades on a global scale, and provide the tools and utilities requisite for adventuring that is fast, lethal,

and epic; the Society is dedicated to the perseverance of the art of roleplaying, through sponsoring organized events. Or somesuch thing.

Article III

Memberships

A. Membership in the Castle & Crusade Society is free upon a petition in writing to the C&CS Keeper of the Lists by mail or via electronic communication.

B. Dues

There are no dues established for membership within the C&CS, pending any abusive or aggressive behavior that requires the intervention of the Curia Regis.

C. Termination of Membership

Membership in the Castle & Crusade Society, is open to any interested individual, without restriction of age or citizenship. Membership can be terminated only by:

1. Revocation of membership by the Society Officers (Curia Regis)

2. Voluntary termination by the member themselves by a written letter to the Society via post or electronic communication.

Article IV

Curia Regis

A. Composition

1. The Curia Regis shall consist of the Lord Chancellor, Lord Castellan, Keeper of the Lists, Keeper of the Exchequer, and Keeper of the Royal Seal.

2. Qualifications of a Member of the Curia Regis shall be that he or she is a member in good standing of the organization for at least one year.

3. The members Curia Regis save for the Lord Chancellor shall be an elected body of the membership of the Society. Elections shall be held once per year and coordinated by the Lord Chancellor.

4. The Lord Chancellor shall be appointed by the President of Troll Lord Games after duly consulting with the membership of the C&CS. The Lord Chancellor shall serve for a term of one year.

B. Duties of the Officers of the Curia Regis

1. Lord Chancellor: The Lord Chancellor is the principal executive officer of the Society and shall supervise and control all of the business and administrative affairs of the Society, and shall preside as Chairman at all meetings of the Curia Regis. The Lord Chancellor may sign and authorize such instruments as the Lord Chancellor deems appropriate to the conduct of the organizations proper business, grant charters, and delegate similar responsibilities after duly consulting the Curia Regis.

2. Lord Castellan: The Lord Castellan is the officer in charge of planning, coordinating and executing C&CS demonstrations and events at conventions on behalf of the Society.

a. shall, in the absence of the Lord Chancellor or in the event of the Lord Chancellors refusal or inability to act, perform the duties of the Lord Chancellor and, when so performing, shall have all the duties, powers, and restrictions of the Lord Chancellor. When the Lord Chancellor is not absent or otherwise inactive under the above conditions, the Lord Castellan shall be the chief assistant to the Lord Chancellor and shall carry out such duties as are assigned to the Lord Castellan.

3. Keeper of the Lists: The Keeper of the Lists shall be responsible for carrying on correspondence for the Curia Regis, for keeping the minutes of meetings of the Curia Regis, and maintaining the database of the membership of the Society as well as any accolades and awards granted to members by the Society.

4. Keeper of the Exchequer: The Keeper of the Exchequer shall have charge and custody of and be responsible for all funds and securities of the Society; receive and give receipts for money due and payable to the Society from any source; and deposit money in the name of the Society in such depositories as the Curia Regis may select. The Keeper of the Exchequer must maintain records and funds of the Society separately from any personal records or funds.

5. Keeper of the Royal Seal: The Keeper of the Royal Seal is responsible for the maintenance of the C&CS website as well as updating news and events of interest to the membership of the Society.

Article V

Contracts, Cheques, and Funds

A. Contracts

The Curia Regis may authorize any officer or agent of the Society, in addition to officers so authorized by these By-Laws, to enter into any contract or execute any instrument in the name of the Society, and such authority may be general or confined to specific instances. Such authority must be given in writing, dated, and signed by at least two (2) members of the Curia Regis.

B. Cheques, Drafts, Etc.

All cheques, drafts, notes or other evidence of indebtedness issued in the name of the Society shall be signed by such officers of the Society, and in such manner, as shall from time to time be determined by the Curia Regis. In absence of such determination, such instruments shall be signed by the Keeper of the Exchequer and countersigned by the Lord Chancellor.

C. Gifts

The Curia Regis may accept on behalf of the Society any contribution, gift, bequest, or devise for the general purpose of or for any special purpose of the Society.

Article VI

Books and Records

The Society shall keep correct and complete books and records of account and shall also keep minutes of the proceedings of the meetings of the Curia Regis. All books and records may be inspected by any member or his agent, for any reasonable purpose at any reasonable time; however, lists of names addresses of members shall not be made available to the public without prior written approval of the Curia Regis and prior written notification of publication to all members. Any such members who wish may be excluded from publication having notified such intent to the Curia Regis.

Article VII

Fiscal Year

The Fiscal Year of the Society shall begin on the first day of January and end on the last day of December in each year.

Article VIII

Amendments to the ByLaws

These By-Laws may be altered, amended, or repealed and new Bylaws may be adopted by the unanimous consent of the Curia Regis. Such amendments and alterations must be made in writing, and must be immediately placed in the records of the Society, and appended to copies of the bylaws available to the membership.
_________________
Always remember, as a first principle of all D&D: playing BtB is not now, never was and never will be old school.- Tim Kask, Dragonsfoot

Omote · Post by **Omote** » Fri May 11, 2007 6:29 pm

This is defintely a great start! Did yoooouuuu say you did this before?
.............................................Omote

FPQ
_________________
> Omote's Advanced C&C stuff <
Duke Omote Landwehr, Holy Order of the FPQ ~ Prince of the Castles & Crusades Society

Zudrak · Post by **Zudrak** » Fri May 11, 2007 7:35 pm

Nice work, sieg. You don't need to speak or read "legalese" to understand it.

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Nifelhein · Post by **Nifelhein** » Fri May 11, 2007 8:22 pm

We should probably have a mission statement with the website as well, but it seems we do not have that right now, we surely need to define whether we want a members only site with features and content available to all or we want a full fledged website where people can discuss, debate and exchange ideas on how to make C&C better and their own games more epic, fast and lethal.

I am all for the later but then, we would probably make this very forums a second resource, an official one, while the society forums would become the official unofficial fan site and forums.

heck we can even make a C&C web ring if we want!
_________________
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sieg · Post by **sieg** » Fri May 11, 2007 9:44 pm

Yes, I did up bylaws for some education NFP's before.
What I'm thinking is do we need to put in a measure for the removal for the Lord Chancellor by the President of TLG? I don't think this would ever be necessary...but then that's what bylaws are for; to cover things not anticipated.

Also, What (if any) positions should Marshalls and Lords Paladin of the Society hold?
_________________
Always remember, as a first principle of all D&D: playing BtB is not now, never was and never will be old school.- Tim Kask, Dragonsfoot

Nifelhein · Post by **Nifelhein** » Fri May 11, 2007 10:51 pm

Include the deposing as well, it is better to be safe than sorry, and they should be immediately deposed if they vanish for mroe than 30 days without letting the Curia Regis know.
_________________
"We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men; and among those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes, and they come back to us as effects." - Attributed to Herman Melville.

Julian Grimm · Post by **Julian Grimm** » Sat May 12, 2007 12:57 am

As sad as it seems there may be a time an offidcer needs to be removed. Also I think we need to address the number of terms allowed. One, two , or as many as they get voted.

Should the editor of Domesday be elected or chosen by the Curia Regis?

Are there benifits for former Curia Regis members?

That's all I have for now.
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sieg · Post by **sieg** » Sat May 12, 2007 1:01 am

OK, I'll write up a method for removing (all) officers this weekend.

As for term limits, IMO if someone wants to keep doing it and keeps getting elected/appointed to do then by all means let 'em. In volunteer groups FINDING someone to do the work is hard enough!
Re: Bennies; let's figure out what bennies there are to membership first....then to retired CR members (if any).
_________________
Always remember, as a first principle of all D&D: playing BtB is not now, never was and never will be old school.- Tim Kask, Dragonsfoot

serleran · Post by **serleran** » Sat May 12, 2007 2:19 am

Thanks, sieg. I will, indeed, be gone for a while (read the thread in general), but I'll be back with a gusto. I hope Steve will make his announcement while I am away (its somethign we discussed, but there are things to resolve.. so he may wait until all issues are clear-cut) and I am not at liberty to say the specifics. There is good news for the Society and its members.

sieg · Post by **sieg** » Sun May 13, 2007 10:33 pm

...a proposed Mission Statement, and the adds for terms & removals: Peruse and Apine;

Mission: The Castle & Crusade Society is dedicated to the furtherance of the Adventure Gaming hobby as a source of imagination, fellowship and entertainment for all current and future participants. The C&CS wishes to promote the ideals of fair play, ingenuity and the triumph of good over evil. The C&CS also wishes to promote the concept of the Game taking precedence over Rules as exhibited in the Castles & Crusades Fantasy Roleplaying Game as well as similar systems promoted by a variety of publishers.

(Article IV: Curia Regis)

C. Terms of Office and Removal

1. Each officer of the Society holds term for one year, and may be reelected an unlimited number of times.

2. The Lord Chancellor has the ability to remove any officer of the Curia Regis for malfeasance or unwillingness to perform their duties. This decision may be overturned by the President of Troll Lord Games.

3. The Lord Chancellor may be removed for malfeasance or inability to perform their duties by the President of Troll Lord Games.
_________________
Always remember, as a first principle of all D&D: playing BtB is not now, never was and never will be old school.- Tim Kask, Dragonsfoot

DangerDwarf · Post by **DangerDwarf** » Wed May 16, 2007 7:39 am

sieg wrote:
OK, I'll write up a method for removing (all) officers this weekend.

Trial by combat!

Emryys · Post by **Emryys** » Wed May 16, 2007 7:50 am

DangerDwarf wrote:
Trial by combat!

C&C style with no AoO's...
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Lurker · Post by **Lurker** » Wed May 16, 2007 11:48 am

Quote:
Trial by combat!

Sounds good to me..... is it hand to hand? If so I bow to you, if pistol at 10 paces is my body armor allowed?
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sieg · Post by **sieg** » Wed May 16, 2007 4:27 pm

Y'know I've been thinking. There's a lot in the above left on the shoulders of the President of TLG. Which, forgive me Steve, might n ot be a good thing considering how busy he is.
Maybe just giving the PTLG a veto on appointment of the Lord Chancellor; would that work?
_________________
Always remember, as a first principle of all D&D: playing BtB is not now, never was and never will be old school.- Tim Kask, Dragonsfoot

Omote · Post by **Omote** » Wed May 16, 2007 5:04 pm

sieg wrote:
Y'know I've been thinking. There's a lot in the above left on the shoulders of the President of TLG. Which, forgive me Steve, might n ot be a good thing considering how busy he is.
Maybe just giving the PTLG a veto on appointment of the Lord Chancellor; would that work?

Yes it would. You are right seig, Steve really hasn't seemed like he is able to put too much time in the C&CS, and for good reason. However because of his postion, he should still have some measure of control.

............................................Omote

FPQ
_________________
> Omote's Advanced C&C stuff <
Duke Omote Landwehr, Holy Order of the FPQ ~ Prince of the Castles & Crusades Society

Julian Grimm · Post by **Julian Grimm** » Wed May 16, 2007 11:09 pm

DangerDwarf wrote:
Trial by combat!

Oooh, do I get to use a tree stand and my .308?
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Julian Grimm · Post by **Julian Grimm** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 9:22 pm

Bumpity, and we really need this as a sticky.
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sieg · Post by **sieg** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 6:54 pm

BTW, this reminds me...should I still be plugging away on this or is it unnecessary? I haven't heard any "official" reply on it (assuming there even can be one!)...
_________________
Always remember, as a first principle of all D&D: playing BtB is not now, never was and never will be old school.- Tim Kask, Dragonsfoot

serleran · Post by **serleran** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 12:14 am

I am waiting until after GenCon to try to do anything that might require a Troll to do something. Until the major event is over, there is no hope to get Steve to do much more than "we'll work on that after..." so, I'm not going to try. After that, well, we'll see.

Julian Grimm · Post by **Julian Grimm** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 1:06 am

Seems we're all in limbo until after the con. No biggie though, it gives me a chance to work on other things.
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sieg · Post by **sieg** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 3:25 pm

Ok, so as long as the rewrite's done by after GC its cool.
_________________
Always remember, as a first principle of all D&D: playing BtB is not now, never was and never will be old school.- Tim Kask, Dragonsfoot