A note on Purple Dragons who've retired
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My main's character concept is that he, in his youth (he's 31 now) served in the Purple Dragons like his father but retired because it wasn't to his liking. Whenever I mention this to anyone IC, the common IC reaction is "You can never quit the Dragons, you must be a deserter!".
Allow me to quote from the Forgotten Realms Wiki:
"After the two-year service came to an end, the Purple Dragon may choose to continue his or her role, or return to his or her former life. In times of conflict the individual could be called back into service."
This is something that, I believe, most people ought to know IC. It should be generally known that military service is not automatically a life-long commitment escapable only by death or dishonour. I've also given up on having my character refer to himself as a former "Telsword" because no one seems to know what that is. I've been saying "Sergeant" instead.
I didn't see any reference to non-active military in the rules, (the character gets no special treatment, equipment, or favours, nor does he have any authority over anyone), nor did I see any reference to a server specific ruling on how long service in the Dragons lasts. If I have done anything wrong, please let me know. If there is a server specific ruling on length of service in the dragons that is different from the Canon (6 months training + minimum 2 years active), again, please let me know.
Thanks!
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Actually, you can't have been IN the Purple Dragons at all without getting approval from the DMs because without us knowing and approving, you have no record of your service if it ever comes up, NPCs will assume you're lying and treat you as such IC, in times of trouble your PC wouldn't be called back to duty because for our world, he never was a Purple Dragon. ie: its going to cause you a huge headache and make your PC look like a huge liar!
Our typical policy is, every character starts as a level 1 with no experience to avoid things like this.
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Then shall I delete my character?
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That's entirely up to you, the easiest thing if you're new to CoA is just send a quick application to the DM team and explain the situation and what happened. This is such a minor issue that we'd likely let it through without trouble.
Or maybe he is a deserter! Or maybe he is making up stories to hide some secret? That bits up to you honestly.
Its more just a friendly reminder that any 'background' for a character that deviates from "I'm a level one adventurer with no experience" should probably fly by at least one of our DM team to make sure it is not going to create a headache for you later.
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Application submitted.
Regardless, my original point is that it should be common knowledge that military service is not necessarily a lifetime commitment with no escape.
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Having a pure fighter kit named soilder is somewhat wierd knowing this.
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Soldier =/= Purple Dragon. Being a ex-soldier of some small town army on the other side of the world is no big deal in Cormyr, even if you are a deserter (probably). Being a PD means you might be called back into service which you can't because you were never a PD unless you sent in a quick app to begin with.
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okay, thanks.
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Another thing to keep in mind that in the CoA setting "Purple Dragon" I believe has meant the uniformed, full-time soldiers who staff barracks and patrol the lands. It was often a promotion from house guard or city militia as your service matured and you showed you could handle the big leagues. I believe in the faction postings there is still a path via the militia?
In the official setting, anyone who does their 2 years of service takes an oath to always return to the aid of the country is a purple dragon. These people often go on the become caravan guards, house guards or militiamen or mercenaries (and I assume sometimes bakers and tailors). It creates the worlds largest standing army in the setting despite not having a full force on the crown's payroll. These people hold their duty to the crown above all else and keep a white tabbard in their closet in case they're called to fight in a war.
I assume the old loyalists portion of the v4ish? city had members who held these beliefs but I've never met a PC or NPC who claimed the title of Purple Dragon; only former PD.
I'm actually a little confused on the current setting knowing that their are PCs who play "loyalists", but thought that ultimately the city was still under the control of Cormyr and that Hardcastle held some fealty to the crown (as per the end of v4) but that being cutoff from the capitol, Hardcastle's forces held complete control of the region with no real direct influence from the crown. I lost the complete setting history and couldn't come up with it in a search.
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I'm actually a little confused on the current setting knowing that their are PCs who play "loyalists", but thought that ultimately the city was still under the control of Cormyr and that Hardcastle held some fealty to the crown (as per the end of v4) but that being cutoff from the capitol, Hardcastle's forces held complete control of the region with no real direct influence from the crown. I lost the complete setting history and couldn't come up with it in a search.
You aren't lost, that's more or less it, but now the Crown is much more active and Hardcastle is slowly losing some of his independence.
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These people hold their duty to the crown above all else and keep a white tabbard in their closet in case they're called to fight in a war.
I don't believe that nobody who served in the Dragons left it feeling disillusioned and put upon. That they all keep their tabbards clean and close by eagerly awaiting the call to action. Those people would likely not have left after only 2 years.
There HAS to be some, even if they're a minority, who left the Dragons feeling that joining was a huge mistake. That was my character concept.
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This is just a conversation, not a critique of you- please don't think it's a bad concept or that I think that my interpretation is more correct. This is more an example on the difficulties of managing the in game vs. canon FR game world and assumptions about both and why even mild associations with cannon FR groups requires DM oversight:
I read that wiki to say that those who felt committed to the crown and wanted to become Purple Dragons took the oath. At the end of the 2.5 years of service they could go active duty or return to the commoner's life. Despite returning to a normal life they would still be held to, " I promise that in time of war, I will return to my sworn position and bear arms in service to crown and country." Thus in effect becoming PDs for life.
So a PD might not want to serve in time of war, might want to give up his oath, might not be a gung-ho loyalist– but it's still a monarchy and an oath to the crown. You took training from the state, made a promise- it might likely not matter your opinions or a change of heart, your oath is still bond. Failing to show up and support the crown after bending your knee might be seen as treason even if it's unlikely that they would track down every commoner who didn't report or that their records are good enough to the point that they can even enforce this rule. An active PD who hears you're in the reserve but don't look favorably on the crown or hears you might shirk your responsibility might look unfavorably on you or cause you problems. It still makes you somewhat associated with the PDs.
Also, the stuff about oaths and service is actually from a Dragon magazine and not a first hand source book or a novel and may have not existed when the server setting was created.
I actually changed my signature a long time ago to remind me not to post in threads where Moloch has spoken already. Seriously, I, never, learn.
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I submitted my application 7 days ago. Is it normal to not hear anything by now?
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You have to take the initiative and ask from the DM team for an Update on the app yourself:
I). Wait a few days to ask about it, IRC or a forum PM to any DM who helped you draft the application is best (but any DM is happy to help).
II). If a DM raises concerns, listen to them, we often as a group know what will and will not be approved since we look at and talk over many applications.
III). If an application is denied, please ask and try to understand why, then make whatever adjustments to your playstyle or application the DM team thought was appropriate–communicate with us and we'll try to help out. -
Contacted Puffy on IRC, she said it's approved. Thanks