Well, hello there. <waves off all the General Grievous memes>

This will be my first of some semi-frequent reports I'll be doing to update the club at large on what's going on in the world of the DGM. In this report specifically, I'll be giving a brief refresher on who I am for the kids in the back and then share what I've been directed to accomplish and what I've decided to add to my workload.

Let's strap in.

Table of Contents

• Who's This Guy?
  
• Make The Plan, Execute The Plan, Expect The Plan To Go Off The Rails...Throw Away The Plan
  
• Important Links
  

Who's This Guy?

I really didn't want to write this. It's boring and feels like propaganda. Worse, it's propaganda I have to write on behalf of myself. But, I was reminded that we have a lot of extremely active new blood in the club and it might not be the worst thing ever if I remind everyone who I am. And hey, it's just a minor boon for everyone else that this annoys me! So, enjoy that.

To start, my dossier is just over 13 years old, making me curmudgeonly. Not as much as Howie, but I digress. In that time, I've spent a total of approximately 15.25 years serving in various positions. Yes, that number is bigger than the first one. That is possible through the magic of concurrent positions! That's something a few other members have subjected themselves to as well. (I see you, Nora) What that actually means other than denoting me as that which has no life, is that I have had a hand in a great many of the systems this club offers. That gives me perspective and knowledge. Knowledge that hopefully means I never incur James' wrath by breaking the back end. It also means I care a great deal about the success of this club.

So, let's do the quick and dirty of me and my. I spent the beginning as a member of Clan Naga Sadow and took my first leadership position as a Quaestor while only being a spunky Jedi Hunter (that's JM3). From there, it's been an oddity for me to be unpositioned. I went on to be Proconsul for Naga Sadow (developing the first Brocons with Marick [Wally] over in Arcona as we shared our secret methods) while becoming a presence in the Fist staff with the rise of SWTOR. Time kept on ticking and I found myself drawn to the ACC staff. I have always been first and foremost a combat author. Prior to joining the DJB, I was in charge of resolving disputes over combat encounters in a Star Wars RP group on MSN Groups. Fast forward, and I ended up serving as Evant's Praetor to the Voice and then Combat Master under and yet adjacent to Wally. More tape scratching as we increase the velocity later and I ended up temporarily Mav's Praetor to the Grand Master when I recognized I was tired and doing more stagnation as Combat Master than progress. Then I took over Regent, which makes sense since the Possessions system's creation process was one of my primary focuses alongside Evant back then. And then we come to my role as Justicar later, which was entrusted to me by way of nomination and confirmed by voting twice over.

And now we stand here.

It's easy to lose perspective when you're always working in high level positions. That's why I've always pushed myself to be active in a variety of chats and always engaging with the membership, regardless of how new or old a person might be. You're all the same to me, at the end of the day. Some of you just yell louder. From more chats. That I'm stuck in. But hey, there's beer.

There's a few things I've always believed in that I carry with me to this day as a leader in this club. First of all, I'm always available to talk. Doesn't matter what it's about, I won't laugh you out of the room or knock you down. Ask and I shall answer in the same spirit. Other than that, I believe strongly in collaboration and know that we're all volunteers here. Not a single one of us is paid. That means we all are paying the club with our time. Time, as we all know, is precious. It should be valued.

That's that. I don't want to type more about this. Leave me alone, this isn't TMZ!

Make The Plan, Execute The Plan, Expect The Plan To Go Off The Rails...Throw Away The Plan

Vendetta Oversight and Seasonal Development

This one falls under "officially assigned tasks". Historically, other than stepping in for the Grand Master during times of vacation or disappearance, the Deputy Grand Master is charged with running vendettas. That means organizing the Council, the comps, theme, and all the things. You know, that thing I just did not too long ago. So I expect more of that! However, we are looking at a major change to how we do vendettas in the club. We want to let it ferment more. Breathe a little. Now, before there are a series of aggressive flashbacks, we are not going on a Crusade. What we're initially thinking is closer to what some might be familiar with from the Destiny 2 platform. A story and a battlepass that slow burns over a period of time rather than a singular bursts of activity and story out of nowhere like the current system.

I can't say too much about this as it's a very new concept we've been kicking around the back porch and we need to get into the grit of it. Which is, well, my job. And one I will be taking seriously.

What Would You Say You...Do Around Here? A Magistrate's Tale

Yeah, so, it's been a hot minute since I was in a position that had magistrates on the roster. I was Regent back then and had a rotating staff which is a concept that has continued to this day. However, I looked upon it in my "why is this happening to me?" stupor and realized...Deputy Grand Master doesn't really lend itself to magistrates or a praetor. Like, what would they do? DGM is a flighty gig where you're chasing fires or overseeing projects and cracking the whip. Are they going to be my secretary? Do I need one of those?

The answer to these questions and more is "no". But I didn't want to leave it like that.

In talking with the Council, we're going to be trying something new. I'm going to use my magistrate positions sparingly and on a temporary basis. Namely, they're going to be interns. Periodically I will be touching base with the Councilors and seeing if they are at a point in project development where they need more hands to make light work. At that time I will put out a call for applicants and also work with the Councilor in question to review these. Then, the M:DGM will be appointed and run straight into the burning forest with all the gear I can pile on.

This lets more members get a taste of the various Council level offices without the usual battle for a staff slot. Those are dedicated positions that take care of a lot of back end and not just projects, so those remain entirely in the full control of their Councillor. The M:DGM also will not have access to those systems. But, you get to be a fly on the wall and work with great people to get experience and maybe it will leave you wanting to try more. Or maybe even snag an open leadership slot yourselves.

Stay tuned for this one, as I can't promise any sort of cadence and they will be temporary.

Synergization

This is the last thing I'm officially planning, and it will be the first thing I'm enacting as of today.

We've always had some measure of Story Group at the highest levels of this club. We talk, the Voice types, and we meme. But we're only a few and we don't see everything. For all this time we have put the heavy lifting on the Consuls to integrate our story into theirs. Some do it with grace, others do their own thing. That's okay. The Consuls may serve at the pleasure of the Grand Master, but they ultimately are serving their members. They should be crafting the best experience for those people at all times and not just jumping through the hoops we toss at them. That's a good thing. So we need a space to get that flow of responsibility working in both directions.

What does this mean? Well, I tried it once. Long ago as a wee little Praetor. I emailed all the Consuls and asked to try and coordinate with the Voice office. Email is...not the way. But hey, what have we here? This Discord thing is pretty neat. And it's working out pretty well for the Story Group. What if we...no, that's crazy. You're crazy. I'm crazy. Well let's do crazy!

We are going to be creating a similar chat group for the Voice and Consuls. In this group, Consuls can share what they're up to fictionally with each other and the Voice. With time and effort, we can connect each other's threads and create a more synergistic story for the club that is impacted by what the members are doing and not just when a big event drops on them.

That's my hope anyway.

Beyond this, we'll also be attempting a shared calendar at the top-level where clans and councilors will block out time they are planning events for. This will in no way prevent a clan from running things when and how they want, but it will arm them with knowledge. Only armed with that, and steady communication, can we all work together to craft the best member experience we can.

Last Word

THE LAST WORD IS MINE! MUAHAHAHAHA!

Jokes aside, I'm really excited. There's very few things I've actively wanted in this club and quite recently in fact that checklist has shrunk to one item only. The rest have been crossed off. I truly hope to prove myself as not Dacien's Deputy Grand Master, but the Brotherhood's Deputy Grand Master. I'm yours, people, because without you we're just up here yelling at each other. And, one day, I want to cross off that last item and serve you all as a Grand Master worth the votes.

Also, I'm totally not planning to kill Bubba. Have a nice day.

Important Links

• Dark Brotherhood Chat Policies
• Policies Category

Thank you for reading and remember: any questions relating to Brotherhood policies or if you just want to chat about any concerns, feel free to reach out by email ([Log in to view e-mail addresses]) or hit me up on Discord..