What’s Available

Character Features

Almost every member of the club has a character sheet describing their Brotherhood persona. Progressing through the Brotherhood’s various ranks and societies will give you many more options for your character sheet, including slots to have sheets for multiple characters simultaneously. Increasing your rank will give you more points to spend on Skills and Force Powers and allow you to select more Feats, including some that were previously inaccessible.

You can learn more about character sheets and how they work here.

Possessions

There are many hundreds of items in the possessions system, allowing you to customize your character’s gear, ship, and even droids or animal companions. Some possessions are awarded automatically as you complete certain milestones, but most are bought with credits. Some rare or powerful items require both payment and a certain achievement to purchase.

Learn more about how possessions work here.

Custom Art

The Herald and their staff provide custom art for members to display on their dossiers. This comes in three variations:

Warbanners are accessible to members who have progressed through the entry-level ranks. A warbanner includes a custom image in front of a background and tassets and sashes that show off the member’s accomplishments. Warbanners are available beginning at the rank of JM2, with new ranks and achievements unlocking more options for customization. Members may request a new warbanner every three months. More information is available here.

Weapons were traditionally lightsabers, though in recent years many members have chosen to have blasters or other weapons instead. A single custom weapon is unlocked at the rank of EQ2, with more options at higher ranks. Members may request a new weapon graphic every six months. More information is available here for lightsabers and here for other weapons.

Robes is a catch-all term for all armor or clothing. Custom robes are the rarest of unique graphics, given only to Elders and sitting members of the club’s senior leadership. Occasionally, the Herald will award custom robes to winners of art competitions. More information is available here.

Premade Art

For members who don’t have custom art, the club provides hundreds of designs for members to display on their dossier, split between slots for weapons, armor/clothing, and accessories. Most of these are tied to a specific rank, though many are exclusive to certain societies or even individual clans.

Honorifics

Finally, you have the ability to display two honorifics as part of your character name on your dossier. You will automatically unlock new honorifics as you progress through ranks and society ranks.

How to Advance

Many of the features just described are unlocked based on your rank. This section describes ranks, as well as the two currencies used to advance.

Rank

The most obvious indicator of status in the club is your Rank. There are 17 different ranks, divided into five tiers. New members start off working through the four Novitiate ranks (NV1-NV4), followed by the four Journeyman ranks (JM1-JM4). Historically, JM4 (Knight, Professional, or Captain) was considered the benchmark for being a fully vetted member of the club. Most active members are Equites in ranks EQ1-EQ4.

Members who have invested significant work into the club over many years are Elders (EL1-EL4). Elder ranks are unusual in that they cannot be unlocked through XP alone, only through a combination of activity and service and at the discretion of the Grand Master. Likewise, current and former leaders of the club are given the exclusive rank of Grand Master.

Every new rank you reach will reward you with more points to spend on your character sheets, new dossier art, and a major payday in credits. Many ranks unlock new feats and art customization options.

Experience

All ranks up to and including Equite 4 are earned through experience points, commonly called XP. You are given XP for most site-tracked activities automatically. Every competition you enter, every story you write or multiplayer match you submit, will earn you experience towards your next rank. Performing service to the club through holding a position or doing a project can earn you awards, which provide a large amount of bonus experience.

Complete information on XP awards can be found here.

Credits

Much like XP, credits can be earned through a wide variety of everyday activities. You also receive a small salary based on your rank and any positions you hold. Finally, every promotion and award you receive will also give you credits. Credits are primarily used to purchase items for your characters through the possessions system, but can also be used to purchase additional character slots once you’ve met the rank requirement for them.

Complete information on credit awards can be found here.

Medals

The various medals reward your accomplishments with XP and credits.

Clusters recognize basic, recurring activity. Different clusters are awarded for gaming with other members, writing fiction or text roleplaying content, or making art.

Crescents are awarded for placing in Brotherhood competitions. Depending on how many people enter a competition, crescents may be awarded to as many as seven participants.

Merit Awards can be given in recognition of your overall activity as a member, as a reward for completing a project or staff work, or for a combination of the two. When you have enough experience to be eligible for an award, your clan summit will recommend it to the Master-at-Arms and you will receive the award and a nice credit payout to go with it. Merits that are awarded in part or entirely for service to the club will also provide you with XP.

Sacramental Awards are given for major project or staff work, typically to positioned leaders. Most sacramentals cannot be earned through regular participation alone, but only through striving to make the Brotherhood a better place for other members. Sacramentals award a very large amount of experience and credits.

Societies

Societies are dedicated to different forms of activity. In-universe, the societies serve various functions, but their primary purpose is to provide unique awards, experience, and credits as members explore different facets of the Brotherhood.

Each society has a series of ranks, and progressing through the different ranks will earn you increasingly more XP and credits as well as unique rewards. Each society has its own Shadow Academy course outlining how to advance through its ranks.

The current societies include:

The Grand Master’s Royal Guard (GMRG) a group of elite warriors. The GMRG is focused on multiplayer gaming and rewards members with weapons, armor, and other equipment. Advance through the GMRG by gaming with other Brotherhood members and submitting screenshots from finished matches through the website, entering or running gaming competitions, and working for the Fist. You can learn more about the GMRG here.

The Aurora Collegium of Sciences (ACS) is a group of adventurers and scholars. The ACS is focused on the Shadow Academy and rewards members with specialized equipment and extra slots for their characters’ known languages and expertise. Advance through the ACS by completing SA courses and degrees. You can learn more about the ACS here.

The Inquisitorius (INQ) is the Brotherhood’s intelligence service and secret police force. The Inquisitorius is focused on fiction and rewards members with weapons, armor, and special character feats. Advance through the Inquisitorius by writing, entering or running fiction competitions, participating in the Antei Combat Center, or working for the Voice. You can learn more about the Inquisitorius here.

The Shroud Syndicate (SYN) is a criminal cartel of smugglers and bounty hunters. The Syndicate is focused on art and graphics and rewards members with special armor and equipment. You can learn more about the Syndicate here.

The Envoy Corps is a group of diplomats who undertake missions to improve the Brotherhood's standing throughout known space. The Envoy Corps is the Brotherhood's first "Supplemental Society," with separate advancement paths for participating in and organizing chat-based roleplaying. You can learn more about the Corps here.

Tracking Your Progress

Once you’re logged into the site, click on your username at the top right corner of the page and select “Administration” and you will see a series of progress bars at the top of the page.

The top bar shows how much XP you have and how much you will need to advance to the next rank. Below it, you’ll see four individual bars for each of the four societies. To learn more about what you need to do to advance in each society, look for the “Society Progress” link on your Administration page.

For each society you’ll see your current society rank and description of what you need to do to advance on the left. On the right, you’ll see a brief description of what rewards you’ll get when you reach the next society rank. For more details on both the requirements and rewards, click on the ? button at the top right of the box and it will take you to the DJBWiki page on that society.

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Zxyl Bes'uliik’s armor, made by Aylin Sajark for Zxyl Bes'uliik.

Other art created by the Herald office.