Roleplay Rules
- The RP is conducted in English, and proficiency is required for full enjoyment. Because we do not rely on stats or otherwise number based systems, clarity and quality are extremely important to a great experience.
- General activity expectation for a thread is one post a week at minimum. If it’s missed
once, the player in question can be
skipped over for that round, at the discretion of the thread creator. If missed
twice in the same thread; the player can (again at the discretion of the thread creator) be
removed from the thread itself, and may need to resolve an alternative IC outcome with the other participants.
The purpose of this rule is not to enforce a minimum level of activity, but to encourage communication among members and manage expectations.
Of course,
things happen! If something comes up and you can’t make it, just let the person running it know so they can make suitable arrangements - people are usually more than happy to do so, once they know your circumstances.
- Posts are to be written in
third person, past-tense format.
- Players are limited to
four Player Characters, who are typically not to be placed on the same side in a conflict (though case-by-case exceptions may be made). These could be considered the "Main Characters" of the overall plot, and whom the action revolves around. There are currently no limits on the number of NPCs, but those with major story importance should be reviewed with the story administrator.
- Your character's inventory, possessions, and development progress (Special moves learned, proficiencies with systems, etc.) should be
listed under the Character Journals section. While there is no established format, it's recommended to keep a list of threads your character shows growth in, in order to better catalogue it.
-Each player character may use
one mobile weapon, or in some cases, a pair or
group of associated series (Chokijin, SRX components, etc.) up to a maximum of three consisting of one player slot, subject to approval.
-
Do Not God-mod
God modding is when a character features god-like abilities, such as invincibility, mind control, or other unrealistic powers that might not fit with lore. Another form is when your character does something impossible that could kill them.
Example:
"Eric would grab the sharp edge of the sword with his bare hand, not having his palm or fingers cut in half."
Another example:
"Luke would punch his opponent chest, despite it being covered with armor, it would break through and impale him despite not having any enhancement, or damage him in any way."
-
Do Not Meta game
Meta gaming is when a player applies out of character retrieved information to their in-character, such as having information that only several in-characters players knows, and you obtained it without having your character there, or by just hearing it from others out of character.
Example: A player watches a role-play about a secret item, that only they would know. That said player would enter a role-play with them talking about the items, which he doesn't know of.
-
Do Not Auto (Auto hit, Auto walk, etc)
Auto is when a player performs an action without giving the affected players a chance to respond to those around him. More advanced role-players will go into detail with their actions and emphasize their attempts.
Example:
"John grabs the target by the neck and headbutts them."
- Do Not Lore break
Lore breaking is when a character breaks lore, which is anything that likely affects a character or scenario. The basis for these commonalities is origin, culture, and known historical events. Lorebending, a similar term, is when existing lore is lightly modified (Hence the term lore bending), but not significantly or in a way that detracts from the role-playing experience. Often this has to do with ideas that are neither supported nor contradicted by existing lore.
Example:
"Broaven the Rellekan sailor is an established water mage and heads into the settlement to meet up with his other shipmates and use his magic to help them on their next trip."
- Do Not Power-play
Power-playing occurs when a player operates someone's character without the other player's consent. The most blatant example of this would be a player writing, "Your character falls off the cliff when he walks up to it." As you can see, you take active control of what the other character does. Not only is this not fair to the other player, but it's also discouraged because often players will misconstrue the behaviors and personalities of characters they didn't design. Power playing goes into more subtle situations, however.
Saying,
"Sally charges towards Jack so fast that he wouldn't be able to react enough to avoid it," can also be considered a violation of this rule since Sally's player has controlled Jack's abilities, possibly in a way that doesn't accurately represent his character.
- Do Not Play Mary-Sues or Gary-Stus
A Mary-Sue is a specific kind of character that has a lot of feats, and no flaws. A Mary-Sue is any character (of any gender, age, race, or species) who fits one or more of these descriptions:
A character who’s too perfect, lacking realistic or logical flaws, or whose flaws do not affect them in any ways.
A character who’s exactly like their creator, except idealized or made “better”.
A character who’s far too powerful, especially whose abilities exceed that which is possible for his/her race in the setting of the story. Particularly if said character has abilities that do not exist within the boundaries of the story’s world. Often these characters are technically legitimate, but are very, "Look at how unique and cool I am!"
A character who’s cliched, having qualities or characteristics that are overused by people trying to have a powerful/perfect/cool character.