Rules of the RPG

1) No Autoing:

Autoing is controlling someone else's character (writing their thoughts or actions) without the permission of their player. This 'get their permission' guideline also applies to *extreme* contact with other player's characters.

You cannot kill, maim, etc... another person's character unless their player has agreed to it. In the similar vein, details of physical fights between characters should be worked out between the players ooc, (including what is and is not allowable damage); this will help prevent ooc fights in the long run.

Less serious actions don't require permission.

Note: When it comes to a Kindred character using a discipline on a mortal character, if
the vampire isn't intending on hurting them they don't really need the player's permission (feeding on them doesn't count as injuring them as long as they're careful about how much they drink). The only exception is if the mortal has a merit that protects them from this (which MUST be noted on their profile)



2) No Meta-Gaming:

Meta-gaming is when your character has knowledge that you as a player has but your character should or could NOT have. If the character investigates and discovers this knowledge over the course of the story is one thing...or if they have ways of obtaining information clearly stated in their profile (telepathy... etc, that's allowed...but don't push it *too* far). If they just *happen* to suddenly know what they realistically couldn't have, then it's considered meta-gaming. It takes a lot of the fun out of the game.

3) No God-Mode:

This is basically common sense,but NO character is all-powerful or the most important here, and even though most characters will have supernatural powers, they will ALWAYS have weaknesses to offset those strengths. No mini-gods please! (So yes, while you can make an older vampire, unless the character is extremely well-written it's unlikely I'll approve one who happens to be *too* old and powerful.

4) No Character Clones:

PLEASE READ ALL APPROVED CHARACTER PROFILES BEFORE YOU MAKE YOUR CHARACTER!

While I'm not going to say that characters can't share a few things in common...if I read a submitted application and notice that it has 4 or more factors identical or very similar to a pre-existing
character... then I'll consider that character cloning and will politely ask you to tweak it before approving the character. The more unique and diverse characters we have in the game...the more interesting the story will be.


5) Writing Style:

The writing style used in this rpg will be third person. (example: Kyle walked down the street, glaring at Larry over his shoulder). This takes longer to write than script-style, first person, etc...but it also forces the writer to put more thought and detail into the posts, and makes for a better rpg in my opinion.

6) Posting Order:

This will usually only become a matter of concern in cases when more than two characters are in the same scene (same scene would be the same room, in the same car, etc...) with each other. If player A was the first to post in that scene, and player B responded, and then player C joined their thread, then that is the order that the players will post in. All of us have real lives and concerns outside the digital world, and we can't always post five minutes after the player before us takes their turn. As a result, despite the temptation, do NOT jump your turn if you are part of a posting order. Have the courtesy to wait until the person ahead of you has gone before you make your own post. The exception to this rule is if the player ahead of you gives you permission to skip their turn.


7) Posting Response time:

As a general rule, players are required to post at least once every day once their character(s) have been interacted with. This is to keep the rpg from stalling out. This is the bare minimum to be considered a contributing member of the rpg. Ideally you'll post more than that, as the more posts that are made each day, the further and faster the plot will go. If you're sick, going out of town, or otherwise unable to post within the time-frame, just let me know before you disappear, and your character can be moved out of the scene. For a longer real-life absence that might make your character unavailable for a longer period of time...an in-game excuse can be provided to explain why the character isn't around.

Another alternative to the "Jim went out of town on a business meeting" approach is you can temporarily hand your character over to another, trusted player to temporarily play for you until you return (but ONLY do this if you trust the other player implicitly and feel they have an excellent grasp on your character.

If two (real life) weeks go by without a player posting, and no warning or explanation has been given to the moderator, their character(s) will be considered abandoned and will be removed from the story. (This can vary from a brief post saying they decided to leave town, to outright being killed for the sake of plot drama).

Please read ALL new posts!!

Not just the ones revolving around your character(s). Other posts may be referenced at a later date or when people who were in other scenes are interacting with your character at a later time. And knowledge of prior posts will help your own knowledge of what's going on! If you've been swamped with
real life and need a recap of what you missed, feel free to contact me and I'll be glad to fill you in if necessary.

9) This is an adult RPG (Duh)

The World of Darkness is a grim, gritty place. As such this game will contain mature language, violence, and sexual content. If you can't handle that, or are under the age of 16, then don't play. That said, the point of the RPG isn't to have a constant gore-fest or all sex, all the time.


10) If you're having a bad day...

do NOT take it out on fellow players or the Moderators. If you're angry or upset and can't post without being nasty to other players through your characters (unless being nasty to people IS in character for them...), then simply don't post that day. (just slap up an ooc note so we know you haven't just vanished). You can also skip your turn in a posting order if you can't think of anything to say/do, and let the person ahead of you go ahead.

11) 3 strikes and you're out

Every new member should read the rules before they do anything else. (I realize there are a lot of them...but I like to cover all bases). If you've actually read the rules, you shouldn't have any problems at all.

If you break a rule, you get a warning, if you break it again, or another
one, you'll get a second warning. With the third offense...that's it. You're out of
here. (The exception to this is if you do something incredibly rude like flame another player, *mega* character control, etc. In that case you'll be booted immediately. )

12) Character limits:

As of right now, I'm allowing players to play up to 3 characters. If later on I have enough base characters to keep the game running smoothly or you've proven yourself to be a reliable poster...then I'll probably allow you to have more if you like. If you don't think you can keep up with multiple posts for multiple characters, your best bet is to stick to 1 or 2.

On a related note...Be creative! Ghouls, Police officers, scientists, vampire hunters, reporters, strippers, bartenders, students, criminals...a mortal character can be just as interesting as any vampire if they're well thought out and well-written. Not to mention if you see a vampire character you'd liked to have ghoul or Embrace your character, it might be fun to have them start off as a normal human and role-play their journey out.

13) Lurkers...

Severely bug me...especially when I need more characters to run the game. In general, if you're not intending on actually participating in the rpg, then don't join. If you need ideas/help with a character, post a note on the general discussion board or e-mail me, I don't bite (unless someone really deserves it).


14) OOC issues with other players

If you have an issue with another player....e-mail me about it or drop me a private message. Now, just because you don't like another player's *character*, it doesn't mean you should be nasty to their player, but if you're having a major ooc problem with another person, I'll try my best to resolve it.


15) And the most important rule...

Have fun! That's what RPGs are for!