If you follow these guidelines, you shouldn't have to worry too much about disputes that the guild managers need to settle. Since I can't watch everybody's battle, people will have to work it out themselves and take the disputes to me. All of these rules are open to the interpretation of the game master and the crew.
1. No invulnerability, every character has a weakness, even superman has his kryptonite. In fact, keep the supermen and Goku's in another role-play if you can't tone down their powers.
2. No Irrelevant Invulnerability, such as a character who is only able to be injured if he is flung into the center of the furthest quasar of the universe. Or only a single blade of grass from the lifeless deserts of dimension x can hurt said character.
3. No Endless Power Characters, the more powerful your character, the more the limits of their abilities must be defined. No character can attack endlessly without eventually exhausting their stamina.
4. No Planet Destroyers- no, your character may not have the ability to destroy anything near the size of an entire planet here.
5. No Human Nukes- no humans with the power to unleash nuclear sized explosions from themselves. In other words, DBZ style city busting attacks are out.
6. No aim-botting and/or auto-hitting- Give your opponent a chance to react to your shots, and never ever claim a wound against your opponent in your own post. Write your post to make it seem plausible that your opponent will be hit and should be hit, but give them a chance to write there way out of it. If you must describe a wound, do it as a possibility and not an inevitability.
7. No auto dodging- The reverse of the above. If it's logical you are going to take the hit, then you have to work out a logical and reasonable way to avoid or block the hit. If it seems inevitable that you will be hit, then take the hit.
8. No speed hackers- Characters who move fast and are evasive are allowed. Characters who are not bound by the restrictions of time are not allowed. Ex: He dodged 47 bullets, drink a martini, went on three dates, ran a marathon around the world three time and came up behind you to give you an atomic wedgie before you could even squeeze the trigger.
9. Give your character relevant weaknesses- The stronger you make your character, the more necessary it is to define that character's limits so others know what they are dealing with. All characters should have at least one major weakness to be exploited.
10. All characters must have a profile in the Character Database in order to post in the Roleplay.
1. Mind control over other player characters
2. Mind control over more than a small group of NPC characters.
These powers are not forbidden, but in general are looked down upon by those who enjoy literate plot-centered role-play. Usually, these powers are subject to extreme abuse. When abused they either provide a cheap work around to a plot need or conflict and at worst lead to flagrant abuses that make realistic battle impossible because of the escalating powers scenario. In order to prevent these powers from being abused, they will be subject to general restrictions here.
This is not an okay battle move. Read the rules on speed hacking. All too easily, this move can become a speed hack, allowing the combatant to appear anywhere at will at any time. It is also a move that can not be defended against and a move that allows an invulnerability mod by using portals to redirect and dodge attacks.
Having this power outside of battle is okay if, and only if, it is not overused and the nature of the ability, how it works, and the advantages and disadvantages are explained well in the character's profile. I don't want characters teleporting all over the place, so if you have this ability don't use it in battle and use it sparingly outside.
Abuse of teleporting may cause your character to be given a one in five chance of being thrown into a vicious realm called the Fade, with little hope of return.
Instant healing takes the drama out of the battle and the story. The problem is, healing is never "easy" or "instant", and shouldn't be played that way.
1. No instant healing.
2. No automatically healing as you fight.
3. Healing spells will be conducted as any other elemental or magical ability. They will require effort, writing, and justification.
4. Healing spells will require a post of inaction if the wound is beyond a minor flesh wound such as a scratch, minor abrasion, or shallow cut.
5. Spells to relieve fatigue will require a post of inaction.
6. All combatants are generally considered faster natural healers automatically unless otherwise noted. But they are not to heal miraculously from devastating wounds the day after battle. The natural time for the body to heal should be considered when taking recuperative abilities into account.
7. Acceptable ways to heal faster after an intense battle include, resting for a long time, hospitalization, care from a white mage, or the use of acceptable healing items. A good white mage would be the fastest way to heal, as these specialized healers can heal a broken body that would normally not heal completely and have it healthy within a few days.
8. In most cases, healing powers should only be held by saints, white mages, and in limited cases paladins. None of these classes have limitless healing powers, too much healing work will cause fatigue and injury for even the most powerful healer.
9. In battle, a healer character other than a white mage can do things to suppress pain and bleeding. The mending of the actual wound will take a post or two of inactivity and will be limited to one or two major wounds, anything worse than a cut or scratch. A broken bone, a stab, is a major wound. This will force combatants with healing powers to use them sparingly.
10. White Mages are a specialized class that can not use any other magical powers besides healing. Defense and attack factors in fighting should generally be weaker in most cases as well.
1. The summoner will not use the summon as an excuse to play anything that breaks general conduct rules.
2. The summoner will describe monsters summoned in detail with attacks and abilities as if they were separate characters of their own right. There is no limit to how many monsters or beings can be listed in your profile. List everything you summon and what they do IN YOUR PROFILE.
3. The summoner will describe items summoned in detail. Items will be described in terms of what they can be used for, and what they can do.
4. Items can be summoned before battle in whatever quantity is reasonable for the user the carry.
5. One monster can be summoned before battle to have ready for combat.
6. In battle, the summoner will have to take an action in order to summon or switch summons, no instant-summoning.
7. As a general rule of thumb, no more than three summons in any single battle. The same rules apply to those who summon inanimate objects.
8. Summoning requires energy, the more powerful the summon, the more energy used. If you are summoning without penalty, something isn't Kosher, it's like being hit without taking damage.
9. Summoners can rarely fight in tandem with monsters. Unless there is a proven level of cooperation and plot backing, the summoner must exert a strong effort to command and control the summoned monster.
It's called God-modding for a reason. So if you want to play a god, I have to lay down a few ground rules.
1. Your avatar is in human form, you can call forth many of your godly powers and forms if they do not break the over-arching rules, but you still have a human form that can be taxed. This doesn't make you weak, it just keeps you from being invulnerable.
2. Responsibility. You have to take serious responsibility and have epic intentions for your character.
3. The rules still apply, just because your character is the incarnation of a god does not mean that your character is invulnerable, can heal automatically, speed hack, etc.
4. You are not omniscient, there are ways of knowing things, but you or your character do not and can not know everything.
I love shape-shifters and powers involving such, but this is another ability that can easily be overpowered.
1. Shifting to a more powerful character will be considered having a superior form and will be subject to a different set of rules.
2. Shifters will generally only be able to change form into something of equal or lesser status than their original form.
3. Shifting in battle requires an action without an attack, it also requires a fatigue cost.
1. Any form that is greater than the original must be detailed in the profile with all attacks, skills, and abilities.
2. Any form that changes abilities for versatility of attack options is considered a superior form and must be detailed in the profile.
3. A superior form can not break any rules of role-play conduct or use any forbidden attacks.
4. In battle, you can only level up your form twice. Each time you do so will require the same procedure as summoning.
1. Define them in your profile.
2. Give them a range.
3. Give them an area of affect.
4. Give them a power rating.
5. It will be assumed that elemental powers require effort and have a fatigue cost.
6. For powers that are incredibly strong, balance them with a detailed fatigue cost or other negative affect.
1. Anyone who phases, becoming a gas or unable to interact with matter, will be subject to the unbound-balance-bounds rule. As they are no longer subject to the laws of physics or affected by matter, they are no longer affected by gravity. The planet will run ahead them, and they will be flung into space. If they are still bound to gravity completely, they will be sucked to the center of the earth beyond hope of return.
2. In short, you phase, roll a three sided dice, you have a one in three chance of being able to use your powers as intended.
3. When phasing in battle you are subject to this rule every time you go in an out of phasing.
4. In short, this bans phasing without completely banning it.
Don't Godmodd. Just Don't
1. No invulnerability, every character has a weakness, even superman has his kryptonite. In fact, keep the supermen and Goku's in another role-play if you can't tone down their powers.
2. No Irrelevant Invulnerability, such as a character who is only able to be injured if he is flung into the center of the furthest quasar of the universe. Or only a single blade of grass from the lifeless deserts of dimension x can hurt said character.
3. No Endless Power Characters, the more powerful your character, the more the limits of their abilities must be defined. No character can attack endlessly without eventually exhausting their stamina.
4. No Planet Destroyers- no, your character may not have the ability to destroy anything near the size of an entire planet here.
5. No Human Nukes- no humans with the power to unleash nuclear sized explosions from themselves. In other words, DBZ style city busting attacks are out.
6. No aim-botting and/or auto-hitting- Give your opponent a chance to react to your shots, and never ever claim a wound against your opponent in your own post. Write your post to make it seem plausible that your opponent will be hit and should be hit, but give them a chance to write there way out of it. If you must describe a wound, do it as a possibility and not an inevitability.
7. No auto dodging- The reverse of the above. If it's logical you are going to take the hit, then you have to work out a logical and reasonable way to avoid or block the hit. If it seems inevitable that you will be hit, then take the hit.
8. No speed hackers- Characters who move fast and are evasive are allowed. Characters who are not bound by the restrictions of time are not allowed. Ex: He dodged 47 bullets, drink a martini, went on three dates, ran a marathon around the world three time and came up behind you to give you an atomic wedgie before you could even squeeze the trigger.
9. Give your character relevant weaknesses- The stronger you make your character, the more necessary it is to define that character's limits so others know what they are dealing with. All characters should have at least one major weakness to be exploited.
10. All characters must have a profile in the Character Database in order to post in the Roleplay.
Forbidden Powers
1. Mind control over other player characters
2. Mind control over more than a small group of NPC characters.
Restricted Power Sets
These powers are not forbidden, but in general are looked down upon by those who enjoy literate plot-centered role-play. Usually, these powers are subject to extreme abuse. When abused they either provide a cheap work around to a plot need or conflict and at worst lead to flagrant abuses that make realistic battle impossible because of the escalating powers scenario. In order to prevent these powers from being abused, they will be subject to general restrictions here.
Teleportation
This is not an okay battle move. Read the rules on speed hacking. All too easily, this move can become a speed hack, allowing the combatant to appear anywhere at will at any time. It is also a move that can not be defended against and a move that allows an invulnerability mod by using portals to redirect and dodge attacks.
Having this power outside of battle is okay if, and only if, it is not overused and the nature of the ability, how it works, and the advantages and disadvantages are explained well in the character's profile. I don't want characters teleporting all over the place, so if you have this ability don't use it in battle and use it sparingly outside.
Abuse of teleporting may cause your character to be given a one in five chance of being thrown into a vicious realm called the Fade, with little hope of return.
Healing
Instant healing takes the drama out of the battle and the story. The problem is, healing is never "easy" or "instant", and shouldn't be played that way.
1. No instant healing.
2. No automatically healing as you fight.
3. Healing spells will be conducted as any other elemental or magical ability. They will require effort, writing, and justification.
4. Healing spells will require a post of inaction if the wound is beyond a minor flesh wound such as a scratch, minor abrasion, or shallow cut.
5. Spells to relieve fatigue will require a post of inaction.
6. All combatants are generally considered faster natural healers automatically unless otherwise noted. But they are not to heal miraculously from devastating wounds the day after battle. The natural time for the body to heal should be considered when taking recuperative abilities into account.
7. Acceptable ways to heal faster after an intense battle include, resting for a long time, hospitalization, care from a white mage, or the use of acceptable healing items. A good white mage would be the fastest way to heal, as these specialized healers can heal a broken body that would normally not heal completely and have it healthy within a few days.
8. In most cases, healing powers should only be held by saints, white mages, and in limited cases paladins. None of these classes have limitless healing powers, too much healing work will cause fatigue and injury for even the most powerful healer.
9. In battle, a healer character other than a white mage can do things to suppress pain and bleeding. The mending of the actual wound will take a post or two of inactivity and will be limited to one or two major wounds, anything worse than a cut or scratch. A broken bone, a stab, is a major wound. This will force combatants with healing powers to use them sparingly.
10. White Mages are a specialized class that can not use any other magical powers besides healing. Defense and attack factors in fighting should generally be weaker in most cases as well.
Summoning
1. The summoner will not use the summon as an excuse to play anything that breaks general conduct rules.
2. The summoner will describe monsters summoned in detail with attacks and abilities as if they were separate characters of their own right. There is no limit to how many monsters or beings can be listed in your profile. List everything you summon and what they do IN YOUR PROFILE.
3. The summoner will describe items summoned in detail. Items will be described in terms of what they can be used for, and what they can do.
4. Items can be summoned before battle in whatever quantity is reasonable for the user the carry.
5. One monster can be summoned before battle to have ready for combat.
6. In battle, the summoner will have to take an action in order to summon or switch summons, no instant-summoning.
7. As a general rule of thumb, no more than three summons in any single battle. The same rules apply to those who summon inanimate objects.
8. Summoning requires energy, the more powerful the summon, the more energy used. If you are summoning without penalty, something isn't Kosher, it's like being hit without taking damage.
9. Summoners can rarely fight in tandem with monsters. Unless there is a proven level of cooperation and plot backing, the summoner must exert a strong effort to command and control the summoned monster.
Gods & Demi-Gods
It's called God-modding for a reason. So if you want to play a god, I have to lay down a few ground rules.
1. Your avatar is in human form, you can call forth many of your godly powers and forms if they do not break the over-arching rules, but you still have a human form that can be taxed. This doesn't make you weak, it just keeps you from being invulnerable.
2. Responsibility. You have to take serious responsibility and have epic intentions for your character.
3. The rules still apply, just because your character is the incarnation of a god does not mean that your character is invulnerable, can heal automatically, speed hack, etc.
4. You are not omniscient, there are ways of knowing things, but you or your character do not and can not know everything.
Shape-shifters
I love shape-shifters and powers involving such, but this is another ability that can easily be overpowered.
1. Shifting to a more powerful character will be considered having a superior form and will be subject to a different set of rules.
2. Shifters will generally only be able to change form into something of equal or lesser status than their original form.
3. Shifting in battle requires an action without an attack, it also requires a fatigue cost.
Superior Forms
1. Any form that is greater than the original must be detailed in the profile with all attacks, skills, and abilities.
2. Any form that changes abilities for versatility of attack options is considered a superior form and must be detailed in the profile.
3. A superior form can not break any rules of role-play conduct or use any forbidden attacks.
4. In battle, you can only level up your form twice. Each time you do so will require the same procedure as summoning.
Elemental Powers
1. Define them in your profile.
2. Give them a range.
3. Give them an area of affect.
4. Give them a power rating.
5. It will be assumed that elemental powers require effort and have a fatigue cost.
6. For powers that are incredibly strong, balance them with a detailed fatigue cost or other negative affect.
Phasing
1. Anyone who phases, becoming a gas or unable to interact with matter, will be subject to the unbound-balance-bounds rule. As they are no longer subject to the laws of physics or affected by matter, they are no longer affected by gravity. The planet will run ahead them, and they will be flung into space. If they are still bound to gravity completely, they will be sucked to the center of the earth beyond hope of return.
2. In short, you phase, roll a three sided dice, you have a one in three chance of being able to use your powers as intended.
3. When phasing in battle you are subject to this rule every time you go in an out of phasing.
4. In short, this bans phasing without completely banning it.
