[TOWN] Town Guidelines (please read)

[wxdruid]

Welcome to the Town

This is a place where you create a character and roleplay him/her/it across the threads. Your character can range from a Human to a Tarrasque to an Orc or whatever you can dream of. There are endless possibilities. The goal is to have fun and RP with anyone in Town. The topics listed below are to help YOU integrate your character into the Town population and to help you have fun. If you have any questions just PM or ask a council member, we are here to help everyone.

Council Members

Council Members

none currently

Topics

The Town Council
PC’s and NPC’s: Creation, Development and Interaction
TIAP (Town Indoctrination and Apprentice Program)
Godmodding: What it is and How to Avoid it
Plots: How to Create and Interact with them
Threads: Overview, Creating, Populating and Plotting
Town Law
Election Guidelines
Definitions and Acronyms

[AmberVael]

Town Council
The Council is a group of seven regular role players who have been elected into office by their peers. Their job consists of giving general help to anyone who needs it (and looking pretty :smallwink:). If you have a question, bring it to a council member and they can help. If it is a large question, bring it to the town hall thread where the entire council (And any interested Town folks) can discuss it.
Mainly the Council is consulted when someone wishes to create a large plot, as stated in the plot section, but if you would like to suggest changes to town, they are good people to ask.
One of these members is the current town Mayor. The Mayor is a shiny council member who is the main voice of the council, and in reality has little more power than the rest of the council. However, they have been elected alone out of everyone else, so they are normally the most experienced and knowledgeable (not to mention friendly) of the lot of Council members, which is saying something.
Note that the Council members have no TRUE authority besides what you give them. They are not Mods, they have not been appointed by Rich Burlew, and they were elected by people in the town. They can disapprove of something, and you can ignore them if you really feel compelled to. They are, however, knowledgeable about Town and freeform role playing, so I would advise listening to them, since they do know what they are talking about.

[AmberVael]

PC’s and NPC’s: Creation, Development and Interaction
PC Characters: These are what make this town run, what give it something to actually do. Without characters, there would be nothing.
Character Creation is a very interesting process. Here is what I suggest:
1) Come up with a general idea. Not too general, and perhaps with some certain interesting details, but nothing really set. Give him a decent background explanation, but not a very rigid one. If you are into DnD type stuff, maybe write up some stats for him just so you can get an estimate of what he can do.
2) Post your mostly complete character in the Characters of Town thread. This allows people to learn just exactly who they are talking to. I also suggest getting a custom made avatar so that people will see what your character looks like.
3) Send your character to Town. I know, here I am telling you not to totally create your character, and then throw him into the place anyways? What am I thinking, right?
Well I notice that people tend to get an idea of what their character is, and then when they come to Town they find themselves wanting to play something different, but they get confined by their character. So what I suggest is having an overview of your character and letting the details fall into place as you go. It gives you a more relaxed character creation, and one that tends to give you a character you like to play.
4) Give your character time to develop and look around town. This will be when your character begins to ‘harden’ and gain personality. This may change, but this is when you decide who exactly your character is and where he/she came from, etc.
5) Plot time! Once you do everything else, begin bringing in plots to further develop, reveal, whatever, your character. These can be background plots, random plots, just anything to have fun with.
As for general limits and explanations of how to do step 1:
You can have any race, be from anywhere, and have any background. Town is pretty much a planar crossroads, you can meet ANYTHING here. I do recommend that you stay away from gods/deities/way too powerful characters until you get the hang of things though. Above all, try to have fun. We have characters ranging widely in seriousness, though the town (as of now) is a bit more serious than humorous.
You can have more than one character, but like the powerful characters, I recommend mastering playing one character before moving on to multiple characters. I also highly recommend that keep yourself to 3-4 characters at max. Let me tell you from personal experience, when it gets beyond that, it can get hectic. Very hectic.
Now NPC’s are the ‘backup characters.’ They are normally not very developed, have one simple task that they perform, and that’s it for them. In all but the rarest cases they are tied to a certain thread, as mentioned in the thread section.
In general, if the creator of an NPC is online, let them use him/her. If they are not, try not to do anything major to the NPC, unless you have permission. Otherwise, feel free to do what you like to them.
As a side note: Character speech is usually given a specific color to distinguish it from descriptive text. It is very helpful for all of us.

[AmberVael]

-Notice as of 2009 and more recent times-
This section is no longer relevant as the TIAP has been abandoned and unstickied. This post has only been left for historical purposes.

TIAP (Town Indoctrination and Apprentice Program)
Should you have questions, or just want someone to help you out, you can go to the TIAP thread and get a ‘mentor’ to help you out. This person will help you as much or as little as you want. I highly advise you to take advantage of this. I see a vast difference between the people who do get help from them, and the people who do not. Trust me, you will benefit from their experience.
All you have to do is go the thread and post that you want a mentor. It is advised that you give a time zone and preferred method of communication (like AIM, PM, e-mail). The mentors will come to you after that, and you two will work out the rest.

[AmberVael]

Godmodding: What it is and How to Avoid it

Godmodding: Taking control of someone else's character without their expressive permission. This term applies to any extent of control, especially including any reactions to something you have done.

Using this definition of godmodding condenses our rule ‘Do not Godmod’ to one very simple but inclusive rule: Do not control someone else’s character. This seems a simple enough thing to avoid, but in some situations (such as combat) people take control in a limited way without realizing it.
Still using combat as our example, here are three examples of godmodding. One blatant, one general, and one subtle in successive order:
(And yes, Vael is me. Darn my godmodding! :smallwink:)

1. Vael shoots a blast of energy at (PC) and the energy rends (PC) who falls dead with a wail.
2. Vael swings a sword at (PC) and strikes home, leaving a small angry red line of blood.
The third example is split into two posts by two separate people to show the entire situation:
3. Post (PC) – (PC) draws his weapon and readies himself for combat, going on the defensive.
Post (Vael) – Vael slashes (NPC), giving him a gaping wound and reverses the attack, striking at (PC)

The first example of godmodding is obvious, I attacked someone and killed them, usurping all of their control over their character, not even allowing them to describe how they died.
The second example is fairly noticeable as well. I attacked and rather than allowing them control over their character, I went ahead and said that they were hit rather than giving them a chance to respond.
The last one is a rather subtle godmod, though it is still there. I did not post a definite reaction for the PC, only saying that I attacked them. I did not kill anyone’s NPC without their permission, only using the NPC with general license. However, what I did do was presume that I hit the NPC. What if (PC), or another person nearby had wanted to prevent me from harming the NPC? I effectively denied them a chance to react to my attack, though my use of the NPC was okay.

Godmodding in non-combat situations is just as bad as doing it within combat. Some examples of non-combat godmodding are as follows:

1. Vael casts Heal and cures (PC)’s wounds.
2. Stealthily Vael picks (PC)’s pocket and steals (something).
3. Vael dodges the bouncer blocking the door and runs outside.

In the first example I did not allow someone the chance to say how grievous their injury was, or even if they had something that would resist healing spells. In short, they lost a chance to react. You would normally assume people like getting healed, but in town people are crazy, so you never know.
Second example. What if the character is sharp-eyed, clever, or simple lucky? Again, try to do something rather than succeed.
Third example. Now this seems okay, and perhaps in responding to someone else’s post it would be. But if someone says “I block the door” and you run past them without letting them respond, it is godmodding. This, perhaps, is not the best example, as it could be either godmodding or a reaction statement that is fine. I include it merely so that you can see that there are different levels to godmodding, and that it is complex to determine whether some things are godmodding are not. If you aren’t sure, don’t act, try to act.

Now that I have defined godmodding and given some examples, the question to answer is: How can I avoid godmodding by accident?
The answer is this: You can try to do anything to someone, but they control what actually happens to themselves. Never deny someone a chance to react, no matter what you do. Before you post, consider what you have written. Do you directly affect someone with it, adversely or positively? Do you block them off from some options that someone would normally have in their situation? If the answer to either question is yes, you probably need to revise your post.
Note, however, that the definition states that this is only godmodding if you do not have someone’s permission. If you obtain someone’s OOC permission to godmod, then feel free to godmod against them within their restraints. However, I recommend that you merely work out someone’s response before time, just in case something unexpected comes up (like another player interfering).

However, just as bad as taking control of someone else's character is making your own never get affected by them. As Regiji says: "The counter part to an irresistable force is an immovable object." Therefore, you should let people at least achieve SOMETHING when they attempt to affect you. You don't have to all the time, but if your character is continually "immovable" you will be godmodding, and people will be extremely likely to ignore you. So don't just "I dodge" everything, okay? Let people do something to you if they try.
Also note that there is another form of godmodding similar to the above, which will be known as ‘passive godmodding’ (kudos to Iames for the name). Passive godmodding is when a player ignores an entirely legitimate post for little to no reason. If you miss reading a post, that is one thing, but to ignore a post intentionally is very bad form. You are allowed to react to someone’s post in nearly any way you want, but ignoring it really should not be done unless they are godmodding or adversely affecting an ongoing plot without permission. On that last note-

[AmberVael]

Plots: How to Create and Interact with them

Plots are rather delicate issues in Town. Most people have preconceived notions as to how they want their plot to begin, proceed and end, so even normally allowed posts may be considered godmodding (or at least interfering) for the purposes of a plot.
When interacting with something that appears to be an ongoing plot, consider your actions carefully. If they have significant impact on the plot, you normally should check your action with the player either by PM or OOC conversation.
Actually tacking down a definitive way to avoid this is rather tricky, because what you can and cannot do to a plot is largely determined by the plot’s nature and its creator. In general, if your character has an easy and simple solution to a plot problem, check with the creator of the plot. Characters in plots are also largely immune to death from non-plot sources, since their health may be vital to the advancement of a story, so try not to fatally wound them, or you may be ignored.
Creating a plot is fairly simple. Think of your plot. If it affects a large portion of town, involves a character who is supposed to be fairly powerful, or involves a large number of NPC’s (think army or large group), you should get it approved by the council. Please note, however, that the council DOES NOT have the authority to keep you from creating and starting your plot. They do, however, give you a general idea of how the town will react to the plot, whether it seems as though you might godmod with your plot, and what they think should be improved/changed/edited from your plot. The final decision of whether your plot happens or not comes from YOU. The council is merely a handy group which can give you advice and ideas for your plot. If the council does not approve of your plot, and you run it anyways, many people may ignore your plot due to the problems that the council saw in it. It is far easier for everyone if you merely abide by the councils decisions and advice.
When running your plot, I urge you to be adaptive. Let people join in with their own ideas and abilities, and be willing to see your plot change and the final ending be somewhat different. If you have your heart set on a certain ending or a certain path, either try to work around people’s acts/decisions, or talk to them OOC about what you would prefer. Most people will understand your preferences, and abide by your wishes. It is your plot after all. However, they want to have fun too. Try not to just ignore what someone does unless you have too. I know I said earlier that people have preconceived notions, and that they have the liberty to ignore posts if they interfere, but I find that the best plots are the ones that go with the flow and work with the characters as they react. If you want to make an exclusive, extremely rigid plot, I advise that you write a story rather than play it out on the boards. Interaction is what RP is all about, after all.

[AmberVael]

Threads: Overview, Creating, Populating and Plotting
The real, main thing to know about threads is this: each one represents a different place in town. You are only supposed to post (and ‘exist’) in one thread at a time, unless your character can create an avatar or some such, which is entirely possible. When you go somewhere else, post that you are leaving the thread you are in and go to the next place you want to go. In general, every building attaches to the Street thread in some way, so you can just leave on thread, go into the street thread for a single post, and then into your new thread. Certain places are connected in other ways which are usually specified in the first post.
For example:

1) The Temple of Inari, Sneak’s Milk Bar Restaurante, and Trog’s Tavern are connected by portal-mirrors. Basically you step through the appropriate mirror and end up in the other thread.
2) Trog's Second Floor is connected to Trog’s tavern via stairs, as one might guess. While the second floor does not have any normal method to get out into the streets, people have been known to slip out of windows…

Also, within certain threads there are ‘subsections’ that allow people to know exactly where within the thread someone is. You must state within the thread when moving between subsections, and normally at the top of your post you should state what subsection you are in. Most partitioned threads make a note of this in the first post.
Examples include:

1) The Temple of Inari- The Temple of Inari is divided into the Sanctuary, Gardens, Summoning Chamber, Hospital Wing, Priest Quarters, and the Ice Chamber, as well as the Meditation Chambers.
2) Trog’s Second Floor- There are 20 rooms on the second floor, and quite a few are permanently (or temporarily) occupied.
3) Sneak’s Milk Bar Restaurante- There are 26 tables/booths/sitting areas in the restaurant.

For the most part, we are relaxed about posting the area at the top of your post, but when someone new enters the thread, or when you are first posting, etc, you should probably state where in the thread you are.
Some types of threads are temporal distortions, and your character can coexist in one or more of these threads while also in a normal thread. These places include (but are not limited to :P):

1) Any Court Trial
2) The Arena
3) ‘Party’ Events

Some threads also contain permanent NPC’s. Normally the first post in a thread gives you a general overview of the NPC’s contained within the thread. While the owner of the thread is not in, feel free to control the NPC’s as you will as long as you do not grievously injure them, steal all of their wealth, etc. Just don’t do anything major to them.
Also, not all threads are IC threads. Threads that are OOC are usually labeled ‘OOC’ in some part of their title. Within an OOC thread you do not need to use brackets, parentheses, etc, since no one will post in them IC at all.
I cannot stress enough just how much you should read the first post in a thread before posting in a thread. Every vital piece of information about a thread is normally listed in that first post. Even if you have been around a while, you never know, something might have been updated or changed.

Restarting a thread is a tradition carried over from the old boards, and a method used to keep down the number of pages in a thread. Once a thread hits 50 pages, we will begin a new thread with another Roman Numeral to the side. In order to restart a thread, the simplest method is this:

1) Quote the first post of the old thread.
2) Copy it, and remove the quote tags.
3) Start a new thread and give it the name with appropriate Roman Numeral.
4) Paste in the old thread’s first post.
5) Create the thread.

Creating a new thread/area is something that anyone can do. You need no permission to create one. I do, however, suggest that you do the following things if you create a thread. Keep in mind that this is for everyone’s convenience.
First, in the first post, give everyone a description of the area, and a little extra depending on what type of place it is. If it is a wilderness location, then a description alone will suffice. If it is a shop or tavern, list what you sell. If it is a temple, give a general description of the deity worshipped there.
Second, list the general personality/description/speech color of any NPC's that reside in the area.
Third, add anything else that seems necessary or just plain interesting or fun.

Populating your created thread is something that gives people a lot of trouble. It’s like trying to get a new business off the ground. However, I have compiled a few things that may help you get started.

1) Start with a BANG. This is a very good way to attract people. When your thread starts, have a sale, throw a party, do something entirely random and attention getting, but just attract people to the thread for that initial creation. The flood may die off, but if you do well enough that first time it could be your rescue from descent into darkness.
2) For pities sake, don’t just make a shop. Shops are nice and everything, but they do not give people a place to interact extensively. Add something onto your shop if it has to be a shop. Give people more reason to come than just buy things, and shout out your specialties.
3) Be unique. We have bars, taverns, and temples. Try for something new, or something old with a really unusual flair.
4) Be active within your own thread. Do things to make people come, and when they do come, BE THERE. NPC’s are nice and all, but they don’t attract people to your thread.

Plots and threads are an interesting combination. Sometimes, when people do not want to intrude in the town, they create and entirely new thread for just their plot. This allows them greater freedom with what they do, since they only affect people who desire to be affected, since they would not be in the thread without wanting to get involved in the plot. Normally it is not suggested that you get Council permission for plot creation if the plot is within its own thread.

[wxdruid]

Town Law (In Character)

The Town Police exist in the Town to uphold the law, enforce the peace and arrest criminals. When you break the law the police will take an interest in your character. You may try to escape them or choose to get arrested, but be aware that if you evade arrest the police will continue to try and arrest you. If you have a particular storyline that you are running, you may want to consider PMing the officer that is trying to arrest you and work out a compromise. (Realize that compromise may be that you allow your character to be arrested at a later date.)

You may also report a crime at the Police Station. The NPC fairies are there to take down the information and inform the officers of the details.

The Law – Most of the laws are common sense and the list below is not all inclusive and the punishments are not set in stone and may be changed as the circumstances warrant.

{table="head"]The Crime|The Punishment|Other
Murder|36 hours|No bail, resurrection fine, one week parole and weapon restriction.
Battery|24+ hours|2,000gp bail and healing fine, one week parole and 3 day weapon restriction
Assault|18 hours|1,000gp bail, 3 day parole and weapon restriction
Resisting Arrest|6 hours|no bail, 3 day parole and weapon restriction
Kidnapping|24 hours|2,000gp +(500 * days kidnapped) as fine, week parole.
Poisoning|24 hours|2,000gp, week parole, healing expenses
Torture|48 hours|No bail, 500 to 3,000 fine and week parole
Theft/Robbery|12 to 24 hours|500 bail + gold equal to stolen items
Vandalism|12 hours|Pay for repairs, one day of community service
Forgery|6 hours|500gp
Desecration|6 hours |500gp, one day of community service to temple
Jay walking|No hours|50gp
Disturbing the Peace|6 hours|150gp
Bar Brawls|6 hours|300gp plus paying for your share of the damages
Streaking|6 hours|150gp
Contempt of Court|6 hours|No bail
Trespassing|6 hours|100gp[/table]

You have the choice to follow or not follow the laws in Town, you also have the choice of staying in jail or escaping. If you feel you were wrongly arrested you may request a trial or the police may request a trial for you. You should be released with the expectation that you will show up in court for your trial. If you wish to avoid a trial and know you are guilty you can complete the appropriate punishment and then be released.

The Courts (In Character and Out of Character)

The Courthouse is for filing cases and where the judges post their links to the trials they are running.

Current judges are members to the Council and Gwen, prospective judges may put in their application at the Town Hall thread.
You may ask another character to represent you as your lawyer in the courtroom or you may represent yourself.

Anyone can file a case, you may do it IC or OOC, but it must be in the proper format.

___________ vs __________

Accused of ___________

Evidence: http://

Witnesses:

A judge will review the case and start a trial thread, requesting everyone’s presence in the courtroom. The first post will list at a minimum the following items. Each judge can tailor the first post to his or her personal choice.

Here is where we will start ________ vs ________Trial.

A few ground rules:

Everyone that is required for the trial will be heard (I will determine if your voice needs to be heard)
I will tolerate no disruptions in the courtroom (you will be asked to leave, if you don't I will call the police and they will cart you off in handcuffs)
I am the Judge, I have the final say, I will listen to all arguments, just be patient.

Will ___________ please appear before me.

__________ is accused of (offense)

Details— http://

Would ___________ please state your plea for the record.

Possible witnesses:

When everyone has been heard the judge will post a verdict. You can accept it and the sentence or you can protest the ruling and request a member of the Council to re-hear the case and it will go back to the courtroom.

[wxdruid]

Election Guidelines

The Mayor or Council will start a nomination thread, nominations will last for one week. Anyone can nominate a Townie for Mayor or the Council. Each player can nominate somebody else once, they cannot nominate themselves. Three nominations are needed to be added to the ballot. If you do not wish to run for Mayor or the Council you may decline the nomination and be removed from the ballot.

Voting – One vote per available position, not per account. If 3 council seats are open you may vote for 3 different people, not the same person multiple times. If you vote for the same person multiple times your PM will be discarded. The voting thread can be started by anyone on the Council or the two people collecting the votes (election officials). All votes will be PM’d to the election officials. They will check for duplicate votes or one person voting multiple times.

How to Vote - One vote per available position, please send a PM to Exachix and Supagoof (election officials) using one PM, copy and past Supagoof ; Exachix in the 'To' box. If 3 council seats are open you may vote for 3 different people, not the same person multiple times. If you vote for the same person multiple times your PM will be discarded. If you want to know when they read it, put a check mark in the box 'Request a read receipt for this message' in the misc options area below the message.

Results – The election officials will confirm and coordinate the final results before posting. The top three people receiving the most votes are on the council. If there is a tie a properly sided die will determine who is elected to the council.

Council members and the Mayor serve for 6 months. They can be elected for two consecutive terms and then take one term off. Elections will take place every three months for half of the council.

Current Council Members

None

Terms and dates served:

Mayors:

Mortia (June? – November 2006)
Gwen (November 2006 – May 2007, June 2007-November 2007))

Council Members:(Current ones in bold)

Artemis97 (Aug 2007 - ?)
Atreyu, the Masked Llama (June? – Nov 2006, Dec 2006-Mar 2007)
Blackout (Aug 2007 - ?)
Bookboy (Aug 2007 - ?)
Death, your friend the Reaper (June? – Mar 2007)
Deadly/Ilias (Apr 2007-June 2007)
Draken (Aug 2007 - ?)
Emperor Indurain (June? – Mar 2007)
Exachix (June 2007 - Aug 2007)
Fenric (Apr 2007-June 2007)
Gwen (Oct 2006 – Nov 2006)
El Jaspero (Dec 2006 - May 2007)
LordVader (Aug 2007 - ?)
NecroPaladin (June 2007 - Aug 2007)
Rex Idiotarum (Aug 2007 - ?)
Sneak (June? – Oct 2006)
Sophistemon (Apr 2007-Aug 2007)
Trog (June? – Mar 2007, Mar 2007 - May 2007)
Vael/Earin (Dec 2006-May 2007, June 2007 - June 2007)
Wukei (June? – Nov 2006)

[AmberVael]

What in tarnation does _____ mean?
(Yeah, so sue me, I’m a southerner. Like it I say! LIKE IT!)

IC- In character. This is everything you write about your character’s actions, appearance or speech.

OOC- Out of character. This everything that YOU say, and not your character. Generally people either place OOC speech within double parentheses ((like this)) or brackets [hey look, an example!].

PC- Player character. This is someone that is controlled by another human being. Unless someone out there is an alien, in which case I mean no offense.

NPC- Non-player character. This is a poor person who is human-less. Anyone can control him.

Alt- Alternate. A PC whose player has more than one account to differentiate characters. An Alt is the account(s) created after the ‘primary’ or first account.
--PLEASE NOTE THAT BY FORUM RULES ALTS ARE NO LONGER ALLOWED--

Italics speech- Telepathy or character thoughts. If thoughts are telepathy, it is usually very clearly stated, or the speaker puts ‘@(pc name)’ in front of it. Italics may also be used to specify a spell name that the PC just cast.

Dead time- an amusing IC explanation for when someone goes offline. When a character is struck by dead time (which can happen in numerous ways) they are going offline.

[wxdruid]

Please refrain from posting on this thread. If you have any suggestions or complaints, please post them in the Town Hall thread, or you may PM a council member.