Policies

This page is for the Most important Game Policies. (Yes, we -meant- to capiltalize those words)
Some of this may be repeated in other help/news files as well. See referenced links for other information.

Sphere Specific Rules / Information

Other Related Pages

IC News	House Rules	Mage Chargen Info	Mage Charts
General Mage Help	Magical Item Creation	Traditions

GAME RULES

1. All interpretation and enforcement of the following rules are at the Staff's sole discretion.

2. Please see the wiki Policy. Information on character pages should be considered IC. See Wiki Policy for more.

3. Do not be a public nuisance. Staff will not accept the excessive use of foul language in public forums (channels, bboards, public scenes, etc.) A vulgar word here and there in common speech is ok; we all do it sometimes. Using this type of speech as your whole vocabulary is not. When asked to stop, stop. Log and send it to the Staff if you are concerned.

4. Using foul language in private to abuse or harangue Staff or other players will not be tolerated.

5. Time-Stops: Time-stops can be complex and should be used as a last resort. If Staff determines a time-stop is in order, all PCs are locked from other scenes until that Time-stop is resolved. Time-stops are typically used for combat and other scenes that are dice-roll heavy, require staff oversight, and involve more than a few(3) characters.

6. We do not tolerate harassment. If you feel harassed, please log all interactions and provide them to the Staff with your complaint so that we may investigate.

7. Pages are a form of OOC communication. Please do not use pages as a method of RP. Staff will not recognize paged role-play as binding upon characters if conflict or disputes occur

8. Staff prefer sensitive conversation topics, such as politics and religion, to be kept out of public channels.

9. Staff recognizes that pvp might occur in the WoD. We will treat all situations where this happens per our rules, house rule interpretations, and our judgment of the circumstances. We do not encourage a state of war between factions, but if players push such events to occur - on your head be it.

10. Understanding the lore and themes of the sphere you are playing within is essential. If you have any questions about how house rules might change or alter lore or themes, please ask Staff. While we will not penalize anyone toeing the line on the theme of a sphere - we might step in to correct issues of understanding regarding lore.

11. Staff hopes permanent game bans will be rare, but they happen. There is no expectation of a right to play here, and if circumstances warrant it, we will revoke that privilege. In most cases, bans will be permanent and final.

This Policy must be agreed to in the Chargen Approval room via +accept policy before you can submit for approval.

HARASSMENT

Harassment of any kind is not tolerated on this game. If you are being harassed, please log and send it to the staff. A RL court of law will only take your word for it with proof; the same applies here. All complaints are taken seriously and will be investigated.

What is the definition of such you ask? Here are some examples, although this is wider than the following.

Private Harassment: A player has asked another to stop contacting them in a particular way But they continue to do so. Contact is unsolicited and/or ongoing.

Public Harassment (+bb, channels, ooc in rooms, etc.): It must be derogatory It must be targeting a specific player.

Sexual Harassment: Making any sexual advances through page, @mail, or over the channels. Forcing a rape scene without obtaining proper consent. (This includes trying to avoid a FTB) Pushing a scene involving sexual contact without obtaining permission. Randomly targeting a PC or Player to sexually harass ICly or OOCly in any way that is not ICLY justified or does not consider the target's wishes.

Any person, who believes they have been the subject of Harassment, should report the alleged act immediately to staff. A log of such is needed to verify, so please have one ready. Staff WILL be asked for. Suppose an investigation reveals that the complaint is valid. In that case, disciplinary action will be taken to stop the Harassment immediately and to prevent its recurrence—this includes @nuking of characters or site banning.

PLAYER RIGHTS

1) You can appeal Staff's decisions up the chain of command. This right ends once a Staff Head makes a decision. (See: Staff for the staff list) Currently that starts and stops at Sphinx.

2) You can page other players and Staff to keep an OOC conversation "Private". However, if Staff may be investigating a breach of game policies, they do have the ability to see your pages as well.

3) You have the right to Fade-To-Black (FTB). Staff nor another player can force you to engage in a roleplay that you, as a player, find offensive or demeaning. You may consent to bad or uncomfortable things happening to your character (consensual sex, assassination, torture, or rape). Still, you are not required to roleplay that scene merely for other players' entertainment. Players can assume unpleasant consequences take place off-camera if that is your preference. If you request an FTB, send a log to the Staff of what the scene was and the result. FTB is not a Retcon, and these may come back to haunt you.

This set of rights must be agreed to in the Chargen Approval room via +accept rights before you can submit for approval.

Adult RP

Adult RP (tinysex/erotic roleplays)

It happens; we know it. So no use in denying it.
It is expected that all players are 18+ years of age. If you are found to be a minor taking part in adult rp, you will be instantly banned.

Certain venues on the grid may allow adult themes (it will be VERY obvious if this is allowed in a public location) to be played out in public. If these venues become an OOC problem, Staff will remove the IC tags, and all game policy applies. ICA=ICC still applies. Contact Staff with questions.

Otherwise, please keep TS behind closed doors. If these venues become problematic, this will be revoked at staff discretion.

Public displays of affection are allowed.

No one is to be harassing other players for such scenes OOCLy. Those who are discovered doing so will find themselves
freezered for an amount of time or banned, and the scene retconned.

Regarding roster characters, these characters come pre-genned with relationships, marriages, etc. Unless it is otherwise stated you may safely assume your character's sex life is happy.

No one, roster character or otherwise is -required- to put this sort of rp "On Camera".

If there are any questions about this policy, please contact Staff.

If you feel OOCly harassed or abused by another player, please submit logs to Staff, and we will investigate.

Alts

Multiple alternate characters(alts) are allowed. Alt must lead separate lives and a player is not allowed to pass information from alt to alt. In other words, Alt A isn't allowed to tell information to Alt B.
The current limit is 5 alts. This limit may be increased or decreased, as the story progresses or as game population changes.
If you have alts on the game, you must use +altadd to claim them.
Remember all alts must also be registered with the same &SEMAIL.
Only staff have access to see your added alts, and we do not reveal this information to other players.

Code Usage

At no time is any player permitted to use code not approved or offered by staff. If there is code you'd like to import into the game please let staff vet it first.

If you have a suggestion for new code and can write it, contact staff via +pitch (+help +pitch)

CONSENT / Risk

If you have ever played in a table-top style game, the Storyteller plays the role of fate. This is World of Darkness bad things happen.

There is no risk system currently in use on this game. We find +risk systems are often abused to avoid consequences of IC actions, or that IC reactions are often exaggerated beyond what is reasonable because of the assumed risk level.

You will never be forced to role-play out something you don't want to rp. However, that means staff must decide the outcome. Death is never completely unavoidable. There are plenty of merits, and other IC actions, to mitigate death, or delay it.

Some scenes and consequences may take you away from public grid play. Staff will make sure scenes are provided for you, or at least give you a daily update, until your IC condition/situation releases you back to the grid. Remember, the game runs on 1:1 time, and some situations simply take longer to resolve than others. There is no good way to skip time forward when it doesn't make sense to do so for the whole grid.

Additionally, if you are IC (even if AFK), and some big plot affects where your character is, they may be affected. If it highly advised that if you are going afk for extended periods of time that you go to the OOC room.

Difficulties

When running a scene, staff decisions on the difficulties of rolls is final. The reason for choosen difficulties may not
be obvious to the player. Players are welcome to question after the scene is over via +request. However, be aware that the
that the answer you want may not be given. It may ruin the prp for the player.

Staff will be as transparent as possible on these questions. However, they won't give away all the secrets.

Player Ran Plots

Player Ran Plots (Prps) are welcomed and highly encouraged. A Prp may be opened to all players or closed.
Closed Prps are confined within a specific group.

All prps require staff approval, if for no other reason than to make sure staff are aware of what plots are going on if
they are questioned about it. This is also to ensure that the plot fits within the staff-envisioned theme for the game.

Please submit a full write-up of the plot to: +prp <prp name>=<message>

This write-up should include all the details in case staff have to get involved. Any awards you are hoping the group
will receive MUST be staff approved. The Prp leader must supply logs that support these rewards else they will not
be granted or +noted.

Prp leader must submit logs of every episode of the plot. We suggest using Pastebin (link in the navigation menu to the left)
and giving staff a link to the log. If you use Pastebin be sure to set your logs as "unlisted" to keep them private.

Demon Vs

The following is to inform of the game's view of the Demon sphere. Note the Capitalization.
After reading through various source books we come to the following conclusion that will affect game play.
Many people claim that Demons (from Demon: the Falling) are nephandi or creatures of the wyrm or some other
all-encompassing ultimate nasty. In our research we've found this to be a very lacking approach that is not
supported by available sources.

Thus, Demons are not Nephandi nor are they Banes or any other sort of wyrm spirit. Though any Demon with a
Torment 3+ will -appear- on sense wyrm or other such abilities. This isn't conventional wyrm taint, it doesn't
spread. Rather is a measure of the pain, sadness, bitterness, etc that demons hold from the millions of years
spent in the abyss. There is no wyrm in the abyss.
As stated in the supplement "Infinite Tapesteries" The fallen angels that are represented in that game
(Demon: The Fallen), are indeed, the Lost Host of God that have now returned to Earth for various reasons.

"The 'demons' in various realm of the Umbrae aren't fallen angels so much as creatures from Beyond that take forms
similar to beings from Judeo-Christian mythos. (An interesting question then becomes: Did those beings choose their
form based on such legends, or did they give rise to the legends in the first place?) The demons have goals and
desires not unlike those ascribed to Christian Demons, and aren't above claiming former membership in the Holy Host
if they need to maintain such a ruse (this is especially easy if a character has researched a particular Demon and
expects to see certain things when he travels to the Demon's Realm or summon's it.) However, a demon that carries this
ruse too far often finds that traditional means of binding and warding hellspawn also work against it, meaning that
the hapless spirit can be bound on Earth or even pressed into service.

Energies

This will explain staff's view on how various energies are converted into other forms. The difference between power centers
Caern, Node and Crays(Mana).

Caerns are the sources of Gnosis for Shifters. Gnosis is another term for Quintessence. Caerns are nodes that do not
generate Tass no matter the size. Shifters can not use Tass. Our reasoning for this is that the totems and spirits that reside
there don't leave enough Gnosis for it to solidify. Thus once a pack or Sept claim a node, and a totem is assigned, the
caern in a matter of months stops producing tass. A Caern's resonance is based on the group using it. Gaian caerns have an
earthy/nature resonance. BSD caerns eminate with evil, darkness and are stifling in their aura.

Nodes are the sources of Quintessence and Tass for Mages. Tass is a solidified form of Quintessence that can be harvested
or created from excess Quint via a Prime 4 rote. Nodes have many different resonances depending on location and the mage that holds
it. The Tass in nodes can take any form imaginable, that can be carried. Once a mage attunes to their node, it tends to take a form
that "works" for that particular mage based on paradigm. (Ie, The mage gets to choose, staff must approve)

Crays are a source of power for Sorcerors and Bygones. Crays only produce Tass. This is usable by Sorcerors by meditating
to absorb the energy, transforming it into mana. Bygones that have crays, graze on tass. Crays held by Sorcerors tend to have a
neutral resonance, while those held by Bygones tends to have a resonance related to the affinity of the Bygone that owns it.
The Tass in Crays tend to take some natural form such as crystals, a specific type of rock, berries, a certain type of grass,etc.

Conversions: 1 dram of Gnosis = 1 dram of Quintessence = 1 Tass.

Quintessence/Gnosis refills at a given ratio per week. Tass refills at a given ratio per month. Thus Tass is the rarest
form of the three, unless someone knows a mage that can solidify quintessence/gnosis or give them tass from a node.

P.S. Faith is a completely different thing altogether and can not be obtained by conversion of any other form of energy.

PC Age

All player characters must be 18 year old or older at the time they start rp. Anyone caught playing an
underage character will have it removed from the game.

Object Creation

FYI, building or creating anything in game may require leveraging resources.

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Wars

Let's be clear about this. Wars and conflicts between various groups is a theme throughout the history of World of Darkness.

Nodes/Caerns are fought over. They are rare. They are difficult things to hold onto, especially the larger ones.

If at any point the metaplot opens up nodes for player ownership, the owner(s) are expected to be able for defend their node. Failure to do so may result in losing it.

However, these thing will never happen without staff oversight. If a battle for a node arises, staff will make it clear.

Inciting a war without prior permission, just to cause chaos and be an asshat, will not be tolerated. Bad things happen to the characters, and their players that to do this...up to sitebanning.

Wiki Policy

Regarding your Wiki Account

1. Do not share your account log-in with anyone else.

2. Staff can not recover your password for you, nor do we keep a record of them. We like using LastPass to keep track of passwords. (See: LastPass)

3. A player is only allowed one Wiki account. Use that account for all -your- character(s) pages.

4. Unless there are extenuating circumstances, staff will not create a new account because yours became unrecoverable.

Regarding Editing of Pages

5. Edit only pages that belong to you.

6. We realize that not everyone is good at making Wiki pages. Templates have been provided to make the process easier. If you need help building your Wikipage, contact staff.

7. We would prefer you create a page for each character you play. Minimalist pages are fine. The minimum requirement is a portrait and general demographic information. You are allowed the option to not assign your character into a category. If you don't mention you're a mage in the general information, don't include [[Category: Mage]] at the bottom of your page, as this will put your page into the mage roster. If you need help, contact staff.

8. Some players like to put their whole character background on their wiki. Please keep it concise. Screen scroll in a template cell is rather annoying to be honest. Remember if you put it on the wiki, someone could find out all about you with enough investigation.

9. Please keep picture files to a minimum. Where possible, combine them into a collage.

10. Do not post NSFW photos on any page. All pictures should be, at least, minimally clothed and tasteful. No pornographic images. Any picture that staff interrupts at too lewd/erotic/etc will be deleted without warning.

Using Wiki Info In-Game

Please remember information on your wiki page is considered IC. Anything you include on your page can be found out Icly through simple investigation. Note: Mages read [house rules] on Arcane.

FADE TO BLACK

Staff will never make a player play out a scene that makes them uncomfortable or feel in any way ill at ease. Anyone believing they
are being forced to RP such a scene, by staff or other players, should send a scene log game to the head of staff immediately.
Every player also has the right to request a Fade to Black (FtB) on any other role-played scenes. This does not mean that what has
occurred does not happen, it just means that it happened in a sense of being "off-camera" and will still have IC repercussions,
if any, for all characters involved. #Consent

Any player who chooses to Fade to Black during a Staff run scene gives up the right to determine the results of such a scene which
could lead up to and result in character death or other ic consequences, if any.

Idling Out/AFK Policy

Idle (not logging on) for 90 days will have your character unapproved and moved to the freezer if the player has not made arrangements with staff.

After 30 days in the freezer the character will either be nuked and a plausible story provided for their IC leaving, or added to the roster for another player to take.

Rostered characters are considered as NPCs till they have a player again.

Characters that are not NPCs who are continually AFK IDLE for weeks at a time will be contacted by staff. If player fails to respond, the character will be unapproved and moved to the OOC room. Should the player continue to be unresponsive, the character will be re-passworded and added to the roster or nuked. Contact staff if you find you can no longer go +IC.

We want active players who are interested and invested in plots and stories whether staff-ran or not. If you are found to be have repeated episodes of being idle for 90 days, logging on in time to save the character, only to idle again, you may find yourself parted from your character.
If you need an extended idle time, see +vacation, and contact staff. Roster characters will follow the idle out policy regardless. If the character is available when the player returns to the game, you may take them off the roster again.

LEARNING TIMES

As long as the Xp room is active and open there is no learning times on attributes and abilities up to level 3.
For attributes and abilities at 4+, please Submit a +xpsubmit (+xpsubmit <name:stat wanted>=<justification>)

These may be adjusted by staff for game balance as needed.

Mage Spheres:

[Sphere Learning Times]

[Arete Wait Times ]

[Raising Avatar Rating]

Sorceror Paths/Numina: Same as Mage Spheres

Demon Lores: TBD

Judges

Judges are players allowed a minor staff bit to help staff oversee PRPs and emergency calls for staff when staffers are busy.

Judges are responsible for submitting reports and/or logs of scenes they judge to staff. This may be done by submitting a job
to the PRP bucket: +PRP <title>=<log/summary>

Judges, please be sure to indicate at the beginning of your summary if this was a completed matter. IE: if the plot is ongoing
or not. Completed scenes and issues will be deleted after staff review for XP and rewards if any are deemed.

Player Killing (PK)

The following does not say that you are not allowed to participate in PK. We are merely saying, think about it before you do and consider the options. This is the WoD, PC's do die. Often they die for stupid or trivial reasons. Hopefully, you won't be one of these poor unfortunates but if you are, it's a fact of life within a persistent mush game like this.

Player Character Killing is a touchy subject to some players. However,we all know it happens from time to time; because of this, we feel it is important to explain our standing on PC Killing.

We ask that needless PK, or PKing out of just wanting to do something, be a last resort. (Staff will gladly run a scene for you to kill NPC things if you need it.) There are a great many other ways to get revenge against an enemy rather then to kill them. Should a player come to a point where they feel they have no other choice but to PK.

If a PC becomes an IC "problem" for your character, it is always a good idea to log the scene interactions with that character which are influencing your own plans towards them. Submitting those logs is always a good idea and helps Staff in the decision making process.

Contact Staff. Submit a +request detailing the reason you wish to kill another character. Include logs in this letter and the way in which you intend to kill this character, who (if anyone) you intend to involve in this death and why you intend to involve them. Sometimes staff may suggest other means of dealing with the problem that will not require you to kill the another character.

Be aware that killing another PC for purely OOC reasons will not be tolerated and will result in the loss of your PC. All avenues of role-play should be explored before you resort to PK. We hope that with this recommendation, staff can help you find another solution if possible.

Rainbows and Butterflies Clause

Yes, this is World of Darkness. It can be nitty, gritty and nasty. However, the sun still shines and birds still sing.
In the "Rainbows and Butterflies Clause" staff may handwave a matter and say 'all is well'. We as staff have our limits
on what we are willing to inflict on players.

To quote Maroon 5, "It's not always rainbows and butterflies, it's compromise that moves us along."

Vacation

If you are going on vacation for more than two weeks please contact staff so that proper flags and notes can be set on your characters.
Vacation is not a permanent for anyone.
If you have not logged into your character after the expiration date for your vacation, the vacation flag will be cleared and Idling Out/AFK Policy will go into effect.
See +help +vacation for +vacation code

Disconnected characters

Currently, disconnected characters show up in rooms with darkened names.

This was done to serve as an IC reminder that there are always people around, even if they are disconnected. Disconnected characters are treated as NPCs till they log in again, when their name is turned white again.