Faalor, a NWN campaign world
Faalor mists

The Rules

There are only two rules . . .

1) Stay in character at all times while in game. This means trying to think like your character, act like your character. Most of the action (story) will come as a result of the character's background, motivations and consistent behavior. If you choose to play an evil character and the good people begin to hate you, then you've done well. Expect the world to react consistently and as realistically I can make it. If you need to make an OOC (out of character) comment, then communicate that through the chat system. Only use the chat system in emergencies, and make it as succinct as possible.  There will be times when we take a break during the session; obviously, you should probably not stay in character during these breaks.

2) Maintain strict in-character/out of character separation. You are not your character. While you may know what your character knows, your character doesn't know what you know. Those who talk about their character in the first person will be summarily executed. 

XP

XP will not be given for killing monsters, but there will be a general XP award each week.  The amount will depend on where we are in the campaign, your level and any bonuses for solving problems and role-playing.  I will probably give out rewards for excellent RP, but the primary source for RP XP rewards will be your fellow players.  Each week you will be allowed to give XP points to the players you think made your gaming experience better in some way.

Death and other consequences 

Death in online games is a difficult issue to grapple with.  I am well aware that no one wants their character to die, but it often happens.  Death, though, shouldn't happen all the time.  I usually plan one deadly encounter each week, and a number of other encounters that COULD lead to PC death, only if they do something stupid.  That said, I will adopting a more lenient view of PC death.  What will happen most of the time when your character dies is this: I will heal your character but then give him/her damage enough to bring them to 1 hit point.  I'll only do this if, in my judgment, I have created an encounter that is too tough, you are having technical difficulties, the encounter was of such insignificance story-wise that death isn't warranted (continuing with the story may trump your bad luck).  If your character die again before it is healed or otherwise recovered, that should be considered permanent, unless there are extenuating circumstances.  That doesn't mean you shouldn't use your head, not try to bash monsters that are obviously too tough (and there WILL be a few of these), rush in an open trapped doors, etc., without fear of consequences.  This just gives me an 'out' in case either one of use mess up.

If you know me at all, you know that I put a great deal of emphasis on consequence. The choices you have your character make are final and the other PC's and NPC's will act accordingly and consistently as their own personality and abilities allow. I will expect that each and every player who participates in this campaign will understand this, will not become upset if they don't understand all the motivations of the other characters in the game (NPC and PC), will allow their characters to do whatever it is they will do according to their personalities and will accept the consequences of the actions of others as well as their own in a mature manner. I will not tolerate a repeat the stupidity that was a constant bother in my RP days on the Catskills shard of Ultima Online. Basically, I am demanding that each player play his or her character to the best of their ability, consistent with the known world. (As always, I will gladly address any problems, concerns or misunderstandings in a mature manner.)

In every pen and paper game I've ever played when a character dies, it's dead, baring the most extreme of exceptions. In one of my campaigns, we had a ritual in which the character sheet was ceremoniously ripped up and thrown into the fireplace. Taking into account the nature of online role-playing (disconnections, phone-calls, bathroom breaks, etc.), I will make exceptions for cases where a player dies through no fault of their own. I will also attempt to make PC death a relatively rare event so as to allow as fewest interruptions to the story. I will though let the chips fall where they may; player character death IS part of the story. If your character does something that you and the character knows is a high risk action and the player ends up dead, so be it. You will have to start up a new character in that case.

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