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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