Greetings ladies and gents! Today's topic will be roleplays. Specifically, the dos and don'ts of posting RPs in this forum. Please read and remember all of the rules, for if you do not follow them, bad things will happen. And we don't want that.

Rules for Players:

1. Be courteous to the RP's creator (Game Master) and respect their wishes. The creator of an RP has the final say in what does and does not go in their RP. If you have been asked not to post, please do so and find another RP. This also applies to following the rules that the thread creator has set down to make sure that everybody is playing on the same level and playing fairly.

2. Do not control another player's character or a non-player character (characters who aren't necessarily major characters but are controlled by the GM) unless explicitly given permission to do so. Unless you are told you may do otherwise, you do not have control over any character other than your own, and it is very rude to control another person's character.

3. Do not auto-hit/auto dodge. This rule can be bypassed by an RP maker's own rules, but as a general rule do not assume that any attack you have made against another character, be they a player or not, actually hits the target. Again, it is very rude to decide that the character is suddenly stabbed or struck blind or killed or whatever because you just did it to them without giving them a chance to block, evade, or counter. Likewise, don't assume that you are impervious to being damaged. Your character cannot dodge or block every attack thrown at you, so don't so say they can.

4. Do not god-mod. This includes things like pulling out powerful weapons that you never had before, blocking or dodging attacks in ways that shouldn't be possible, and using attacks that exceed the limits of your character's power.

5. Do not metagame. If you know something your character does not, your character doesn't suddenly gain this advantage. He or she has to find out whatever it is in-game before they may use the knowledge.

6. Stick to your original sign-up sheet. After you've established what your character has, don't go modifying that without the permission of your Game Master.

7. Post more than just 1-line mini-conversations. A roleplay is about playing a part in a story, and if you're just using the thread to spam you shouldn't be roleplaying.

8. Use appropriate grammar and spelling. Nobody expects you to be perfect, but if you type completely unintelligible posts, it slows the game down dramatically because nobody can understand you. Try to type legibly and use appropriate grammar as a courtesy to other players. This doesn't forbid you from doing things like accents and the like to further your character, that is encouraged. However, when posting strictly informatively, your posts should always be readable.

Rules for Game Masters:

1. You may only have one active thread that you have created at a time. If you wish to make another RP, request that a mod (preferably myself) close your old RP. Also, out of courtesy, warn your players before you do so.

2. Submit a clear sign-up sheet for players to go by. This should include things such as physical descriptions (hair and eye color, flesh tones, build, typical garments), some sort of history or backstory (family, friends, past. Also note that "dark and mysterious" histories should not be permitted as they allow players to make up whatever they want whenever it suits them), some kind of personality entry (motivations, goals, hopes, dreams, behavior), and, if specified in the rules, equipment and abilities.

3. Establish enough of a story and situation for a roleplay. Roleplays that have little or no story and plot will be closed. If you include statistics and other figures, also include rules as to how the numbers function and interact with each other.

4. Do not make a roleplay with a storyline that closely mirrors or outright copies a preexisting roleplay. We do not need several threads of the same roleplay at a time.

5. If your RP is closed, DO NOT MAKE IT AGAIN. It was closed for a reason, and closed it will remain. You may make another RP if you so wish, but consider the closed RP to be finished.