har Shaddin is referred to as "freeform" roleplaying because there are no explicit rules for performing actions. All of the rules we have are designed only to ensure fairness, cooperation, and a consistent setting. We do not use numbers to define our characters' stats or have exhaustive lists of equipment. This is not a competitive game. We are not here to 'win' anything or kill other characters, and if you attempt to play too powerfully or to be too imposing on others, you will ostracise yourself from the other writers and end up cold and alone.
First and foremost are the cardinal rules. Breaking these will result in warnings and bans.
The Cardinal Rules
- No Drama. Nothing on our boards is personal. We are here to RP and to write, not to inflate our egos or show how much better at this or that we are than other people. Save the drama for your in-character writing and keep it out of real life.
- No Politics. Everyone has political views, religious views, whatever views. This is not the place to express them. Yes, it is fun to talk about these things, but unfortunately it gets in the way of the RP and almost always gets messy.
- No Hate. You make a single racist or prejudicial comment to someone out-of-character and you're gone. Such behaviour is only ok from your character.
- No Bailing. One of the big problems with playing in online forums is that people sometimes vanish and leave others hanging. Don't do it. We are reasonable and understanding, but if you don't plan on staying then don't start at all.
Interaction & Combat
f you've never done this or any online roleplaying before, you may want to view the forums and examine how other writers are interacting with each other. It's fairly simple once you get the hang of it.
Playing is done by writing your character's actions and responding to what other characters are doing. You can only respond to people's actions and play your character. You can't write for other people or control their characters (that's called cheating, or autoing) and you can't kill them unless they agree or a staff member OK's it.
Combat is not the primary goal of writing here.
If your character is in a fight, it is in your best interest to do a few things:
- Do not assume your attacks on other characters will hit them. Swing your sword "at" them and let them decide if it hits and where. It can help to decide with them ahead of time what you want to happen.
- Do not come up with powers and items you need on the spot - these should be in your profile already. Do not try to play with your powers and bend what's written in your profile to help you gain an advantage.
- Trying to be too powerful in general is called god-modding. Don't do it. Nobody will want to play with you and the staff will get on your case. The less powerful you are, the less of a godmodder you are, and the easier it is for everyone involved.
- Let people hit you. You must let people hit you sometimes. What kind of book would you write where your main hero never takes a beating or never gets hit by anything? One that we don't want to read or partake in.
If you are comfortable with the people you are writing with, you may wish to come to an agreement with them to allow auto-hits. This means that "you can hit me if I can hit you" and can make everything much easier. Do this only if you're mature enough to be able to compromise for good writing and only if you have gotten to know the other person. If it causes a problem: take your losses, call it off, and don't cause a scene.
You cannot kill another player's character without having permission to do it, or unless a staff member says you can. That means that your play should not revolve around trying to kill other characters.