Rules: Difference between revisions

===Item Transferring===

Item transferring between different PCs belonging to the same player, or helping another player do the same, is strictly forbidden. There are no exceptions to this rule, including remaking a character, unless a DM assists you in an approved character remake.

;  : Exploiting monster AI in unrealistic ways is forbidden. Avoid situations where monsters behave in a completely implausible manner. Specific prohibitions include:  

::  i.  "Luring", the practice of drawing a single monster away from others with a ranged weapon or dragging groups of monsters from a fortified position to march at your party single file;

::  ii.  “Trapping” monsters on cliffs or other impassable areas and then killing them with ranged weapons; and,

:: iii.  Using the “Backwards-Walk” or "Backpedaling" to prevent an NPC from attacking you.

===Penalty Avoidance===

====Logging Off====

  Logging off to avoid death is forbidden. This includes both PvP and non-PvP death. This includes logging off while bleeding. If you feel you are being griefed, please contact a DM.

====Sidestep====

  Sidestepping to avoid encumbrance or other movement penalties is forbidden.

====Familiars====

  Unsummoning arcane familiars and other companions to avoid XP loss is forbidden.

  Players may not abuse OOC tools. This includes:

  The use of "/c recall" is intended to assist with controlling summons; it is not acceptable to use it as a free teleport or regroup spell; and,

  The practice of sneaking ahead invisibly or in stealth and to then use "/c recall" to teleport your summons on top of monsters or enemy PCs.

  Manipulating like/dislike setting to avoid attacks of opportunity, spell effects, and other consequences of hostility.

If something seems too good to be true, it probably is. If you discover a method to earn GP or XP that seems out of line with other methods or can be used in some non-balanced way, please check with a DM to ensure it's legitimate or bug report the issue.

All players must be respectful to one another in OOC communications. Insulting tells are forbidden. OOC and IC are two separate spheres of existence: OOC disrespect is completely unacceptable, IC disrespect and conflict is fully encouraged. Players should not confuse the two.

===Power Gaming===

"Power-gaming" is not allowed. For the purposes of our server, we define power-gaming as any activity that has no IC rationale and is done for OOC reasons. It is okay -- and even encouraged -- to have a character that wants to get rich or powerful, and accomplishes this through various IC means. In contrast, it is not acceptable to perform an act such as repeatedly "farming" a single spawn of monsters or other such activities.

===Meta-knowledge===

Meta-gaming is not allowed. This means that you can not take advantage of the knowledge that you as a player might have but your character does not. Always think about what sort of knowledge is IC (in character) as opposed to OOC (out of character).

===Communication===

Players may never use tells or other methods of OOC communication to coordinate PvP or other tactics.

===Scripted Content===

  Repeatable scripted quests should be considered a new experience when repeated. While every effort has been made to randomize and produce very large amounts of varied content, EFU still has many static quests that should be approached as a new experience. Your character does not remember the location of traps, spawns, dangerous rooms, etc.

===OOC Discussion===

  In-game, OOC communications should be avoided in favor of remaining in character, especially if OOC communications are visible to other characters. Note that:

====Tells====

  Tells from other players are always OOC;

====Identification====

  Text marked with “//” is always OOC;

====Areas====

  There are certain areas that are clearly marked as OOC;

====Fugue====

  The fugue, or death zone, is an IC area. Roleplaying is not required, but OOC discussions should be avoided or prefaced with “//”.  

===Third Party===

  Do not use voice chat programs to communicate with team-mates while roleplaying on EFU. Communication between characters/players must exclusively be through NWN while in-game.

Roleplay and In-Character Behavior Rules

1. Always stay in-character. Do not break immersion for other players. Inserting real-life references into your RP, including abbreviations or smileys into IC talk, acting in a ridiculous or OOC manner is not acceptable.

2. The like/dislike toggle is entirely OOC. Do not construe a character that appears red as hostile unless there are IC justifications to consider them a threat.

3. Players must roleplay their character’s stats and skills, especially if a stat is below 10. Having a character with low charisma "smell bad" or be "ugly" but otherwise be a well-liked leader is discouraged.

4. Players must roleplay their class according to the guidelines detailed in the guidelines pages for each class. This is particularly important for Clerics, Druids, and Paladins.

5. Any depiction or insinuation of sexual violence is strictly prohibited.

6. Graphic depictions of torture are prohibited. Where extreme violence does occur, players must avoid detailed descriptions of harms inflicted.

7. There is a single universal language that everyone can speak. Using racial languages is optional, but overuse is discouraged as disruptive. Written languages are handled by scripted lore checks or through a DM.

8. Players may not roleplay explicit sexual acts. Although characters may make references to the existence of sexuality, relationship roleplay is frowned upon unless handled with an extreme level of care.

9. Players should be careful in their use of the sending and town crier systems. This includes the following prohibitions:

ii. Sendings should not be made in a tone of anti-establishment unless done with DM supervision; and,

iii. Town crier and messenger NPCs should not be given messages that "roleplay" the NPC or would be reasonably considered as implausible (they will not relay inane or particularly controversial messages).

10. Players may not break into faction areas without the supervision of a DM. Taking items from faction storage when you are not a member of the faction should be done with the supervision of a DM.

11. If a player finds faction equipment, including keys, they should contact a DM if your character decides to keep it or use it.

ii. OOC methods should not be used to organize and strategize during quests;

iii. Do not split up a large group into smaller groups in order for each to tackle a particular quest with the aim of getting more of a reward;

a. It is acceptable to split a group where an OOC limit on the number of participating characters prevents the whole group from attempting it at once,

iv. Do not use stealth or invisibility to obtain quest rewards without engaging the monsters unless doing so is clearly indicated as permissible by the quest itself;

v. Do not steal loot from other members of the party without emoting or otherwise indicating by some IC means that you are doing so;

vi. Do not enter into a Quest Area with a group unless all members of the group are aware and give consent that you are mechanically added to the quest with them.

a. The only exception to this rule is if you have contacted a DM and the DM has allowed you to enter the Quest Area.

13. Using stealth or invisibility to gather the treasure of random explorable areas without defeating the monsters is prohibited. If your character(s) engage(s) the monsters, fail and are unable to defeat the foe, feel free to consult with a DM if it would be appropriate to attempt to use stealth and trickery to plunder the area.

14. Do not share IC secrets through OOC methods.

15. Do not share IC secrets lightly through IC methods. Although it is fine and encouraged to roleplay as a teacher instructor and share information, some secrets are best kept quiet in order to allow for other players the same enjoyment of solving mysteries.

16. Information about in-game crafting recipes may not be shared through OOC methods.

i. If you learn something about in-game crafting with one character, you can not use it with another unless likewise learned through IC methods.

ii. Most recipes should not be shared lightly but rather roleplayed as being a treasured secret to be gifted perhaps only to the most trusted allies.

17. Players should respect the RP involved in hostage situations and not immediately default to attacking hostage-keepers without due consideration of other alternatives. Note that:

i. A subdued hostage may be healed as part of a rescue operation; however,

ii. The hostage must remain down and helpless and not activate any defensive damage modes (i.e. no switching on expertise or equipping shield).

18. Blood Vial labels are OOC. Limited exceptions exist:

i. If the PC who made the vial would have labelled them (check this first through tells if necessary);

ii. Characters will recognize a sample of their own blood; and,

iii. Characters with high-Heal or affinity with blood-magic also potentially recognize blood vials if they come from special kinds of creatures (consult a DM if in doubt).

19. Strange or unusual animal companions should not be brought into civilized areas without the permission of a DM.

Character Creation and Levelling Rules

1. Characters must have appropriate names and appearance for their race and subrace. This includes, but is not limited to, the following restrictions:

ii. Standard elves may not have drow skin coloring;

iv. Character names must not be directly copied from a well known fictional or real-life person;

v. Including titles or honorifics in the character name requires DM permission.

2. Paladins, Druids, and Clerics must be created according to specific guidelines detailed in the guidelines pages for each class.

3. Optimizing characters to an extreme extent is highly discouraged; stats should generally be selected according to the concept. It is important for players to fairly and ably portray their character’s strengths and weaknesses, whatever they may be.

4. Skill point banking is forbidden. Skill point banking is the practice of saving skill points in order to put them into a class skill at a later level. There are limited exceptions:

i. When multiclassing roughly evenly, players may save their skill points every-other level as needed in order to keep a primary skill maxed; and,

ii. Other situations of modest skill banking may be permissible depending upon the build, but egregious examples of (for example) taking a single rogue level at a high level in order to maximize tumble/UMD are not permitted.

5. Application-based, subrace, faction, prominent/semi-prominent or high-level PCs who are not played for over a month should not return to active play unless permission is given from a DM or through application. We are eager to welcome back players to EFU but it can be highly disruptive for characters that have long been missing to make a return.

6. Creating "alts" (alternative characters) is discouraged but not strictly forbidden, as playing alts can lead to incidents of unintentional metagaming, unfairness, and perhaps most importantly degrades the playing experience. Alts may not:

i. Be involved in one another’s affairs;

iii. Be involved in separate ringrunning groups; and,

iv. Communicate with one another in any way.

7. Do not play “alternate” characters if you are roleplaying a high-conflict character that has regularly engaged in PvP.

EFU is a full-player-versus-player (“PvP”), conflict-oriented setting. If you perform PvP, you must be prepared to face the IC consequences of the IC action. OOC issues or concerns are always handled by the DMs in an OOC manner. Players are advised to read the 'PvP Karma' thread when deliberating over whether or not to use Full Damage mode. Characters may not respawn from PvP.

2. PvP must always be initiated for IC and justifiable reasons. Insanity or a desire for random death may be considered as an excuse for griefing by the DM team.

3. You must always set your opponent to Dislike (hostile) before PvP. The dislike/like toggle is fully OOC. Seeing someone set you to Dislike should not be considered an IC act. Many players set the whole server to Dislike in preparation for PvP that may well have nothing to do with you, so you should not read too much into it if it happens. Be warned that if someone sets you to hostile, and you then relog, they will still see you as hostile/red whereas you will see them as non-hostile/blue. This is not their fault.

4. When beginning PvP, send a message via /dm indicating that PvP may begin in your area.

a. Exceptions may be made, consult with a DM about your specific plan. If you believe you are the victim of bad-trap policy, please do not attempt to pause the PvP via OOC means, but rather consult with a DM during or after.

iii. Using blackout mode on a subdued PC to steal or rescue a PC under the control of another character is forbidden unless you have specific DM permission to utilize this technique.

ii. Throwing rotten fruit or otherwise engaging in extreme provocations.

1. Banned players may not circumvent their bans; they may apply to return on the forums or contact a member of the staff to discuss their request to return.

4. Do not publicly speculate as to who may be playing a specific character or reveal who is playing a specific character.