Game Rules

Not following Mystic World's or Delphi's rules will result in corrective actions including but not limited to: Warnings, Gags, Bans (Timed), Character Removal, or Lock Out (Permanent Ban). Please respect and follow our rules and enjoy the game for what it is, a game.

Using the chat room:

OOC

-When talking "out of character" (meaning not speaking as your character but as yourself, the player) place your words within double parenthesis ((like this)) so others know. An equivalent to this is acceptable. Keep OOC to a minimum, meaning greetings, goodbyes, corrections, and occasional short remarks. When there are few people and/or no role play, feel free to have OOC discussions, but if there is another present looking to RP, then please cease your OOC and take it to PM.

Talking/Acting

-To do actions for your character, type /me and then the action.
-Talk from your character is usually put in "quotation marks, like this"
-Mind speak, or telepathy, is often done using ~these~.
-If your character speaks in a racial language other than common, please put the language such as (Elven) like that before speaking so others know which language is being spoken.
-Please only use English in the chat rooms, unless you intend to translate what was stated into English immediately after.

Post Limit/Size

-Try to keep your larger posts 4-6 lines. Any larger than that will often kick you or another person from the room due to Delphi's flood protection program. When needing to cut your posts up, type (c) for continue to let people know you are not done yet, and (e) to indicate you've finished. People do this to be polite to each other and allow for posting in turns, which keeps the 'flow' of play smoother.

Interruptions

-While in the main room, occasionally a GM might interrupt the role playing to make an official announcement. At these times, please cease your play until they are done so everyone can read what the GM says. This is usually in regards to an event, such as a quest or battle.
-During a quest, it is asked that you do not cause unnecessary distraction for the GM. This could be things from starting a fight with another character, or asking extensive questions in OOC, or having your character stray away from the main directive of the quest. The GMs work hard on these quests, so we ask that you respect their direction for the characters. Most will give your character plenty of creative freedom still.
-Do not argue with a GM in a battle, quest, or the main. If you have questions or concerns, private message the GM. If you continue to try to argue outside of PM, you might be kicked from the room.
-Don't jump into storylines of other characters that are clearly private. If you don't know if it's private, try whispering or PM'ing one of the players to ask. Most will politely let you know if it's okay to join them or not. Don't take rejection personally, because sometimes stories are planned out and deviations from them could cause complications. Just keep trying with more people!

Using the forum:

Posting

-Do not delete your posts. If we find you excessively deleting, we may take away posting rights to your character.
-Do not jump into other's closed threads. If they don't say closed or private, then they will be assumed to be open.
-Make sure your posts go in the right folders, indicated by their titles.
-No colored topics.
-Please have more than a couple words if you are going to post, unless it is for things like signature tests.
-Please keep OOC limited in IC posts.

Signatures

-No background music. Links to videos or playlists is fine.
-Do not over-size the images. If your signature makes the page stretch or cause excessive scrolling, we will ask you to change it, or we will remove it.
-We wont enforce this, but we request you try to keep your signature organized. Centered, links or text beneath the image instead of above or on the side, no broken images and not too much stuff together. Try a 'sig box' from a signature room if you have a lot you need in your signature.
-No nudity, or overly sexual/suggestive poses.

Structured Information:

Setting

Stick to our game's setting. No time travel, no modern items, no excessive space travel/reference (such as spaceships and aliens), to list a few things. If you aren't sure, feel free to ask. Our setting is based loosely around the real European "medieval" age.

Stats, sheets, etc.

-Keep track of your character's progress. We'll have pretty good records on everything, but in case we miss something or get it wrong, you'll need to alert us. Any daily activities will need to be brought to our attention as we wont be watching for it automatically.
-Don't try to lie in a quest/battle about your character's stuff. If it isn't on the sheet (which we have access to) then your character doesn't have it. Keep track of your LP and MP too during events.
-Don't roll the dice in the rooms excessively. Rolling d1 occasionally to check if your screen is frozen is fine, as is rolling to do actions as required. Rolling d1000000 just for fun is NOT okay. If you need to practice with the dice for your character, please do so in one of the event rooms, such as the arena, when available.

Pregnancy

-Your character has specific guidelines for pregnancies and mating. See the Races pages for that information.
-Characters must have reached the adult age for their race (seen on the Race page) to be able to breed.
-Your character will be pregnant for a minimum of 2 IRL months, unless stated otherwise on their Race page. If you desire your character to be pregnant longer than this period, you can extend it as long as you desire.
-Both players must agree to a pregnancy and will do so before any rolls are made or announcements done. If one of the players doesn't agree and the other already tried to declare it, it will be nulled.
-Any stories involving the loss of a child during pregnancy will be done in private message only between consenting players or simply "blanked out" in an OOC way (meaning it is assumed to have happened but not described.) You are NOT allowed to describe this process in any way, period. It must also be told to the staff prior to it occurring. This should only EVER be done for story enrichment (and thus agreed on by both players involved), and NOT as a way to 'get at' someone. If this process is done in a way to harass someone, we will make your character barren from that point on permanently.
-The birthing "process" of the characters needs to either be kept to the forum with a warning about 'graphic birth content' before the written post, or taken to an empty event room where players can join if they choose to. It is never to be played out in the main play room as the content is sensitive for many readers.
-Children will be an NPC until they reach 12 AY, at which point they can either remain an NPC to the player's choice, or handed over to an actual player who will gain FULL rights to that character to do with as they see fit and does not have to be given back (meaning be careful who you choose to give it to.) If left as an NPC, it will be placed on both parents sheets to be used as they see fit. Death to the NPC will require permission from both 'parent' players. Custody over the character can be discussed with staff in extreme circumstances.

Marriage

-All races, genders, and classes may get married in the game. There ARE limitations regarding breeding, which can be found on the Race pages.
-Only adult age characters may marry. Players must be consenting even if the characters aren't.
-A token must be presented (and purchased) when declaring the intention for marriage (like an engagement ring for example) IC.
-A license to marry must be purchased from a Cleric (and thus another player) and be over-seen by a Cleric, whether privately or public. A public marriage will allow ALL characters to join (but your characters might get more gifts) while a private marriage will only allow invited characters to join.
-If requested early enough, the event room will be set up and reserved for the marriage so that it can take place live in a chat room instead of on the forum.
-To divorce (only requires one player's permission) the character must inform a Cleric, who will issue the void of the marriage license. The character issuing the divorce will be required to pay 2,000 gold (or an item of the same value) to the Cleric, and if the divorce is mutual, they can choose to have a 'clean break' (where neither pays anything) or split any assets (property, rings, etc.) that the two share, done by a GM.

Abilities/Items

-Golden rule: If it isn't on your character's sheet, your character cannot do it or does not have it.
-Main room role play is more 'relaxed' and we'll let it slide usually if your character is doing things they normally couldn't. However, keep in mind your character wont be able to do these things in ANY official event, or toward any unwilling player. If it goes to far, respect when a GM steps in to ask that it cease or be adjusted.

Pets, Housing/Property, NPCs

-Anything you want officially recognized, meaning able to be on your sheet, used in events, or toward/with other players, or gained from (such as selling) will need to be purchased/acquired from the game and put on your sheet. If you don't see what you want in the market, email the game and request it. We might grant it to you.
-NPC use is tricky (pets fall under this category) for sure. You can play out an NPC if you like, without doing anything official. However if you'd like to be able to use this NPC in battle, or events, then you'll need to purchase one from the market.
-Unofficial housing/property can only be used for stories and nothing else. If you'd like to be able to gain profit from these, use them for defense of your character, or any other benefits, you'll need to purchase it.

Etiquette

Sensitive Material

-This is something we ask that you use very limited, and only with adult characters and OOCly conscenting players. These are situations such as mentions of past-tense rape (absolutely no current-time or full rape scenes will be allowed in chat or the forum), miscarriage, adult molestation, gorey dismemberments of body parts, potty play (excrement use), and strong sexual scenes. Sexual scenarios should be kept to displays of affection and not pleasure in the main room.

Auto Hits/Misses

-Your character cannot automatically do an action toward another character, or speak 'for' that character's actions. Imply your character's actions such as "attempts to grab their arm" and let the other player choose if they accept the action or not.
-Similar to the above, your character cannot automatically dodge every action toward them. You need to give in occasionally (more often than not) to the other character's action or we'll see it as "power playing."
-Power Playing is frowned on, and means that your character is trying to be all powerful, and have no weaknesses or openings. Especially in a structured game, this is not allowed.

Player Knowledge VS Character Knowledge

-This is a very tricky subject that even the best role players can slip up on occasionally. What this means is what YOU, the player and human behind the character, may know something, but it doesn't necessarily mean that your character knows it. Your character can only EVER know something if they have -heard- or -experienced- it inside the game and IC. You might read that a character is pregnant from the forum for example, but that doesn't mean that your character will know about the pregnancy. Don't try to get around it either, it's frowned on and if abused, can result in punishment.
-On this same subject, make sure to SEPARATE your character's knowledge from each other when you play more than one. Be very careful to remember that just because your character Susan knows something, it doesn't mean your character Bob will. This sometimes gets abused by people (such as to have multiple characters attack another when only one of those characters had a grievance) and if we catch you doing it, it will result in punishment.

Communications

-Your character will need to have the ability to communicate telepathically before they are allowed to. You are also never allowed to simply read another character's mind. There are skills where this can be applied, but it requires special rolls and can be defended against. ONLY if another player consents to their character's mind being read will you be able to do so outside of a skill and cannot be done during any official events.
-If a specific racial language is spoken, indiciated like: (Elven), and your character doesn't have that language on their sheet, then they do NOT know what is being said. If you try to have your character understand, it will be considered an abuse of player knowledge. As frustrating as it may be, you'll just have to settle for the fact your character wont understand a lick of what those characters are saying. Only when the indicator (This) is used will it be considered officially being spoken however.
-Your character can only speak/read/write languages unlocked on their sheet. All races (with a couple exceptions such as Ogres) will know 'Common' (aka Human, deemed a 'trade' language for all) which is what will always be assumed to be spoken.

Name Games

-Please don't bully other players into telling you what other character's they play OR reveal to other people what characters that person plays without their permission. It's rude, and some people like to have 'secret' characters for many reasons, which is their business. The only time this might occur is if a staff member needs to ask someone privately if they have multiple characters in an event which in some circumstances can be cheating.
-Don't mention other games while in ours. Discussions like this should be kept to private. We also ask that you not come into our game to ask players to go to another (called 'farming') because this is disrespectful to us. Asking a friend to join you is one thing, but asking people you don't know is farming and rude.
-Don't ever pretend to be or play a character that isn't yours without permission. This is also considered "cloning" and is against Delphi's TOS. Permission given by a player to play their character in an NPC fashion by some people is okay, but no actions taken while doing this will be deemed official or recognized.

Foul Language

-We filter some words for a reason. Don't try to 'get' around a filtered word by slightly altering it so it can be seen. We'll warn you if you do this, and if you do it excessively you will be punished.
-Substituting words is different from 'getting around' filtered words. We STRONGLY encourage you to substitute words while playing. Use setting-appropriate terms like 'wench' or 'harlot' or 'pansy' or 'bastard' instead of current-day slurs/insults. Call someone a Momma's Boy, or a Loose Skirt, or that they wreak like an Ogre. Be creative instead of hurtful. Your character can be a big potty mouth for all we care, as long as the right things are coming out of that mouth!
-The reason for these restrictions is because Delphi allows ages 13 and up, and while most kids these days have heard worse things in school or at home than they'll see in our game probably, we still don't want to contribute to the problem.

Introductions/Cliques

-Be sure to be open to the possibility of role playing with someone you are not familiar with. You never know when opening up to a new character/player where it could lead. Sometimes you get the best of friends, or the funnest of enemies this way.
-We don't discourage what many deem as "cliques" because in-character grouping can often times be rewarding and fun; from families, to guilds, to quest parties. Though you should definitely try once in a while to step outside of the safety of a 'known' IC relationship. This will occur many times during quests, where characters who don't know each other will have to work together toward the goal. So be ready for it!
-Remember that we were all new once. So to those of you who ARE new to this, know that you are not alone and though it may take a little effort and a few tries, eventually you will get the hang of things and others will begin to notice you or become inclusive of your character. Don't give up! You aren't being purposefully ignored.

The Taverns & Game NPCs

Drinks and food in the capital's taverns OOCly are free. IC, you should mention paying or tipping in regards to food and beverage, but you wont actually lose gold from your sheet. Rooms are also free, and allowed as temporary residence for characters until they can acquire property of their own later on (OOCly NOT free, see the Market for information.) NPCs that are used by the game, such as tavern staff, are not subject to being killed, kidnapped, stolen from, battled, or in any other way interacted with other than to add a little addition to your own storyline, such as discussions and orders. Flirting with them, speaking for them (try to keep to their listed personalities from the site), and casual reference to them are perfectly fine. Just don't go overboard. They are in the game to improve the appearance and feel of the described atmospheres and locations... so beat up your fellow players IC, not our NPCs! The same goes for NPC owned establishments like the taverns... you break it, you very well might end up paying for it. Seriously. Characters that drastically, or often, damage property will have actions taken IC against them by the NPC authorities and can incur penalties from gold reduction, to being banned IC from the establishment or location, to the owner's even taking your characters hand as payment!

Leave it to the GM!

Please do not try to enforce rules yourself. Leave rule enforcement to the GM's because players do not like to be confronted (or often seen as harassed) by other players about rules. During times that staff aren't present in the chatroom and people are breaking rules (like excessive OOC), use Dephi's /ignore feature so you do not have to see their posts. If the rule broken is severe enough (like harassment) then take a screenshot and email it to the game staff, where we will look into it and handle it, and ignore the player afterward. Never join in, as it may only get you in trouble as well.

Battles

Take extended battles to the #arena (tc-MysticArena). Dice or Quick Draw battles can disrupt and distract others from the IC atmosphere of their stories, and can also flood the room making it easy to miss posts. Brief storyline battles (like Para) are okay, but have the same stipulations of forum battles (no dice, no perm death, no structure.) If a battle is intended to end up in a Death, a GM will need to be present, and the fight will need to be in the arena. If a GM is not available, the fight has to be postponed until a GM can witness (post in the Battle folder to request a GM and schedule a time for the match.) So no dice battles, or quick-draw battles within the main. Start it through storyline and then take it to the arena to do it officially. The only exception to this are assassination attempts, which WILL occur in the main chatroom and might pause the room's play temporarily.

Quest Announcements

Quests will most of the time take place in the chatroom #adventures (tc-MysticQuests), but often starts within the main chatroom. A GM will announce that a quest will take place soon (generally a 10-20 minute warning) and then either:
A. Start the quest in the main and move it to the quest room, OR
B. Exit the main room and head straight to the quest room.
While the quest is in the main, your characters can participate, but are not required to continue on to the quest room unless you choose to; however, brief participation at the beginning will not warrant exp or rewards, and the character's knowledge will only be to the extent of what was in the main chatroom.

No Child Abuse

Stories that would include child-molestation, or child-rape are NOT allowed in our game, period. The age of "maturity" for each race has been listed on the race pages to adjust for their lifespan. They must be this age or older to enter into Sensitive Material stories.

Slavery

Slavery IS allowed in our game, but must have OOC player consent, and the slave "owner" OOCly must respect the "slave" player's wishes once they desire to no longer have their character be a slave. Battle-capture has different rules, as players must consent to the POSSIBILITY of capture before the battle and the enslavement has a limited amount of time.

While a character is enslaved:
(The following applies unless the slave's player gives permission)

They cannot be made to kill themselves or battle others.
They cannot be ordered to alter themselves permanently.
They cannot be ordered to give up their possessions, with the exception of the Amazon rules.
They cannot be forced to do acts against their 'character' as a person, such as sexual acts.

They CAN be restrained, directed, or physically manipulated (bowing for example) non-sexually, such as for humiliation.
They must serve or do the wishes of the enslaver or they are allowed to be non-permanently damaged/hurt.

Willing enslavement by the OOC player will last as long as the player allows it. Non-willing enslavement (such as in battle) will only last as long as the act states.
Non-willing players of slaves are allowed to choose to not play their character during the period of enslavement. The slave will be considered restrained in an undisclosed place and unable to be interacted with during the player's absence.

Other characters can make an attempt to free a slave that is seen in public areas as long as the player (of the slave) is willing to have that character rescued.

They cannot be rescued against their will. Skills, battle, purchase, trade, and other actions may be used in the attempt to acquire the slave. The slave owner is able to counter these actions as necessary and reasonable, and if there is dispute it can be taken to a GM to make the decision on which person is successful.

Rape

Be aware of the following. Rape, is a very real life situation for many. In fiction, it can be used to further a character's development, or cause them a personality handicap. It can sometimes be used to make someone more villainous too. We understand (on a very personal level) how sensitive this subject is. We have decided for the sake of character development and story, that rape can be mentioned in a character's history or storyline BRIEFLY (not too much detail or it may be denied) for story purpose. It will NOT be allowed to be played actively/present time in any story for any reason. No raping anyone, no being raped, no seeing rape in progress, no speaking of doing the act. We will allow it in history purposes only to describe a tragedy (or vile act) to help players who want a bit darker past for their character. Thank you for understanding, and those who do not abide by these guidelines will be warned once, and banned permanently if pushed after a warning.

Sexual Content

Sexual content should be limited in the public chatroom/forum. Consistent displays of affection, or further "development" of sexual acts should be taken to private (PM's, IM's, E-mail, etc.), but is in no way encouraged by Mystic Worlds or it's staff. Cybering is not allowed in Delphi, and if it is insisted by the two consenting players, should be taken to a source outside of Delphi. Be careful when venturing into sexual conversations, whether "in character" or not, because this material can be documented and used against you by malicious people; sexual harassment (not allowed and against the law), blackmail, decimation of character, and regret are all possible. We do not condone or encourage sexual acts or conversations. Cybering is not allowed in Delphi, so we will not allow it in our chatrooms. Done where others cannot see is not in our jurisdiction and we don't care; though keep in mind that some players in Delphimight be under 18, and sexual discussions or approaches with minors is illegal... so be careful and smart about who you interact with behind the scenes.

"Drugs"

No drug references. The following we'll allow, but nothing else: Mentions of "herbs" (no other name/term than herbs please, such as marijuana, especially new age references to things), tobacco (no filters, as these are new-age items. Instead use it chewed, or smoke it rolled or in pipes), and alcohol. Hallucinogenics in the form of magic or potions will be allowed to a degree. Keep all mentions of any of these materials in a fantasy-sense only.

Eavesdropping

Characters will only be able to "over-hear" each other while in the same room at normal to louder tones, or within close proximity (through a door or window). Special skills with certain races will allow heightened senses, but there are limits with these as well. Be reasonable and realistic to proximity and volume.

Royalty Status

When there is royalty around, people should respond accordingly with gestures of respect (shaking of hands, bowing, acknowledging) or distaste (sneers, spitting, etc.) Royalty should not to be ignored. People are only officially "royal" if they've obtained a title as such through "Status". If they are not officially royal, you do not have to recognize them as such. People work hard to get their titles, so please play along... you might actually find that it gets you a new enemy/ally in the game and add some fun!

Crime

Theft, assassination attempts (unexpected/unwarranted attacks), murder, and similar crimes are not something done in the open or in front of others generally. When this happens in a public area within the chat room (tavern, busy city, etc) and a GM is present, other characters may do a "citizens arrest" if they are brave enough to try and detain the criminal, or the GM will have NPC Knights come in and arrest the offender. The person who committed the crime will be asked to roll by the GM, and more specific rules are described on the Class pages for more details.

Jail

Murder

Mass murder (5 people or more) in public places, or murder of NPC's or PC's that are under 14 (and someone finds out) will land you in Vezeni with a life sentence. You must pay 50k gold to be released, or be pardoned by the victim (since they usually revive). Sometimes trials may take place where the person is judged by unbiased peers. If your character DOES get a life sentence, they'll get the ability to try to break free once a RL month.