The Rules

General Rules

1. Severe misbehavior or cheating in any fashion will be dealt with in the form of "strikes". A first offense will receive a warning - this is the only warning. A second strike will carry a penalty of -3 to all of your character's statistics. A third strike will result in character deletion. "Severe misbehaving" consists of excessive rudeness outside of roleplays and other demeaning behavior.

2. Roleplaying (RPing) is the method by which most actions occur in "The World". Players write and post stories concerning their characters, often about their character's actions and thoughts, on the message board. The format of these RPs is completely open, but please try to be as clear as possible. The point of roleplaying is to add depth to your character and make the game more fun. Many people confuse roleplaying with the necessity of speaking/typing in Olde English or medieval speech of some kind, but with regards to "The World" this method of speaking is not required. A sample roleplay can be found here. Be advised that this sample is extremely long - RPs do not have to be of any particular length.

3. While Generals can be attacked like any other NPC or PC, be advised that these beings are immensely powerful. It is unlikely that any PCs will ever be able to defeat a General, and the Generals do not take kindly to challenges. They fight to kill.

4. Private areas on the message board are password protected. All attempts, successful or not, to access password protected areas are recorded in the administration's control panel. Therefore, if the administration notices constant attempts to break into a private area of the message board then we will deal with the matter by handing out strikes. If the person attempting to break in doesn't control a player, then the administration will be forced to ban the message board user(s) responsible.

5. Any aspect of "The World" may be modified at any time. While the administration will attempt to inform players of these changes, be advised that changes may occur at any time. These changes usually occur when issues of imbalance arise and seek to re-balance aspects of the game.

6. All Generals in "The World" have a specific style that epitomizes their strong points. Working with a General for at least thirty consecutive days will allow the player the option of adopting that General's style. The bonuses gained from styles are listed on the Generals page. Only one style may be in effect at any one time. If at any time a character adopts a second style, then they will need to "relearn" their first style if they wish to regain it.

7. Each member may only own and control a single character.

8. A character's HP and MP fully recover every day unless that character has suffered defeat in battle. Unconsciousness will result in a character requiring three days of inactivity to fully recover.

9. Shifter Transformation: A Shifter gains bonus stat points and physical characteristics at set Power values. The choice of physical characteristics is left completely to the player, but the characteristics chosen should indicate the statistic that particular transformation increased. Example: A Shifter PC uses his first bonus point to increase his Agility and chooses to gain a small tail. Further increases to Agi may increase the size of the tail or add other characteristics (Overall frame slimming, shrinking in height, etc). Minor characteristics are the addition of small new features (Ex: 2 inch long horns) or a small modification to existing features (Ex: Slightly more muscular). Major characteristics are the addition of features that are impossible to miss (Ex: A second pair of arms/legs [though this wouldn't allow more attacks than normal]) or the modification of a current feature which increases other character's awareness of the feature (Ex: A tail growing a spiked appendage at its end). Shifters gain one bonus stat point and a minor characteristic every 2500 Power, and they gain three bonus stat points and a major characteristic every 10 000 Power.

10. A player may only have a single positive status effect (A 'buff') at any time in battle. If another beneficial effect were granted to that player, then the effect with the longer duration would take effect. Ex: Toughen Hide is cast on Player A. At the start of the next round, Haste is cast on Player A. Since the remaining duration on Toughen Hide is two rounds, and the duration on Haste is three rounds, Player A loses "Toughen Hide" effect and gains "Haste" effect. Positive status effect spells may not be cast on opponents.

Creating a Character

1. The first step in creating a character is deciding on a race. The description of each race can be found on the Races page. If a player decides that they would prefer to play as a different race after creating a character, then that player will be allowed to change races within the first seven days of their joining date. After that time, a player who wishes to play as a different race must create a new character. This action entails the deletion of the player's first character.

2. The following base statistics are used to describe different aspects of a player's character:

Power - The overall measure of a character's progress; Raising Power yeilds Stat points
Strength (Str) - A measure of the character's physical might; Used in damage calculations for physical attacks
Vitality (Vit) - A measure of the character's defensive capabilities against physical attacks; Used in damage calculations for physical attacks
Dexterity (Dex) - A measure of the character's coordination; Used in accuracy calculations for all attacks
Agility (Agi) - A measure of the character's limberness; Used in evasion calculations for all attacks
Speed (Spd) - A measure of the character's quickness; Used to determine turn order during battles and measures a character's ability to move across "The World"
Intelligence (Int) - A measure of the character's mental abilities; Determines if a character can learn a spell/technique and used in damage calculations for magical attacks
Spirit (Spr) - A measure of the character's resilience to mystical forces; Used in damage calculations for magical attacks
Hit Points (HP) - A measure of the character's health; When a character's HP reaches zero that character falls unconscious
Magic Points (MP) - A measure of the character's magical energy; MP are consumed when techniques and spells are performed

3. A new character starts with a value of zero Power, one in all statistics and ten HP and MP. In addition, all new characters start with five statistic points (stat points). Stat points are used to raise a character's statistics. Each stat point raises a statistic by one, except for HP and MP - one stat point raises HP and MP each by ten. Note that if your race has negative modifiers to its starting statistics, then the amount of stat points you have at creation will be reduced to compensate. Example: Rakore suffer creation penalties of -2 Int and -2 Spr. Therefore, a new Rakore character only has one stat point.

4. Alignment is a measure of a character's tendency towards good or evil. Actions during RPs, questions and mission or various awards may effect character alignment. Alignment is recorded as a value between +100 and -100. The following chart describes the alignment ranges:

Holy: +100 to +95
Heroic: +94 to +75
Good: +74 to +50
Neutral: +49 to -49
Bad: -49 to -74
Villanous: -75 to -94
Demonic: -95 to -100

5. A character starts with one Movement point. Additional Movement points are gained every 10 Spd. Ex: Player A has a Spd of 9 - he has one Movement point. Player B has a Spd of 10 - he has a two Movement points. These points determine how many spaces a character can move per day walking on the World Map and how many spaces a character can move per turn on the Battle Map.

6. Characters may only own up to ten items at any one time.

7. The economy in "The World" involves the use of ornate coins as currency. These coins are used to barter for goods and services and are often rewarded for the completion of jobs, quests and missions. New characters start with 500 coins.

8. Each character has four techniques or spells in which he is naturally gifted at learning. These are defined as Specialized Moves. The player may select any technique or spell for his Specialized Moves. Characters may learn their Specialized Moves on their own to gain that move at a Novice level. If a character chooses to learn a Specialized Move with any General's aid, then he will learn the move at an Intermediate level instead.

9. Players are given a private sub-forum under the "Players" forum on the message board. Within this sub-forum, a player will find his character's Status Page.

10. A sample status page, complete with descriptions, can be found here.

11. Interested players should register a user name (usually their character's name) on the message board and send a Private Message (PM) to an administrator with the following information: Character Name, Character Race, Private Forum Password, Specialized Move List and starting Alignment (within their race's range). The administrator will create a sub-forum for that new character. The starting location for a new character will be determined semi-randomly. All races, minus Shifters, will start somewhere in a 5x5 area that includes that race's capital city. Shifters will start at any land location at random.

Character Actions

1. All actions are measured in Earth days. For example, if a character wished to undergo a Solo Adventure for ten (10) days and he wished to begin on August 8th (8/8/08), then he would finish on August 17th (8/17/08) - 8/8, 8/9, 8/10, 8/11, 8/12, 8/13, 8/14, 8/15, 8/16, 8/17. He could begin new actions starting on August 18th. Keep in mind that only one action can be performed at any given time. Ie: A character cannot be moving locations and adventuring, participating in any quests or other adventures, nor learning a technique or spell simultaneously.

2. Gaining Power: Power can be gained from many sources. The action and the associated rewards are listed below:

Solo Adventure- 50 Power per day
Group Adventure- 50 Power per day +10 per extra person
Directed Solo Adventure- 100 Power per day
Directed Group Adventure- 100 Power per day +10 per extra person
Battle - Dependent upon conditions of the battle
Missions/Quests - Dependent upon the conditions of the mission/quest

Solo Adventures are the most basic of all methods for gaining Power. A Solo Adventure can be undertaken at virtually any location and requires no outside help. Group adventures require two or more characters. Example: A Group Adventure involving your character and two others would yield 70 Power per day. Directed Solo Adventures may only occur with the aid of a General. Similarly, Directed Group Adventures also require the aid of a General and other characters. Battles are conflicts that occur either between player characters (PCs) or between a PC and a non-player character (NPC).

Power gains from battles depend on a few factors - the biggest factor is the risk to each character. A weaker player who defeats a stronger opponent will gain more Power than two evenly matched fighters. Similarly, two evenly matched opponents would expect to gain more Power than a strong player who picks a fight with a weaker opponent. Power from battles is stolen from the loser and transferred to the winner. Characters who lose a fight, and thus lose Power, will not gain stat points from gaining Power until they reach their previous Power value. Example: Player A, whose normal Power value is 5000, is involved in a battle and loses 500 Power. Player A's temporary Power is 4500. Until Player A's Power is higher than 5000 again, he will not gain any more stat points from gaining Power. Note that you do not lose stats from losing battles - only Power.

Missions and Quests vary in difficulty and task. Included in the pre-written rewards of a Mission or Quest may be a Power, Coin or other reward. As a general rule of thumb, Quests are longer, more difficult or require more members than Missions.

3. Learning Moves. Much like gaining Power, there are multiple methods of learning moves.

Solo Learning - Only Specialized Moves may be learned by oneself.
Assisted Learning - A character teaching another character. The Teacher must be an Expert or Master in the move and he gains 50 Power per day
Directed Learning - A General teaches a player a move from his/her move list

4. Move "Level-up". Many moves have levels of expertise - Novice (N), Intermediate (I), Expert (E) and Master (M). All moves are learned at Novice level unless the move is a Specialized Move and learned with a General, in which case the move is learned at Intermediate level. Advancing between levels can occur in one of two ways. Using the move in battle a set number of times will result in a level advancement, or spending time perfecting the move with a General will result in an increase in move level. However, these methods are not cumulative - whichever method is fulfilled first will result in a level up.

Advancing from Novice to Intermediate requires either 4 uses in battle or +1 Learning Time with a General.
Advancing from Intermediate to Expert requires either 8 additional uses in battle or +2 additional Learning Times with a General.
Advancing from Expert to Master requires either 12 additional uses in battle or +3 additional Learning Times with a General.

A "Learning Time" describes the number of days it takes to initially learn a move. Example: If the move "Fireball" requires seven days to learn, then it would take seven days to learn "Fireball" at Novice, an additional seven days to upgrade "Fireball" to Intermediate, an additional fourteen days to upgrade "Fireball" to Expert, and an additional twenty-one days to upgrade "Fireball" to Master. Therefore, in order to learn Fireball at Master level from scratch would take a combined total of fourty-nine days.

5. Gaining Stat Points. For every 100 Power accumulated, a character gains one stat point.

6. Traveling: As the Map page shows, "The World" is very, very large. The most common method of transportation is walking. However, as the Map also shows, a large portion of "The World" is water. Walking one unit requires one movement point. Traversing water requires a ship - all ships have unique movement point ratings. Traveling "The World", however, can be quite dangerous. All manner of wild beasts and mysterious creatures roam the untamed wilds, and adventurers may find themselves face-to-face with these foes without a moment's notice.

7. The administration will update your status page with any actions you post. Players inform the administration of their actions by replying to their status page in their private sub-forum. Posting actions to be taken in the future is acceptable, but posting actions in retrospect is not allowed. Example: Today's date is 8/8/08. I post on my status page that I would like to begin a Solo Adventure for the next ten days. I also post that after I finish that Solo Adventure, I'd like to travel three units on the World Map. That's an acceptable plan. However, after I travel those three units I haven't left any further information. The date for completing my actions rolls around and I haven't posted anything on my status page. My finish date was 8/20/08. I then post on 8/22/08 that I'd like to perform another Solo Adventure for ten more days. My finish date would then be 8/31/08, not 8/29/08, since I posted on the 22nd.

8. Coins are gained from Missions/Quests and Battles. Missions/Quests may have a set number of coins posted as a reward. Special ads are often listed in the "Weekly Kronicler" requesting adventurer aid; these ads are the most common method of earning money. Battles result in coins if they are taken from a defeated opponent.

9. Missions and Quests are special adventures posted in the "Weekly Kronicler". These are pre-written adventures that players may opt to pursue. However, many missions and quests have requirements that must first be fulfilled - the most common is a Power requirement. Only a set number of characters will be allowed to pursue a Mission or Quest; this value is listed in the Mission/Quest Briefing.

Defining Spell/Technique Attributes

1. Magic has six attributes associated with it: Int Requirement, MP Cost, Magic Attack Level, Piercing Level, Strength Level and Speed Level.

Intelligence Requirement is the value a character's Int must be equal to or greater than in order to learn a move.
MP Cost is the amount of MP required to use the move in battle.
Magic Attack Level partially determines the amount of damage a spell deals.
Piercing Level determines how well a spell will bypass an opponant's magical defenses.
Strength Level partially determines the amount of damage a spell deals.
Speed Level determines when the user will act again as well as the bonus or penalty the target receives to their evasion.

Piercing Level is set at three different values: Non-Piercing (NP), Partial Piercing (PP) and Piercing (P).
Strength Level is set at five different values: Very Weak (VW), Weak (W), Normal (N), Strong (S) and Very Strong (VS).
Speed Level is set at five different values: Very Slow (VS), Slow (S), Normal (N), Fast (F) and Very Fast (VF).

2. Upgrading Spell attributes: If a character has the necessary Int, it is possible to increase the parameters of a spell at the cost of extra MP. The following chart explains the mechanics for upgrading spell attributes. A "+1" indicates a one step jump in a parameter. Example: Upgrading the Piercing category from NP to PP is a one step upgrade. +X MP Costs indicates how much extra MP is required to upgrade an attribute. Example: "Fireball" costs 30 MP and is Non-Piercing. To upgrade Fireball to Partial Piercing would require +2 MP Costs, or an extra 60 MP (30 x2). Therefore, a Partial Piercing Fireball would cost 90 MP. Only one category may be upgraded per cast. Even if you had the requisite INT and MP, you could not upgrade both Piercing and Speed by one level, nor Strength and Speed by one level each.

Piercing +1: Requires 150% base Int and costs +2 MP Costs
Piercing +2: Requires 200% base Int and costs +5 MP Costs
Strength +1: Requires 200% base Int and costs +3 MP Costs
Strength +2: Requires 400% base Int and costs +7 MP Costs
Speed +1: Requires 150% base Int and costs +2 MP Costs
Speed +2: Requires 200% base Int and costs +5 MP Costs
Speed +3: Requires 400% base Int and costs +10 MP Costs

3. Techniques are physical attacks that generally have some special effects or rules. These additional effects vary widely; therefore, all information for these moves can be found on the Techniques page. Unless otherwise stated, all Techniques are treated as physical attacks with regards to determining hit rate and damage.

4. Spell Level has a number of effects on a Spell. Novice Level imposes a penalty of -1 category to Speed and Strength as well as setting the MA Level at 50%. Intermediate Level invokes no penalties or bonuses on a spell. Expert Level grants a permanent bonus of +1 category to either Piercing, Speed or Strength. Master Level grants an additional permenant bonus of +1 category to either Piercing, Speed or Strength but will not further enhance the category upgraded at Expert. In addition, the MA value for the spell is set to 150%. The permenant category increases gained at Expert and Master level are chosen upon the level-up of the spell and recorded on a character's status page.