The Doon School

Rules of Play

Be Responsible & Mature

     You are responsible for your posting, your characters, etc, so you need to keep track of everything and your posting status. You are expected to read all posts with "OOC" in the subject line. That includes reading all OOC posts that are sent by the moderator to the list. These emails include vital information to the game. You will not be excused if you have not read the emails. The emails go out after all updates to the site have been made, so if you just joined you will already see the new changes.

     Maturity is key. It goes hand in hand with being responsible. We are not here to babysit you, but to make sure that the game runs smoothly. It's difficult keeping a game going and please keep up with your own stuff, the moderators have enough to do already.

Character Creation Do's & Don'ts

     The follow is a list of suggestions and/or rules when it comes to character creation in the game. I HIGHLY recommend that you read through this list before you continue.

• No "Mary Sue" type characters. Be realistic and give them real flaws. Human flaws. What do I mean? Yeah, you're a powerful vampire, but you've got to have some weaknesses as well as character flaws. Nobody is perfect.
   
• Be sure you can play your character. If you are uncomfortable writing up sex scenes, don't play a character who has a high sex appeal. If you aren't good with violence, don't have a violent character. Know yourself. It's good to challenge yourself but be careful not to get yourself in over your head.
   
• Balance your character's strengths and weaknesses. We don't want you to go overboard with how awesome you are, but have a character so weak with barely any strengths, that can make it difficult for game play.
   
• Make a character that will be capable of interaction. You cannot expect to make a character so completely shut off that nobody can post against them. Nobody will want to play with you.
   
• You are only allowed one character to begin with. Once I see you posting regularly, you will be open to create more. The maximum is ten, those who have more had them before this rule was instated.
   
• Characters that are bizarrely similar to another person's or a character from the book are not allowed. Be creative, and don't rip off someone else.
   
• If you have multiple characters, make sure each of them are different and that they don't all end up in the same cookie cutter mold. I do read through the profiles and I will notice a trend if there is one.
   

General Posting Info

     When you submit your character to be accepted by the moderators, you are agreeing that you will post at least once a week. You can only post one time per character a day. If you have mutiple characters you follow the rule the same with every character. Meaning if you have five characters, you post each character at least once a week. You want an average of 2-5 posts per week. If you fail to produce posts and you have not given a moderator prior warning to your absence, your character will be removed from the game. Please be considerate of others since just dipping out with a notice leaves a large mess to be cleaned up. Me having to clean up your mess does not make me happy and if you want to come back, I'll be less inclined to accept you.

Posting Etiquette

     The following are rules and manners dealing with posting. These are VERY important to the game and so please be sure you and AGREE with them all.

• NO GOD-MODING - First we will discuss what exactly "God-moding" is. It's essentially making your character invincible. They can't get hurt, they know exactly what everyone else is thinking and can avoid any danger at all times, etc. Despite having supernatural powers your character does have weaknesses and so you will have the ability to be hurt or be deceived by others. Take this into note when creating your profile. Your character cannot read minds (unless they are a psychic) so they can't tell what others are thinking.
   
• POWER PLAYING - Powerplaying is a definite "no no." It's a big deal because where it's not terribly common, it's just really annoying to deal with. Powerplaying is basically moving or saying a character that is not yours without the consent of the other player. You can't make someone else do something (i.e. fall in love, do the hokey pokey, backflips) without them agreeing to do it, so you can't do that in the game either. Mild powerplaying is accepted but it must be approved by the player of the other character before you post it. You must also make an out of character comment stating you have permission
   
• NO "OOC" ARGUMENTS IN GAME: The only drama that is allowed is in-game drama (to a point as well), if you have beef with another player, leave it out of the game. Don't make a specific character just to spite the other person. Act like an adult and behave in a mature manner. Immaturity is annoying and you should be able to be professional enough (at least I hope despite this being just an rpg) to not include any of your own personal differences in the game.
   
• LEAVE YOUR PERSONAL FEELINGS OUT OF YOUR POST - Be sure to play your character true to how you wrote them. Have a sweet and demure character suddenly lash out and get angry for silly reasons is NOT good role playing. If you're having a bad day, I'm sorry, but just because you are, doesn't mean your character is too.
   
• BE REALISTIC WITH IN-GAME DRAMA - Seeing that we're playing most teenagers here, there is going to be a ton of drama, but please, PLEASE do not take it overboard. Self-cutting, teen pregnancy, etc. Avoid those subjects at all costs. If you intend to have a character in those situations, you need to have it approved by me. And the chances of me approving those is very slim. Also, on the "drama" subject, some of the characters have known each other for a long time, but others are scholarship students or transfers. There is a heriarchy in the student body which is explained in the Ashwood Academy section of the site. You're not going to spill your guts to any random person in the hallway.
   
• DON'T TWIDDLE YOUR THUMBS - If you leave an "Anyone" tag and nobody responds, you tag someone. If your character is outgoing, a flirt, friendly, or likes to pick on people, you WILL tag someone. You don't sit there and do nothing, then expect everyone to come to you. You put the effort in just like everyone else does. Take the initiative.
   
• POSTING IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY - You are responsible for all of your posting. You are required to post at LEAST once a week for each character you have, and that is the absolute minimum. You actually want to average 2-5 posts a week. I will not chase you down to have you post, but I will chase you down to warn you that your lack of posting is going to force you to drop characters.
   
• 24/7 POSTING - Posting currently is set at no more than 1 post per day and at LEAST 1 post per week. This is subject to change due to research on posting trends I see from players.
   
• NEVER ARGUE WITH THE MOD - Unless in cases of posting mishaps, what the moderator says, goes. If I reject your profile, I will state the reasons why and the changes that need to be made. I'm not just going to say "No". I will explain everything to you in the email.
   
• BEFORE YOU FREAK OUT, GET THE WHOLE STORY - This isn't a group where the moderators will mediate your problems. If something happens in the game, email the person calmly and with a rational process of thinking. State your problem, explain why it is a problem. Do not freak out and email a mod. The mod will only take action if it a repeated problem.
   
• THROW ME A FRICKIN' BONE - What does that mean? When you post, you want your post to have depth, but you also want to give the other person you are playing with something to work with. I've seen lengthy posts that have left others around the people with only leaving one thing for the others to respond to. It's frustrating, it's annoying, and we all do it at one point. If it constantly happens, you will be emailed about it. This is the most common mistake people make, so be wary.
   
• UNWANTED COMPANY - If you are going to jump into a conversation, make sure it's one you can actual bump into. Sometimes people are having a deep conversation and want people to acknowledge them talking to each other, but not to actually intrude. Also, don't just tag any random person that has an open tag. For heaven's sake, never do that. Unless your character has little inhibition, they should be wary of who they are speaking with at the school.
   

Subject Lines

     When you make a post, you will be doing it by email so you need to make sure that the subject line gives out the information that everyone else needs to know. That way the people who are being addressed to realize it and people know where you are and who you are posting as. I'm not too anal. Here is the format:

Format

Character: Fun saying or mood setter for post (Call attention to others here)

Example

Allison: Books books...books! (Anyone)

     Please note that when someone uses the "anyone" tag it means that they are calling attention to any to join. If you are in deep conversation and do not wish to allow others to interrupt, merely leave out the "any" or "anyone" phrase, or just put the name of the location. Regardless of the tags, always check to see if your character can actually join. Sometimes the poster will slip and put the "any" in the tag when they don't mean to. If the conversation looks like one you could actually be a part of, then join but be cautious.

Headers

     Before every post you need to make sure you have the proper information stated so people where you are and what time it is in the day for new people. You will especially need to do this if your character has changed locations. Here's what it should look like:

Format

School Buildling,
Class Period,
Name of Class

Example

Harman Hall,
Period 1
Ancient History

These are required of every post because it tells everyone where you are in the game and what time period it is. We don't normally play classes anymore so you don't have to worry as much about the class and period #.

Footers

     After every post it's good to put the following information to better distinguish your entries. It's to let people know again, who is posting, but also what they are and where they stand within the school. So people don't have to run back to the site to remind themselves of this information.

Format

Character Name
Species (i.e., Human, Circle Twilight Witch, Panther Shifter, Lamia Vampire, etc.)
Position in School (i.e. Junior, Senior, etc)

Example

Sanda Weald
Circle Twilight Witch
Junior

     Like headers, these are important and give away to information about your character. Namely how they can react to the person depending on their species.

Content

     First things first, posts that have sexual content or innuendo should have a rating (Use American system please, i.e. NC-17, R, PG-13) listed in the subject line of the post. Trying to keep that at a minimum if you're playing a teenager, the school is pretty strict about that, so you'd have to go off campus to do anything.

     Next, posts must be written in the third person perspective like as follows:

Incorrect

My breath caught as I looked up into his eyes, impossible eyes that seemed to change color. I couldn't pull away, something drew me closer to him, my eyes locked on his as his hand lifted up and ever so gently touched my jaw. He tilted my head to the side to expose the flesh of my neck to him. I knew what was coming and there was nothing I could do.

Correct

Her breath caught as she looked up into his eyes, impossible eyes that seemed to change color. She couldn't pull away, something drew her closer to him, her eyes locked on his as his hand lifted up and ever so gently touched her jaw. He tilted her head to the side to expose the flesh of her neck to him. She knew what was coming and there was nothing she could do.

     Your post should have actual depth to them. I'm not saying have your character sit there pondering on the mysteries of life for every entry, but an entry with less than three good paragraphs (good paragraph = 5+ sentences in it) or so is not acceptable. Here is an example of what we don't want and what we do want.

Example Post

Email Subject: Yancy: Hottie Teachers (Hillary, Harman Hall)

Harman Hall,
After School

Yancy sighed and looked down at her watch. Was it really 2:00 already? Time sure seemed to pass that day, it was hard to believe the school day was already over. At points it seemed to last for an eternity but now it appeared to have gone by too fast. Yancy stood up and pulled the strap of her school back over her shoulder and made an exit out of the classroom.

Coming into the hallway she passed by various groups of students and when she caught a familiar face she gravitated towards them. Hillary was her best friend, even though sometimes she left Yancy wondering how she thought the same about her. It didn't matter though, they had grown up together. She greeted her with a warming smile, "Hey, Hil, what's up?"

"Oh, guess what, the new Modern World teacher, complete hottie. He's absolutely divine and I think he's one of us too," Yancy continued and by "one of us" she of course meant a vampire. The school was full of them. Witches and shifters too. That's what Ashwood started off as as first, a school for Night World kids to get a good education and not have to constantly hide from humans. Things were a little different now, since humans had joined the student body, but the concept was still the same.

Yancy Smith
Lamia Vampire
Junior

     Please be sure to use the above as a reference if you are unsure. I'm not saying copy and paste the thing, but you should note how this differs and how it meets the requirements.

Harmans, Redferns, & Draches

     In the books these last names are actually what helps make the books what they are. These three families represent the "royalty" so to speak of each of the species. The Harmans are Hearth-women and their ancestress leads back to Hellewise, the Redferns are the supposed vampires that come from the line of Maya and the Draches come from the Dragon that was left again (Please see each species info page on details of history). Because these last names are so imbedded into the history of the books, I don't think this game can really function without at least a couple of them.

     Witches with the last name Harman and vampires with the last name Redfern are allowed, but with a limit. Draches are not allowed at all in this game, so please don't request to be one. The number of each is decided by me, and there will be few Redferns due to the fact they haven't known too long about Graves Island. Harms are a little more numerous but even then, limited. Once I have enough I will state on the Join page that no more Harmans and Redferns are available. Capiche?

This is a "Loosely Based" Game

     Making a character from the books, making one with that is exactly like one from the books but with a different name, or having your character be related to a character from the books is not allowed. When you make your character, even if they are a Redfern or a Harman, they cannot be directly or even indirectly related to the characters from the books. You're probably thinking "But all Redferns come from Hunter" which is true in the books, but in this game Hunter doesn't exist. The Redferns in this game are actual pureblooded decendents of Maya, though some lines have been diluted through having children with witches.

     It's really important that you read through the site because changes have been made which make this game loosely based. If you don't then you'll be lost or you may step on a few toes without realizing it.

The Night World & The Council

     For details on the Night World council, go to the Night World page to read on what's going on with that. Any involvement with the Council must be first approved by me and the same strict rules apply in the books as in the game. No making made vampires, no letting the humans know you exist, identify yourself by wearing your proper symbol somewhere on you, etc. The council currently has little activity due to the fact that everyone has pretty much settled. There are no conspiracies as of yet.

     If you have a good plot idea that involves the council, please make sure you pass it through a moderator before you start it. This is because when the council makes a decision, it will end up affecting the rest of the game.

No Half-Bloods Allowed

     Despite that the witches and vampires have occasionally gotten together to have children of their own, each child born was either a witch or a lamia. There was no in between. They share similar traits, like some vampires will have the violet eyes of the Harman line or a witch will have the multi-colored eyes, but that's about it. Those born witches are human for the most part (save the whole being a witch thing) and the vampires born are actual Lamia, though they may not have the full strength of the pure bloods.

Telling Time in Game

     Because we're playing through actual classes and some people will be playing teachers, each class period which in game is 55 minutes long will be the equivalent of one week. That is 7 days to make sure that you get your posting done and you do something. Extracurricular activities take the place of a week as well, so get your post within those seven days. After that, if it's Monday through Thursday, the next six weeks is for the time spent doing out of school activities. Then it's 11 and your character goes to sleep. Friday's day schedule is the same, but after school the day drags on longer because the students don't have a curfew on those nights. Satuday and Sunday's day activities are based on the students and we play a full Saturday in the space of four months. A Sunday is played in three months because the kids have to be in by 11 that night.

     The time in game is subject to change, depending on how well each method works. If the game is moving too slowly, we'll speed up the time frame but for now it stays like this.

Vacation & Traveling

      If you ever need a vacation from the game or are going to be out of town, please let a moderator know before hand, as well as anyone you are currently posting with. I will make an OOC post at the beginning of each week stating the current time in the game as well as who will be absent and for how long.

     If you do not warn a moderator of your absence we will attempt to contact you and ask what is going on before deleting your character. However if we do not get a response within a week we will tell the others to move on. No reponse in a month means your character will be deleted.

Leaving the Game

      When people leave, it's almost always sad, especially when they're in a role playing game and are situated well enough in. If you need to leave though, please inform a moderator as well as any who are playing with you. If you have a soulmate in the game you MUST inform them of your departure. Before you go we need to close any loose ends as well as make preparations to welcome any new character to replace you.

      If you to make your character available for adoption, please tell the moderator this when you give the notice of leave. If you wish to find someone else to adopt your character before hand that is fine. If you do not state that you wish to have your character put up for adoption we will remove them from the list entirely. It will say in the game that you were transferred out or if you were involved a dangerous and complicated plot, you're dead.

Read Through the Site BEFORE You Join

      This game is "loosely" based or "inspired" by the Night World series of L.J. Smith, and that is just one of the reasons why it is important you read through everything. There are some changes that were made to species and there were a couple of new things added, as well as certain other elements left out (Wild Powers, others). So please PLEASE make sure you read through everything because of that.

     Also, where this game takes place is NOT Las Vegas or even close to Nevada. The town, the school and the island are all fictional, so you need to read up if your character has lived there awhile or grew up there. Even if you are new, you need to know class schedules and such because new students are given an orientation before the school year with a full tour of campus. If your character is a particularly old vampire with ties to the history, reading the site is a must.

It's Okay to Ask for Help

      If you have any questions or need information clarified, do not hesitate to ask me or anyone that may become a Moderator. We are here to not only make sure the game runs smoothly, but to help with any problems you might come across. I and whoever will end up helping me will try to assist you as much as we can, but just to warn you, we can't hold your hand the whole time.

     On that note, don't be afraid to report abuse. It happens sometimes, and it's not right. What do we mean by abuse? If another player is harrassing you via email or purposely going after your character because you two had an argument outside the game, report it to the mods. But first email the person requesting for them to stop. If it continues, then report it to the mods and we will take action.