Rules!

[Gypsy]

The Rules of Shatterglass

Shatterglass is and intermediate/advanced wolf roleplay. The use of powers is permitted, but there are guidelines, sorry you can’t go all willy-nilly on us. Please, before you read these rules, understand that they must be adhered to. Failure to follow the rules will result in a punishment, which will very case by case. Factors to be taken into consideration are as follows:

• What you did – some rules have harsher punishments, and I figure you all are smart enough to figure that powerplaying is a worse offense than flooding the c-box.
  
• Previous offenses – if you’ve broken rules in the past, naturally you’re going to be punished more severely than someone who hasn’t. If you break the same rule more than once, expect a harsher punishment than the last time.
  
• Manner in which the rule was broken – if you do something by accident, you’ll usually get off with little or no trouble. However, if you knowingly break a rule assuming it’ll be okay/you won’t get caught/you don’t have to follow it, you’ll be in plenty of trouble.

As you can see, rational reasons. The punishments can be varied and will almost always take place out of character. However, in character punishments CAN be administered, and will be on a case-by-case basis.

OOC punishments – most common

• Warnings – these are just, well, warnings. You’ll get two warnings before the other consequences apply. All warnings will be PMed to you, and added to your member notes for recordkeeping purposes.
  
• Probation – a period in which you must not break any rules. The time can vary, and any further rulebreaking in the probational period will result in a different consequence.
  
• Fines – these will be used once Shatterglass’s currency system is working. The amount fined can vary and will be removed from your account. They will not be returned. If you cannot pay the fine, store-bought items will have to be cashed in for the credit [this sometimes effects in character developments – see IC punishments].
  
• Suspension – a temporary suspension from visiting the site. The amount of time will vary, and you will be informed by PM and email three days before your suspension begins.
  
• Banning – the most drastic form of punishment. You will be banned from visiting Shatterglass forever, and stuff. You will be informed by email three days prior to banning, and then that’s pretty much it. I really, really hope it never gets to this, and I doubt it will.

IC punishments – quite uncommon

• If you are fined and cannot pay the fine, store item(s) will be returned and the money will be reimbursed to you. The fine will be taken from that money, and any leftover money will be left for you to keep. You will have say in what item in cashed in, and this item will just have to be ‘lost’ in character. If you re-purchase an item that levels, it will be at the first level again.
  
• If an item is abused in roleplay (i.e., used as more powerful than it is), it will be removed and will have to have been ‘lost’ in roleplay.
  
• If a rank is abused in roleplay (i.e., portrayed as more powerful than it is, used to excuse powerplay or godmodding) you can be stripped of it.

Aaaand that’s about it. This was a bit gloomy. So know that if you’re awesome, you get rewarded, I promise.

[Gypsy]

OOC Rules

The rules for out of character, and basically just everything that doesn’t pertain to the actual controlling of characters.

• There is no character ‘limit’, but don’t join more characters than you can handle, or you’ll be asked to hiatus/delete some.
  
• Posts must be at least 200 words long. We encourage you to write more than that.
  
• Be respectful to all members [regardless of when they joined…] and especially all staff. If you have a problem with someone, talk to a staff member about it, don’t go yelling at them. Politely asking is fine. Flaming is not.
  
• Don’t nag people for posts. Asking ‘Do you have an idea as to when my post will be done?’ every couple of days is fine. ‘Hey, soandso, while you’re here can you work on my post?’ daily is not. ‘HEY PLEEEASE WRITE MY POST NOW MY CLOTHES ARE GOING OUT OF STYLE!’ is definitely not okay. Be polite, please.
  
• Don’t flood the c-box. Flooding = posting more than 3 times in a row consistently. And accidental 4 every now and then is forgivable but ‘hey everybody’ ‘what’s up’ ‘I’m bored’ ‘why won’t you answer’ in the same minute is a no-no.

[Gypsy]

General In Character Rules

These are the rules you’ll be dealing with most often, so be sure to be familiar with them.

• No powerplaying, no godmodding. You can’t control anyone else’s character, you can’t be all powerful and dodge every hit. Simple. Small amounts of powerplay will be alright with the other player’s consent, preferably in writing.
  
• In character problems will have in character punishments. If you sass the alpha, the alpha can attack you. If you sass anyone, they can have their character attack yours. If you’re going to do something stupid/rebellious in character, don’t complain when the other characters retaliate.
  
• That being said, you cannot seriously injure or kill another person’s character without their consent. Major injuries include broken bones, extensive scarring, large amounts of bloodloss, etc.
  
• NPC’s, or characters that don’t really exist, can be played minimally. You can say ‘Sandy walked through the woods, and nodded to a male in her pack that she met along the way, happy to be in pack territory.’ When there is no male pack wolf there is just fine, but ‘Sandy let the surging group of twenty wolves towards the alpha, intent on leading the pack herself. Wolves leapt around her and lunged for the alpha, ready to incapacitate him so she could move in for the kill.’ When there are three wolves and the alpha in the thread is not okay.

[Gypsy]

Joining Rules

Uhm, the rules for joining.

• Use the form. Minor ‘artistic’ changes are okay, if you must. So if you feel like putting ‘winters on this barren earth’ in place of ‘age’, go ahead, I guess. But please don’t rearrange the form unless you feel it’s needed, but make sure it’s clear what’s what.
  
• Post your applications as a new thread in the joining board. The title can be whatever, I don’t care if it has their name, or some sort of tagline. I’d prefer your subject isn’t something ugly like ‘jfhgakejghnlbh’.
  
• Don’t post in-character until that character has been accepted. Yada yada, you’ve heard it all before.
  
• If you are asked to clarify or change something, please be polite about it. The point isn’t to insult you, it’s to be sure we understand each other and the roleplay’s limits.
  
• First characters require a sample post of at least 200 words, and if you are requesting a trait that is uncommon, rare, or very rare, you’ll need a sample post, which the amount for will vary. First character must be one of the common breeds.
  
• No ‘perfect’ characters, and also, please no superemo characters. I promise you that after a while, everyone’s going to get tired of trying to make friends with Bloodrain who refuses to make friends with anyone ‘cause she’s just so sad. Then you can’t play your character and we’re annoyed with you, and it turns crappy. So… Yeah.

[Gypsy]

Pack Rules

• Wolves are not required to join a pack, but it is recommended. Realize that if you have a loner wolf, they are vulnerable to attack by packs, and by other loners.
  
• Alpha’s word is law in a pack, however, they must follow the general rules, too. They can punish your character in character, but that’s about it.
  
• Alpha positions cannot be challenged for, not can betas, gammas, the delta, any ‘heirs’ or their system’s equivalent.
  
• The alpha is in charge of choosing the betas, gammas, and the delta or their system’s equivalent. They may promote and demote wolves to any and all positions within reason. However, alphas cannot interfere with challenges [see the next rule]
  
• Any wolf can challenge for any position, [excluding those mentioned above]. They must fight one of the wolves that currently holds that position, selecting just one if there are several. If the challenger wins, both combatants hold the position. If the challenger loses, they return to their original position. Alphas may demote them after a loss at their leisure.
  
• If you feel your character has been unfairly demoted, talk to a staff member.

[Gypsy]

Breeding & Mating Rules

The guidelines for finding that special someone.

• Unless it’s a pack rule, as declared by the alpha, females cannot be ‘claimed’. They’re just as free to chose a mate as a male is.
  
• Once mates are together [have mated/had pups] they are supposed to stay together. Try not to bend this too much.
  
• Forcebreeding is allowed only with the players of all involved’s consent. Once everyone’s agreed, all involved parties need to PM an admin so we know everyone’s totally okay with it.
  
• Preferably any graphic breeding should be taken to PM, but if it’s in a thread, put MATURE in the thread title. If you don’t want to read that sort of stuff, don’t read it. If a post is not marked mature but contains mature content, then the post [or the entire thread, depending] will be deleted and those that failed to mark their posts will earn an automatic week’s suspension. I need to protect the innocent here, work with me please!
  
• Before characters can officially become mates, they need to be in two threads together. At the end of the second thread, they can agree to be mates, but not in the middle of it.
  
• Breeding can take place in late winter, and breeding will be posted. Once the breeding has occurred, you’ll have to have at least five posts in which the mother is pregnant before the pups are born. Pups can’t be born until spring.

[Gypsy]

Fighting Rules

Whether it’s a formally planned fight or a spur of the moment brawl, these are the rules you need to follow.

• Establish in OOC how many attacks, full dodges, and part dodges each character will get. Generally, each character will have to take at least one full hit.
  
• Also in OOC, find a judge. This is especially important in official challenges. The judge should not be biased towards any side, and all characters should be neutral towards the outcome. Most staff will be happy to judge, assuming they are neutral to the outcome.
  
• Once you’ve agreed on a judge, they get the final say. Accept their decision, even if it’s not in your favor. If you have a legitimate reason for believing you should have won the fight, PM me [Gypsy] and I’ll review it. Do not take it up with the judge or your opponent.
  
• Fights in character shouldn’t be taken out of character.
  
• Before fighting, please specify how injured you’d be okay with your wolf getting, and make it realistic. You aren’t going to come out of a fight with minor scratches, but you can request that no major scarring will occur, that no bones are broken, etc. Also, be sure to specify beforehand if it’s going to be a fight to the death.

[Gypsy]

There they are, the rules. The ones you'll be using most often have snazzy headings. Any questions can be PMed to me. If the rules are changed, there'll be an announcement.