Game Mechanics

Some of you are old-hands at this; some of you are new. I'll try to write to a level accessible to the newbies, but the short version is that no one is expected to memorize this page. 
==Gameplay and Guidelines==
The game will be played out over the forum--I do not plan to host any live-plays at this time, partly because the players have such widely varying schedules but also because I juggle NPCs poorly on the fly. This is a play-by-post game, which means that players write out their character's actions, other characters react, and the ST (that's me!) notes how the NPCs and environment responds. Most scenes will be narrated, with dice rolls kept to a minimum (though this is left to player discretion--I know that some of you just love to roll those 1s). To a certain extent, players are on the honor system as regards dice rolls, but I reserve the right to make rolls on your behalf, particularly if I can't get ahold of you prior to a post and I need to determine whether your character might reasonably notice an NPC lying through their teeth, for example.
99% of the forum rules can be summed up by saying "observe basic courtesy", but a fuller run-down is here: 
Maintain OOC/IC Knowledge Separation. If you (the player) have out-of-character knowledge of a scene because you read a private scene, remember that your character does not have in-character knowledge of that scene. When in doubt, ask the ST whether your character would have put two-and-two together--you may be called upon to make Empathy or Socialize rolls at the very least. 
Don't "God" Other Characters. Unless you have specific permission from the player, do not post their character's reaction to your character's actions. For inconsequential actions, it is okay to write out hypotheticals for other players to accept/reject in their post. Example: "'Oh!' Reveka exclaims. 'Are you Reptilian, then?' If Ophie will let her, she will gently examine his hands with her own, turning them over to look at the tiny scales on his arms." Note that the other player is within their rights to work into their post that, no, "Ophie shies away from her offer to examine his hands, preferring not to be touched." 
Observe the Whedon Rule. Characters are not players, and vice versa. If two characters are being jerks to each other, please try to be extra-polite to your fellow players so we can avoid OOC drama. (Similarly, sometimes characters just aren't right as friends/lovers/whatever and may break up. Try hard not to let that bleed over to OOC drama.) Having said that, if you plan to run an extra-special-jerkish character, I encourage seeking consent from the other players before you interact jerkishly with them too much--I will have mechanics in place to smack characters who run too far amok. Which leads me to: 
Respect Stated Boundaries. Changeling can be a dark game, and I remember being a newbie and worried that a character might just show up and stab my character on the first day of play. I don't intend to run any deaths in this game without talking to the player first (unless you just really wanna be surprised, in which case let me know in advance so I can arrange some surprises). Similarly anything particularly grimdark like rape, torture, kidnapping, etc. will be talked out with players beforehand to make sure that they're okay with running a scene like that--and if they aren't, that's okay. (It's also okay and normal to change your mind over the course of the game as to your boundaries.) 
First-Time ST Disclaimer. This is the first Changeling game I've run. One of the tricky things about Changeling games is that the game has changed somewhat since the core book was published in 2007. (Frex, the core book claims that Changelings don't use the internet because Loyalists will find us, oh noes! Here in 2014, yeahno, there are emails between Changeling courts.) This means that there are (and will continue to be) gaps in my Changeling knowledge. For some of you that doesn't matter; you're here to play within the basic loose framework; for others, this will matter like whoa because holy-shit-not-accurate. I thank everyone in advance for their patience with me when bringing my mistakes to my attention; I will fix them whenever I can and if I can't (perhaps for plot reasons), then I'll try to at least explain why. Thanks! Category:Gameplay