Roleplay Etiquette

Below is a list of the basic rules we expect all writers to follow while writing with us on the Discord. They're not hard to follow, but if somehow you don't understand a rule, don't just ignore it. Talk to The Mod Squad.

## The Rules of Posting

### Always make an entrance post and an exit post.

When entering or leaving a scene, it’s polite to first make an entrance post, and finally make an exit post. Don’t simply appear in the scene as if you’ve always been there. When entering your chosen scene, you don’t need to announce yourself to whomever is already in the scene, but it is considered good manners to write that you’ve entered it to begin with.

The same goes for leaving a scene. Your character cannot simply poof out of the room, they must leave the scene as you would a location in the real world, even if that means you’re storming out through a wall to go drown yourself in a lake… as a ghost. This is not an invitation to constantly jump from room to room.

### Respect the The Mod Squad and Mentors.

These people have put a good bit of time, effort, sanity into keeping the Ghosts Ghorytime server running smoothly. While The Mod Squad can help as Mentors, the Mentors are there to guide you as a writer and help if you should require it in your work. The Mod Squad are here if there are consistent issues or you have questions.

### Be as descriptive as you can.

Roleplay is most fun when the people you are with can really start to understand and predict your character's reactions. There’s nothing I love more than having a whole paragraph to work with, having all the detail of a book so I can estimate and judge exactly how my character will react to it. That can only happen if you really explain yourself, and fully develop your character. You’ll get a far better reaction to a full paragraph compared to “Toby stood at the wall and waved.”

Descriptiveness also applies to how things are worded. Whether you're on mobile or desktop, we expect all writers to use full words, not shortening things down to "u" or "k".

### Canons must be applied for.

As fun as it sounds, we can’t have an army of Captain’s, a cabinet of Julian’s, or a mollycoddling of Mary’s in the server. Please please please apply to be a canon if you wish to be one by asking a member of The Mod Squad in the “Mod-Requests” channel or the “Role Requests” channel. We’ll ask you to do some short, interviewy RP with us to see how well you write the character and work from there.

## The Basic Rules of Roleplay

The basic rules of roleplay are the essential rules that all public role-playing groups employ to keep things in order. One of the key skills a roleplayer must have is the ability to abide by these rules for the better of the community, and aid others in following them. Breaking these rules is frowned upon. Occasional slip-ups do happen, and that's understandable, but constant rule breaking even after a Mod or Mentor has repeatedly informed you of broken rules will result in possible exile from the group.

### No God-Modding/Godmodeing

Godmodding/Godmodeing is when a character features unrealistic or godlike abilities that contradict the lore. This often extends to invincibility and total resistance to damage or harm. Although we allow Ghosts to have specific powers (as shown in the show) we would like them to stay within the lore of the show.

### No Metagaming

Metagaming is when a player uses knowledge they learned OOC within an RP setting. This can be anything from a character's name to their history to even what items they have on them. Unless your character is explicitly informed of these things, or realistically overhears this information, they cannot know the other character's information. The only exception is if two writers agree that their characters have prior knowledge of each other.

### No Forcehitting

Forcehitting is when a player performs an action without a players consent, not giving them a chance to retaliate. If you end up in a fight with another writer IC, make it explicitly clear that you are attempting to attack. Direct hits are at the discretion of the target, NOT the attacker.

### No Lorebreaking

Lore breaking is when a character breaks lore, which is anything that may affect a character or scenario. These can be anything like origin, culture, historical events, and character species. While Lorebending is allowed (established lore being slightly modified, but not so much that it's broken), we exclusively follow the lore of Ghosts. That means all Ghosts must have been human, and cannot be a mythical creature, display inhuman characteristics, or show any animal-like features (the exception being prehistoric humans for that last one, though they still must follow how we looked in evolution).

While animal ghosts are not ruled out, they must follow the rules of nature. That means no talking, no higher knowledge, and no human-like behavior.

### No Powerplaying

Powerplaying occurs when another writer controls someone else's character without their consent. This extends to canon characters whether claimed or not. You cannot control somebody else's character, even if it's something as simple as holding their hand. You must offer your hand, and they can choose to accept it.

Additionally, phrases such as "Robin ran at Captain at such a great speed that he wouldn't be able to avoid it." are considered powerplaying. They are disregarding the other writer's character.

### Avoid Being A Mary-Sue/Gary-Stu

A Mary-Sue is a specific kind of character that has a lot of feats, and no flaws. A Mary-Sue is any character (of any gender, age, race, or
species) who fits one or more of these descriptions:

* A character who’s too perfect, lacking realistic or logical flaws, or whose flaws do not affect them in any ways.

* A character who’s exactly like their creator, except idealized or made “better”.

* A character who’s far too powerful, especially whose abilities exceed that which is possible for his/her race in the setting of the story. Particularly if said character has abilities that do not exist within the boundaries of the story’s world. Often these characters are *technically* legitimate, but are very, "Look at how unique and cool I am!"
* A character who’s cliched, having qualities or characteristics

that are overused by people trying to have a powerful/perfect/cool character.

Don't know if your character is a Mary-Sue? Take this test.