Roleplay Rules

### Roleplay Your Character Sheet

You are not allowed to RP any powers, abilities or physical traits that are not part of your in game Character sheet.

This includes the use of any PnP spell or abilites of classes (or Races) not listed on your sheet or Templates which are generally not available on DB for starting characters (i.e. Half Fey, Devil, Dragon etc..). No tails, claws, wings, gills or other unsupported character traits either. No Player is allowed to use PnP spells/abilities without DM consent. We also do not allow characters to RP that they are possessed, controlled, or granted special RP circumstances from forces other than themselves without DM permission.

### Metagaming

Metagaming is the use of OOC information or resources to affect one's in-game decisions. Metagaming is strictly forbidden and is a punishable offense, and can include:

* Using knowledge that your character should not know ICly.
* Acting differently due to OOCly knowing that a person is higher level than you or being set to Hostile.
* Discerning the true identity of a disguised character by reading the name over their head.
* Asking another character OOCly to come find your dead body or to come help you out in PvP when the character would have no IC knowledge of your character's whereabouts.

### Godmodeing

Godmodeing is the action of deciding oneself things which are not theirs to decide.  Examples include:

* Deciding the outcomes of hostile emoted actions oneself.

* Deciding the actions of an NPC or group of NPCs without a DM's approval.  This includes ignoring the presence or possible reactions of NPC guards, such as entering a town from which you are banned or committing a crime in front of them, or casting Shadow Simalcrum on them.  It also includes going through dungeons invisibly or talking while HIPS'd.
* RPing an action/actions that are impossible to defend against, or how the other character is affected by an action, thus leaving the player unable to RP his/her own character.

### Torture and Slavery

Torture and slavery are permitted forms of Roleplay, but require the consent of the party to be tortured or enslaved.  The victor of a PvP may torture the losing character without their consent, but this is not to be acted out and is referred to as a "Fade to Black".

### Erotic Roleplay

This is an 18+ server: Erotic Roleplay (ERP) is permitted, but requires the consent of both parties, and must be conducted in a private area (eg. inn room) and limited to the Tell channel.

### Profanity

Is acceptable within good taste.  A player must respect another player's request to refrain from using excessively vulgar terms in their presence.

### HIPS, Stealth, and Invisibility

Players using the stealth skill are expected to roleplay hiding behind some form of cover.  The Hide in Plain Sight feat
It has come to the attention of the staff that some players are using HiPS/Stealth without using some form of cover. Unless you have taken Shadowdancer or Assassin (they use shadows) as a class in your build, you MUST USE COVER. No exceptions.

Standing out in the middle of a camp with a bright fire near you, or standing right in front of someone while stealth would allow you to be seen. If you are behind some crates, in some bushes, or hiding behind somewhere that people might not be able to directly see you, you are safe.

Shadowdancers and Assassins have a version of HiPS that is supernatural. So long as there is a shadow within 10 feet of them, they are considered to be behind cover and thus satisfy the Must Use Cover rule regarding hiding. That said, Both classes must take at least 8 levels in their PrC in order to benefit from using a shadow as cover. A 3 level dip into the Shadowdancer class does not cover the amount of time and training required to master hiding within the shadows. Also, it should be noted that because their ability to HiPS is magical, they can not use their supernatural means of using HiPS in Dead Magic Zones, such as the Ironhouse Halls, nor can they use shadows as cover. They can still use mundane versions of HiPS and seek cover, like any other stealthier.

Non-Shadowdancer HiPS using classes use more mundane means to achieve being hidden in plain sight. For them, the use of HiPS is more of a distraction, or sleight of hand, to appear as if they had vanished from sight when in fact all they did was break eye-contact with their viewer long enough to hide and they are very good at it. Think Ninjas with their smoke powder bombs in this case.

If you are invisible, that is different. Invisibility is a completely magical means of rendering one unseen and thus cover is not required. A True-Seeing or See Invisibility spell will counter this effect immediately as will a successful listen check as invisibility does nothing to hide sound. Etherealism renders one both unseen and silent, but since they are out of phase with the Material Plane, they cannot hear what's going on around them.

Any character with HiPS can disappear from sight, but must immediately move to cover to remain hidden. Shadowdancers and Assassins of 8th level may use an actual shadow as their cover. Anyone attempting to stealth who is not using one of the above methods will be considered metagaming and will be subject to our metagaming rules.

In PvP, the use of HiPS Dancing can still be employed, as the HiPSter is quickly moving to be behind the target. This can be RPed in a variety of ways, so long as it is understood that only those with Shadowdancer or Assassins levels use HiPS in a supernatural way. All others must have some method to break eye contact, be it chemical, psychological, or just being really good at distraction tactics. How you chose to roleplay this is completely up to you, but for good RP PvP, something should be roleplayed out.

In all other PvP and RP cases, the rules apply as stated above.