Rules & Guidelines

This page will outline all of the rules in guidelines in one place, both IC/OOC rules and the specific RP Rules that arise in RP. If ever you are unclear, please check this page. If you notice a rule that should be on here but isn't, contact an @Admin member on discord.

*Updated March 28th, 2018*

## **Universal Rules**

### OOC Guidelines:

* Profanity is allowed, but explicit language and adult themes/content is strictly forbidden.
* Bullying, discrimination, slurs, and personal insults are strictly forbidden.
* Do not share personal information about (doxx) yourself or other members of Model Hogwarts.
* No spamming.
* No advertisements unless given explicit permission by an Admin.
* Be polite to new players; do not trick them, maliciously lie to them or accuse them of being an alt.
* If you make an alt account, you must inform an Admin.
* The server language is English. Messages in foreign languages must have a translation.

### IC Guidelines:

* IC channels all have a strict PG rating - eg. the first two HP movies. Mild bad language and violence are allowed, but sexual content and drugs are not.
* Do not give your character your real name.
* No godgaming. Do not control another character’s actions, injure or somehow change another person’s character without the player's permission.
* No metagaming. Do not act on information that you know, but your character does not.
* Be mindful of others. Everyone has the right to ask for an RP to be toned down if it is making them uncomfortable.
* Don’t let arguments IC get personal. Hate the character not the player!
* All spells must be cast using the spell bot. You must RP attempting to cast the spell, and may attempt !cast once per description.

## **Profanity Guidelines**

While profanity and crude language is allowed in OOC channels, there is still some confusion on what exactly is allowed. Here are some of the words that are not allowed under any circumstance, anywhere:

C\*nt, f\*gg\*t, d\*ke, any racially charged slurs, any sexual slurs, any sexually lewd language, any potentially more caustic but not necessarily banned words directly targeted at someone (i.e., b\*tch) as even if you mean it in a joking or affectionate way, due to the internet and tone it may not be taken that way. Basically anything beyond "f\*ck" shouldn't be said. This highly varies on cultures and since we're a global community, please do not hesitate to check with any Staff Member to be sure.

**In Character channels**, the highest level of profanity you use are:

Damn, hell, arse, piss and nothing more. Using certain slang like you might find in the UK like wanker, bollocks is also fine but only *occasionally*, and if said in front of a Professor may get you in trouble. However do not be crude or use it to actually imply the concepts behind the word. Keep them general. You may also swear as long as you censor the *entirety* of the word, either by:

"'What the--?' Your character says some very rude words." or complete censor using things like: *beep*, *censored,* etc in place of the actual word. As long as the full word is obscured, you're good.

## **Doxxing**

Doxxing is the posting of identifying information about yourself or someone else. Doxxing is against the rules on Model Hogwarts. Even if you are an adult, doxxing yourself may encourage younger members of the model to do the same, so all forms of it are banned. There are several things that constitute doxxing.

### **Posting your real, full name**

Don't post your full name on the server in any way. Whether that's saying it OOC or using it for your character's name, it's against the rules.

### **Posting identifying information about yourself**

Don't tell people where you go to school, where you work, or where you live. The country and state you live in are okay to share, but anything specific falls under the doxxing rule.

### **Posting pictures of your face**

As well, posting pictures of any part of your face is not allowed. This includes pictures of your eye or eyes. If you'd like to show off your new shoes, a tattoo, or include your hand in another photo, that is totally fine.

## **Spamming**

Spamming generally refers to posting a lot of irrelevant or unimportant information. This can be a concern on Model Hogwarts because there are a lot of people, and spamming can disrupt conversations. The following behaviors fall under the category of spamming.

### **Posting a lot of bot commands**

The bots on Model Hogwarts can be a lot of fun, but it's important to remember that for each time you send a bot command, another post will appear from the bot. Since this can push conversations up quickly, we'd like to remind everyone to be mindful of others and use the bot-room for bot commands. It's no big deal to do a roll or two is okay if it's relevant to the conversation, but keep in mind that it might encourage a lot of people to do the same.

### **Posting a lot of irrelevant pictures**

Posting pictures is fine, but try to keep them on-topic. Like bot commands, pictures can push the conversation up quickly.

### **Posting copypasta**

Don't post long, irrelevant chunks of text like copypasta, especially while others are talking. Long messages are okay to post.

## **In Model Rules**

### **Forbidden Items**

Knives and other sharp objects are not allowed on school grounds, and if you are found with them they will be confiscated.

However, the protection that used to cause them to disappear upon entering the campus has been broken during a recent encounter in the school. You may now bring them into campus, but if you get caught with them they will be taken. Please be respectful with this rule OOCly, and don't abuse it.

### **!learn Roleplaying Guidelines**

When you are first starting out with learning a new spell, we encourage you to do a larger RP to start with. This is just to establish your character and their interactions with the spell and also offers a great chance for development, but following that the requirements for roleplaying a learn are far less stringent.

**One to two lines is fine for roleplaying a learn after the initial, more in-depth learn.** The reasoning for this is we'd rather people be having awesome RPs with each other, rather than spending a lot of time RPing alone for their learns.

While it's not required, doing a longer check in RP around the middle of the spell, or right at the end, is heavily encouraged, but otherwise how little or how much you RP your learns during a spell is entirely up to you or the impact of the spell on your character.

If using the bot room to avoid spamming !learn s!train or c!frog in an RP room, please include a # link back to the room so we know it's being roleplayed.

As always, please refer to the official pages on spell learning for the rest of the information:

Spellcasting ★ Spell Learning ★ Spell Learning & Casting Walkthrough

### **Dark Items & Books**

Items related to Dark Magic, like books or cursed objects, are strictly regulated and require OOC permission to bring on campus, or they will be confiscated ICly or Retconned depending on the nature of the item or the book.

Some restricted books may be allowed, but talk to a staff member first before you bring it into the RP. **All items involving Dark Magic must be cleared by a staff member OOC.** This is non-negotiable and you will be warned for repeated offenses.

### **Dark Magic**

Dark Magic while able to be learned in the model, requires an application to be submitted before you start learning it.

Use the **Dark Magic Access** Category on the Model Hogwarts application form to apply.

There are two things taken into account for these applications: Your OOC standing in the model, as well as whether or not your character has shown interest in learning these spells up to that point. It is recommended that you begin RPing interest prior to your application, as that will make the application process much quicker.

The final rule regarding it is that **OOC permission is required before you cast Dark Magic on someone else's character**. Casting dark spells (or spells tagged semi-dark) on someone's character without permission will result in an immediate warn, and further infractions may lead to you being removed from the server.

### **Relationship Guidelines**

Relationships are welcome in Model Hogwarts, but anything beyond kissing or PG related shows of affection are *not allowed* in any way. Once a student is 5th year and above, they can imply going farther but *cannot* show it at all. 5th years+ *must* make the scene fade to black before things get heavier, and a failure to do so will result in an official warning and a docking of OOC points. Repeated attempts will lead to removal from the server.