Rules

These are the Out of Character Rules, Meaning the rules for the player. For in character rules, see Guild Law.

The rules and guidelines for conduct and etiquette in the AG. The code of conduct is copied here from the main discord for ease of access, and some other etiquette pointers are provided here as well.

## Code of Conduct

The following points are our **Code of Conduct**. By joining the server you agree to follow these rules while playing and interacting with others here. Going against this will lead to consequences.

1. Follow Discord's rules of conduct.
2. Report any harassment to the moderators or available staff members.
3. Report any hatred/discrimination, such as racism, ableism, homophobia, and misogyny, to the moderators or available staff members.
4. **This server is for 16+ members only.** Keep yourself reasonably within PEGI 12 / PG-13 boundaries, including your username and profile picture.
5. Don't share or ask for personal information that you shouldn't share with strangers on the internet, especially not your full name or precise location.
6. No spamming. No unsolicited advertising. No begging for games. No aggressive or self-destructive talk. Keep pings to a minimum.\*
7. Follow the server's rules and lore. Respect staff and dungeon masters and their instructions.

\*For rule 6, remember that the discord Reply feature includes a ping by default. Please use the toggle above the right side of the text box to disable it.

## General Rules

1. We are all here to play D&D, so have fun.
2. Be polite. Arguments can be resolved without harsh language or hostility. If you take conflict with another member, try to handle it in private first if possible. If handling it privately proves to be unproductive or unsafe, take up the issue with a moderator. Whatever the case, open hostility or harshness is discouraged, even if done behind the person's back.
3. Harassment of any kind will be punished. Name calling, racism, sexism, asking for staff to punish people, and any other form of bullying will not be tolerated. Report these instances to a moderator if you witness them.
4. Political conversations do not belong on this server. Details of how the world affects your life may be appropriate in friendly conversation, but the AG is not the place where you should argue about social policies or discuss grave tragedies.
5. Officially, the minimum age required to join the server is 16 years. *If someone joins below this age, report it to staff immediately.* Be aware that people as young as 16 might see your public messages.

We try to keep the AG to be PEGI 12 / PG-13 in terms of the maturity of content in the server, with the added notes.

1. Profanity more prevalent than may be expected of those types of ratings. We generally ask that the amount used at any one time be kept down, but there is no hard definition for what is "too much". Please use common sense. **Using a slur is grounds for a permanent ban.**
2. Sexually descriptive or suggestive messages are forbidden, both in and out of character. Graphic descriptions of being nude are prohibited, though it can be said whether or not characters are nude for the public baths. Public displays of affection between characters can be posted, but these should be kept family friendly.
3. It is impossible to govern specific interpretations of a scene, especially in the game of D&D where players each complete the DM's descriptions with their own imaginations. Being mindful of this, please exercise caution to ensure your players are always kept safe. Use content warnings when appropriate and encourage everyone in your games to be open about their boundaries.
4. If a scene, message, or other things presented on the server make you uncomfortable, please take it up with the person or people who sent it to communicate your boundaries to them. If you do not feel safe doing so, if they have ignored similar communication in the past, or if you feel their actions openly violate the server's rules, report the instance ASAP to a moderator for them to review. All members are expected to immediately revoke uncomfortable scenes and messages upon request.
5. Descriptions of violence in sessions may exceed what is considered PEGI 12/PG-13. However, DMs and players in a session should respect the wishes of someone who expresses a desire for these descriptions to be toned down.

## Game Related Rules

1. The DM of your session is the law, second only to the server rules. If you have a complaint about how your DM ruled something, wait until the end of the session to bring it up. Avoid talking over the DM or being disruptive in sessions.
2. You may have multiple characters, but they may have no interaction with each other. For example, you may not trade items, money, or services from one of your personal characters to another. Your characters, however, may be related as long as you follow the aforementioned rules.
3. Characters in campaigns/multi-session games are locked in. They are locked in until they make their way back to Phandalin and are out of the campaign or session. Once you leave the campaign or session, you may not rejoin it unless approved by a mod. This means there are no “Soft Locks,” you are either locked in, or not.
4. Mute your mic if you want to spectate a game. Be respectful of the game that is currently going on. Interjections and questions can be typed, not spoken. Spectators are expected to decide if they can listen to a game by reviewing the content warnings set out by the DM. A DM may also forbid certain spectators, who should be named at the start of the game, if their characters should not have knowledge of the game.
5. Log trades, crafting and what you spend your downtime on in the appropriate chats. Merchant purchases can be logged in `#downtime_activities` together with what you spend your downtime on. `#trade_logs` is for player trade. `#crafting logs` is where you log your crafting.
	* You cannot edit a message in the following log channels more than 24 hours after the message is posted: `#trade-logs` , `#downtime-logs` , `#crafting-logs` , `#consumable-logs` , `#dmxp-log` . Any message in these channels that is edited outside this timeframe will not be recognized as an official log.
	* If you wish to retroactively modify a certain log activity after 24 hours, you must instead ask permission from a staff member. If you are permitted to change your log, you will be asked to ping the staff member who approved the change in the edited log, along with what changes were approved
6. **Your message and character sheets in the `#character-sheets` channel must be up to date** – at least before playing in a session. This is required for ALL of your characters if you apply to join a session, not just the character you apply to play as. This helps with tracking items, gold balance, and XP.
7. Keep all your character names unique. Otherwise, it will be impossible to track the logs, and we won't know which of your character has what. If possible, avoid using a similar name to another player's character as well. Characters with multiple names are permitted, provided that all of their names follow these rules and only one of their names is used for ALL logs including that character.
8. Have a log of all the downtime you have earned and used. You can use the **+s dtd** command with our bot to facilitate this, but should keep your own reference in case of technical difficulty. This is to keep track of your account pool of downtime days.
9. Players and DMs must attend their sessions for the full duration. Agreeing to a game is a promise to participate fully, and its rude to everyone else if you break this promise. This also applies to leaving or falling asleep in the middle of session. This may be excused in the case of emergency, or if you give a proper explanation in advance to all other members of the session.

## Character Death

In many an adventure, there is the very real possibility that your character may die. We mostly use the rules as written when handling character deaths, but it’s ultimately up to you – the player how you want your character’s death and possible revival handled. For example, you may prefer Matt Mercer's resurrection variant, or you may opt to keep your character dead.

* If your character dies in a session, another player's character can cast a spell to revive your character. This follows the normal rules of the spell, and requires that player to spend all associated costs.
* If your character remains dead by the end of the session, your DM should write so in the session log. You will still receive rewards from the session, and another player can cast a spell to resurrect your character in `#downtime_activities_log`. Many higher-level AG characters know resurrection spells and are likely to help out if you can provide your character's body and any payment they need.
* If the resurrection method you wish to use requires a body part, this body part must have been logged in `#trade_logs` with another character, or in `#downtime_activities_log` to store it yourself, so the existence of said body part is not called into question.
* In the case of your character dying, they retain their items, exp, and levels. If you would like to retire the character after their death, please follow the guide on Character Retirement.
* In some rare cases, an NPC in the game session your character died in may resurrect your character before the session ends. The material cost of this spell should be taken from your session rewards. DMs are not required to make any effort to provide this chance, however, and it is left entirely up to them if they feel it is fitting, or can some way be narratively explained.

## Other Etiquette

While not necessarily enforced as rules, abiding to the following etiquette conventions should make your experience in the AG run much smoother. On the other hand, actively going against these conventions could lead you to miscommunication and other difficulties.

* Tone Indicators: When text fails to convey your intentions fully, it helps to append a tone indicator to the end of your message. The following tags are most commonly used.
	+ sarcastic tone uses the **/s** indicator
	+ joking or lighthearted tone uses the **/j** or **/lh** indicator
	+ genuine or serious tone uses the **/g** or **/srs** indicator
* Roleplaying Etiquette: We use certain conventions to make RP more readable among people of different backgrounds. If you want other people to have a better time reading your messages in the RP channels, familiarize yourself with our conventions.
* Channel Etiquette: Please read the channel descriptions and use each channel for its intended purpose to keep the server organized. This is a loose guideline, so don't interject an ongoing or finished conversation just to move it to a more appropriate channel unless you also have contributions to make. Also respect when there is a line break message from Avrae in a channel.
	+ Don't send messages in an adventuring channel that has been closed by a line break.
	+ Only start an RP scene in an RP overflow channel if it has been closed from a previous scene with a line break. If no overflow channels are available, you can use #threads-guide-to-rp if you follow the instructions pinned in that channel.
	+ Line break using the !br command when you are finished with an adventure or overflow scene. Do not line break other channels.
* Ping Etiquette: It is considered rude to directly ping another member without their permission. If you may need to ping someone in the future, first ask them for the best way to get their attention. By default, discord replies ping the user you reply to. Please disable this ping using the toggle above the right side of the text box to avoid unwanted notifications.