RP Conventions

## The Basics

1. Your character is not you. You are not your character. You are a person writing a story involving fictional characters of your own and other people's creation.
2. Respect means not roleplaying or creating actions for other people's creations or characters without express consent. This also means not forcing actions or limitations on another character without express permission. No ifs, ands, or buts. Ever.
Don't dictate others' actions. They're not NPCs for you to muck about with as you please.
3. It is perfectly acceptable to call "REDLIGHT" if IC actions are going beyond your OOC limitations. Do not let the roleplay continue and feel as if your character is now trapped in something you didn't ever want. If something goes beyond what you find morally or emotionally acceptable, stop it right there in a tell to whomever is involved. Don't wait and let it fester.
Those who do not respect your call for "redlight" should be reported to the ST staff. Screenshot the conversation.
As in more risque RP, no (or whatever your safe word of choice might be) means "Stop right the \*censored\* now, bucko."
See the section below on **Ratings and Red Flags**

### More In-Depth

It is very important that any storyline you write that involves other player-controlled characters is completely understood and agreed-upon by all parties involved. Games are no fun when only one person knows the rules. Don't be the person who doesn't let everyone else know what's going on. Everyone wins when everyone's desire for a sense of accomplishment is met.

### Ratings and Red Flags

Proactive (can be used for reacts to existing posts):

`:green_square:` for "you can escalate intensity"
`:yellow_square:` for "please dial it back"
`:red_square:` for "this scene is over, I cannot continue"
Reactive (can be done as messages):

`:ok_hand:` for okay check-in, which warrants the following responses:
* `:thumbsup:` for "I am okay, this can continue"
* `:wave:` for "I am not sure if I am okay"
* `:thumbsdown:` for "I am not okay"

For `:wave:` and `:thumbsdown:`, play stops immediately. `:wave:` allows for some calibration, `:thumbsdown:` does not, and scene gets wrapped or problematic content gets glossed over.

Staff will also sometimes step in with a `:taco:` (either icon or the word **Taco**), which is to be respected as an immediate pause of all actions in the scene. This may be for the benefit of others' well-being or simply a means to get a chaotic scene sorted out before play resumes, but ignoring a **TACO** will not be taken lightly by staff.

## Share the Spotlight

Understand that if your character does something to royally piss off another character IC, then others fully have the right to lead their characters to act accordingly. It is terribly important that everyone understand that whenever a characters does something and is interacting with other characters, there will be consequences that the players might not have predicted.

Often, people try to sort out these entanglements OOCly, but it can backfire, especially if the other party is asked to agree to do something that is totally out of character for his or her own creation. Not trying to sort it out is worse, of course.

Making other people act in a way that is out of character for them or for their character is what Miss Eury calls being an asshat. Don't do it. Not accepting the consequences of IC actions is also being an asshat. Don't do that either. Fair enough?

All of us RP for enjoyment, relaxation, and a chance to express ourselves creatively. All we want to do is kill some monsters and play our characters as written. Nothing fancy. By keeping in mind this central goal, we can all work together to provide and advocate the environment we'd most like to RP in.

Now go play!

## House Rules

### Locations

Certain environments have their own special rules. The Blue Devil, being an Elysium, has wards and other measures beyond tradition to defend its sanctity, but without them, the staff would have an advantage over other people due to their familiarity with the interior. This location has the loyalty of its regular customers as well, which also adds to the difficulty of initiating a successful attack in this establishment. Because of this, in resolving a conflict, staff is far more likely to succeed than a first-time visitor, and even over long-time patrons.

A Kindred’s haven may also provide advantages to that individual and present an obstacle to outsiders/attackers. Various guardians may be present, whether physically present as player characters or not. To help reflect this environmental impact on conflicts, we have created a situational modifier.

Home Turf
If a fight is taking place in a location where one party would have a tactical advantage due to knowing the terrain, this is reflected in a 10% increase in the difficulty to succeed in rolls made by the opposition.
Examples
Doris fighting in the Bon Vivant, Gordon Industries troops in the Ventrue-controlled district
### Fighting as a Coterie

Members of a coterie (theoretically) spend a lot of time working together. This causes them to be more “in tune” with one another in a combat situation. Because of this, they have a tactical advantaged over a group of mixed-guild combatants who are not as familiar with one another. To take this into account, we have generated a finite stacking modifier based on the number of other guild members in a group.

Safety in Numbers
If a fight involves a group made up of members of the same coterie, there is a maximum modifier of 20% to attack. The minimum bonus this rule can add is 5% (one person).
Note
Two groups of combatants made up of equal numbers of members of the same guild cancel out the Safety in Numbers rule.
Example
Lyah and Gunnar vs. Doris and Dre-Son get no bonuses to attack or defend. Allied coteries cannot use this bonus without special permission from the combat referee or storyteller.
Translation
Let the ST know that Coterie X is your ally if you plan to rely heavily on that coterie for resolution of the storyline.