Rules

## About Crosswinds

The project was first conceptualized by Vincent Lucerne and Melna Milos in a sandbox. The original idea went under the working title "Tiny Fantasy RPG" and featured custom chibi avatars before the idea was nixed to allow more roleplay freedom and creativity with the sudden rise in mesh and anime avatars in Second Life. Much of the original concept remains intact, including features of MMORPG scale gameplay, with monsters, classes, and crafting.

Today Crosswinds is an adult anime fantasy roleplaying sim, with a full RPG system. Players can craft, level up, fight monsters, fight players in PVP, dive into dungeons, buy a home, open a shop, join factions, equip gear, choose class roles, arrange items, choose battle skills, create a guild, but most importantly: ***ROLEPLAY!***

Crosswinds is a living breathing JRPG in Second Life, akin to classic 90's and 00's era JRPGs, like .hack//sign, Sword Art Online, and Final Fantasy! The players inhabit the world of "Malm", a planet filled with adventure, treasures, monsters, and dungeons. Players will have to band together to hunt and survive in these strange lands. They will be able to work a business, or take on quests to bring in income, or even join one of the three kingdoms and be thrusted directly into the great realm war to decide who controls the lands of Malm!

For a list of common RPG terminology used within Crosswinds, refer to this page: Jargon

## The Crosswinds Battle System (CBS)

Crosswinds Battle System, or “CBS” is a fully fledged RPG turn based battling system designed for Crosswinds. The CBS Data HUD tracks a multitude of information, such as gathered resources, dice modifiers, class points, skill points, job points, etc. The CBS Combat HUD performs other functions, such as performing combat actions, using equipped abilities, displaying equipped gear and consumables, displaying stats, etc. Instructions for its use can be found here.

CBS is turn based, intended to work in conjunction with roleplay. It is suggested to prepare RP posts between your turns, as to not delay combat encounters when possible. Party leaders should rez and operate a Turn-Tracker for their party, and are encouraged to relay orders and strategies through IC roleplay posts, rather than OOC language.

Players can obtain the CBS Combat HUD, CBS Data HUD, CBS Titler, and Turn-Tracker from the hub area. When attached, the CBS HUD should offer an update to the most current version, if not already worn. The titler is used to publicly display your character's information.

## Basic Rules

Crosswinds has a strict "three strikes and you're out" rule. Depending on the severity of the offense, violators may be permanently banned for the first offense. Rules are subject to change at any time, and this is not an exhaustive list. If you have questions, join our **Discord**.

1. Follow SL's **terms of service**. Crosswinds will enforce them.
2. This is an adult sim. You must be 18+ and age verified to enter.
3. Sex is not the the main focus - keep nudity and ERP in the provided NSFW areas or **Residential Rentals**.
4. Animals, or feral avatars, may not engage in sexual acts or wear genitals.
5. All avatars must appear and be over 18.

### Exploits

The following activities are not allowed:

1. Avatar flying, without express approval. The illusion of hovering is fine.
2. Sit hacking (Sitting on objects or editing sat upon objects to bypass obstacles or shortcut distances)
3. Exploitation SL physics, such as disabling pre-jump/turning Nimble feature on.
4. Cheating
5. Data Mining
6. Copybotting, This will be punished severely if you are caught or proven to be a copybotter, even on another sim.
7. Chat Listeners
8. Spy Tools

### Player Conduct

The following guidelines for behaviors should be followed:

1. No Harassment, Griefing, Threats, or Doxxing
2. No Predatory behavior
3. No Discrimination, No Racism, No Offensive SL/Display names
4. No Sensitive topics, No Religious discussion, No Political discussion
5. No public arguing with staff or other players. Take it to IM's.
6. Don't decorate the sim without staff permission. Please use the build platform for large event constructions.
7. Don't enter Residential rentals without permission. Business rentals are always open.
8. No poaching players. No advertising products, sims, or events without GM permission, and do so in Crosswind's store.
9. No Linden (L$) gambling or begging.
10. No selling in-game resources or items for Linden, see gold farming.
11. Don't impersonate or attempt to manipulate staff - this includes 'staff fishing' to get a different response.
12. Wear an OOC tag when visiting. Don't use sounds or disrupt roleplay.
13. Keep chats in the proper place. Don't spam local chat with OOC. Faction chats are strictly IC.
14. Keep scripts minimal. Please de-script things after editing. Don't wear excessive HUD's. Script info can be checked at the Avatar Prep Room.

### Movement Enhancers

Objects & HUD's that allow your character to move or travel faster, grapple-hook, platform, jump, double-jump, glide, parkour, boost, dodge, or fly should all be approved by CW before usage and abide by the following guidelines:

1. Movement Enhancers are not used during CBS combat.
2. Systems must have limited uses, have a chance of failure, require skill to succeed, or include a stamina system.
3. Systems that hack, phase, teleport, or allow unlimited free movement are disallowed.
4. HUD's may be submitted to staff for verification, to be added to Movement Enhancers
5. Don't use unauthorized or high land-impact mounts.

### Alternate Accounts

Your alts may not interact together to gain advantages, such as:

1. Tactical advantage in combat scenarios, PVP or PVE.
2. Heal slaving - A practice where one account heals a secondary/alt account.
3. Claiming event rewards on more than one character that you're playing.
4. Appearing in the same scene as your alt account (Unless all parties present consent, i.e. a social RP scene)
5. Account item muleing/laundering, with the exception of Faction/Guild leader operated bank-characters.
6. Trading CBS resources & items with your alternate accounts.

## Roleplay Etiquette

Roleplay is about consent. No one can force you to type anything you don't want to type. These are "Roleplay Limits". Players may list their limits in their profile. Respect limits. These aid to respect aversion against certain topics or kinks, such as: rape, mutilation, scarring, mind control, or anything that could drastically change a character physically, mentally, or socially.

### Appearance

1. Always wear your titler when IC.
2. Properly represent your gear, items, and equipment.
3. You may reasonably re-flavor abilities. (ex: A fireball could be a flaming punch)
4. Don't use or display weapons, gear, or spells that your character wouldn't have access to. This will result in being asked to change gear to something more aesthetically & lore appropriate.
5. Characters may not begin with faction specific technology without approval during character creation.

* Aethertech & Dark Aethertech - Aethertech typically has glowing parts, elven designs, and are excessively ornately gold or silver. If you have gear resembling light-sabers, glowing pulse cannons, charge beams, energy weapons or energy suits, you will be asked to change gear if you are not a member of the **Dynasty**.
* Machina - Machina is typically associated with steampunk designs. While simple or mundane inventions might be available to the public, more fantastical steampunk or clockwork designs are reserved for the Empire. Gear that appears more advanced than Medieval-Renaissance era weapons or gear likely encroaches into Machina territory, and you will be asked to change gear if you are not a member of the **Empire**.

### Don't powergame

You can not be a god. You are not the main character. You're not untouchable, invulnerable, invincible, or otherwise unbeatable. Unlimited super powers are not allowed. However, inconsequential "fluff/flavor-text" and "parlor magic" or "tricks" are usually acceptable, but still require permission during character creation or via GM cards.

1. No unapproved special powers:
	* No Transforming
	* No Shapeshifting
	* No Immortality
	* No Teleporting
	* No Telepathy
	* No Unlimited Flight
	* No Super Powers

### Don't metagame

1. Don't exploit the minimap, camera, or area search to cheat
2. Don't provide OOC information to other players, or use provided OOC information from other players, to cheat.
3. Don't exploit client tools or debug data
4. Don't mix OOC information/opinions with IC information/opinions
5. Don't thought-post, the act of posting mental insults or distaste for others, with the recipient being unable to respond nor react to IC
6. Don't teleport yourself or others, except for Events. Travel is otherwise done on foot, or via teleport-wizards located at certain echo stones
7. Changing your character's dice modifiers between Events to exploit the requirements of those different Events is considered bad sportsmanship.

### Character Death

1. PVP happens with consent of all involved players.
2. A character may cause another character's death (with OOC consent)
3. A character may die due to bad luck or decisions during an Event (caught in explosion, drowned in lava, fall off a cliff, etc)
4. When a character dies, they may return to the last echo stone they attuned with, regardless if they have an echo crystal.
5. Characters should not IC assume they will be resurrected. Most mortals die and never come back.

### Character Game Over

1. You may not Game Over another player without permission from the GM team or the consent of the player.
2. Once a character experiences a Game Over, they may never return to play again. No exceptions.
3. Game Over is possible if a player participates in a Hardcore mission/campaign/event.
4. If a character reaches a certain threshold of repeat IC offenses, determined by a GM council, they may be subject to Game Over.
5. A Game Over doesn't always involve death. It can involve retirement, imprisonment, exile, stasis, etc. The character's player may have a hand in choosing their fate with the GM council.

* You may not abuse roleplay limits to prevent losing or avoiding consequences for your character's actions.
* Not being put in prison is not an appropriate roleplay limit.

### Joining a scene

1. Closed Scenes may be set up for Events, by Faction & Guild Leaders in their respective bases, and for Private Residences. All other locations are considered public spaces that anyone can wander into.
2. If an Event is RSVP only, and/or if a scene is a Closed Scene, you may not join unless otherwise specified by the person(s) running the scene.
3. The News & Rumors Discord channel should use [Rumor] to advertise public scenes, and [News] to advertise the outcome of scenes that have completed.
4. When a character arrives to a scene in progress, they are shuffled to the end of the post-order.
5. Any RP or information that happens before your character's post is unknown to your character, as they haven't arrived yet.
6. Performing loud actions, such as firing a gun or causing an explosion, must be shouted so other characters can react and join.
7. Bypassing or ignoring parties/characters to get to monsters or loot is not allowed, You must ask the characters/players present to allow participation or permission to pass, either IC or OOC.

### PVP

1. PVP requires consent from all involved participants.
2. Determine which side is the attacker and which side is the defender. A Mod/GM can make a determination if needed.
3. There is a 2:1 ratio rule. There may not be more than 2 attackers per 1 defender during a PVP scene.
4. The defender chooses the method to resolve a conflict: Freeform Combat, Dice Combat, or Crosswinds Battle System (CBS).
5. Roll modifiers attributes are used in Dice Combat to determine contested success/failure. If there is a dispute on which attributes apply to certain rolls, a GM/ST may regulate the scene.
6. Players take turns posting their character's actions
7. CBS PVP requires the use of a Turn-Tracker for all scene participants.
8. In Freeform & Dice Combat, players write what their character attempts to do, and the opposing player writes how it succeeds or fails, based on the result of the dice rolled or other determining factor.
9. Combat Roleplay should adhere to reasonable levels of power expected of the characters involved, and god-modding absurdly or excessively powerful attacks without consent/knowledge/experience is considered bad sportsmanship.
10. A character may use their turn to attempt to shout/scream for help or use their echo crystal to message for help. Any opposing character may prevent the action this turn with a successful contested roll.
11. In Dice Combat, ties go to the defender by default. Players may agree to reroll, or RP a tie.
12. Event Hosts may customize rules, informing participating players of custom expectations beforehand.
13. If new characters arrive, they must adhere to the "Joining a scene" rules and 2:1 ratio rules.
14. If a defender defeats both attackers, and there are more potential attackers waiting, the defender has the choice to escape the scene, or face another two attackers consecutively. (No healing between rounds should be expected)
15. If defeated, a character may be searched, captured, moved, stolen from, or otherwise manipulated within roleplay limits.

### Escape

1. Players should never just remove their character from a combat scene, as it is considered bad sportsmanship. Instead, post your retreat attempt and wait for acknowledgements during the next round.
2. When a character attempts an escape, if they avoid damage during CBS PVP for one round after posting the attempt, or roll higher than their pursuers in Dice Combat; they successfully escape.
3. Escapees may not be pursued for 4 real life hours, but may not engage anyone for that duration. This rule applies to prison escapes.
4. Attempting escape costs your turn, and the escapee may only focus on putting distance between themselves and their pursuers. Therefore, the escapee may not utilize ability stones, attacks, or items during their escape attempt.

### Capture

1. A player may only have their character captured/jailed for 4 total RL hours, unless they allow for longer, or as dictated by the severity of their crime(s), see town laws.
2. Interrogations or torture must be conducted using skill checks, please use relevant skills to prevent power gaming on either side. Torture mustn't violate roleplay limits.
3. Any attempt to break out, break in, or escape must be done with a ST or GM present to monitor rolls.

### Spying

1. Characters attempting to spy must first post into the scene, must be within chat range, and make their intentions clear OOC or IC, regardless if they're successfully hidden or not.
2. Spies who wish to remain hidden can perform a "stealth" roll, contested by other players' "awareness" roll to attempt detection of the spy.
3. Players who wish to join a faction with the intent to spy must first inform a Game Master and the Faction Lead OOC.
4. Abuse of the rules may result in the termination of spy status.
5. Characters may only join one faction, but may join as many guilds as they please, if allowed by the guild.
6. Characters can't spy on private Echo Crystal conversations, nor tap into unattuned Group Echo Channels.
7. All spying must be done in person. No remote spying.
8. Characters may not shapeshift nor conjure magical disguises at will to spy.
9. Characters may craft certain GM Cards to help in specific stealth actions, such as hiding their identity, or quieting their movements.
10. Such disguises can be removed/confiscated from a defeated character.

## Discipline & Reporting

Crosswinds adheres to a "three strikes and you're out" rule. Depending on the severity of the offense, a player may be banned immediately. Punishments may vary in degree. You may always appeal your punishment, but arguing is not tolerated. CW Staff will review all appeals fairly and the moderating staff will vote on the appeal.

Please remember, if the Staff is not made aware of a problem, nothing can be done to fix it. When reporting an issue, provide evidence - our team does not punish based on rumors.

**BAN LENGTH FOR BREACH OF RULES**

We use a three strike system. Those guilty of any three offenses may be immediately bumped up to a Permanent Ban.

* 24 hour ban – Breaking rules on sim or bad sportsmanship
* 3 day ban – Verbal abuse
* 1 week ban – Aggressive, intimidating, defamatory or insulting behavior towards other players.
* 2 week ban – Abusing Administrators or Staff. This includes Admin Fishing.
* Permanent Ban – Griefing, cheating, hacking, or exploiting the system or rules.

Informal Warnings may be offered by the staff and moderation team to correct actions, such as to guide new players towards expected behavior, or to clarify a grey-area in the rules. Failure to adhere or abide by such decisions or warnings would result in formal correction.

First Strike - Formal Warning, accompanied by one of the above punishments, based on the severity of the infraction.

Second Strike - Formal Warning, accompanied by one of the above punishments, based on the severity or repetition of the infraction

Third Strike - Permanent Ban

## Avatar Regulations

Crosswinds enforces a theme standard for avatar appearance. Avatars that do not follow this standard will stand out like a sore thumb and do not fit into the world of Malm. We ask players to adhere to regulations, and if an avatar appears non-regulation, a MOD/GM may stop and ask you to change.

* Utilize the Discord's Character Approval Ticket to submit a new character for appearance and backstory approval.
* Utilize the Discord's Tutorial Island channel to ask questions on avatar building tips from our community.
* Utilize the Discord's Creator Corner channel to view or commission items from our community's talented creators.
* Utilize the Discord's Lore channel to ask questions about Malm's history and inhabitants.

Appearance Guidelines:

1. Wear an anime styled avatar or one that fits the cartoony style - avoid realistic heads.
2. Western-style or mascot furry heads are not allowed.
3. Eastern-style furry or kemonomimi heads are allowed. (Small noses/mouths, big anime eyes. Skin must be anime or cartoony)
4. Monsters/Monsterkin cannot appear overly realistic.
5. Most mesh bodies with appropriate anime skins are allowed.
6. Don't pair realistic skins with anime heads.
7. Fantasy, medieval, tribal, pirate and steampunk outfits are acceptable in Malm.
8. No sci-fi or modern outfits. (ex: no school uniforms, jeans, latex)
9. **NO** child, 'loli', or chibi avatars. Don't even look slightly like one. Don't argue with staff if asked to change. Failure to comply will not only result in removal from the sim, but a ban from LL for abuse of their Terms of Service. If you see a childlike avatar, report it to staff immediately.
10. Players may not play as animals. No genitalia or reproductive organs on animals. No bestiality at all.
11. Represent your character accurately. Don't dress like a Mage with a Wand if you are actually a Paladin using a Sword.
12. Hybrid characters must clearly represent features of both parent races. It must be a hybrid of two playable races. Hybrids that include the unplayable monsters are not allowed without GM approval. Staff members may require a change to your appearance if it does not appear to fit.
13. No blatantly copyrighted items or avatars from intellectual properties or canons. (ex: Cloud's Buster Sword, pokeballs, etc)

### Approved Anime Heads

Approved Anime Heads - This is a list of approved avatar components we allow for use on sim. Not all brands are represented here, and modifications of items on the list should still be inspected by Staff before play. **This list may be updated as new products emerge**.

## Adult Content & Erotic Roleplay

Crosswinds is an adult region, and ERP is allowed, but we ask that it not be the main focus of your roleplay here. Please keep ERP to designated areas, such as rentals and labeled “ERP Zones” to facilitate private ERP scenes away from public areas, and always strictly in IM's.

* Do not walk around naked or exposing genitals. Keep bits fully covered.
* Bulges may be used.
* Wearing fetish bits, such as hyper genitalia are restricted to rentals & ERP zones.
* Heavy fetishes/kinks are restricted to rentals & ERP zones
* Players should mind of their surroundings. Scenes can be interrupted in most areas, possibly by town guards or raiders, should you fraternize in public.
* The use of sex HUD's, pose balls, games, engines, or sex systems, such as Bare, Project Arousal, or other similar systems, are restricted to rentals & ERP zones.
* Systems that emit sound are to be muted.

## Event Types & Event rewards

There are different types of Events that players can partake in. Players can also check our Event Calendar to see when events are happening around the sim and jump in. Event reminders and announcements will go out over our Discord. Players can request to host an event or play the role of a NPC/Monster via our Discord ticket system.

At the discretion of the Event's Storyteller, players may be given certain bonuses or penalties relevant to the Event's narrative, conflict, or puzzles. Please be sure to have your character's correct modifiers set prior to the Event's start to save time. You can view bonuses on the class page here.

Events have varying chances to provide narrative progression, faction or guild progression, knowledge, loot, or CP/SP/JP.

**Passive Event** - Around the sim, there are various NPC field bosses that spawn that drop loot and items.

**Flash Event** - Short, impromptu events. usually a PVE boss monster bash with very light roleplay elements. The Event Host may interject short posts to describe the narrative.

**Main Story Event** - These are major pre-planned sim wide events that move the timeline forward and have a significant impact on the sim. These main story events are typically densely populated with players, and not recommended for those averse to large groups. Some portions of the event involve cutscenes that may not be altered, while other portions have dynamic outcomes, resulting in good/neutral/bad endings depending on the actions of the players. Consequences are taken very seriously during main story events.

**Dungeon** - These are instanced events, designed for party-play. These typically consist of navigating some kind of lair and working with a party to tackle obstacles, defeat bosses, and collect their treasure. Dungeon monsters are more difficult than field monsters and may require better gear, stats, items, companions, and strategy to overcome.

**Quest** - These are passive events where players are given a task to interact with mobs or a quest item in a specific way, providing rewards when reporting back to the Quest Giver with the proof that the task has been completed correctly.

**Open Event** - These are public events, but may still be subject to a player count limit.

**Closed Event** - These are invitation only events, involving specifics factions or guilds, often progressing that group's narrative. GL/FL are not permitted to provide loot rewards to avoid bias.

**Campaign** - This may start out as an Open Event, but becomes a series of Closed Events afterwards, similar to a dungeon crawl, consisting of multiple, long-term events, with a static locked-in party having to cooperate together to accomplish a lengthy goal. These events usually involve travel outside normal play zones.

**Random Encounters** - Players may play a Random Encounter NPC to create content or events for the public. The Crosswinds **RE HUD** allows them to set their NPC's stats. If a player abuses the **RE HUD** or Random Encounter regulations in any way, they will be banned from playing Random Encounters.

Random Encounters:

* never drop loot or resources.
* must wear the Random Encounter tag and/or place it in their titler. This tag is obtained by joining the monster horde group, or asking a GM.
* may not be private events, they must be public where anyone can participate.
* are not allowed inside rentals.
* may not harass players. While you may attack people in public areas, please be respectful, unbiased, and do not repeatedly attack the same player.
* may play normally unplayable monster races, however, receive GM approval first on your monster's appearance.

NPC Monsters are not to be played as PC characters, nor participate normally alongside guilds or factions as a constant ally or member. They may be a temporary ally during a specific event or event-line, but should not be participating in normal slice-of-life RP, guild/faction meetings, guild/faction PVP, etc.

## Factions & Guilds

### **Factions**

Factions are officially established nation states that will always be present and involved in the main story with strict narratives and lore to adhere to. These are GM controlled groups, their top leaders existing in the background as GM controlled NPCs. Local Faction operations are controlled by Crosswinds Staff Faction Leaders (FL).

* Joining a faction must be done In-Character.
* A character may only join one faction.
* Factions will have their own base of operations where anyone is welcome to come interact and roleplay.
* Faction bases are always protected by NPC guards or some type of GM automated defense, even if players are not logged in or present.
* Faction Leads may be accompanied by a maximum of 4 NPC guards, unless an Event Host or GM dictates otherwise.

### **Guilds**

Guilds are player operated organizations with complete autonomy over their own goals and stories. They may choose to align with, against, or influence the various Factions as they see fit, and can become incredibly influential and powerful.

* New Guilds may be requested via the Discord's ticket system.
* Guilds cannot be a copy of another guild or faction, to avoid redundant guilds.
* A new Guild must have at least 5 founding members.
* A new Guild must pay a fee of 10,000 Zill.
* The Guild Leader must have a good standing with the Staff, with no formal Strikes on their record.
* The Guild Leader must have played in the sim for at least three months.
* The Guild Leader must not have another existing guild, nor created one in the last 12 months.
* Guild names must follow the standard naming convention "[Crosswinds] - Guild Name"
* Guild tags/titles must include a unicode symbol as part of their name "Guild X Member" as an identifying symbol.
* Do not create a private Discord guild chat. Your Guild's Echo Channel will be created by a GM within the Crosswinds Discord, once approved.
* Do not create a Second Life group for your members to join. Your guild group will created by a GM, once approved.

## Rentals and Backers

Vacant Rentals can be obtained at any time for Lindens. Prim allotment is static and non-negotiable.

Types of rentals in Crosswinds:

* **Residential** - Private areas to be used as the owner wishes. They can choose to remain OOC, IC, or used as guild halls.
* **Business** - May come with mandatory decorations, and are always public areas.
* **Mithril** - Can be used as either residential or business, guild, base, etc.
* **Vendors** - Vendors are for advertisements and OOC shops, located in the hub.

Residential Rental Tiers:

* **Bronze** - L$180/week, 35 prims
* **Silver** - L$375/week, 75 prims
* **Gold** - L$750/week, 150 prims

Business Rental Tiers:

* **Bronze** - L$150/week, 15 prims
* **Silver** - L$275/week, 35 prims
* **Gold** - L$600/week, 70 prims

Mithril Rental Tier:

* **Mithril** - L$7500/month. 300 prims

Vendor Rental Tier:

* **Vendor** - $0/week, 10 prims (Requires 20% commission vendor)

**Residential Rental Rules**

* 1 residential rental per person.
* May be considered locked, private spaces, used for Closed Scenes and/or ERP.
* No sound-emitting objects or music.
* Only the official renter may decorate the rental.
* Keep within your prim allotment. Excess prims may be returned without warning.
* Abide by the sim theme. (ex: no sci-fi furniture)
* Keep script times low. Script heavy items may be returned without warning.
* Keep objects inside your rental space.
* Residential rentals may be decorated as a custom business or guild hall.

**Business Rental Rules**

* 1 business rental per person.
* Is considered a public space, used for Open Scenes, no ERP allowed.
* Business rentals may include mandatory decorations or structures.
* If so, the business must stick to the business' set theme. (ex: Don't turn a pre-furnished blacksmith into an alchemy shop)

**Mithril Rental Rules**

* 1 mithril rental per person.
* This rental is treated as either a residential or business rental.
* Can be used as a guild hall and/or base.

**Vendor Rental Rules**

* Vendors must give Crosswinds a 20% commissioned vendor.
* Keep script time low.
* No sounds
* Vendors and adverts are restricted to the hub's shop.

## Bases & protected zones

Throughout the sim there are indoor areas, guild bases, towns, and rentals that may be protected. Entering these areas will automatically greet you with some text in local chat. They will warn you about potential protective measures in place, such as NPC guards to defeat or sneak past. There will typically be instructions on how to defeat these measures if you intend to raid or disrupt the establishment's normal operations, such as stealing, investigating, spying, sabotaging, destroying, defacing, etc.

Ignoring the text is bad sportsmanship and subject to punishment. To play these scenarios, grab a GM, who will oversee and run the scene for you.

Guilds and Factions may conquer locations, such as towns or bases, and create their own measures.

## GM cards

GM cards, or Game Master cards, are special tokens bestowed by a GM. These physical in-world cards represent:

* story items
* acquired knowledge
* acquired powers
* consumable spells
* constructed vessels
* vessel modules
* tamable beasts

If a player claims to have a special powers, abilities, knowledge, summons, vehicles, or items, but lack the approved GM Card, the claim may be ignored and/or a MOD/GM may be asked to verify the claim.

**Note**: GM Cards are formally introduced in Saga 3. Some legacy characters from Saga 1 or Saga 2 may have legitimate claims but not yet have the cards to back those claims up. Please be kind, patient, and reasonable in such situations.

Players acquire GM cards through:

* Adequate roleplay with certain characters or NPC's (learning from a character with a higher knowledge GM card)
* Successful crafting with CBS resources with GM Present (can be done on request)
* Event rewards

Crafting GM Cards require a ST/GM to accept resources per attempt and to witness rolls performed to judge success or failure. Roleplay of crafting attempts and roleplay of the success or failure is mandatory. GM Card Crafting Recipes

### GM Card - Rules

* Flavoring of existing CBS abilities does not require GM cards.
* Flavoring of existing SL mechanics (i.e. bags of holding, echo crystals, etc) does not require GM cards.

* Cards may only be played during Events with the Event Host's approval.
* Cards may only be played during non-Event scenes if all current scene participants consent.
* New players may join a scene if they consent to the use of GM Cards already in play.
* A member of Staff must be present to utilize cards with a cost to activate, to collect those costs.
* The Event Host or MOD/GM may override scene consent for PVP orientated GM cards, such as those that aid in escaping PVP.

* Cards may only be played once per scene, but last the entire scene, unless the card states otherwise.
* Upon defeat/arrest/capture, some cards can potentially be confiscated/stolen by other characters, per verbiage on the card or ST/GM ruling.

### GM Card Keywords

Cards may have passive effects, but below are some of the situational, triggered, or activated terms and abilities on some GM cards.

**Consumable** - The GM Card is surrendered to a member of Staff when activated, unless the card states otherwise.

**Consume**: X - The GM Card requires a cost spent to activate, which is paid to a member of Staff.

**Module**: X - The GM Card is installed on a specific structure or vehicle, only to be used in conjunction with that specific structure/vehicle.

**Casting**: X - The player, the 'caster', and others may skip their turn to reduce X by 1. Upon reaching 0, a spell is cast, and the effects of the card activate. If the 'caster' is damaged by a unique enemy during the process, X increases by 1, delaying the spell's effect from taking place.

## Dungeons & Trackers

Several instances can be located around the world of Malm, with monsters that are more difficult than those found out in the fields. Instead of displaying a ★ they will display a 💀. These dungeon monsters are more difficult to kill than their field counterparts, and typically have a boss that guards their lair.

* Turn-Trackers are found in the chest in the introductory hub area.
* Turn-Trackers help ensure each player gets a chance to tag a monster, and thus be added to its loot drop list.
* Turn-Trackers help prevent one player with aggro from receiving a string of rapid consecutive counter-attacks.

* The Combat HUD is mandatory in dungeons.
* Turn-Trackers are mandatory in dungeons, except for solo play.
* Bypassing or ignoring players in dungeons is not allowed.
* Joining a dungeon instance and tagging monsters without IC posting into the scene or without OOC acknowledgement/consent is not allowed.

* It is advised to limit players to 4-5 per tracker, as this speeds up play. Multiple trackers can be implemented as needed.

* The party leader should rez and operate a Turn-Tracker, and ensure turns are taken in a timely fashion, that afk players are skipped, that new players are added, and that leaving players are properly removed.
* Parties should remain in combat at all times while in a dungeon, except between groups of enemies to change stones, equip consumables, and more easily traverse to the next group of enemies, or to gather around a chest to share loot.
* Please ensure all players are near and have direct line of sight to loot chests before opening them, and that no other player or obstacle is blocking line of sight, to ensure loot distribution once the chest is opened.

* A late arriving player or party may farm previous or separate sections of a dungeon, but upon catching up to an existing player or party within the dungeon instance, they are not entitled to be allowed to join.
* When the existing player or party has cleared the dungeon instance, they should leave, allowing monsters to respawn and other players or parties to participate in the instance.
* Camping a vacant dungeon is allowed.
* Camping a dungeon with players or parties waiting, and hoarding the dungeon to yourself, is not allowed. Either finish and leave, or join together and cooperate.

## Credits

**Main concept** - Melna Milos, Vincent Lucerne, Ethik Nacon, Aurora Tokhes, Borealis Karski

**Project manager** - Melna Milos

**Build overseer** - Vincent Lucerne

**Game balance overseer** - Lirra Tsunenaga

**Game development** - Jeremy Duport, Shadoskill Heckroth, Song Ceriaptrix, Xaviens Mizin, Tactical UwU

**Public Relations** - Lirra Tsunenaga, Vincent Lucerne

**Moderator Team** - Nikki Littlepaws, Morveyn Czartza, Kirstan Edenbaum

**Auxiliary staff** - Selandraste, Morveyn Czartza

**Art department** - Melna Milos, Chicago Terasaur

**Story and Lore** - Melna Milos, Morveyn Czartza

**Editor** - Ookamisuke Babenco, Kikaru Heron

**Horse** - Reina