User:Zoktiik/Game Rules

THIS IS A ROUGH DRAFT, NOT AN OFFICIAL DOCUMENT.

All readers: please messsage me on Discord or write with your thoughts and suggestions regarding this document.

Head Admins and above: feel free to edit this document directly if you'd like.

General guidelines

Unlike most SS13 servers, Ratwood does not have a laundry list of rules for you to follow, and tries its best to let the playerbase and the game mechanics do their thing. We also don't necessarily submit to the "LRP/MRP/HRP" scheme of roleplay classification; this is a roleplaying server, simple as that. However, we do prefer to try and keep the experience immersive and enjoyable for our playerbase, so certain guidelines need to be made directly clear.

Most of the out-of-character "law" governing this server is judicial "case law" decided collectively by the administration, while referring back to the core guidelines. For transparency's sake, this document will also attempt to compile a non-exhaustive list of actions that, in most cases, will get players punished for doing them. Likewise, examples of things that might be considered questionable, but that aren't currently punished, will be listed as well.

Here's what you should keep in mind when playing on the server:

• Try to observe how the playerbase as a whole generally does things. Err on the side of caution when you're starting out.

Case law

or, "what not to do."

The following list contains actions that will get you punished most of the time, based on real administrative actions. This is intended more as an elaboration of our guidelines provided for transparency's sake, and not a set of rules in and of itself.

This list is not exhaustive, and every case is different.

• OOC in IC. When talking in-character, do not use netspeak, emoticons, abbreviations, weird Unicode symbols, URLs, blatant memes, blatant references to the real world or other media, et cetera. Do not refer to out-of-world things such as lag, ahelping, character stats ("STR"/"INT"), or OOC slang (i.e. "fragging", "skill issue"). The absence of "Local OOC" is intentional; do not try to circumvent that.
• IC in OOC. Please keep any sensitive in-character information that could be acted upon, such as events and villains of the current round, out of the Discord, the OOC chat, and the Meditate verb. Excluded from this category is information broadcast to everyone on the server, such as announcements by the King or the Priest.
• ChatGPT in IC. Please do not AI-generate your character's speech or emotes.
• Senseless killing. You should at least have some degree of IC reason to kill other characters. There should be some sort of reasonable buildup or trigger for the killing, or you should at least make an attempt to roleplay it and make it interesting. Remember, "self-antagging" is allowed under the same criteria. Villain roles are not excluded from punishment for no-roleplay killings, although they do receive a good degree of leniency depending on the circumstances.
• Metagrudging and excessive griefing.
• Excessive toxicity in OOC. This includes in-game OOC chat, Adminhelp, Meditate aka "schizohelp", the official Discord, et cetera. Don't be super rude or mean to other players out-of-character. Be cool. Don't be an asshole. As far as multiplayer games go, we're a relatively small community. Try not to be too hard on each other. And in case you were wondering, this goes for admins as well.
• Meditate abuse. Using the Meditate verb or being a Voice is strictly to be used for asking others about game mechanics and providing answers about game mechanics. If your question contains round-sensitive information, such as those related to antagonist mechanics, please Adminhelp your question instead. You can ignore the rule against "OOC in IC" when using Meditate, but it is not a chat, it is not LOOC. Do not use it in this way.
• Metagaming.
• Metagaming post-respawn. If you choose to respawn via the Underworld after you die, you are playing a different character with none of the same knowledge, even if it is the same character slot. Do not make a beeline for your previous character's body, do not go and acccuse your killers of having killed you (period), do not act on or relay any remotely sensitive information that only your last character knew about.
• Metacommunications.
• Exploiting.
• Playing underage characters. Do not use headshots of characters that look under 18. Do not play a character with speech and mannerisms that would be in line with someone under 18. Do not overemphasize the youthfulness of a character.
• Bad headshot pictures. The headshot portrait you attach to your character should reasonably preserve immersion, and not be a meme, a real-world photograph, or outright NSFW. Preferably, keep it to the head and shoulders, a "bust portrait" instead of a "busty portrait".
• Spamming interrogation verbs. This includes the Dungeoneer's "Extract Confession" and the Inquisitor's "Test Faith". Try to use these sparingly, spread out over the course of a decently-roleplayed interrogation. The prisoner has to spend a triumph to resist torture each time you use the verb; don't make them burn a bunch just because you feel like it.
• Nonsensical recruitment messages. As a Peasant Rebel Leader, your recruitment speeches should be directly related to the Rebellion or its adversaries, and also be at least a full sentence. Additionally, avoid using IC prefixes such as + in recruitment messages, as the recruitment spell will cause them to be spoken literally.
• Rushing and/or camping antag spawnpoints. This includes such places as the Bandit Camp and the Vampire Manor that are part of the map.
• Abandoning your role's duties to ERP.
• Repeatedly/intentionally interrupting ERP. While ERP does not have any protections by itself, and IC-reasonable interruptions are perfectly fine, repeatedly harassing and griefing people engaging in ERP scenes is not allowed.
• Unwanted fetish roleplay. Do not randomly shove your fetishes on people who never asked for them. You know who you are.

Allowed actions

• "Self-Antagging."
• Unlimited escalation within roleplay. We do not have conflict escalation rules. In their place, there is only the general guidelines, which dictate that the further you intend to take a conflict, you should hold yourself to a higher minimum standard of roleplay. Failing that, attempt to make it more interesting for both sides. Try to get other people involved, at least socially. Try to give the other side an out, some way they can de-escalate the situation, however one-sided your terms may be.
• Interrupting ERP within roleplay.
• Accidental typos and punctuation. Don't worry if you accidentally make mistakes when typing out a message; it happens. You won't be bwoinked for hitting the slash key instead of the period key. However, avoid using symbols such as * intentionally, to indicate a correction; just restate the correct word or phrase if need be.
• Using knowledge openly revealed by game mechanics. Includes such actions as: using someone's name without having asked for it first, reacting to a player who shows pink examine text (HERETIC!, BANDIT!, etc.), ~~Generally, however, it is preferable that you still roleplay however you can.~~
• Using prayer as a combat tactic. Getting set on fire through prayer to set your enemies on fire is, at the moment, not punished. Of course, as with all combat, you shouldn't use it senselessly.
• Keeping your knowledge after being resurrected. Resurrection IS NOT respawning or SS13 "cloning". You are the same character, with the same knowledge and personality you had while alive. HOWEVER, you do not keep any knowledge you gained as a ghost if you leave your body and an admin returns your soul to it.
• Respawning as the same character slot. This will not get you punished on its own. Spawning as a character with the same name as another character who's been in the round will automatically randomize your name. However, any resemblance you bear to your previous character should be regarded as purely coincidental. Do not metagame. Do not make a beeline for your previous character's corpse to loot it, assume its identity, or retaliate against your killers.
• Interacting with disconnected or sleeping players. You are free to loot people and drag them wherever you want. However, murdering or maiming disconnected players still carries the same the same penalties. Using ERP actions on disconnected players, or players in Combat Mode, carries an automatic -2 PQ penalty after a 5 second warning.
• No combat indicators. You do not need to indicate to others that you intend to engage them in combat, though it is a nice thing to do. Reasonable roleplay justification is, of course, still necessary. Combat Mode is mainly just for being able to dodge or parry better (and to avoid getting pickpocketed). Talking while it's on will give away that you're using it.

How to make a report

Reporting via Adminhelp

You can request an admin's assistance