Server Rules: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 16:24, 19 July 2025

In short:

0. We'll ban you if you're an asshole.
1. Play in good faith.
2. Stay immersive and immersed.
3. Be interesting. Don't be boring.
4. Misc things that are common sense but you should probably actually read them.

0. The rule of Community Wellbeing.

If you noticeably diminish the community's wellbeing with your presence, you may be removed from it regardless of the other rules. The invocation should come rarely, and will be signed off on by the project host or head admin.

1. The rule of Good Faith.

Ratwood, in its principle of creating interesting and organic roleplay, relies on the basic concept of good faith and players working towards the common interest of keeping a believable and engaging story.

The following are examples of lack of good faith:

Metagaming: using information that your character should not be aware of
Metagrudging: using your out-of-character sentiments against another player to deliberately act detrimentally to a specific player's experience
Metacommunicating: exchanging sensitive information about the ongoing round via out-of-character means
Exploiting: habitually and knowingly exploiting a bugged feature to achieve an unintended and unfair advantage

2. The rule of Immersion.

In a perfect world, you would sit to this game and not need to think about anything else than the internal logic of your character, without the need to concern yourself with much else. However, this is an imperfect world with imperfect people, therefore an explanation is necessary.

Your character should not look, speak or act like a modern world person that somehow ended up back in time.
Your character should not break the fourth wall and use in-character means to convey your out-of-character sentiments to other players. (ie. a dying character throwing insults and saying "see you next week")
The design and actions of your characters shouldn't be a reference to memes, jokes or modern popculture. This includes portraits and other character imagery.
The names of your character shouldn't be directly pulled out of popculture books, movies or tv series - make your own character.
Your descriptors and flavourtext should be written in a tasteful way and should not include nonphysical, nonsensory attributes such as backstory, the character's internal thoughts or your OOC preferences.
The portrait/headshot of your character should be tasteful and something you would consider safe-for-work (risque is permissable).
Many races have very rich and permissive customization options when it comes to skin, fur and other features. Do not abuse this to purposefully make jarring characters with clashing colors, whose aesthetics end at being an eyesore.

This rule is also your responsibility, players, so report instances you spot.

3. The rule of Interesting.

If you breed boredom, you will die from it yourself. Aim for your actions to bring more into the stories than they diminish.

Not every fight needs to be lethal. Not every conflict needs to end with somebody winning and somebody losing. Not every solution needs to lead to clicking somebody horizontal or trapping them in a place they will not get any further interactions in. Cruel fates for characters don't need to be delivered in ways that are frustrating for the players sitting on the other end of the monitor.

Act how your character would act, but also imagine you are an actor on a stage and your mission is to entertain the audience and craft a compelling story with other actors.

You do not need to be the main character of every story. You might find it quite fun to deliberately hand the spotlight over.
A fight breaking out over something doesn't need to end in death. If ending somebody's life wasn't your express focus and objective, you should generally respect an opponent surrendering and yielding the way in whatever the conflict was over. Likewise, if you surrender only to betray somebody's good will, do not be surprised if they do not respect it the next time.
Conflict is the spice of life, however never forget that it should be contained in-character instead of spilling over. Keep that in mind when you initiate it.
Might makes responsibility: due to their stats, loadout or social standing, certain roles are more capable of affecting the course of the round, therefore they are magnets for people who desire to be THE main characters and undefeated heroes, even if it means they will have fun at everybody else's expense; make good use of your influence and freedom - seek to enhance the experience of others instead of diminishing it to benefit your own enjoyment
Responsibility: Characters in leadership positions are responsible for shaping the narrative. Roles, especially those with limited slots, with clear and defined purpose and/or place in a hierarchy should not readily and routinely abandon their posts. Characters are not required to be perfect, but if you choose to be a knight just for the weapons, armour, keyring and combat prowess with no intention of ever caring for your lord, you will be politely but firmly made to choose another playstyle.
Motive is everything: Senseless killings over unimportant reasons are not interesting. That does not mean you cannot kill anybody. Nobody will bat an eye if you hang a caught assassin or culminate a build-up of rivalry in bloodshed. However, if you lack imagination for a more creative solution, most minor transgressions can be resolved with a simple beating or a bath in the moat.
Middleman is not responsible: In order for hired hands or subordinates to act in an efficient way instead of being worried about consequences beyond in-character ones, the responsibility for your orders lies with you. If you hire an assassin to kill somebody over menial reasons, it'll be up to you to explain how is that interesting. If you order your subordinates to slaughter everyone, it's for you to keep in mind what might result.
Notoriety: if you're becoming notorious and increasingly disliked out-of-character due to your gimmick, it's time to take a break from it and think of a new one to expand your repertoire.

4. Miscellaneous

4.1. There is no continuity between separate rounds, therefore it's up to players if they want to continue some positive relation or an arc in their roleplay. However, you should not go around and loudly proclaim others' crimes from other rounds. That doesn't stop your character from having a bad feeling about things, if somebody is notorious enough for you to expect what exactly will happen.

4.2. You may steal from players who have been AFK or disconnected for an extended period of time, but do not murder or kidnap them without a very good reason, nor engage in ERP with them unless explicitly permitted by the player.

4.3. Your character may not look, sound or be underage. All character media should look unquestionably adult. Advanced pregnancies are not allowed either.

4.4. You may not violate OOC preferences pertaining to erotic roleplay. "Defiant" mechanic serves as a mechanical way to prevent usage of the ERP menu, and attempting to bypass it with custom emotes is likewise punishable.

4.5. The game allows players to engage with mature themes and content that some may find disturbing. With this in mind, players may disconnect should they encounter content which causes emotional and/or mental distress. If you frequently find the need to disconnect in the spirit of this rule, you should likely report it to the administration team. Do not abuse this rule purely to escape consequences.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+In short:
+. We'll ban you if you're an asshole.<br>
+. Play in good faith. <br>
+. Stay immersive and immersed. <br>
+. Be interesting. Don't be boring. <br>
+. Misc things that are common sense but you should probably actually read them. <br>
+== ''' 0. The rule of Community Wellbeing. ''' ==
+If you noticeably diminish the community's wellbeing with your presence, you may be removed from it regardless of the other rules.
+The invocation should come rarely, and will be signed off on by the project host or head admin.
-<center><span style="color:#d33"><big><big>'''Rules are enforced and interpreted by the staff of Ratwood Keep, not the player.'''</big></big></span> </center>
+== ''' 1. The rule of Good Faith. ''' ==
-== '''1 The Rule of Interesting''' ==
-Pretend you’re an actor on a stage. Be interesting. The point is not to
-win, the point is to make an interesting story.
-Players are required to build compelling scenarios with motives that
-justify their actions before committing to mechanical conflict. Mechanics
-must be proportional to the weight of the situation.
-Sometimes, your character will die in mundane and unfair ways that
+Ratwood, in its principle of creating interesting and organic roleplay, relies on the basic concept of good faith and players working towards the common interest of keeping a believable and engaging story.
-are compliant with the rules. Carefully examine your situation before
-reporting it.
-Careless murder without any kind of escalation, even if justified,
+The following are examples of lack of good faith:
-is not interesting.
+* Metagaming: using information that your character should not be aware of
+* Metagrudging: using your out-of-character sentiments against another player to deliberately act detrimentally to a specific player's experience
+* Metacommunicating: exchanging sensitive information about the ongoing round via out-of-character means
+* Exploiting: habitually and knowingly exploiting a bugged feature to achieve an unintended and unfair advantage
-  A beggar disrespecting nobility should be treated proportionally. Warn them away from your charge or hurt them if you must. If they push the envelope, teach them why they are at the bottom of the food chain.
+== '''  2. The rule of Immersion. ''' ==
- A man-at-arms should not wordlessly execute an intruder, but respect the laws of the land and/or their standing orders. Take them to the Duke or Marshal for sentencing.
- An antagonist should focus on causing distress, chaos, and disorder, not mindlessly kill everyone they see.
-=== 1.1 Might makes Responsibility ===
+In a perfect world, you would sit to this game and not need to think about anything else than the internal logic of your character, without the need to concern yourself with much else.
-Being in a winning position gives you both the power and responsibility
+However, this is an imperfect world with imperfect people, therefore an explanation is necessary.
-to take the most interesting approach, shaping the overall narrative and
-driving the plot forward where your adversary cannot.
- A knight has cornered an intruder with a group of guards in the keep. They should arrest and question the criminal, not immediately lop their head off.
- The Duke has had several outlaws brought before him in chains. He should consider their crimes and whether or not they warrant execution.
- A bandit has ambushed a lone wanderer in the bog. They should not wordlessly cut off every single limb they have and throw them into a river for no reason.
-Please see "The Rule of Interesting" for more information about what you should and should not do in a winning situation.
+* Your character should not look, speak or act like a modern world person that somehow ended up back in time.
+* Your character should not break the fourth wall and use in-character means to convey your out-of-character sentiments to other players. (ie. a dying character throwing insults and saying "see you next week")
+* The design and actions of your characters shouldn't be a reference to memes, jokes or modern popculture. This includes portraits and other character imagery.
+* The names of your character shouldn't be directly pulled out of popculture books, movies or tv series - make your own character.
+* Your descriptors and flavourtext should be written in a tasteful way and should not include nonphysical, nonsensory attributes such as backstory, the character's internal thoughts or your OOC preferences.
+* The portrait/headshot of your character should be tasteful and something you would consider safe-for-work (risque is permissable).
+* Many races have very rich and permissive customization options when it comes to skin, fur and other features. Do not abuse this to purposefully make jarring characters with clashing colors, whose aesthetics end at being an eyesore.
-=== 1.2 Ambushes, Escalation, & Combat ===
+This rule is also your responsibility, players, so report instances you spot.
-Ratwood is a server where mechanics and roleplay are intertwined to create interesting stories, sometimes with dramatic conflict and outcomes.
-You should strive to create compelling scenarios with motivations that make sense, and show a clear escalation of force where able.
+== '''  3. The rule of Interesting. ''' ==
-A direct route to combat through telegraphing and escalation isn't always apparent or possible, however, and may even be detrimental to the story. Therefore:
+If you breed boredom, you will die from it yourself. Aim for your actions to bring more into the stories than they diminish.
-'''Players are not required to escalate to combat in every situation.'''
+Not every fight needs to be lethal. Not every conflict needs to end with somebody winning and somebody losing. Not every solution needs to lead to clicking somebody horizontal or trapping them in a place they will not get any further interactions in. Cruel fates for characters don't need to be delivered in ways that are frustrating for the players sitting on the other end of the monitor.
-=== 1.3 Motivation Is Everything ===
+Act how your character would act, but also imagine you are an actor on a stage and your mission is to entertain the audience and craft a compelling story with other actors.
-Actions require motivation. Your conduct should be explainable to others and you should strive for compelling reasons to take high-stakes actions.
-Ensure that your character has enough motivation or build-up before deciding to commit to mechanics. This might include anything from ordering an attack, to initiating grabs with the intent to capture or kill.
+* You do not need to be the main character of every story. You might find it quite fun to deliberately hand the spotlight over.
+* A fight breaking out over something doesn't need to end in death. If ending somebody's life wasn't your express focus and objective, you should generally respect an opponent surrendering and yielding the way in whatever the conflict was over. Likewise, if you surrender only to betray somebody's good will, do not be surprised if they do not respect it the next time.
+* Conflict is the spice of life, however never forget that it should be contained in-character instead of spilling over. Keep that in mind when you initiate it.
+*  Might makes responsibility: due to their stats, loadout or social standing, certain roles are more capable of affecting the course of the round, therefore they are magnets for people who desire to be THE main characters and undefeated heroes, even if it means they will have fun at everybody else's expense; make good use of your influence and freedom - seek to enhance the experience of others instead of diminishing it to benefit your own enjoyment
+* Responsibility: Characters in leadership positions are responsible for shaping the narrative. Roles, especially those with limited slots, with clear and defined purpose and/or place in a hierarchy should not readily and routinely abandon their posts. Characters are not required to be perfect, but if you choose to be a knight just for the weapons, armour, keyring and combat prowess with no intention of ever caring for your lord, you will be politely but firmly made to choose another playstyle.
+* Motive is everything: Senseless killings over unimportant reasons are not interesting. That does not mean you cannot kill anybody. Nobody will bat an eye if you hang a caught assassin or culminate a build-up of rivalry in bloodshed. However, if you lack imagination for a more creative solution, most minor transgressions can be resolved with a simple beating or a bath in the moat.
+* Middleman is not responsible: In order for hired hands or subordinates to act in an efficient way instead of being worried about consequences beyond in-character ones, the responsibility for your orders lies with you. If you hire an assassin to kill somebody over menial reasons, it'll be up to you to explain how is that interesting. If you order your subordinates to slaughter everyone, it's for you to keep in mind what might result.
+* Notoriety: if you're becoming notorious and increasingly disliked out-of-character due to your gimmick, it's time to take a break from it and think of a new one to expand your repertoire.
-'''Here are some examples of good motivation:'''
+== '''  4. Miscellaneous ''' ==
-  Bandits have gotten together and decided to kidnap someone. They don't have to warn their victim.
- A noble has paid a hitman to eliminate her rival.
- She should brief the assassin about the target, and the assassin should usually avoid collateral damage. The assassin doesn't need to warn his target.
- Note that hiring an assassin makes you responsible for the target's death.
- The Inquisition has received good evidence linking an individual to heretical acts.
- They do not have to warn the heretic before black-bagging them. However, they should not conduct random screenings in this fashion.
- The Duke's men have a lot of power and authority in Rockhill.
- Senseless execution instead of imprisonment or questioning is not interesting. You should generally seek to obey your superiors and the laws of the land, not pursue a solo vendetta to kill an antagonist.
- Don't start sniping someone from the balcony with a crossbow because they said mean things to you.
- Rape on its own is not an interesting motivation. Read the room.
-==== 1.4 Deathmatching ====
+.1. There is no continuity between separate rounds, therefore it's up to players if they want to continue some positive relation or an arc in their roleplay. However, you should not go around and loudly proclaim others' crimes from other rounds. That doesn't stop your character from having a bad feeling about things, if somebody is notorious enough for you to expect what exactly will happen.
-Despite the freedoms these rules grant players, this is not a server designed for "deathmatch," wordless combat, or over-escalation of force that leads to boring outcomes. Trying to resolve every conflict in the fastest way possible, i.e. murder, is uninteresting.
-'''Type-baiting'''
+.2. You may steal from players who have been AFK or disconnected for an extended period of time, but do not murder or kidnap them without a very good reason, nor engage in ERP with them unless explicitly permitted by the player.
-Type-baiting is strictly prohibited. Should you confront someone, be courteous enough to allow them to finish their thought. '''Do not''' commit to an action for the express purpose of distracting someone by typing so that you may attack them.
+.3. Your character may not look, sound or be underage. All character media should look unquestionably adult. Advanced pregnancies are not allowed either.
-'''Bounties & Bounty Hunters'''
+.4. You may not violate OOC preferences pertaining to erotic roleplay. "Defiant" mechanic serves as a mechanical way to prevent usage of the ERP menu, and attempting to bypass it with custom emotes is likewise punishable.
-Mercenaries are expected and encouraged to pursue individuals who take the "Hunted" flaw.
+.5. The game allows players to engage with mature themes and content that some may find disturbing. With this in mind, players may disconnect should they encounter content which causes emotional and/or mental distress. If you frequently find the need to disconnect in the spirit of this rule, you should likely report it to the administration team. Do not abuse this rule purely to escape consequences.
-'''Bounty hunters are not assassins.'''
-Bounty hunters should attempt to confront their target first, because careless murder without any build-up, even if justified, is not interesting.
-However, because this is not always practical, bounty hunters are '''not''' required to warn their target before they attack.
-=='''2 Role Expectations'''==
-Characters are expected to initially remain consistent to the role they
-choose, until the story dictates otherwise.
-Those with more powerful influence, skills, and gear are expected to adhere more closely to their expected roles and should not readily abandon
-their post.
-Characters in positions of leadership have the responsibility to actively
-shape the narrative. Their actions should drive the plot forward and
-offer something interesting to the round.
- A beggar can act insane, heretically or antagonistically, as it is a role with no responsibilities.
- Note that this does not make you exempt from roleplaying rules.
- A knight should not readily abandon his Duke/Duchess. He has sworn an oath to him/her, not to anyone else.
- A man-at-arms should usually behave like an experienced and trusted soldier.
- Adherents of the Inhumen should strive to keep their patron a secret, lest they bring the ire of the authorities down upon them or their allies.
- An adherent of the Ten would not readily align themselves with bandits, vampires, or werewolves. They should listen to and obey the Priest until circumstances dictate otherwise.
- Likewise, the Duke or Duchess can only be coronated by the Priest. Therefore, the fate of the Keep and Temple are linked. Do not readily betray the clergy which you rely on.
-===2.1 Antagonist Teams===
-An antagonist team is defined as specific faction created and enforced through the Server Code. These antagonist teams are not out to kill players immediately, unless there is established hostility done during the course of each round or it is in their nature to do so, such as Vampire and Lich.
-Antagonists must consider whether or not their life and their plans align with other antagonists such as Lich, Maniac, Vampire, or Werewolf. Under normal circimstances, they would never align themselves at all unless there was an existential threat and action was needed to protect the group.
-Do not kill your teammates. If you are a werewolf, do not act against werewolves. Same goes for vampires, bandits, goblins, and lich. Some level of in-character tension and perhaps fisticuffs are allowed and at times warranted, but don't ever let it get to a point where it is impeding your ability to act together.
-===='''Soft Antagonists'''====
-These are specific antagonistic factions, specifically Goblins and Bandits.
-They are not immediately hostile but can easily become so as their core objectives and basis of survival are the antithesis to the dukedom. They both follow inhumen pantheon and their entire existence violates the pantheon.
-These antagonists must understand that they are a faction. As a faction, if one individual of the faction invokes the ire of the keep, town, or another faction, there could be consequences. As these antagonist factions are considered inhumen, there is a high likelihood of death and execution and not redemption. Players who play these factions must be aware their character may end up dead or worse, if their faction is already engaged in open hostilities with another.
-===='''Bandits'''====
-Bandits are out for stealing wealth for their God, Matthios, to further their grasp of power and the eventual usurption of the dukedom. As soft antagonists and as followers of Matthios they are not inclined to kill the individuals they rob or kidnap unless that individual fights back and is mortally wounded.
-===='''Goblins'''====
-Goblins are spawn of Graggar, created for the sole purpose of being minions to their great God. Whether they kidnap, pillage, or rob is up to their chief. The chief guides their tribe under Graggar's guidance to further themselves to prosperity or doom.
-=='''3 Immersion'''==
-Immersion is defined as keeping within the confines of the setting and at a believable level within the lore and story of Ratwood.
-===3.1 Character Behavior===
-Players must remain in-character at all times. Your character should not look, speak, or act like a modern-world person transported back in time. Character actions and behavaior should not be a meme, joke, or reference to anything modern. This includes headshots and NSFW bodyshots. Keep not-safe-for-work (NSFW) material to nudeshots only. Character descriptors must stay within the confines of believability and safe-for-work (SFW).
-===3.2 Character Names and Descriptions===
-Character names should not be a meme, joke, or reference anything modern. Additionally, names can not be pulled directly out of popular culture such as books, movies, and television shows. Character descriptions are conveyed through "descriptor" system. This system allows users to choose premade adjectives to describe their character along with two custom descriptors. Custom descriptors must not overlap with premade adjectives and be used to convey descriptions of the character that are not covered through the premade descriptors. Descriptors must not lean too far into fetishism, specific behavior, or cross the line to NSFW. '''Descriptors are descriptions of the character'''. Nude descriptors are specifically regarding physical descriptions of the character when nude, these are adjectives that are not seen when clothed.
-===3.3 Character Headshots and Nudeshots===
-Character Headshots should remain SFW and have the focus on the character's face. Headshots provide players a better understanding of what the character may look like and should not focus lower than the upper chest. Nudeshots provide players a better understanding of what the character looks like when nude. Thus the nudeshot should represent a nude photo-body and not be clothed. There currently is no support for a "SFW bodyshot" at this time.
-===3.4 Character Customization===
-Wildkin, Halfkin, and Verminkin specifically have many character customization options when it comes to skin, fur, and other features. This includes the color scheme of the characters. Due to Ratwood's basis being rather 'dark' in tone character coloration should not be outlandish in terms of vibrance (very bright coloration). If an admin or yourself as a player have a concern about a player's coloration, they may submit an ahelp or ticket in the discord to inquire further. This is handled case-by-case basis of what coloration is too far in terms of vibrance as some colorations may fit the tone of the character and the server in a way others do not.
-Additionally, character customization using the Wildkin, Halfkin, and Verminkin races should not be utilized to play as different races that are already established. Wildkin, halfkin, and verminkin are their own unique identity and should not be selected to create "goblins" and "elves" when those races already exist.
-=='''4 Miscellaneous'''==
-===4.1 Persistence===
-No knowledge, including events, relationships, or rivalries, is carried over between rounds. Knowledge can still be retained with the consent of the involved parties, excluding Metagrudge rule violations.
-===4.2 AFK Interactions===
-AFK characters are not immune to thievery, with the exception of those who go AFK mid-scene; they are to be left alone until they reconnect. One should avoid murdering, raping or kidnapping AFK/disconnected players unless they have a very good reason to do so.
-===4.3 Erotic Roleplay===
-Erotic roleplay is allowed between sentient humanoids, but not protected from outside interference.
-Players are not permitted to engage in erotic roleplay with random corpses they find, however erotic roleplay between a living player and a corpse is permitted if the dead player is non-defiant and was killed during an already active scene. An active scene would include accidentally strangling the other player to death during erotic roleplay, or causing their death through torture; killing a player in combat then engaging in erotic roleplay with their corpse is in violation of this rule.
-===4.4 Defiance===
-Defiant characters are protected from being subjected to non-consensual erotic roleplay, even after death. Overriding the mechanical restrictions with emotes is prohibited. Defiant: ON characters may not participate in non-consensual erotic roleplay of any kind unless they are expressly permitted to do so by the other party (such as a private scene between two players). '''If you aren't sure, don't do it.'''
-===4.5 Underage Characters & Behavior===
-Underage characters, advanced pregnancies and excessive baby-talk are forbidden. All character media should look unquestionably adult.
-===4.6 Harmful or Triggering Content & Disconnecting===
-Ratwood is a server designed with the express purpose of allowing players to engage with mature themes and content which some users may find disturbing. With this in mind, players may disconnect at any time should they encounter content which causes emotional and/or mental distress. If you are found to be abusing this rule purely to escape consequences, you may be punished accordingly.
-== '''5 Good Faith''' ==
-The following are strictly forbidden:
-• '''Metagaming''': using information your character should not be aware of.
-• '''Metagrudging''': using an OOC/Past-round knowledge to negatively affect someone’s current round.
-• '''Metacomming''': exchanging sensitive round information OOCly.
-• '''Exploiting''': Knowingly exploiting a bugged feature to give yourself an unfair advantage.
-At the end of the day, we're all here to have fun and play a game together. If we sense that you have to be removed to lower the toxicity of the environment, we will do so at our discretion.