Expecto Patronum Mods' Journal

Gameplay Rules and Guidelines
General Rules

1. Dramatics Here at EP, we welcome in-character drama. That's what we're here for, after all. However, out-of-character melodrama will not be tolerated. If you have issues with other players pertaining to gameplay, it is advised that you approach the moderators. Please do not test us on this rule. It is number one for a very good reason.

2. Respect A sucessful RPG cannot be maintained without mutual player respect. This applies to everyone involved. Try and remember the Golden Rule, and treat others how you would like to be treated, and when in doubt, ask a mod first. Don't have Goyle beat up Neville without asking Neville's mun if that's gravy first. Neville also should not hex Goyle unless it is understood and allowed between the muns. Respect!

3. Canon At EP, we understand that an RPG cannot follow canon exactly. We do believe, however, that the behavior of characters with canon-established personalities should maintain a general consistency with canon whenever possible. Exceptions of course will be made for developments in EP canon, or due to events in EP. New characters should not be brought into the game with any preconceived notions of characterization or ships that are not obviously supported by canon, unless they can be well-explained. Obviously, there will be not so canon things happening. It's RP. That happens. Basically, please don't expect for Hermione to be twirling her hair and discussing fashion with her new girlfriend, Lavender.

4. Believablity We have one major rule regarding plot and character development here: Make it believable. Controversy is welcome, however, action must be believable. Before your character acts, stop and ask yourself whether it will seem realistic to someone randomly reading the game. If the answer is yes, have at it. If the answer is no, chances are you should reconsider and further develop your approach. Of course, someone reading the game might find some things unbelievable, but that's OK if those things have been developed and lead up to thusfar in game play.

5. Game Canon We have had in the past characters whom have since been retired by their players and are now open for application. Many of these characters played significant roles that affected the game play, plot, and other characters. As such, if you are applying for one of the characters listed below, we would appreciate your contacting the moderators before applying and reaching an understanding of what we would expect for those characters.

Characters with Prior Influence
Blaise Zabini*
Tracey Davis
Zacharias Smith
Dean Thomas

Not so General Rules

1. Once plot lines are approved by all involved players, no non-effected players may try to designate what they feel should be happening with it. In short: If it doesn't effect you directly, suck it up.

2. Major plot lines effecting multiple players must be posted to the OOC community first for approval. After 24 hours, if there are no objections, it's okay to go ahead with it.

3. Canon will be adhered to as much as possible. This includes, but is not limited to: canon-established personalities behaving in character, maintaining a proper timeline and characters not having excessive muggle knowledge without a justifiable reason.

4. When posting an extended entry or owl, please use a LJ Cut tag.

5. Playing more than one character is up to administrator discretion. Any new players must be actively participating in the game for at least a month before they can have more than one. (Please note that Albus Dumbledore is a moderator-controlled character used for game direction only)

6. What the moderators say, goes.

7. No breaking plots you have agreed to without the consent of all involved parties. It's just rude.

8. NO ORIGINAL CHARACTERS. PERIOD. If you have an inventive idea that you are attached to, try picking up a canonly named character whom does not have a lot of canon background and work with that.

9. This is an extension of rule four in the General Rule section. This game revolves around the students and their interactions. Therefore, there will of course be relationships. And as noted below, the game is slash friendly. So this rule is NOT telling you that Stephen Cornfoot can't shag Terry Boot. This rule is telling you to make it believable. Now, by believable it is not intended to completely restrict what happens, it is not demanding anything strictly composed. But please let's not have Harry Potter, for example, falling desperately in love with Draco Malfoy and vice versa without a heckuva lot of development. Make it believable, let the relationship develop. No one is stopping you from deciding who hooks up with whom OOC, if that is how you prefer to arrange things so be it. But it would be a very appreciated thing to see even a little development toward it.

Posting Information & Guidelines

- It is understood that all student characters are required to participate in the Journal Project [there will be a link here, to a more in-depth explanation of the project, and the Unity Project in general]. They should post once per week to their personal journals. While it is understandable that real life throws curveballs, games thrive on activity and sink without it. Please post in the journals; the characters will suffer for it.

- When posting to your personal journals, please change your date to the proper game date; every week this will be posted as a reminder in the community. Game time continues as real life does, by the day, but due to possible, unforseeable periods of inactivity, it may be subject to change. Editing the date is possible by editing the journal AFTER posting it. This is for archiving continuity purposes.

- All non-personal journal posts (including action threads, owls, announcements, etc.) are to be posted at [info]patronum_rpg. The one exception to this is if a thread becomes R or NC-17 rated, at which point it should be transferred to one of the character's personal journals.

- When posting action threads or logs, please use the following header format:

Who: The name of the primary poster, and who the thread is open to (Names, all, none, etc.)
Where: The location of the original post.
When: The pertinant game date (You may back-date if necessary.)
Status: Incomplete, Incomplete-Slowtimed or Complete.
Rating: If R or NC-17, please specify.

- When transferring a thread to a personal journal from the main community, please link the new post at the end of the original thread, and the original post at the beginning of the new thread.

- If any important interaction occurs in a personal journal, please link it in a post at

patronum_rpg.

- Please place owls/notes/logs behind a LJ-cut, labelled appropriately.

- If you're applying for a new character, please write the word "potatoes" in the comments portion of your application so that we know you have read and understand the above rules/guidelines.