The Rules.

Unfortunately every game has to have rules. These are fairly simple and mostly common sense, however if we all follow them, this thing will run VERY smoothly.

Please note, there are repercussions to your actions, so pay attention:

First offence: A warning.
Second offence: A very firm warning.
Third offence: You will be asked to shape up, or ship out.
Any further offence: Permanent banning.

There are no second chances after banning, and I am fairly lax when it comes to rules. Use your heads and we'll all get along just fine!

1. The theme of the RP is early 1800s England. There are no witches, no fairies, no demons, no guardian angels, no super powerful characters, no elves, no drows, no vampires, no werewolves. The only person who has super powers is the housekeeper - ME, the list moderator. It's historical fiction which is very different from fantasy.

2. I've busted my chops putting together a huge resource for you. If you're unsure about something - look it up or ask me. (Preferably the former first!)

3. ALL characters are to be approved by the housekeeper (i.e., ME) before you start. Which means you have to fill out the character profile so I can keep track of who is who and what sort of characters we have. Once you have approval, you're free to write immediately.

4. Bios, what I say goes and if you don't like the way the bio rules are set up, then you can leave. I'm not begging anyone to stay here. No contrived characters. I am no longer accepting "rags to riches" stories or anything that would be totally untrue for the era. I make few exceptions on the grounds of creative lisence, but don't expect this of me.

5. This is not a systems game. There are no rulebooks here. There are no dice. There will be no arguments of any kind about who wins what argument and if there is - I will have the final word on the matter. This goes with anything that happens where I need to mediate between players. 'Nuff said.

6. Keep the speech to the time period. Asking someone "how's it hangin'?" is not correct. "How do you do, Sir/Madam/Your Grace?" is correct. Modern colloquialisms are also not allowed, for instance, "crikey!" or "okay" or "F--k off!" are not correct for the period (but yes, they did swear back in the day, though the gentry would have thought it beneath them to do so). And you're still reading the rules? Very cool! In the key section of the bio, write in "Star trekin'!", but keep reading the rules okay?

7. Please make sure you only take on as many PC (playing) characters as you can personally handle and write regularly for. I will not put a restriction on this. If you wish to write for a whole family, I will allow it, but please note that interaction is the key to such a list and you will need to interact with other authors on the list.

8. NPC (non-playing) characters are very much allowed, however please make sure these remain background characters only, i.e., "Elsbeth, the housemaid, rushed in with an armful of towels for the mistress, dumped them by the bath and then dashed out again before Miss Lilly could call out another haughty request." Other examples of NPCs are shop owners, servants from other houses, etc.

9. Standard role-playing etiquette applies -
   • Do NOT play anyone else's character in any given situation unless you have prior permission to do so. I would really like this annotated at the bottom of the post with a simple "posted with permission" so no one gets the wrong idea.
   • Do not kill anyone else's character without their permission.

10. We are not a living romance novel. We are NOT taking silly fanciful characters so beautiful it hurts to look at them. REALISTIC CHARACTERS ONLY, PLEASE. If I get anymore violet eyed/raven haired or emerald eyed/fiery haired maidens, I will ban you from ever joining and then shoot myself. Sexy scars and golden eyed men are also a nono. If your character has anything like this, then it is WAY too contrived for this list. Are you still reading the rules? Good! Keep going.

11. Just to recap - NO MORE GORGEOUS CHARACTERS. Not everyone was breath-takingly beautiful, even Jane Austin herself was considered quite plain and ugly for the day. If your characters are peaches and cream or unbearable dashing, I WILL tell you to change it. This does not mean you have to do ugly trolls, this just means realistic appearances.

12. Please post regularly, absolute minimum is 3 times a week for EACH character you have. This is to ensure that the story progresses at a comfortable rate and keeps interest up. If you can't maintain this as a minimum, you might want to reconsider how many characters you actually have as PCs.

13. No one-line posts. People want to interact with you. Typing "He smiled at her as she walked in and then resumed drinking his tea." is not particularly helpful when RPing - either in live chats or in emails. The more you invest yourself in your character, the more you encourage others to interact and invest themselves in their characters. EACH POST IS TO BE AT LEAST TEN SENTENCES LONG.

14. Spontaneity is the key here. Whilst I don't mind a little bit of pre-planning, fully pre-written collaborative posts aren't really what I am after unless they are left very open-ended so other characters can jump in with you at various stages. I want this to be as social a list as possible. And congrats for reading down this far! This is the second part of the key. In the key section of the bio, put in "It's worse than that, he's dead Jim!"

15. PLEASE write in third person. i.e, "I looked at Miss Bennett and burst into laughter" is not what we want. "Mr Darcy looked to Miss Bennett, noted the rosey blush that appeared on her cheeks and then burst into laughter" is correct.

16. ABSOLUTELY NO OOC (out of character) TALKING ON THE LIST. Got that? None. The only OOC allowed are either small announcements tacked onto the end of your posts or very small announcements regarding your availability. Happy birthdays, Merry Christmases, Happy Hanukahs, etc, are also allowed, but please keep it very brief. The only person allowed to do indepth OOC posting is me, or a moderator. If you need to talk to someone OOC to discuss things, please use private email, an IM service of some sort (like ICQ, or AIM) or the chatroom. If you need to discuss anything with me, please use any of my emails that you may know of (as I check all of them).

17. Have fun with it!