The Rules - Every Game Has Them
Yes, there always has to be some, even in a Universe like this, where it seems as though anything could happen and often does. If you're familiar with online gaming, however, you'll find these rules light and few.
1. Please don't begin to play until you receive an email from us letting you know your character has been approved. We will make decisions on all character submissions as quickly as possible, so if it's been more than a week, please email us Stone Mountain Council. Sometimes, missives go astray into the electronic ether, and sometimes, well—we get caught up in Real Life and miss something. Rarely. Promise!
2. No power-playing/Godmode. That means, don't write anything for someone else's character. Not a sneeze, not a stumble, nuttin'. I know, it makes writing a fight scene a pain, but you must allow the other person full control of their own character. In said fight-scene, you may write that X aimed a punch at Y's face, but only Y's writer can decide if it's a hit or miss, and how much damage the blow does.
This is one of the most important rules for any Play By Email game, and breaking it repeatedly will get you put on moderated status as well as make you highly unpopular with other players.
3. While the bending of reality in our Stone Mountain is akin to a hairpin turn, there are some things we decided must be banned in order to keep the power levels of the game enjoyable for all.
a) There will be no sharing and/or bonding of preternatural powers between species or individuals. Multi-partner and mixed species relationships are fine, though, if that's what floats your boat.
b) No Fey, aka Fairies, at this time.
c) No true immortals of any variety. Yeah, some species are hard to kill, but everybody's gotta go sometime, somehow.
d) No vampires over 500 years old. None with powers stronger than those required to attract and mesmerize their prey.
e) No Pan-weres, and no carriers. If' you've been infected with Lycanthropy, you either go furry and infectious or you fight the virus off and are not contagious. Once you're infected with, say, Wolf virus, a Bear could do a complete blood exchange with you and you would still be either entirely human or Wolf, depending on the oomph of your immune system.
f) No necromancers, no zombie-raisers.
g) No more wet-workers/assassins/hit-men/covert operatives. We have three ex-killers in the game at the moment and that's only because two of them are metaphysically-conjoined twins. If one or more of these characters exit the game, then this ban may be lifted to admit the same number of new characters in this "occupation."
i) Psychics have limited abilities in the game, and are accepted only at the Council's discretion.
h) No character of any species who exhibits self-injuring behavior will be accepted.
4. Stone Mountain, Georgia really exists, though our version of it is firmly in the realm of Alternate Universe. Please do not mention the names of real businesses, addresses, or residents. It is ok to use Stone Mountain Park and to speak of Atlanta and other cities nearby, but remember to fictionalize any details beyond major landmarks.
5. Saying Goodbye: We don't want you to leave, but we do realize that our game (or any game) can't be a good fit for everyone, and that Real Life must always take precedence over online fun. If you have to go, please tie off any ongoing threads and shut down any online businesses your characters may own.
If you can't do that, or don't want to be bothered, we'll do so at Council discretion, by writing out your characters-- perhaps as victims for a game-wide Evil Plot or some such. We may retain your characters' businesses or write them out, at our discretion (under new management, of course).
This is the only time your characters can appropriated in such a way, and we will do it only if you choose to let us dispose of them or if they're abandoned at your departure.
That said, IF you have hopes of returning one day, we're more than happy to see your characters temporarily written out in such a way that will allow their return (winning a trip around the world, joining the Peace Corps and being assigned to Africa, etc.). If this is the case, we'd appreciate being allowed to keep your characters' businesses running via Council NPCs till you can get back.
6. Appropriate character images: Please use discretion in the image you choose to represent your character, and links to any others. Tasteful, artistic nudity is allowed conditionally, if the boldness or sensuality displayed is a major part of the character's personality and if they are a shifter, for whom nudity is a more natural state than being clothed. No image showing female nipples, or the pubic areas of either gender can be displayed. This is for consideration of our under-age members, and also because many of us may want to access this site on systems that would restrict such content.
7. Sexual Content: Please remember that our game is rated around a PG-13. We discourage under-age membership, but it can happen. We want to protect our minors and are legally bound to do so. If any content you are writing will approach an R rating for sex, language or violence, please move the thread to our Adult list. You, real life you, must be of legal age in your community to view explicit sexual content before you will be allowed to access the Adult list. This is a legal requirement, and we will NOT make any exceptions. If you join and we discover or suspect you have lied about your age, you will be banned from all our groups permanently.
FYI, for your characters, the age of sexual consent in Georgia is 16 as of this writing, so please do not play out explicit sexual relationships of any kind involving characters younger than that. We have to remember that our game also has to abide by real-life rules.
There! Done! Now, go forth and play!
1. Please don't begin to play until you receive an email from us letting you know your character has been approved. We will make decisions on all character submissions as quickly as possible, so if it's been more than a week, please email us Stone Mountain Council. Sometimes, missives go astray into the electronic ether, and sometimes, well—we get caught up in Real Life and miss something. Rarely. Promise!
2. No power-playing/Godmode. That means, don't write anything for someone else's character. Not a sneeze, not a stumble, nuttin'. I know, it makes writing a fight scene a pain, but you must allow the other person full control of their own character. In said fight-scene, you may write that X aimed a punch at Y's face, but only Y's writer can decide if it's a hit or miss, and how much damage the blow does.
This is one of the most important rules for any Play By Email game, and breaking it repeatedly will get you put on moderated status as well as make you highly unpopular with other players.
3. While the bending of reality in our Stone Mountain is akin to a hairpin turn, there are some things we decided must be banned in order to keep the power levels of the game enjoyable for all.
a) There will be no sharing and/or bonding of preternatural powers between species or individuals. Multi-partner and mixed species relationships are fine, though, if that's what floats your boat.
b) No Fey, aka Fairies, at this time.
c) No true immortals of any variety. Yeah, some species are hard to kill, but everybody's gotta go sometime, somehow.
d) No vampires over 500 years old. None with powers stronger than those required to attract and mesmerize their prey.
e) No Pan-weres, and no carriers. If' you've been infected with Lycanthropy, you either go furry and infectious or you fight the virus off and are not contagious. Once you're infected with, say, Wolf virus, a Bear could do a complete blood exchange with you and you would still be either entirely human or Wolf, depending on the oomph of your immune system.
f) No necromancers, no zombie-raisers.
g) No more wet-workers/assassins/hit-men/covert operatives. We have three ex-killers in the game at the moment and that's only because two of them are metaphysically-conjoined twins. If one or more of these characters exit the game, then this ban may be lifted to admit the same number of new characters in this "occupation."
i) Psychics have limited abilities in the game, and are accepted only at the Council's discretion.
h) No character of any species who exhibits self-injuring behavior will be accepted.
4. Stone Mountain, Georgia really exists, though our version of it is firmly in the realm of Alternate Universe. Please do not mention the names of real businesses, addresses, or residents. It is ok to use Stone Mountain Park and to speak of Atlanta and other cities nearby, but remember to fictionalize any details beyond major landmarks.
5. Saying Goodbye: We don't want you to leave, but we do realize that our game (or any game) can't be a good fit for everyone, and that Real Life must always take precedence over online fun. If you have to go, please tie off any ongoing threads and shut down any online businesses your characters may own.
If you can't do that, or don't want to be bothered, we'll do so at Council discretion, by writing out your characters-- perhaps as victims for a game-wide Evil Plot or some such. We may retain your characters' businesses or write them out, at our discretion (under new management, of course).
This is the only time your characters can appropriated in such a way, and we will do it only if you choose to let us dispose of them or if they're abandoned at your departure.
That said, IF you have hopes of returning one day, we're more than happy to see your characters temporarily written out in such a way that will allow their return (winning a trip around the world, joining the Peace Corps and being assigned to Africa, etc.). If this is the case, we'd appreciate being allowed to keep your characters' businesses running via Council NPCs till you can get back.
6. Appropriate character images: Please use discretion in the image you choose to represent your character, and links to any others. Tasteful, artistic nudity is allowed conditionally, if the boldness or sensuality displayed is a major part of the character's personality and if they are a shifter, for whom nudity is a more natural state than being clothed. No image showing female nipples, or the pubic areas of either gender can be displayed. This is for consideration of our under-age members, and also because many of us may want to access this site on systems that would restrict such content.
7. Sexual Content: Please remember that our game is rated around a PG-13. We discourage under-age membership, but it can happen. We want to protect our minors and are legally bound to do so. If any content you are writing will approach an R rating for sex, language or violence, please move the thread to our Adult list. You, real life you, must be of legal age in your community to view explicit sexual content before you will be allowed to access the Adult list. This is a legal requirement, and we will NOT make any exceptions. If you join and we discover or suspect you have lied about your age, you will be banned from all our groups permanently.
FYI, for your characters, the age of sexual consent in Georgia is 16 as of this writing, so please do not play out explicit sexual relationships of any kind involving characters younger than that. We have to remember that our game also has to abide by real-life rules.
There! Done! Now, go forth and play!