Forum and RP Rules

[Gaeva Winged Unicorn]

Rules of Unicorn's Visions

If these rules are broken you will first be approached by staff about the situation to provide a chance to correct the situation. If the situation is not corrected, or if it happens a second time you will be warned, and a third time will result in a (possibly temporary) ban from the forum. If (a) rule(s) is/are being broken in RP then the RP thread may be locked up until the situation has been resolved.

Everybody is responsible for the post content in the topics they post in on UV, not just staff. When somebody is seen breaking a rule then please help them out and inform them of this -or ask a staff member to do this for you if you feel uncomfortable doing so yourself- so they can correct their mistake before more severe actions are required to fix the situation.

• Respect each other and each others' characters. This includes keeping In Character and Out Of Character separate: do not extend in character grudges to other players, and do not bring real life drama into roleplay.
• This forum is for everybody of all ages, so please no excessive bad language. Extreme violence and describing/discussing sexual acts are allowed in roleplay only, provided that there is a warning in the topic title. Lack of a warning in the title will lead to a warning the first time, banning the second time.
• Roleplaying is a cooperative thing.
  • No God-moding (controlling or dictating the actions or outcomes of another player's character's actions)! To take control of, kill, or permanently harm or heal a character that is not your own, permission from the owner (not by proxy) -on the forum in the relevant thread- is needed.
  • No Metagaming. Do not give your characters knowledge of other characters or events that they could not or should not know. This extends to knowing the inner thoughts of other characters (excepting abilities such as telepathy), and knowing their abilities and weaknesses (excepting characters who have reasons to know these things).
• Once a character has been accepted, it should be played according to the chosen abilities and disadvantages. A character cannot suddenly develop a new ability just because the situation requires it or because the character would loose a fight otherwise.
• Please follow the instructions of the staff when help from fellow players is no longer enough. If you feel a forum mod is overstepping their bounds, contact Gaeva.
• Initially, every player may join up to 3 characters. They can be the same or different species, related or complete strangers, whichever is desired. Each character must have its own profile filled out though, but if they arrive jointly they may share the same joining thread RP, just make a note of it in their joining profile. After the initial 3 characters, 2 more may be added. Please refer to the "Guidelines" for more information on this.
• Characters can be of any type or species, existing or imaginary, except humans. For a human-looking character to be accepted there must be clear visible clues that they are not human. Adaptations to this are allowed however, like shapeshifters with an alternate human form. This is partly because of UV tradition, and also to encourage even more character creativity.
• The "Event Status" in the RP announcements at the top of the forum indicates what type of RP is currently going on: During a mass story line ("Event Status: Active") each character can be roleplayed in one thread at a time. This is to ensure continuity and keep relations with other characters clear. At all other times ("Event Status: Not Active") characters can be in any number of RP threads the player feels s/he can keep up with. The exception here are all the joining threads at the Edge of the Woods, where the event status does not matter and a character may join as many as the player can keep up with.
• Have fun and don't be afraid to ask questions ^_^

Forum Reminders

*The chat is a part of Unicorn's Visions, and the rules of behaviour above applies there too. In the case of there being no mod in chat when a disruptive person enters, report such a person to Gaeva or to any mod through a PM. (A screenshot and copy of the relevant text would be great too.)

*Note that the theme of UV might change from time to time (to maybe a lighter or different coloured background). So try to keep your coloured text to a minimum, to retain easy readability for all users at all times.

*Please note that as some of our users have a slow internet connection, large images posted on the forum will slow down their loading times even more. So please try to keep images small (around 400x400), and to use clickable thumbnails (image previews) whenever possible.

[Gaeva Winged Unicorn]

FAQ (Hints, Tips and Guidelines)

Acceptance of New Characters into the Forest

*A profile sheet must be properly filled out before a character can be accepted, ( profile sheet), and posted at the "Edge of the Woods" forum, including a short RP introduction on how he/she/it came to Deep Forest. The character may not be used in regular roleplay forums before it has been accepted by a staff member. This does not include the Hidden Visions Reflected forum, where you can post with your future UV characters even before they are accepted, nor the Visions Within Ourselves forum, where you can post with any character at any time.

Hint: Even though all new characters should be posted at the forum named "Edge of the Woods", the character need not literally be arriving in the forest through the Edge, or even be a newcomer at all. It's perfectly fine to play a character born in the forest or arriving in the mountans, for example.

*New characters will be accepted into the forest by a staff member. Other players are encouraged to greet the newcomer with RP and offer suggestions to help improve the character, but only staff are allowed to accept the character profile.

Hint: The number of roleplaying posts needed to get accepted varies. If the player wants, s/he can post in other player's joining threads at the same time.


Number of Characters Allowed

*Once a player has had his/her 3rd accepted character for two months, and has proven to be able to keep up with good quality posts with all characters, it's possible to request a fourth character in the Spirit forum. Another two months after the 4th character has been accepted a 5th one may be requested. Five characters is currently the max number of characters allowed at Unicorn's Visions. New characters are accepted at the Edge of the Woods as usual.

*If two (or more) characters are created at the same time and the player agrees in advance that they will never be roleplayed separately in different threads, they may count as a single character slot.

*The "Character Archive" can be used to archive an already accepted character that has been RPed in at least one RP thread outside of the Edge and Vision forums. This frees up a character slot, without needing to reapply the archived character when you take them out again. As long as the player doesn't exceed their maximum amount of accepted characters outside of the Character Archive, there is no limit on how many are archived. Characters can be swapped in and out should they meet the prerequisites, just make a request in the appropriate topic in the Spirit forum. All characters, archived and active, will be subject to the Reaper, and will need to be resubmitted to the Edge like usual if they expire. Archived characters can be played in Hidden Visions Reflected and at the Edge of the Woods, but not the main RP forums.


Character Types Allowed

*Copyright Characters: While it's understood that playing a character that is known and loved would possibly be fun, it is unfortunately not allowed here at UV. This includes characters who are simply renamed, but are otherwise identical to a character that is under copyright. Characters based on a certain world from a novel, movie, personality, or game are considered alright, but must be otherwise original. It is not fair to the original creator and is not your character to pose as. We could get into trouble for accepting them.

Hint: Questions about if a specific character concept is acceptable may be asked in the Away from the Woods forum.

*It is possible to play a young creature (foal, pup, kitten etc) or have a character that has children already. However once a character is accepted if will need to go through the usual rituals/and or procedures for their species to produce offspring. No permission is needed for having children (except from a chosen mate if one is required for their species' reproduction), but children are also counted as characters. They fill up a character slot and need to be accepted normally with a profile at the Edge of the Woods, though in this case no joining RP is required.

Hint: Remember that 'RP time' runs slower than 'Real-world time' here, so be prepared to roleplay a child for some time to come if choosing to bring one in.


Character attributes

*Characters may have any set of abilities and skills, but these should be kept within reason. Features that are god-moding by definition are not allowed (like excessive size that would destroy the forest just by moving, or an automatic ability to have everyone in the vicinity obey you, to pick some extreme examples). Characters may be very good at things but nobody is perfect.

Hint: Remember that too powerful characters will often not be able to be played to their full potential without breaking the rules. Disadvantages are the primary way to motivate why a super-character cannot automatically win every situation (because they can't, that would be God-moding).

*If a player wishes to bring in an overly powerful character, s/he should be prepared to have certain OOC restrictions placed upon the character by staff when they prove unable to RP the character within the rules. They will be limited to protect not only the Forest, but other people's RP enjoyment as well.

*It is natural to develop a character while RPing, but this is also subject to common sense. A character cannot generally learn something new and instantly master it. A profile can and should always be updated with new information as the character develops it; simply request for the profile to be unlocked in the Spirit forum to do so.

Hint: There is a special forum called 'Hidden Visions Reflected' in where a character's experiences can be described out of the timeline. It can be used to describe the character learning the new ability in more of a story style, if playing it in normal RP posts is expected to take too long or be too boring.


The use of NPCs, pets/familiars and Plot Characters

*A NPC (Non-Player Character) is a character that isn't owned by any player in particular, and can thus be used and played by everybody in the RP thread. They can be created on the fly to enhance your roleplaying experience or to create a mood. Examples are the birds that fly overhead through the forest, or that cute bunny rabbit that just crossed your path on its way home. It can be a villager giving you directions to your destination, a musician entertaining your party, or a demon in the mountains that just jumped you from behind. NPCs can be anywhere and anything and require no permission to use. They also don't last very long and will be out of the picture by the time the storyline ends, whether it be because they went on their way or died. If a player at some point wants to, and has an available character slot, they can of course choose to adopt an NPC as their own personal character and create a profile for them.

*A pet or familiar accompanies the main character wherever it goes. The pet is is not a formal character and does
not require a profile, as their main purpose is to enhance/expand on the official character. Examples are dogs, cats, birds or a horse to get around on. It can be a normal animal or a smart-mouthed sidekick as desired. Such a pet or familiar has to be mentioned in the character's profile. These beings can only be found at the main character's side, and never alone in a separate thread.

Hint: If for any reason the storyline makes it necessary to have the pet/familiar/sidekick temporarily leave the main character's side (like needing to carry a message, or getting kidnapped to put pressure on the main character), simply ask for it in the Spirit forum so staff is kept informed. The separation lasts for as long as the relevant storyline requires.

*Plot characters are used by people hosting a plot needing extra characters, like bad guys, or catalysts. They are only controlled by the one player hosting the plot, and can be seen as a full, but temporal, character. If you wish to use plot characters you can request to do so in the Spirit forum.


Plots and Plotting

*The RP at Unicorn's Visions is frequently enlivened by story plots created to entertain the players. If anyone wishes to start a RP plot with possible consequences to Deep Forest and its inhabitants, they only need to PM Gaeva and exchange some information as to the when and why to make sure the proposed plot is feasible, whether the timing will not interfere with any other plots, and coordinate updates to keep everybody up to date on what is going on.

*No permission is needed to start smaller plots involving a player's own characters and/or a small group of willing players, as long as the plot will not affect the main story of the forest or other uninvolved characters.


Longer Absence From the Boards

*If a player knows s/he will be gone for a long period of time it is generally a good idea to make a post about this in the Deep Forest Spirit forum to let other players know they shouldn't expect a reply from that player in the interim.

*When a player has not replied to a RP thread they are active in for a whole week, the other player(s) will have the right to bypass this character and possibly write him/her out of their RP so they can continue on without waiting.

*Every now and then an inventory of all active members is performed to keep member lists up-to-date. Inactive players are posted in a warning thread (called a "Reaper" on UV). Warned players who have allowed for PM messaging or have supplied an e-mail address will be notified by one of those venues as well. The players not responding to the Reaper within the given time frame (usually a week) will be removed from the accepted character list.