Server Rules

[Vincent07]

Rules on Conduct

All of these rules have come out of years of playing, DMing, and Admining experience. They are intended to be brief and simple, not long and legalistic. Their purpose is to keep things fun, for everyone, DMs and Players, new and old friends, and to keep whatever problems may arise under control, or better yet stop them before they start.



1. Use Common Sense.
More than anything else, this will prevent problems. If something seems wrong or violates the spirit of these rules, it almost certainly is. We are all adults here, and we should all expect to be treated like adults.  We expect players to behave like adults - so there's not many excuses for not knowing better. Ask questions if need be, either via the Ask The Staff forum (click for link) or Support Channel on the server's Discord chat. Trying to rules-lawyer your way around the intention and spirit of any of the rules is a bad idea.


2. Respect, Respect, Respect.
Treat your fellow players and DMs with respect. We're all working together to try to create a vibrant world that's fun to play in, with a compelling storyline. Respect and courtesy breeds the same. If you're rude to someone, is it any surprise they respond the same way? Be civil and polite in any out-of-character dealings, whether in the game or on the forums. People who make everyone around them miserable are the sort that no one wants around. Also, keep your cool on the forums and in the Discord chat. We've more than once had arguments break down into fighting, name-calling, and the other usual online ridiculousness over in-game or interpersonal conflict.  Nobody enjoys it; don't be that guy.

Respect also applies to situations concerning in-character adult content as much as player to player interaction.  Cormyr & The Dalelands is an 18-plus server, which means that the staff generally does not police things that go on behind closed doors. Just as importantly, as well, is that stuff behind closed doors needs to stay behind closed doors. Just as some people have the sorts of "mature" play style they enjoy, others are not interested or may be offended by that sort of thing. Thus we ask that when such things occur that they not do so in a public place. We have lockable, non-bashable, non-bypassable-by-Dimension-Door-etc. inn room doors for a reason. Use them.


3. Stay in Character.
You're expected to be In-Character when in game (barring the AFK room and OOC arena). We're not going to smack people for the occasional bit of joking, or chatter (as this is a game and supposed to be fun). We merely ask that you be courteous of your fellow players, that may be involved in a serious bit of roleplaying. Try to keep it to a minimum, and out of public view.


4. Player to Player Interaction, and Player vs. Player Conflict
Player to player interaction (out-of-character) should follow Rule #2. When referring to in-character conflict, actions have consequences.  Keep the conflict in-character, whether it includes combat or not. If you don't intend to kill, use sub-dual mode (otherwise expect to face consequences). Remember that this is a roleplay/story server. It is not an action or arena server; don't treat it like one. The server should not be turned into a warzone.

Griefing or deliberate out-of-character bullying is not tolerated.  Keep conflict story-specific and limited. PVP is meant to enhance stories, not to become the sole focus of a character's roleplay.

It is perfectly fine if players OOCly wish to avoid PVP, and they should always be allowed to make reasonable IC justification for the need to retreat from such, without further IC consequence for doing so, save in situations that they themselves deliberately provoked.

Note that some areas are marked No-PVP for various reasons (such as presence of IC guards).  Conflict is allowed here, if appropriate, but must be roleplayed out (and guards etc must be taken into account).


5.  Consequences, Consequences...
Actions can and will lead to consequences,  even in character. While we are here to have fun, there is also an element of realism involved with your character's decisions.  In-character conflict is often unavoidable.  It is our hope players will work together (out-of-character) during in-character conflicts and consequences, to minimize the level of disruption to other players.  This level of out-of-character cooperation leads to appropriate in-character consequences without verging into out-of-character issues and griefing.  This does not mean characters can always do as they wish and get away with it.  Deliberately threatening people, indecent sexual conduct, and so forth will have in-character (and possibly out-of-character) consequences.  

If there is a consequence for it in the real world, there is likely one for it in game. While we welcome people who play chaotic or evil characters, these characters still face consequences for their actions.  Alignment is not an excuse for ones actions.


6. Player and DM Interaction
The relationship between players and Dungeon Masters is built on respect. No player should ever be ranting to a DM in the game, especially during an event. Players that act this way lead to DMs not want to do anything for anyone. If a player has an objection to something that a DM is doing, or an in-character consequence that a DM is imposing, the player may politely ask the DM to reconsider. If the DM stands by the action, the player may choose to appeal to Senior Dungeon Masters or Admins (preferably using the Complaint, Compliment, or Criticism form).  This rule exists to protect both the players and staff members; however anyone who tries to abuse this rule to escape well-deserved in-character consequences will be dealt with severely.


7. Player and Game Interaction (Exploits & Bugs)
Cormyr and The Dalelands is a server that exists within the limitations of the Neverwinter Nights game client.  The server is not perfect; there will be loopholes, bugs, and exploits that exist due to the limits of the game. Problems with the game should be reported in the Bugs Forum (click for link) or the Bugs channel in the server's discord chat.  Exploits should be reported privately to either a Senior Dungeon Master or Admin using private messaging.

The staff is not here to police the server constantly, nor should they have to. Use common sense; if something seems implemented wrong, then it is likely a bug. Abusing a bug to benefit your character is considered exploiting the game's limitations. Those who abuse bugs and exploit game mechanics, rather than reporting them, will be dealt with harshly. Those who play in good faith have absolutely nothing to worry about.


8. Crime and Punishment
When enforcing the rules of this server, we will strive to keep punishments as transparent as possible--to demonstrate fairness and consequences. Generally, we operate on a three strikes policy. The first incident will result in a warning and possibly a consequence (such as level or item loss). A second incident will result in greater consequences, including loss of a character, levels, and/or items. After a third incident, the Admin team will discuss consequences such as banning. This policy is a guideline; the more severe or blatant an incident is, the more severe the consequence. Honest mistakes and minor errors may be brushed off, but repeated incidents of minor offences will eventually result in harsher consequences.

The staff is more than happy to work with new players on adapting to the standards of the server.  New players who make honest mistakes are not moved into the three strike policy.  It is only on repeated offenses, or a deliberate abuse of the rules, when this will happen.  Do not take advantage of this policy; we eventually catch deliberate rules exploitation.


9. Reporting Problems
Any problems should be reported as soon as possible, to an Senior Dungeon Master or Admin.  To report an issue with a fellow player or staff member, use the Complaint, Compliment, or Criticism form (click for link).  Documentation (of all kinds, though screenshots are preferred) is needed when reporting problems with a player or staff member.  (To take screenshots of your NWN screen to document the problems, hit the printscreen key, then alt-tab to windows and bring up paint, and hit ctrl-v to paste.) No matter who the person is, we cannot take word alone.  We need sufficient evidence of reported problems in order to respond appropriately.  This protects players and staff members from being punished unduly, without evidence.

If you have a problem with a specific DM, bring it to a SDM or Admin. If you have a problem with an Admin, bring it to one of the other Admins. If you have a problem with all of the Admins, then you probably shouldn't be playing here.

[Fire Wraith]

10.  Mature Content
As the login message states, CD is a server that allows mature content, and is 18+.  That said, there are some limitations to this, that mostly revolve around the goal of respecting the fact that not everyone is comfortable with the same sorts of topics or content.  Our policy has always been the following:  "Keep mature content behind closed doors."  What this means is that we want to keep mature content in limited settings, where the only people involved are those who are okay with whatever content is at hand.  Everyone has different boundaries on these subjects, whether it be sex, graphic torture/mutilation, or anything else that might be questionable.

If you think something might be questionable, ask OOCly.  If something bothers you, say something OOCly.  Different people may be comfortable with different topics, or different levels of detail related to those topics (such as playing something out, versus simply 'fading to black' and assuming that something took place).  A scene played out between consenting players is fine so long as it does not force other players to deal with the roleplay. 

With an understanding that this is an 18+ server, comes with the obvious conclusion that all player characters *must* be 18 years of age or equivalent to their FR race, if not older, and the OOC players themselves must also be 18 or older. 

Keeping this in mind, extreme situations/topics such as rape, bestiality, pedophilia, incest, and similarly taboo topics need to be kept out of the game, even if the scenario is  "fade to black".  Many people will not even want to hear about some things at all whatsoever. We generally try to respect that, especially when it comes to things that are guaranteed sources of massive drama even on an indirect level (such as the aforementioned topic areas).  Even implying it and mentioning it in front of other players or their characters is prohibited. To be clear, both the Player AND the Character must consent to sexual acts.  If you're not 100% sure both the player(s) and character(s) involved will be completely okay with what occurred the next day, don't do it. The onus is on you to confirm consent ICly and OOCly.

Mature Content in Quests
Generally speaking, DMs are allowed to broach more mature topics to a reasonable degree, although such quests will normally have an OOC warning beforehand if that is a planned part of the event. Note however that this explicitly excludes any sexual/romantic/etc relations of any sort between players and NPCs. Players are not allowed to romance NPCs (see Retirement rules for the sole exception to this), nor will/should DMs play them as such, in part due to the power imbalance inherent in such an interaction. Players are allowed to have pre-existing off-screen NPCs of this sort as part of a backstory, but DMs will not play them nor will the spouse/paramour be allowed to make an in-game appearance as NPCs.

Mature Content in Backstories
All of this said, things like rape and torture are okay in a backstory as long as it's not descriptive. Examples should be something like describing someone "being forced against their will" or "the person was tortured and lost an eye as a result," but no details surrounding it. Saying "abused" or "ten years of torment in the hands of " is preferable, but as long as people keep the details out of public view, it is good. Again, two touchy topics that not everyone wishes to read about.

Please keep the details of trauma in the backstory to a minimum when it comes to describing childhood. Do not describe the abuse scenes. Saying the character faced child abuse or even "years of unspeakable forms of abuse" is fine, though.

Children and Mature Content
It should go without saying, but just to be absolutely clear - these situations should NEVER involve children, even in backstories.

10.A - IC Slavery
As something of a specific corollary to these rules, please note that in-character enslavement or slave status of PCs does fall under mature content rules and the secret associations rules to a degree, because it is similar to torture/etc in that it's the sort of thing that forces players to react to it. In particular, this sort of thing is ICly illegal in Cormyr, and in most of the Dales as well, so it should not be brought up/must be kept quiet in those areas. Also, due to the implications inherent in such an event/story, existing characters cannot be made into slaves, even with OOC agreement, because this forces such an event on any number of other characters. As such, IC Slavery is limited to characters explicitly made for that purpose. If someone no longer wishes to play their formerly enslaved character, this should be handled in such a way that doesn't provoke a giant PVP/drama situation that many unwilling players will inevitably get pulled into. Please contact the Admins related to such circumstances, as we'll help facilitate the change with minimal disruption to other players.

Please note that under 10.A, this is specifically limiting PC and PC interaction. A character may still have a background in slavery, and speak of it in general terms (Not explicit details), as long as the antagonist is an NPC. As said in the above rule - and that about backstories, trying to gather dislike or hatred towards a specific PC isn't kosher. 

[Vincent07]

11.  Conduct in Citys and Towns

As a rule, the cities and towns on the server are populated by far more than what we can show in-game due to engine constraints.  There are plenty of NPCs, guards among them.  Said NPCs do no cease being there just because no DM is present to bring them to life.  That said, the following rules should be observed while within any town/city/guard outpost etc. This rule applies to all towns and cities on the server including Arabel, Dalelands, Yulash, and the Underdark.

• Keep weapons stowed (unequipped) unless there is an active threat.
• Duels should be kept to arena areas.  Don't duel in the streets; you will be arrested the same as if you had assaulted someone.
• No summons, familiars, or animal companions.  You're scaring the peasants and disrupting trade.  (Won't someone think of the peasants?)
• No shifting in town (using polymorph, wild shift, or a racial ability).  This spooks the livestock and scares the children.
• Keep spellcasting to a minimum.  You do not need to be permanently warded.  (Small wards for weather and such are fine.)

[Edge]

12.  Dual-Boxing

As this has recently come up we felt it pertinent to make an announced adjustment to the rules on the subject.

Dual-boxing - one person playing two characters at the same time using separate machines, keys, and GSIDs - is not allowed on C/D, due among other things to the problems this causes with the server design and leveling system.

Let's be fair, C/D and other online NWN servers are intended to be a multiplayer experience. If you want to play with yourself, there are many single-player campaigns I've heard are good to download. The only reason this rule wasn't written out in advance is because it's never come up before and because we figured it was covered under the "common sense" rule.

13.  Unusual Character Concepts
Any character concept that is not a base race of commoner background from Faerun/Toril requires an application, and approval from the admin team. This includes (but is not limited to) exotic races, planeswalkers, and nobility concepts.

• Unique bloodlines and half-blooded characters.
  
• Planeswalkers (characters originating on planes other than Toril/Faerun) require a biography posted and approved by the Admin staff before playing.
  
• Exotic race templates and applications can be found here: forums.cormyrdalelands.com/index.php?board=22
  
• Characters with a noble background require a full biography posted and approved by the Admin staff before playing. We are more lenient about foreign nobility, but still require an application/biography for the character.

14. Item Level Restrictions and Automation
Each loot item has a colored name tag that tell you roughly how powerful an item is:

• Green:  - This item is for characters below level 10.
  
• Blue: - This item is for characters of level 10 and higher.
  
• Purple: - This item is for characters of level 15 and higher.
  
• Orange: - This item is for characters of level 20 and higher.
  
• Pink: - This item is for characters of level 25 and higher.

You should not be giving or selling items of higher level to characters that are not the appropriate level.  Items that are too far above their level can't even be picked up - and you ABSOLUTELY should not be "holding on to" items for anyone who's too low level to carry them.

And to be clear, you should never be giving items to other characters of your own, whether via multibox (see Rule #12 above) or by dropping them somewhere to log over and collect, regardless of what the item level is.

15. Gifting (Transferring) DM Items
DM item rewards are personalized items with some abilities that are better than what may be found in loot. Since these items are unique, and have a separate color code that bypasses the ILR system, gifting them to characters other than the initial recipient has separate rules.

Heirloom Items:  An heirloom item may be transferred to a new character only as part of the retirement of an existing PC.  For more information see the Retiring A Character thread.

Gifted Items: A DM reward item may be gifted to other characters with the following requirements:

• DM Approval - The DM who awarded the item must approve of the transfer. If the DM is no longer on staff, an SDM or Admin may approve the transfer instead.
  
• Zero Properties - All special/magical properties (bonuses, spell slots, cast spells, etc.) must be wiped from the item. (This process is done in-game.) The recipient of the item may then request the item to be personalized/enchanted as the reward from a new DM plot that they participate in. (As always, requesting a quest just to receive or enchant an item is discouraged.)

16. Naming Conventions
Cormyr and the Dalelands is a roleplay, storytelling-oriented server. As such, we expect players to use setting appropriate names when creating their characters. This includes:

• No naming characters after other famous people or characters (i.e. Tony Stark, Drizzt, Seth I'roph, Marilyn Monroe, etc.)
  
• No titles without prior approval. Titles earned ICly (such as Sir/Dame, Lord/Lady, Feywarden, etc) may be LETOed into your character name once received.
  
• No joke/troll names. These are commonly words or rhymes forming homonyms/homophones to fourth wall breaking references or jokes (i.e. Standur Ground, Jen Eric, S'loin, etc.).
  
• No using full quotation marks. Full quotation marks prevents sending tells using the character name. You may use apostrophes (single quotation marks) instead.

If a character uses an inappropriate name, we will ask that you submit a LETO request to fix the name. Continuing to use an inappropriate name may result in the character being archived by the Admin Team.

Usernames/OOC names:
Do Not, under any circumstances, reference another person or their characters with your OOC username, without the involved person's PRIOR consent and acquiescence.

[Fox²]

17. Inventory Sizes and You!
Characters with an excessive amount of items in their inventory can cause a multitude of server script errors, as well as potentially becoming a source for undue lag on the server. A soft cap of 1400 items in player inventories is enforced on the server, with a further hard cap of 1600 items.

At 1400 items you will receive a message in-game in your combat log and next to your portrait that you are carrying too many items.

If you continue to collect items, you will eventually become be restricted from looting or buying items and will be required to reduce your inventory size before you can loot or buy items again. If you accidentally drop or sell an item whilst restricted, you'll be able to loot or buy it back.

If you happen to cross over the 1400 item threshold whilst dungeoning or through normal play, that's okay! Just remember to sell/reduce your loot/excess items before you log off.

Individual item stacks such as arrows, potions, scrolls, etc only count as 1 item.

For reference: A inventory can hold 360 1x1 items; so to exceed 1400 items would require you to fill many bags to the brim with more 1x1 items. It is very difficult to reach 1400 items without going out of your way to do so.

[Fox²]

18. Cormyr and the Dalelands' Discord Servers

At times, additional subsidiary discord servers may be created for factions, social hubs, or DM plots to help facilitate roleplay, communication, scheduling and organization, and community growth in those spaces. All discord servers including the Cormyr and the Dalelands' main community discord server are optional and players are never required to join any of our discord servers; though it is highly encouraged to join at least the main community discord server. All important server information, announcements, quests, and applications are always served through our forums.

Any subsidiary discord server created for Cormyr and the Dalelands falls into one of the following three categories:

• Faction and Social Hub Servers
  Each official server faction or social hub may have a discord server available for its members for facilitating play times, roleplay, sharing screenshots, memes, general chit-chat, or for anything else required by its members and DMs. These servers may at times also be used by our dungeon masters for advertising ad-hocs or for quests posted on the forums.
  
  Some faction or social hub servers may have public channels for guests to join; others may be closed entirely to faction members only; depending on the needs of the faction.
  
  All faction and social hub servers require the presence of Cormyr and the Dalelands' admins in them, and each discord server must be owned by an admin. Senior dungeon masters must have available access to all channels for moderation purposes. Additional roles and privileges within each discord server may be given out to different discord members based on their needs or role within the server.
  
  All faction and social hub servers are governed under Cormyr and the Dalelands' community discord rules, but may have additional rules specific to that discord server.
  
  
  
• DM Plot Servers
  DM Plot servers are up to the discretion of each DM on whether they want to create a plot specific discord server for their players. DM Plot discord servers may be temporary and closed at the conclusion of a plot, or left open in an archived state, depending on the wishes of the DM.
  
  Joining a DM Plot discord server is never required for any player to sign up for any quest, though joining a DM's plot discord server is encouraged if one is created as it gives you a direct line of communication with the DM for any questions relating to the plot, and it can help facilitate event scheduling or off-screen roleplay with other players.
  
  DM Plot servers are governed under Cormyr and the Dalelands' community discord rules, but do not require the presence of an admin in them.
  
  
  
• Player Guild Servers
  Players may freely create their own private discord servers for their player guilds. These servers are considered by the staff to be private and owned by the players. Admins or other server staff are not required to be present in player guild discord servers, though a lack of staff presence does not mean that conduct within these servers isn't subject to our server's rules.
  

Our main community discord invite link can always be found in the top menu of our forums, or can be joined with this invite link: discord.com/invite/cormyrdales

Our Yulash and Moonsea social hub discord can be joined with this invite link: discord.gg/ZCdaRCJxQJ

Our Underdark social hub and faction discord can be joined with this invite link: discord.gg/Y7h4p8EEW3

Note that characters primarily based in the Underdark require application. The Underdark discord server is semi-private, with public channels provided for guests and for players curious about applying for a underdark character.

Faction discord servers can always find their discord server's invite link in their faction board. You can also ask either an admin or one of the faction members for an invite if you need to join the faction discord.