GENERAL SERVER RULES Be Respectful Players may play a character, but they are not the character. Remember not to take in-character grievances to personal, out-of-character attacks, nor to use out-of-character motivations and agendas to fuel in-character behavior. Even when your characters are bitter enemies, remember to be respectful towards the players and that the goal of your interactions with them should be to have fun. If you are uncomfortable with someone's RP, you have the right to respectfully back out of the RP. Always remain polite and courteous when doing this. If someone chooses to back away from your RP, respect their decision and let them go. If you don't like someone, don't get involved with them. There are enough players in the server to go around that you should not be obligated to RP with someone who you don't like, and RPing under a hostile OOC environment only breeds poor IC and OOC behavior, drama, and frustration especially if staff gets involved. Griefing Do not intentionally disrupt or harass other players, either with mechanics or other means. This includes, but is not limited to, stealing from campfires/packhorses, exploiting summons to bypass PvP rules, or herding enemies to have them attack players. Courtesy Towards Staff Staff has the final word on a matter and if they tell you not to do something, don't do it. Don't "fish" DMs or other staff members. "Fishing" (or "shopping") is the term used for someone who requests multiple members of staff for something despite receiving a negative response earlier. Doing so is considered poor etiquette, and staff members talk among each other so they know if you've been trying to go around looking for someone to say "yes". If you have an issue with a staff ruling, don't argue with them but take your issue to the relevant staff member above them (Lead Moderator, QC Coordinator, Head DM, etc.). Reporting an Issue Whether you have a problem with a player, or you are the victim of a rule breach, do not post such matters in public. Doing so will get you in trouble even if you are the blameless party. Instead, use the Private Messaging (PM) function to send a message to the DM Team covering your problem with attached evidence (e.g. screenshots). If a DM is the source of your grievance, send a PM to the Head DM group only, and if the Head DM is the problem, PM the Global Admin group. In-Character Behavior Roleplaying This is a roleplaying server set in the Forgotten Realms campaign world. Please respect the setting and stay in-character (IC). You can go out-of-character (OOC) if there is need for clarifications (please mark your OOC speech by placing either (( , // or ooc: before or behind it). Do not talk OOC in Party Chat mode as it is reserved for DM events. Party Chat and tells are not to be used to communicate ICly where in-character your PC would otherwise have to talk out loud, or could not communicate over a long distance. Naming Rules Be creative, but stick to these ground rules: - Do not use names of famous people or media characters wholesale (e.g. Michael Jackson, Robin Hood, Drizzt Do'Urden) - No titles or descriptions in place of names (e.g. Dame Alice, Bob the Bloody, Legend Killer) - No vulgar or offensive names (see also PG-13 Content) - Be sensible. Names plagued with punctuation marks are funny, but only for the first five minutes. - Last but not least, your character name should not be a screen name, username, or joke name, but should reflect realistic naming tendencies: Remember, your character is a real person in their own minds and in the minds of other characters! "Play Your Sheet" If the race on your character sheet specifies that you are a human fighter, you are a human fighter and not a yugoloth wizard, polymorphed dragon, etc. and roleplaying as if you are otherwise (even under the guise of "insanity") is not acceptable. However, in-character deception regarding your character's abilities and moral leanings is fine. Unusual Characters Every PC must be a legal adult (at least 18 years of age for humans or the racial equivalent for nonhumans). No exceptions implicit in character description innuendo or explicit will ever be allowed. While most DM stances on certain events are covered under the DM Rulings topic, if you have a character concept that's out of the ordinary (e.g. atypical background/heritage, nobility, contact with lore NPCs, or a concept that can't be adequately described on your character sheet), send a request to the DM Team who will clarify and deal with any outstanding issues. Note that PCs are allowed to have minor foreign nobility in their backgrounds, contingent on at least one of the following variables: - The PC has been expelled from the noble house and cut off by their family. - The PC's noble house has fallen from grace, rank, and favor. - The PC is indirectly related to the noble house and has no direct lineage that would give them title within it. PCs also may not have Balduran, or Amnian nobility built into their backgrounds. Similarly, Drow cannot use major House names in their backgrounds in any major way. Be honest and as thorough as possible, and respect the stipulations the DM Team set for your character, if any. Omissions or failing to comply to the stipulations can lead to your character's background either being rejected or retroactively revoked. In extreme cases you may be subject to disciplinary action. Godmodding You only speak for your character's actions, not anyone else's. Do not "godmod" other peoples' characters or NPCs, or dictate their actions without the consent of the character's player or the DM(s) stewarding the NPCs. NPCs are not soulless entities to be disregarded when a DM is not present. Treat them as if they are able to react to your actions regardless if someone is behind the wheel or not. As a general rule of thumb, assume that one NPC represents 10 of them being nearby, and that your character is always outmatched power wise. Also, do not assume that they cannot see your character if they are hiding, invisible, disguised, or polymorphed, unless a DM tells you that it is OK to do so. Minor instances of NPC interactions may however be used, such as and for example: "The merchant said they would spread the rumor I was seeking a special item," or "the bartender takes my order and brings me my drink," or "The local guards gave me directions or information about the laws." It is also safe to assume obedience of reasonable orders given to subordinate NPCs (for instance, NPC assets controlled by your guild), but not the success of those orders. If you would like to speak directly in these subordinate NPCs' voices, please seek permission from the DM team first and this will be reviewed on a per-case basis. An exception to this is roleplaying your summoned creatures, and this may be done at will with the expectation that the actions roleplayed are appropriate for that type of creature. Metagaming Any information your character has should be gained from IC sources that are not your alternate characters. Out-of-character information can be helpful to gain context as a player, but by no means should it be used to dictate any aspect of in-character behavior. (Also see Alternate Characters under Mechanics.) Abusing avenues of communication to facilitate metagaming from others is also prohibited. An example of such an abuse would be your character dying in a zone a long way away, so you set a Scry message for someone to come over and give you a raise so that you can avoid the experience loss. Skill Rolls You may use them as a guideline for RP, but only a DM can enforce skill rolls and the results. Cite Your Sources When using other peoples' content in the server, please give proper credit and attribution to the original source. This is to ensure respect towards the creators for their work. PG-13 Content All players must be 13 years of age or older to play on Baldur's Gate: The Sword Coast Chronicles. Beyond that, though, this server, the forums, and any interactions within them should be the equivalent of PG-13/Teen at most. No violations of this rule, not even within the privacy of an inn room or guild hall. This includes, but is not limited to, excessive vulgarity, gratuitous violence/torture, graphic/extended sexual situations, and explicitly or implicitly sexualizing any characters under the age of 18 or racial equivalent in age. Pregnancies are strictly forbidden unless directly supervised by the DM team and approved in advance. Any pregnancies are a form of "retiring" a PC for the duration, and resulting children are NOT to be roleplayed or represented in game. The minimum age for any PC is at least 18 years old or racial equivalent for all characters made. There will be a one strike policy (a one time warning) and you're out on the next violation (permanent ban from the forums and the game and the community) for any player that implicitly or explicitly violates this rule twice. We encourage all players to report vigilantly any violations as such to the DM Team. Mechanics While the server has many roleplaying avenues to pursue, by the nature of being a game you are bound to interact with the mechanical aspects, and thus the mechanics have a few rules for you to be aware of and follow. Regarding character builds, keep in mind that players are responsible for ensuring their build is correct. DMs are not obligated to offer assistance if a character's build goes awry due to personal error. 3-By-20 (3b20) Your character must have at least 3 levels in every class their build plans to take when they reach character level 20, even if you are using a 100% RCR function. Prestige classes are included. So a Rogue 11/Assassin 6/Fighter 3 is valid, but a Rogue 11/Assassin 7/Fighter 2 would be invalid (Fighter only has 2 levels by level 20). Alternate Characters As many as you want, under two conditions: Alternates can know of each other (and even be related), but under no circumstances are they to exchange information between each other. This includes "off-screen" interactions. Alice may know Bob is a Blood Mage, but if the player behind Alice is also playing Charlie, that player cannot have Alice tell Charlie by any means that Bob is a Blood Mage. Cleric Domains If you are playing a cleric, refer to the wiki for the domains that your character's deity permits. If you pick an incorrect domain for your deity, you will be required to reroll your character to fix it. AFK Grinding/Botting Don't do this. This includes automated scripts for fishing, loot runs, emotes for RP EXP, and other activities that help make your EXP/loot numbers go up with little to no input from yourself. Aliases and macros are fine, but under no circumstances should your character perform any actions without your involvement at the keyboard. Looting Don't "camp" places. This includes parking yourself in boss rooms or treasure rooms and logging in solely to loot the chests or kill the boss. If you enter a dungeon and it already has players inside, don't sneak ahead of them by stealth, invisibility, or other means just to get the loot ahead of them. It's your responsibility to communicate with the players to see if it's okay for you to participate and get the spoils. Exploits/Cheating If it's known, don't do it, and if it's not known, report it in a private message and don't do it again. If you're not sure, chances are if it seems like an exploit, it probably is. Don't use custom .hak files or other third party programs. Evidence of cheating or using these programs will result in your account being banned and your character vault wiped clean. The Nexus The Nexus is where all players log in for the first time following a reset. It is not to be used as a chatroom, OOC lounge, or a place to horseplay and throw spells everywhere. Remain in the Nexus if you have a legitimate reason to do so (e.g. RCR or waiting on another player), but leave as soon as you are able for the sake of other people who log in. Overrides GUI and texture improvements only. If you are using content that requires files to be in your override folder, remember to clear the folder before logging into the server in order to prevent issues that could corrupt your character. While using the "Unlimited Colors" override, please be responsible and use colors that are appropriate for your race (and when in doubt, PM the DMs). DMs may request characters abusing the function to RCR. Rollbacks Once a year, players can request for a character rollback if, and only if, they have a significant mechanical problem from the actions of server staff or server content, or if their character file has been corrupted or archived by the server. PM the Global Admin group if you wish to request a rollback of your character. Administrative Rules To aid in administration of the server, this section is for rules that don't fit in any other section. Real Money Trading Real Money Trading of any kind using BGTSCC as a platform is expressly forbidden. This includes (but is not limited to) the transfer of accounts, characters, items, currency, or in-game services for real life money as opposed to game currency. This also includes offering to pay developers or DMs directly for items, events, or work on the module. Any players found to have participated in this activity will have any items or accounts removed as a result, and likely will have their character vault wiped clean. Character art commissions are an exception to this rule.