Rules, Characters & Plotting!

[Lunari]

. RULES and THINGS TO KNOW . 

1. The Shores of Elysium is a mostly-realistic medieval story line, with a soft magic system (see rule #2). This means, only human characters are accepted. No elves, half-elves, demons, etc.

2. As stated, magic in Elysium is not as obvious as it would be in a high fantasy story line. For more information, please read over the rules of magic. Everything you need to know is on that page, but you can always reach out to an admin for more clarification after.

3. To join Elysium, create an account for your character (using just their first name), and fill out the application with that character's account.

• Some of us have an OOC account. Feel free to create one and use it on the OOC boards, share anything creative, etc. But this is not required.
• The OOC account can also be used for any NPC characters that you may have. See Alters.

4. We are all adults here and strive to use trust, honesty, and respect when dealing with problems. If you have an issue with a member, please politely take it up with them, and only involve staff if it’s absolutely necessary. If there is an issue about the site in general, please send a Discord message to Soleil and/or Lunari to address the problem and we will work together on resolving the matter.

5. To remain in Elysium, we just ask that you are active according to the Character Tier guidelines below. At the very least, saying hi on our Discord will also let us know you're still interested in being here.

6. If you are inactive for a month without any sort of communication, you will be removed from this site without notice. We all have lives and the staff understands that things come up and don't expect activity 24/7, which is why we just ask that you let us know if you will be absent for a period of time that may cause concern.

• If you need to take a leave of absence, simply inform Soleil and/or Lunari in a DM, or in the absences channel on Discord. We do not require explanations, just to know that you may not be around.
  

7. This is a place for role-players and writers. If you create a disturbance in the community, you will be banned and your characters promptly removed. The staff of Elysium wish to create a fun, safe, and supportive writing community for others. Any sort of disrespect or misbehavior towards another player will not be tolerated.

8. Role-playing in Elysium can be done on this forum or you are also welcome to write in Google Docs, email, Discord IC channels, or anywhere else, and share the scenes on the forum if you wish to. Showing the logs that weren’t done on the site, however, will show you have been active.

9. Elysium may possess some mature themes, but do not share sex scenes or anything overly graphic on the forum or in our Discord server.

10. We do not use dice. Turn-based logic only for fighting/sparring. Elysium thrives on the writing and collaboration of its players. We are here to write, not compare stats.

These rules may be added to or changed in the future.
Thank you to those who actually took the time to read them.

[Lunari]

. PLOTTING and CHARACTER TIERS .

Plots are important! In Elysium, we want your creativity to shine, but sometimes we need a little help to come up with ideas.

The Character Tiers (explained at the bottom of this post) are meant to be used as a plotting tool to help players work together in figuring out threads and plots by understanding how social a particular character is. The tiers are by no means meant to say, "so and so likes this character more, I'm not going to ask to plot with anyone in their Tier 3." It's more to express the character's personality and how easily they can be involved in scenes. That doesn't mean they can't or won't be involved, just that it might take a little extra plotting to figure out.

Some rules first:

1. Let’s keep plots moving! If you are not feeling a particular scene/plot, be honest and tell the other player(s) involved that you wish to remove your character from the thread, or ask to close it (and discuss how it might have ended if needed.) Please don’t allow a thread to sit inactive for a long period of time. However, if you are on a LOA, or if all parties involved aren't concerned (such as with 1:1's), then it's fine, so long as it doesn't hinder anyone else or is holding back a large plot from progressing.
Don’t be afraid to ask to end scenes. There shouldn’t be any hard feelings, and we ask that players be understanding that sometimes muse isn’t there, or maybe it has just dragged on for too long and it makes sense to bring it to a close. So, please, if you are approached by another player requesting this, be considerate and don’t take it personally.
Make major plot/group threads priority. Threads with more than two people can sometimes cause a lag, so please try and prioritize any threads you might be in that involves a lot of people and/or is a major plot to the site.

2. Characters will not be killed off unless the player of said character(s) gives permission. However, if you disappear without notice, or are removed from the site, this rule holds no weight and your character(s) will be forfeited/written off as needed.

3. In Elysium, we embrace creativity, and that includes MCS (multiple character syndrome, haha). However, we encourage only creating characters that will serve a purpose and those you will enjoy playing. Please don’t create new characters because you liked the face claim, etc. You will be held accountable for your characters and their activity.

4. We have created four Tiers (categories) that characters may fall into, and you are allowed as many characters in each Tier that you can handle. These Tiers are designed to be used as a plotting tool (as explained above), and nothing more. It might also help some of us stay a bit more organized.

• Characters can be moved into another Tier at any given time. Please let staff know on Discord to request that they be moved, and don’t forget to update the Tier in your character’s account profile!

5. Sometimes, we might create a character that seemed like a good idea but wind up never playing. If this happens, and it doesn’t even make sense to keep them in Tier 4, make them an NPC or remove them. Please put thought and consideration into creating your characters beforehand.

6. Sometimes there could be a lull in a particular story arc (we've all been there), so it's nice to still have another character (or a few) to play while you wait for responses. The staff understands inactivity doesn’t entirely fall upon just you, that players are on a LOA or certain islands are a bit slower. Life comes first. You're allowed to take breaks with certain characters, and we're pretty laid back here-- we just ask that you don’t let a plot/thread sit inactive for a long time, unless you are on a LOA. Honest communication helps to keep things running smoothly.

7. Players are responsible for placing their characters into one of the Tiers listed below (can be done by editing their character’s account profile, and it will show up in the mini-profile), and updating it when the tier is changed.

CHARACTER TIERS

Tier 1: These are your characters that you can easily involve in anything/everything. They don’t allow, or don't have any physical or emotional boundaries to limit or restrict them. They could be outgoing or introverted: regardless of their personality, they either need to be involved or refuse to let anything stand in their way. (These characters may also have the ability to go anywhere in the kingdom and sometimes all of Elysium.)

• example 1: Lunari has placed Wesley deGrey in this tier because he is a very friendly and outgoing character, who is also a noble so he can be seen at the castle or even a tavern. He's also a merchant so he travels.
• example 2: Soleil has Orin Evans in this tier. He holds a high position in the queen of Aralore’s court, so he can physically go anywhere (such is the nature of his position). Although he isn’t a character who is easy to get along with, he just doesn’t care or doesn't let that get in the way of how he is or what he does.
  

Tier 2: These are your characters that could get involved with plots easily, but may have some sort of physical/emotional restriction that might get in their way and limit what they can or need to do. It could present some sort of challenge for them, but won’t completely restrict them. This might involve needing to collaborate with other player(s) to find ways around any restrictions if needed.

• example 1: Soleil has Liam Donnelly in this tier because, although he is outgoing/friendly and would get involved in a lot, he isn't a character she can easily just throw anywhere since he's a farmer and can’t easily leave his lands. He might visit the town or a tavern, but he wouldn’t be allowed to enter the castle, and wouldn’t have much of a reason to travel throughout Aralore. This doesn't mean he can't, but creative ideas would be needed to find ways to overcome those restrictions if needed.
• example 2: Soleil has Nathaniel Starke in this tier because, as a noble and military soldier, he can physically go almost everywhere. However, emotionally he is somewhat restricted because he’s socially distant so that might hinder his interaction with others and hold him back, needing to find ways to overcome this challenge for him.

Tier 3: These are your characters that allow their physical or emotional restrictions to limit and hold themselves back from becoming completely involved. This doesn't mean the player doesn't want to play them, but that they might be more challenging to interact in some plots/threads without some OOC creativity.

• example 1: Soleil has Nemeris Arundel who is very antisocial and has drawn into herself. She basically never leaves her manor, so it’s less likely you would find her at the castle or out and about. (This is actually one of Soleil’s favorite characters who she loves to play, but it takes some extra thought/creativity to find ways to involve her in things/interact with others.)
• example 2: Lunari has Vera Shaw in this tier because Vera is literally blind. Although she is kind and will gladly meet others, or perhaps would want to travel elsewhere, playing her outside of her brother’s smithy or the city would be difficult without reason because of her physical limitation- not being able to see. She usually has to be a bit cautious.

Tier 4: These are characters you created for a future plot that hasn't yet happened, that may or may not develop into characters that would fit into one of the other three tiers later on. And/or these are characters who won't always be needed but will make an appearance here and there as needed. These are just above NPC's and tend to be supporting characters, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be getting attention or thrown into fun plots as well!

• example: Lunari has Arieen DeGraff, one of the DeGraff matriarchs. She isn't considered a "main character", but rather a supporting one, in order to keep particular plots and scenes going, or to provide a needed figure in the DeGraff family. Because she's nobility, she can usually go wherever she pleases, however, Lunari didn't intend for Arieen to be played as  frequently as others, only when needed. Still, players can ask for plots with her!
  

NPC’s: Characters that aren’t played by anyone specific, but they exist to aid in moving a story along/ fill in to help make sense of something. The NPC can be played by anyone involved in the setting, or a specific NPC is bound to a player account that might be played a little more often (using Alters plugin).