Rules and Policies

1. Requiem for Kingsmouth is a mature content, non-consent MUSH set in the World of Darkness. 

1.1. Both players, characters, and avatars ('played bys') must be at least 18 years old. 

1.2. Requiem for Kingsmouth has three levels of play: Political, Support, and Civilian. Players of Civilian characters retain OOC control of their characters. Player permission is required to do character-altering things to a Support character, and never required for a Political character. Dice rolls derived from character sheets will determine the outcome or progression of a scene when players' goals or wishes do not align.

1.3. Any player who is uncomfortable with mature content (such as sexual activity or violence) on an OOC level may request a FTB ('fade to black') for the scene. Relevant dice rolls will be made to determine what happens, but without descriptive text. Alternatively, a player may request a staffer proxy their character for the remainder of the scene.

1.4. Players are expected to display mature behavior and to be respectful of other players. OOC harassment such as taunting, insults, gloating, or unwanted sexual advances will not be tolerated. If encountered, let the offender know what actions are making you uncomfortable and ask them to stop. If their behavior continues, report the matter to staff.

1.5. Requiem for Kingsmouth ascribes to a restorative justice model of conflict resolution. More details can be found here.

2. In character actions have in character consequences.

2.1. Anything that happens in character becomes part of game canon, and may be gossiped about, misrepresented, or inspire other characters to action. Disliking the unforseen consequences of an action is not grounds for a retcon.

2.2. If a Civilian or Support character would reasonably be able to forsee serious consequences as a result of an action or lack of action, the player should be notified. This will usually be as simple as, 'Do you realise that would be a breach of Elysium? Are you sure you want to do that?' 

2.3. Within a given scene, actions can be rewritten providing all players involved in the scene agreed. If a retcon is desired after a scene has concluded the request must be submitted to staff within 24 hours of the player discovering or identifying the problem. Further roleplay relating to the circumstance should be avoided as much as possible while the request is considered.

2.4. Information gained OOCly should not be used ICly. However, we recognise the difficulty in remembering where a given piece of information was learned, as well as distinguishing whether an intuitive leap or interpretation would have been made if not been supported by OOC knowledge. Therefore, at Requiem for Kingsmouth we encourage players to keep the 'OOC Masquerade'. If there is a secret you wish to keep ICly, we recommend you do not tell other players OOCly. Similarly, the information available on the wiki should represent what is commonly known and easily discovered about your character.

3. Character death happens, but never without warning or alternatives.

3.1. 'Death' is defined as anything that makes a character unplayable. Final death, extended torpor, and being buried alive in concrete are all examples of character death.

3.2. Civilian and Support characters will only be killed with their player's consent, and any scene which might potentially be fatal will be flagged as such so that players can choose whether or not to involve their characters.

3.3. Player kills are permitted only of and by Political level characters (i.e., both the killer and their target must be Political). Players must notify staff if their character is seriously seeking to arrange the death of another player character. Staff encourage players to get more creative if their target is a Support player. There are all sorts of dastardly non-fatal options!

3.4. A killing blow must be declared prior to rolling. No amount of accidental damage will ever constitute a killing blow.

3.5. Whenever character death is likely, alternatives will be explored OOCly.

4. Activity policies.

4.1. A player may have up to two characters at a time, only one of which may be a Vampire. A player's alts must not have direct contact with one another.

4.2. Storytellers may have a single PC, who are subject to all of the disadvantages of Political play and eligible for none of the advantages. They may not act as a judge in any circumstance in which there is a conflict of interest (CoI). If unsure, the storyteller will divulge the possible CoI and ask all participants in the scene whether there are any objections. If anyone objects a different judge will be found.

4.3. Characters will be sent to the freezer after two weeks of inactivity.

5. NPC policies.

5.1. NPCs are created at a certain power level. They never gain beats, but otherwise follow all the same rules as PC characters.

5.2. NPCs prioritise player enjoyment and interaction over achieving their own aspirations, though they will do both whenever possible.

5.3. Positions of power should be held by PCs whenever possible.

6. Storytelling policies.

6.1. All scenes in which a staffer is involved will be logged.

6.2. Requiem for Kingsmouth rejects 'Rule 0', which declares that the storyteller is always right. All rulings should be founded in game mechanics or setting material, and applied equally to characters.

6.3. Staff will always provide an explanation of a ruling if asked for one, while maintaining the privacy of other PCs as much as possible.

6.4. Rules calls will be made available to everyone, via posting on the wiki or the Rules Clarification +bboard.

6.5. Staff (whether on staffbit or on NPC characters) will never enter a scene without player invitation unless all participants are set to 'available', and will never observe a scene without player knowledge.

6.6. Players who are set to 'available' are assumed to have already invited storyteller interaction, and may be approached by NPCs, delivered plothooks and suchlike without further warning.

6.7. Staff will never be intoxicated on duty.