Rules

In game: help rules

See also

help roleplaying, help background, help description, help multichar

Avendar is a MUD that supports roleplaying, player versus environment (PvE), and player versus player (PvP) modes of play. This page will discuss what that means and what our expectations with regards to behavior are. These standards and guidelines apply to players and staff alike. Individuals that violate these guidelines will face penalties ranging from uncomfortable conversations to denial to removal of all privileges and access to the game entirely.

Avendar is not a business or a service and we do not have customers. This is a hobby which we invite others to enjoy with us in a space we curate. Every part of the game will always be free, and no advantage will ever be offered to a player character for donations given to assist Avendar in its operation costs.

The atmosphere we want to cultivate is that of a group of acquaintances coming together at a person's house to play a tabletop adventure game with a big roleplaying aspect, such as Pathfinder. Even as our characters may engage in conflicts both along and against one another, those should not influence how we treat one another around the table, so to speak. We don't have to be best friends, but we expect civility and for people to refrain from behavior that is malicious, harmful, or unsportsmanlike. If you aren't sure whether something is going to be a problem, ask. If something genuinely bothers to you, politely bring it up either directly or with a staff member. This applies to every space within the locus of our control, including the Avendar game itself, the official Discord server, and this wiki.

We have no interest in developing an exhaustive and specific list of things you can and cannot do and instead advise you use all of the above as a guideline. That said, this is a short list of activities which are egregiously unacceptable, and will get you immediately denied and/or banned:

* Any expression of real-world bigotry including but not limited to racism, misogyny, homophobia, or transphobia * Pedophilia or explicit child sexual material of any kind * Explicit depictions or discussions of rape or sexual assault * Out-of-character stalking, harassment, or bullying, regardless of where it happens

In general, we emphasize remembering that there are real people that will be reading whatever you write within the game. As we detail in HELP ROLEPLAYING, we do not shy away from scenes or stories about difficult subjects, but we do expect it to be approached in a way that is responsible and respectful of others. For more detailed information about what that entails, please read HELP ROLEPLAYING.

While PvP is uncommon, whenever you are logged in there is a chance you will become engaged in PvP with another player which may result in the death of your character and the theft of that character's items. Murder and theft are permitted and encouraged forms of play. Staff will not intervene in or adjudicate in-character conflicts between player characters. We expect those who engage in PvP to behave in a way that is sportsmanlike and fair; behaviors such as (but not limited to) timing your log-ins to avoid retribution or deliberately targeting new players will not be tolerated.

The game environment including the world and mechanics of Avendar are provided to you as-is to enjoy and may be incomplete or buggy. Knowingly abusing an exploit for any reason will result in all of a player's current characters being denied and, depending on the severity, being banned from the game entirely.

Roleplaying

See also

help background, help description, help rules

Players are expected to remain in-character and avoid out-of-character speech or references at all times while playing. The only exception is the OOC and Newbie channels, or PRAY when being used to seek staff assistance. Note that any and every interaction you have in the game will be logged and most likely read by staff, and any of it may potentially be on the table for interaction or follow-up.

In Avendar we try to extend as much freedom as possible to players when crafting their characters and take a "yes, and" approach to interaction. Player characters may come from nearly any background and aspire to nearly any goal they wish (though no one is guaranteed to succeed). We enjoy and encourage players improvising and extrapolating new facts about the world, and if a concept is interesting and fits, we are likely to accept it as canon. There are three restrictions we place upon player characters:

• Your character concept must fit and make sense within the setting, lore, and genre of Avendar specifically, not merely a "fantasy setting."
• You may not assume a role that requires or demands exceptional development effort or resources from staff.
• All player characters are adventurers that have graduated from the School of Heroes.

Within the boundaries of those restrictions, your character may be as mundane or exceptional as possible. Your character may be a figure of destiny whispered of by Kyanans or an impoverished soul from Var Bandor that decided they would write their own legend instead of being next in a line of shopkeepers. The School of Heroes accepts those of any background, from simple farmboys to Harrudim princesses, and makes them into adventurers.

At any given moment there are likely to be one or more staff-run storylines happening in Avendar. These storylines may be focused on a player or group of players, a Great House, a deity or religion, a city-- whatever one or more people has taken an interest in and where we feel like a fun story might be able to happen. These are run for the benefit of both staff and players; we like to roleplay too! Anyone of any skill or knowledge level is welcome and encouraged to participate. You do not need to be an incredible writer or know tons of things about the lore and setting of Avendar, you just need to be willing to lean in and have some fun with us. Please note that for significant interaction or investment into a plot, we expect your character to be level 51 and have been around for at least a week or so.

Storylines in Avendar may include nearly any subject matter, including violence, death, sex, sex work, drug use, body horror, gore, spiders, demons, demonic spiders, depictions of slavery, setting-specific bigotry, etc. Some scenes or storylines may involve losses of agency and players should not expect to have full control over the destiny of their characters. As storytellers we will do our best to signpost when difficult subject matter is coming up and no one will be compelled to participate in any scene or storyline, whether player- or staff-run, nor will someone be penalized for tapping out. Please communicate these preferences clearly through an OOC channel.

While Avendar is not a "sex MUD" we do not prohibit consenting players from engaging in sexual/erotic roleplay as they choose. Please note that if an interaction is brought to the attention of staff as problematic, the burden is on you to prove that a sex scene was in fact consensual on an OOC level; we encourage clear and direct communication around this and all potentially sensitive scenes with the OOC command. This is taken very seriously. Second chances will not be given.

Roleplaying guidelines

In order to help you understand what roleplaying is all about, here are some of the more commonly occuring violations that we run into. This list is by no means definitive, but by all means we recommend that you keep these suggestions to heart.

- Quitting: By far the biggest abuse we often see (other than outright
multicharring) is people who abuse their ability to quit. The quit  command
should be taken as your character holing up in a tavern, or returning to his
private business away from their adventuring  career. Thus, quitting to avoid
in character consequences of  your actions is *extremely* bad roleplaying, and
should be avoided  at all costs. This includes, but is not limited to, such
as:
 (i)   Quitting immediately after pking someone. As a rule of thumb,
       wait until the other person's corpse has decayed.
 (ii)  Quitting to avoid being pked.
 (iii) Quitting to avoid any other sort of affects or spells.

• The use of out of character things over open channels. Essentially, we feel that this spoils the 'mood' of the game world by constant references to real life things, numerical stats, and the like. You've been given an ooc command for this very reason, so please use it.
• Getting carried away with playerkilling. Sure, it's fun to hunt and be hunted, but this shouldn't interfere with your roleplaying. Additionally, you should not be killing a person multiple times in a row without a good reason- remember that after you've killed someone, they really should be "dead" to you for a while. Good reasons include your target still posing a threat, stalking/insulting you, or still hanging on to their wordly posessions. Good reasons do not include "spite". As a rule of thumb, wait at least an hour before attacking the same PC (unless given cause).
• Putting your character's advancement over your in character goals. Simply put, your character shouldn't violate his or her beliefs to get an in game advantage. Over course, certain alignments and ethoi focus on their own advancement (i.e., expect evil people to be bastards). We try to balance this things by giving good people commands like request.
• Allowing other people to share your character/password/etc. It is unacceptable to allow friends to play your character, as they are generally incapable of fitting the role you design for yourself. (And if your role is so poorly developed that they *could*, that's a problem too!). So, don't share your character with anyone.
• The use of bots or elaborate scripts. Any PC that we find busily performing actions while no one's at the keyboard will be denied.
• While there tends to be a good deal of violent action in epic fantasy adventure, most players are not here to experience vicarious sexual assault or harrasment. Thus rape, genital mutilation, necrophilia, and other types of sexual violence should not be acted out without the express OOC consent of all involved--participants *and* bystanders.
• Similarly, there are no circumstances under which depictions of pedophilia are ever appropriate. Regardless of player consent, any such acts will result in character denial and potentially banning from the game.

Violating any of the above may be grounds for disciplinary action on behalf of the imm staff. While we recognize there may be certain subjective and vague areas in roleplaying the sort of rich and complicated characters we like to see, we will be vigilant for gross violations of the rules and the above guidelines (particularly things like abuse of the quit command). Try your best to get a coherent description for your character, and to get a feel for what your character would do in a given situation, and you should do fine.

Names

When you enter Avendar, you are assuming the role of a fantasy character (as outlined in help ROLEPLAYING). In keeping with this notion, you should choose your name accordingly. These guidelines are meant to provide an outline of expectations.

• The name should not be a character from an existing work of fantasy. Avendar is an original world, so we expect the characters in that world to be original. Play your own character, not someone else's.
• The name should not reference, directly or obliquely, any real life person, place, object, event, or meme. That means no Tonald Dump, Nebraska, Tesla, Gocheefs S'per-bewl, or Goncharov.
• The name should be appropriate for the setting and genre of Avendar. This means they must not reference things that would not exist in the setting of Avendar. Examples would be Chainsaw Lazerman or Shoggoth Elvenkind.
• Unusual capitalization, spaces, and diacritic marks are all allowed, within reason.
• Compound words are acceptable within reason; entire sentences are not.
• Real life names are allowed provided they adhere to the above guidelines. You may be John Avendar if you wish.
• First/given names must be unique, but surnames may be shared between characters.

If staff find your name inappropriate you will be asked to choose a new one. In general, being asked to change your name carries no penalties unless it is egregious or is required across repeated characters.

Immortals, aka Deities or Staff

In Avendar, the word "immortals" may refer to two different things. Early in the MUD's history, these tended to be used interchangeably but are now generally distinct:

I. Deities Avendar is home to a large pantheon of gods and goddesses who embody various timeless virtues, vices, principles, ideals, forces, elements. Immortals often have active followings in the world. As such, they ensure that their followers carry out the tenets of their ideals. The gods use the mortal realm of Avendar as a proving ground for their own philosophies and fights, and most have historical connections to an Avendarian race, have taken upon themselves avatars, and directly interacted with mortals at periods of history.

Remember in your interactions with the immortals that they are as close to all-powerful beings as your players will ever see. If you are with a god or goddess, treat that being accordingly, or expect a negative reaction (which can vary depending on the mood/type of deity you're dealing with).

Also, if you are attempting to contact or commune with a deity, you will have the most luck from shrines, temples, holy places, or natural locales suited to that deity's nature.

See also: DEITIES, RELIGION, SIGIL, PORTFOLIO

II. Game Staff "Immortals" has also referred to the MUD's staff: the people who have created and will continue to create the world of Avendar. They 'build' the areas that make up the world and design the classes and code the skills/spells used by the players. They also assist with House inductions, represent various the deities and other NPCs, and run quests to further immerse, intrigue, inveigle, and otherwise bring delight to the players. They also have the unenviable task of enforcing the MUD's rules. Senior staff with greater trust and responsibility are also known as "implementors". See the website for the credits page, which lists the game staff past and present.

Players can assist the staff by reporting bugs or problems (via 'note to immortal'). When doing so, please try to be as accurate and specific as possible and report all the relevant details of your problem. Try not to get upset or be impatient - the staff are people too (and unpaid at that!). Politeness goes a long way.

If you are caught breaking or attempting to break a rule, honesty is the best policy. Trying to lie about what you did will often result in a harsher penalty, and a more irate staffer. We do keep logs of the major player commands (such as attacking other players, logging in/out, equipment ownership history, etc.), so dishonesty is definitely *not* the best policy.

Finally, you may wonder how to join the staff. If you think you have what it takes and are interested in joining the staff, also see JOINING THE STAFF.

Rules

Avendar is a MUD that supports and encourages roleplaying, player versus environment (PvE), and player versus player (PvP) modes of play. This page will discuss what that means and what our expectations with regards to behavior are. These standards and guidelines apply to players and staff alike. Individuals that violate these guidelines will face penalties ranging from uncomfortable conversations to denial to removal of all privileges and access to the game entirely.

Conduct

We expect users to approach Avendar as a hobby which we invite others to enjoy with us in a space we curate. Every part of the game will always be free, and no advantage will ever be offered to a player character for donations given to assist Avendar in its operation costs.

The atmosphere we want to cultivate is that of a group of acquaintances coming together at a person's house to play a tabletop adventure game with a big roleplaying aspect, such as Pathfinder. Even as our characters may engage in conflicts both along and against one another, those should not influence how we treat one another around the table, so to speak. We don't have to be best friends, but we expect civility and for people to refrain from behavior that is malicious, harmful, or unsportsmanlike. If you aren't sure whether something is going to be a problem, ask. If something genuinely bothers to you, politely bring it up either directly or with a staff member. This applies to every space within the locus of our control, including the Avendar game itself, the official Discord server, and this wiki.

We have no interest in developing an exhaustive and specific list of things you can and cannot do and instead advise you use all of the above as a guideline. That said, this is a short list of activities which are egregiously unacceptable, and will get you immediately denied and/or banned:

• Any expression of real-world bigotry including but not limited to racism, misogyny, homophobia, or transphobia
• Pedophilia or explicit child sexual material of any kind
• Explicit depictions or discussions of rape or sexual assault
• Out-of-character stalking, harassment, or bullying, regardless of where it happens

In general, we emphasize remembering that there are real people that will be reading whatever you write within the game. As we detail below, we do not shy away from scenes or stories about difficult subjects, but we do expect it to be approached in a way that is responsible and respectful of others.

Roleplay

Players are expected to remain in-character and avoid out-of-character speech or references at all times while playing. The only exception is the OOC and Newbie channels, or PRAY when being used to seek staff assistance. Note that any and every interaction you have in the game will be logged and most likely read by staff, and any of it may potentially be on the table for interaction or follow-up.

Storylines in Avendar may include nearly any subject matter, including violence, death, sex, sex work, drug use, body horror, gore, spiders, demons, demonic spiders, depictions of slavery, setting-specific bigotry, etc. Some scenes or storylines may involve losses of agency and players should not expect to have full control over the destiny of their characters. As storytellers we will do our best to signpost when difficult subject matter is coming up and no one will be compelled to participate in any scene or storyline, whether player- or staff-run, nor will someone be penalized for tapping out. Please communicate these preferences clearly through an OOC channel.

While Avendar is not a "sex MUD" we do not prohibit consenting players from engaging in sexual/erotic roleplay as they choose. Please note that if an interaction is brought to the attention of staff as problematic, the burden is on you to prove that a sex scene was in fact consensual on an OOC level; we encourage clear and direct communication around this and all potentially sensitive scenes with the OOC command. This is taken very seriously. Second chances will not be given.

Player versus Player

While PvP is uncommon, whenever you are logged in there is a chance you will become engaged in PvP with another player which may result in the death of your character and the theft of that character's items. Murder and theft are permitted and encouraged forms of play. We encourage you to seek revenge. Staff will not intervene in or adjudicate in-character conflicts between player characters.

That said if you are PvPing a lot, please be sportsmanlike about it. If we notice you tend to only pick on new players and like to mulch all their items, for example, you will not like what happens.

Gameplay

The game environment including the world and mechanics of Avendar are provided to you as-is to enjoy and may be incomplete or buggy. Knowingly abusing an exploit for any reason will result in all of a player's current characters being denied and, depending on the severity, being banned from the game entirely.

Player vs player

Player vs player (PvP) or Player Killing (PK) refers to interactive conflict within the game between two or more characters that are controlled by players, as opposed to between a player and the game itself (also called player vs environment, or PvE). Avendar supports, encourages, and rewards PvP as a natural extension of roleplayed, in-character conflict, and systems and classes are explicitly designed to facilitate PvP.

For information about our game policies related to conflict and PvP, please see our rules page.

Looting

When a player character (PC) dies, they leave a body with all of their items behind at the location of their death while their spirit is instantly and automatically respawned at their chosen altar. When this happens, other PCs may steal items or take trophy body parts from a PC's corpse. Only one item may be taken at a time, and each will impose a 12-18 second lag time on the person taking the item. Bandits are particularly good at looting corpses.

Etiquette

Most conflicts that result in a death will result in the loser having any coins on their person taken and, depending on the situation, consumables or weapons. "Full looting" refers to taking most or all of a person's items. This tends to be frowned upon absent a very good reason, and full looting a person will generally make a lot of enemies, even if other characters were not involved in the initial conflict. That said, any etiquette related to looting is entirely player-enforced; staff will not intervene in these matters.

Trophies

The body parts and organs of adventurers, especially heroes, are regarded as desirable by a number of entities.