Roleplaying Rules
The following rules and guidelines will outline: the content levels that are permitted in RP, the rules for character creation and managing your characters, and the basic roleplaying etiquette we expect all players and GMs to abide by. Please contact a GM if there is anything unclear.
Content Guideline
Midnight City Chronicles takes place in a violent and crime-ridden dystopian cyberpunk/fantasy setting. The world is harsh and bleak, and as this is also an 18+ game, the nature of the setting means that certain dark topics will be part of the fabric of the RP. This content guideline will outline what you can expect to find in RP here and what is not allowed in RP here. We expect that everyone who decides to RP in Midnight City understands this guideline and is comfortable with the material they will encounter during their time here.
Topics you may encounter:
- frequent general profanity
- graphic and fantasy violence/gore
- police/authoritarian violence and oppression
- substance use and abuse
- body horror/unwilling experimentation/mutation
- racism/bigotry towards fantasy races
- general dystopian misery (poverty, homelessness, systemic corruption, etc)
Topics that are banned from play:
- explicit sexual content (no ERP)
- child abuse (non-explicit mentions of it as a past occurrence in a character's history is fine)
- sexual violence (past mentions as above are fine)
- racism/bigotry towards real life groups
- use of real-world slurs
Please note that Midnight City Chronicles allows characters with a minimum age of 17. We trust that people will be appropriate with these characters, but want to state explicitly that the sexualization of minors, inappropriate intimate relationships between minor and adult characters, and any other similar creepiness will not be tolerated whatsoever.
This RP was created for both staff and players to have fun and relax while telling collaborative stories - respecting the boundaries of the game and players is one of the most important parts of that. Violating the content guideline will result in a ban.
Character Rules
Register an OOC account first.
After you create an OOC account on the website, matching the OOC alias you use in Discord, you can then create character accounts for each of your characters.
All characters must be original creations.
This is not a multifandom game. You cannot bring in canon characters from other established universes (Marvel, DC, Final Fantasy, etc).
The minimum character age is 17.
Minor characters are allowed so that their POV in a dystopian setting can be explored, but staff will monitor closely to ensure there is no inappropriate behaviour IC/OOC surrounding them (ex. sexualizing them or playing out minor/adult intimate relationships).
Register your character with their commonly used name.
The character’s name on their sheet on the site must match the name you use when RPing as them in the chat.
Players may have 3 active registered characters at a time.
Players may play any number of unregistered characters, but those characters can’t participate in events or gain exp/items. Registered characters that die permanently or reach level 20 and are retired will free up a slot for their player to make a new character.
Characters can be archived at any time to free up a slot; that sheet will be moved to the archives and the character will no longer be active. Archived characters cannot be RPed. Archived characters can be reactivated at any time as long as there is a free character slot.
Players cannot exchange items or money between their own characters.
Players cannot use their own characters to boost each other monetarily, enchant their own items or provide any other benefits to their own characters from their own characters.
Character images must be commercial art, video game renders, celebrities, CC0 images, or the player’s own art.
AI generated images, art taken without permission from indie/amateur artists, or photos of un-signed/amateur people are not permitted. We will comply with any takedown requests.
Roleplaying Etiquette
Play for fun, not to win.
The purpose of the game is to write together and tell cool, fun stories. We want interesting characters with depth, not just numbers. We want roleplayers who play with each other and not against each other. If the only reason you’re playing is so that your character can be the strongest and never lose a fight, this isn’t the right game for you.
Keep OOC and IC separate.
A player is not their character, and a character is not their player. Actions taken IC do not reflect the player OOC. If you can’t leave your OOC feelings towards a player at the door when RPing, then you shouldn’t RP with them. This also applies to knowledge: what you as a player know is not the same as what your character knows, and using OOC knowledge for an IC advantage is called metagaming and is against the rules.
Be considerate of other RPers.
No one is the main character of Midnight City. Everyone is expected to share the spotlight. Both in quests and in freeform RP, sometimes you will have to step back and let others take the lead before you get your turn.
While we allow violence/gore/body horror, etc. these aspects should be used in moderation where appropriate for the story. Don’t RP excessively gruesome situations for the sole purpose of shocking/grossing out other RPers.
When heavy themes come into play in RP, treat them maturely. If you want to take a scene to a dark place, even though it's within the content guidelines, talk to your RP partners OOC and make sure you're on the same page.
Don't spam OOC commentary in the IC room. Keep it to DMs or the OOC chat.
Play cooperatively.
Communicate openly with the people you are writing with. Do not railroad players into scenes they might not want to play. Your character may have better stats, but this doesn't give you license to push other characters around as a means to control, manipulate, or bully other characters and/or their players. The most important aspect of group RP is consent.
Do not godmode. You can’t control another person's character. You can’t assume their actions or reactions. You may attempt actions, such as throwing a punch, but in FFRP it is up to the other player to decide if that punch hits their character or not.
When in doubt, ask the other player.
Keep your stats in mind.
Your character is only as strong as the stats on their sheet dictate. A character with 20 STR on their sheet can’t suddenly lift 2 tons just because it's Freeform. Likewise, your character cannot possess equipment, skills, and spells that do not appear on their sheet. Anything that you can buy in the shops cannot be used in Freeform RP unless it is on your character's sheet.
Everyday items like basic clothes, food, household objects and so on do not need to be on a character's sheet to be used in RP. Your character's living space also does not need to be on their sheet, but remember the setting. A poor character living in the Zone is not going to have a mansion.
Exercise your imagination but recognize limits.
We encourage everyone to be creative and explore the setting to create new RP scenarios. However, anything that drastically alters the setting can't be run in a random FFRP session without GM approval. Your character can't take over an army, launch a nuke, tear open a portal to a new dimension, or overthrow the government for kicks. If you have an idea for a large plot that could affect the setting in a significant way, talk to a GM - we may be able to turn it into a major storyline and help your vision come to life.
Activities that result in your character gaining new equipment/money/skills must be moderated by a GM if you want them to show up on your character’s sheet and be usable in quests/duels. See the Downtime rules.
Accept the consequences.
If your character decides to pick on a big angry dragon, don’t complain if they get burned to a crisp. If your character is a vigilante do-gooder cramping the mob's style, they may have to watch out for hit squads. And if your character antagonizes other characters constantly, don't be surprised when they make enemies. This may be a fantastical world, but there are very real consequences for everything--it’s up to you and your character to navigate those consequences!