Medaevum

Live right now in the Altera setting on Medaevum, we're trying out something new: the old school way of roleplaying, being entirely freeform.

Now that's a little bit of a misnomer. It isn't really entirely freeform. However, consider the following rules the only restrictions on your roleplay within the Altera setting:

• You cannot kill or incapacitate someone in one emote. They must be given clear, actionable opportunities with which to interrupt a killing blow before it lands.*
• You cannot contradict existing canon.
• If your character is exceptional in some way, you must be able to justify why.**
• When two characters are in contest and it isn't clear who should win, the character who sacrificed more should be the one to succeed.

If this goes terribly wrong, then we'll change things. If this works out better than our wildest dreams, then we'll apply this system to other settings within Medaevum too.

Consent, aka "make an effort to meet people where they're at."

This is an important one, not so much a rule as it doesn't govern in character activity, but consider it a rule of thumb at least.

If someone is not playing a combat focused character - if they're just vibing drinking tea or whatever - don't have your sociopathic serial killer confront them (without that player's explicit consent).

If conflict makes you uncomfortable and you would be unhappy if another player won in a fight against yours, don't play a character who rattles their saber and looks to pick fights.

If someone decides to make a settlement out in the world where they have decided to reject the premise of gritty realism and have instead built their entire town out of gingerbread and that bothers you, don't go there and start trouble.

In the event of conflict between two or more players, especially if that conflict is starting to drive a wedge in the community, I reserve the right to demand couples therapy. If that doesn't work, I am also not above banning people to preserve community cohesion either. Consider playing nice.

*Examples of good conduct in this regard that feel like killing someone in emote include...

• Roleplaying an extended sequence where your character is sneaking up on someone before landing a fatal blow.
• Having your character engage their target in dialogue (while foreshadowing that they are in danger) only to lure them into a false sense of security before striking them.
• Spending one or more turns visibly and obviously drawing on magical power that is then released in a single powerful blow.

**Such as...

• My character has an enchanted sword. Why? Because I found a blacksmith and a wizard and we roleplayed out making the sword for me.
• My character is an amazing swordsman. Why? Because he squired under a famous knight for several years.
• My character is a wizard. Why? Because he was taught how to be a wizard by a different wizard.