RoG and Althanas FAQ

Realm of Greeting and Althanas FAQ for new players

This thread is a compilation of past and present threads dedicated to the helping out the new players that have come to Althanas. If you are new, please read this before you make your profile, at least the section regarding what to expect. I'll be linking threads into this first post so you can click them and go straight to the post that you have questions about. However, they are posts that are in this thread, so if you would rather scroll down and shift through the many posts to find what you are looking for instead of opening a new tab/window.

Though I put this together for clarity sake, adding quite a bit, the original people that did the ground work that made this much easier was Santhalas and Arawn. Thanks to them, and all those that came before me to make this easier!

Questions and concerns can be put into this thread

• Welcome to Althanas! Profile necessities.
• Questions regarding creating a profile; skills.
• Questions regarding creating a profile; magic.
• What's after you create your profile?
• Regional Activity, Althanas, and YOU!
• Althanas Help! General questions.
• Regions on Althanas.
• Features for Althanas.
• The Out-of-Character forums.
• The Althanas Rubric.
• Experience, Levels, and How judging works.

General Realm of Greeting (RoG) FAQ

Hey there! Welcome to Althanas.com! We pride ourselves on being an exciting fantasy based play-by-post role-playing site currently on the internet. As a new member of the forum, we highly recommend reading through this guide before you register your character and explore the features of Althanas. If you have any questions about a topic covered in this guide, by all means post a reply in this thread and we'll be happy to answer any questions you have.

If you haven't already registered an account on the forum - that is, a username to post with, please click on this LINK to open a window and get started. You will want to complete that process before continuing with this guide.

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This is the basic outline of what we expect for how a profile should appear:

Name:
Age:
Race:
Hair Color:
Eye Color:
Height:
Weight:
*Occupation:

*Personality: Give us an idea of your character’s traits. How does he interact with other people? What does he or she think about themselves?

Appearance: Describe your character as he or she would first appear to someone else.

History: You should make your character's history as detailed and as creative as possible. The more history your character has, the more interesting stories you will be able to write about him when you begin role-playing. However, be careful not to use clichés, or other commonly used plotlines. It seems that every other character's parents were killed in some accident or murder, and that their death was what led the character to become a hero. Here at Althanas, we hear that history so many times that it can get awfully boring - try to create a history as fresh and unique as possible.

Skills: Please clearly define and list every skill your character has, such as swordplay or marksmanship. If he or she uses magic, list it here and tell us how it works. Describe your spells, but feel free to leave them 'open' so they can be used in several different ways (for example, having a spell that creates light, rather than a spell that can create an orb of light specifically used to brighten a dark area - this would leave room for the 'light making' to be used in any way you could think of). Skills like these often will not need to have restrictions on how often they can be used, but keep in mind that doing the same thing often in a battle will often hurt your writing.

Equipment: If you do not list it here, do not expect to pull it out of your pack. We must know everything you have on your character of importance. It is not necessary to list all traveling necessities, but if you have a broadsword that does nifty things, it would fall under this category.

*Familiars: A familiar is a minor adventuring companion, usually a small animal, demon, or humanoid of some sort. This section may be skipped if you do not have one.

*Note that these fields are optional, and you may be approved without them.

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When I am finished writing my profile, what’s next?

• This is when you start a new thread and post your profile on the site. It should be posted in this forum, when you are new and starting a completely new profile. Create a new thread, give it a title, and then paste your profile into the thread and submit it.
• Once submitted, please DO NOT submit it for judging. A moderator or admin that is assigned to the Realm of Greeting will come in as soon as they get a chance and assist you with the profile.

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How do I create a profile?

--- When you are starting out, the best thing to do is read what is posted below and follow it. Questions that may arise while creating your profile will be answered after the skeleton of what a profile should have. This should be done only AFTER you have completed your registration for the site, after creating your Username.

This section is about your History and Skills

--- Storyline information goes in the history. Length doesn't matter, but if you provide length just for the sake of providing length, it can be a pain for us to read through. However, if you feel it's necessary to have a long profile, that's fine. A very long, extended history is great though. We love to see characters that are well thought out and obviously took some time to create. This shows us that you care about your character, care about your writing, and intend on spending some time using that character. Just make sure your skills and equipment are in plain view and easy to find at a glance. Provide enough information on your abilities so that they are understandable.

A character's history is not one of the criteria for whether or not a character gets approved or not (The one exception being if you blatantly ripped off your story/character from someone else). So, for the ease of both the RoG Mod looking at your profile and for the sake of any future RP partners searching for your abilities, gear, skills, and so on, please have well defined sections containing these categories in your profile. There have been instances where people muddle up all the criteria for approval into an extremely long history and it makes it difficult on everyone.

Furthermore, history for your characters should explain why your character is on Althanas. The fantasy based world of Althanas is a planet all its own. It is not Earth, but another planet completely. You can have characters that aren’t from the planet, as long as they somehow make sense why they are here. Take the time and explain how your character came to the planet if they aren’t normally from Althanas, otherwise the RoG mod that’s looking over the profile may be lost as to why and how the character is here.

--- Weapons and armor can be as strong as steel and no stronger when you are registering a new character. Iron is encouraged if you have a lot of skills or many pieces of equipment, because it's considered to be slightly less durable and heavier. For wooden weapons, the maximum strength can be Yew, though oak is encouraged for those with multiple skills or weapons. You don’t have to have weapons and armor that are exactly the same as steel/iron or yew/oak, as long as the relative strength of the material that you’ve created for the character are equivalent to the strength of these materials.

--- Enchantments for weapons will be counted towards your overall total of skills/magic. So, if you have a sword that’s enchanted to heat up, cast lightning, or additionally injures characters it will be regulated in the same fashion as any other skills or magic that you have. It can be requested to change, or be removed so that in the sake of fairness your level 0 character is equal all around to other level 0’s.

--- Finally, the RoG mods would like to suggest and have taken into consideration that people take the time to separate their skills with a space between them and some indication of a new skill being listed. This is not only for our sake as moderators reading over your profiles and trying to read through them, but it’s also for other members that are looking for what you can do, as well as judges that are reviewing your profile while judging a thread.

The best thing to do is split up the skills so they’re clearly defined; don’t put them in your history, appearance, or personality either. A clear profile will make the process of approvals take less time, and make the moderator in charge able to handle the process much easier.

--- How many abilities can you start out with?
When starting out, it’s best if you follow these guidelines: This question is both easy and difficult to answer at the same time. The main issue here is moderator discretion. An RoG moderator is given the leeway to approve characters based on their judgment, depending on what level you are. In theory, you could have anywhere between 1 and 10 abilities, but the more you have, the weaker they'd all have to be.

With swordplay and weapon ability, you can generally have above average skill with one primary weapon (and average or less than average skill with second or third weapon) if you have other abilities. It honestly depends on how many other skills you have, and how 'good' they are for battle use.

--- Another good thing to think about, and a way to get a little more of a power boost added to your skills/magic/abilities is to consider allowing your character to have weaknesses. As a moderator in charge of the RoG I am always welcome to offer more leeway for people that have taken time to be reasonable and allow their characters to be weak to different affects. This can include something physical like bones can be broken easier, senses aren’t as strong as other peoples, or your character is slower/weaker than others. Or you can have magical weaknesses such as allowing certain spell types to affect you more, or being within an area of magic makes you sick (which would work for a pure warrior type character). The weaknesses are really up to you, so long as they make sense to your character and are realistic for what you are working towards. Obviously, a weakness to a specific material that isn’t present on Althanas, or isn’t prevalent on the planet, won’t be a weakness we’d take into much consideration.

Magic for your Characters

--- Magic in regards to Skills:
Say you have a healing spell that restores a portion of your energy. It can be used around 3 times per thread, let's say. Given the usefulness of that spell, you’d likely only be allowed to have below average skill in one weapon, and if you wanted more weapon skills they'd have to be lower. This is how we, as mods, would look at it. It's all about balance and moderator judgment.

However if you have no magic and just some small racial abilities, like slightly advanced hearing and smell, you could be awarded slightly above average skill in two different types of weaponry, or perhaps just one.

We're really pretty flexible. If you want to be specifically skilled in one area for some reason, an approvals moderator can work with you to limit your character's other abilities accordingly. We aren’t here to dock your creativity, but here to make things fair and fun for everyone. If we ask you to change something, it’s not a punishment; it’s just that we want things to work best for everyone. If you absolutely need something to round out your character, a specific spell that’s unique to just you, we can work around it. If it is too powerful, we’ll have to take that into consideration, but within the limits we will do whatever we can to make sure that your unique flair and personality can continue to shine through in the profile.

--- In regards to spells and “mage” characters:
There are no limitations when it comes to variety of magic. You can have elemental magic, summoning spells, enfeebling curses, etc. Pretty much anything you can think up can be made to be perfectly fair and fun at the same time.

Spells count as skills, yes. As a mage you can understandably have more spells than a swordsman would, but a swordsman would be allowed more physical abilities. So, if you want a pure magic character it may start out with quite a number of spells, but with relatively no physical abilities.

We don't have a list of spells you can choose from, everyone makes up their own. There are always the regular, basic idea’s that can be used such as fireballs and freeze-rays, but the creativity and extent of the spells you can choose know no bounds.

--- What kind of spells would be best?
Anything that isn't straightforward, really. We suggest making some generic spells, like creating a light or something, more flexible so they'll have more than one way of being useful.

The clearer you are on an ability, the better. Carefully choosing your words will help anyone looking at your profile understands the abilities your character has.

--- What about what was ok on the old site?
Regardless of whether a profile was approved in the past by staff, the current mods have the right to refuse the approval of any pre-approved profile unless the edits asked for are adhered to. What was okay on the old site may not be okay anymore. That being said, we’ll take previous approvals into consideration, however for certain aspects of the character that don’t fit with either your level or general feel of the character may be questioned. The best thing you can do with previous profiles that are being re-approved is have someone backing you up to say that they know that you had what you say you had before. We’re not here to call you a liar, but it’s best if we have proof so that it’s not in question later… for either us or for yourself.

What comes after you’ve created your profile.

--- If a profile is not approved and is inactive for two months, is it deleted? No, not immediately. It will be closed and moved to the Pending Approvals forum where it will sit for up to a year before being deleted. But they can be recovered, all you have to do is contact a mod or admin and they can move it back and re-open it for you. It's encouraged to start a new one, however, as the character might no longer be fresh in your mind after a long period of inactivity without ever writing with him. Approved profiles are never deleted.

--- Don’t fret! Whatever you wanted that might have not been approved can be quested for. That means if you wanted to cast lighting and fire spells at the same time, but only got the fire ability… you can quest for a fire spell or abilities with fire. When you’re done with the quest or battle, you can request that you gain the ability/spell at the end. It is up to the moderator that judges it as to whether it’s approved or not, and sometimes they’ll ask that it be changed so that it complies better with your characters level or soon to be level.

--- Items and abilities granted in quests are subject to review by the RoG. Just because a judge gave you an item or ability does not guarantee it will not be modified when updating a character profile. The judge that’s reviewing the requested spoils are normally very good about being fair, so most of the time if something is approved in a quest/battle as a spoil it will be approved by the RoG. The only time that this isn’t the case is when you have asked for numerous spoils in numerous quests/battles, and have too many when you update your profile.

--- Updates can be done mid-level, but aren’t always going to be immediately accepted by the RoG mod handling them. If you update a profile mid-level you are not allowed to update skills, magic, or abilities mid-level. You can update history, appearances, and personality… but nothing more. So, even if you completed a thread and you are halfway to the next level, you can’t use it till it is approved as an updated profile appropriate for by level. However, things like weapons and new appearances can be used without an update, skills/abilities/magic need to be updated though before use.

Regional Activity and Althanas as a whole.

--- You can be in as many threads as you like, but try not to spread yourself too thin or it'll be hard to keep up. Of course, this varies from person to person. On Althanas we use a system called “Liquid Time” which allows people to have more than one thread at a time, in whatever timeframe that fits for the story. If you wanted to write something, for example, that takes place in a country like Raiaera (which was nearly destroyed by a necromancer) before the war started you are allowed to, despite the storyline saying something else. We only ask that you take into consideration that jumping a thousand years in the future of Althanas, or even that long back in time, will not be what we strive for on Althanas and will be difficult to judge as well as for others to join the threads you create.

Find the right pace for you and try to stick with it is always the best advice. There are numerous regions for your use (each of which will be outlined below) and each one brings to Althanas something different. Wherever your character fits best is normally the best place to begin writing, though new players are always encouraged to start out in the Peaceful Promenade or Scara Brae… which are forums made for new players where you can allow others to join your stories as well. There you have a chance to write something fun, being new to the site you will also be given more along the lines of a judgment so that you can get a good feel for how we judge and what to expect in future judgments.

--- Generally, you should only toss yourself in a quest or battle when the threads specify being "Open" somewhere. The specification can be in many different places, most often it is in these areas: in the thread’s title, the first OOC note at the beginning of a thread, or in an OOC note at the end of the first post. If there's no specification whatsoever, it's best to contact the thread creator before acting. There is also a forum called Battle/Quest Recruitment where you can go to ask for others to join your thread ideas, find people to start battles with, or find someone else’s battle/quest that’s open to join. Feel free to post in the threads asking to join and get the “ok” before jumping in head first… sometimes people are looking for specific types of characters to join, and if they don’t want you to join it is nothing against you as a writer.

--- The Timeline is a good place to start, but we’re aware that some things there are vague. Some regions have fairly detailed histories, Raiaera probably being the best example. You can find threads about the histories within the regions themselves, usually in the general forum, not in a sub-region. Though the Timeline link is to a rather ‘outdated’ version of Althanas, I’ll be changing that soon. Expect a better history, more up-to-date, and easier to read.

General Althanas Information

--- Battles/Quests:
The two most common forms of role-playing on Althanas are Battles and Quests. As you might expect, battles are threads where two different characters face each other in combat. Battles can occur in any of the Regions forums, as well as in the Scara Brae forum. At the end of the battle the quality of each character’s writing will then be reviewed by an Althanas moderator, and the winner of the battle will be the player who receives the higher score based on our judging rubric, a set of criterion used to determine writing quality. The player who receives the higher score and wins the battle will receive significantly more Experience Points than the loser. Keep in mind that it is possible that you may win a battle in-character but lose it in the score.

Quests, on the other hand, are not meant to be competitive. They are closer in form to what you might experience on other play-by-post games – collaborative writing where your characters adventure and find treasure, fight monsters, etc. Quests are also reviewed at their completion, but unlike battles, there are no winners and no losers. Instead, each player’s part in the thread is taken into consideration and the score is made up of the culmination of both writers. So, when two people write together their individual efforts are judged together and the score is based on both people’s performances. EXP is distributed more equally than in a battle. Like battles, you can quest in any of the regions forums, and new players are exclusively invited to quest in the Scara Brae forum.

--- One can check out some battles in 'The Citadel’ to see how they work, if you like. Basically, you launch your attacks, but aren't allowed to say whether they hit your opponent or do any damage. Your opponent decides whether they get hit or manage to dodge, parry, etc.

The winner is decided by writing skill, not which character sustains less damage.

The Regions

--- Scara Brae and the Peaceful Promenade :
If you're looking to jump directly into Althanas role-playing, there is no better place than The Peaceful Promenade. The Peaceful Promenade is an in-character chat where you can introduce your character to other players, and have your role-playing there judged (and EXP and GP awarded of course!). Scara Brae is our training forum, where the Moderators will help new players learn about how Althanas works, and run them through the different parts of a battle. That battle will then be scored by a member of the Althanas staff, and players will be given tips about how to improve their role-playing.

--- Corone
Known as the “melting pot” of Althanas, Corone is infamous for being the least xenophobic (most open to outsiders) of all regions. The land is a large island, mostly dominated by humans but friendly to any other races as well, and there is always a ferry or two that keep traffic from the mainland and Scara Brae constant. If you’re looking for a multi-cultural, open land to write in this is a good place to start. It’s one of the most popular regions to write in, though easily the most simplistic of area’s to join in without a lot of unique aspects that could prove to be the little bump that you want with your character. After Scara Brae and the Peaceful Promenade this is one of the easiest places to jump into head first as a new person.

--- Raiaera
Magic thrives through the mysterious and beautiful region of Raiaera, predominantly controlled and populated by the high-elven race! The High Bard Council is the ruling faction, consisting of multiple powerful magic users that use the magic unique to the land; Songspells. A bard is not the simple, weak mage with a harp though. They can specifically move into different areas of magic, from self and mass protection spells to healing or even offensive spells. They’re powerful and nothing to take lightly. The other side of the spectrum for magic based users is the always present, though not always seen, Bladesinger’s organization. If you want to mix you swordsmanship and top-notch fighting with the powers of a song-mage or general magic this is the place for you. The Bladesingers are the top elite group of warrior-mages on the entire planet, as far as is known at least. ;)

Raiaera is an altogether difficult place to tread, so walk carefully. The rise of one of the five original Forgotten brought with him the near complete destruction of the lands with his army of undead. A great necromancer, and even greater bane to the world of Althanas, Xem’Zund (the leader of the undead and reborn Forgotten from the past) is always being fought. There are places that are completely overrun by undead, other places acting as the last bastions of a high elven realm.

--- Alerar
Unlike the high elven lands of Raiaera, Alerar is a grungy world filled with mechanical precision and the dark-elf cousins of the high elves. A long standing feud stands between Raiaera and Alerar, having many wars in the past settled between powerful people from long ago (actual Players, so you can fill that role for the new generation!). If you are looking for a world constantly evolving, constantly changing, and with a bit more of a technological feel to it this is the place for you. Industrialization has consumed the region, keeping the world at the head of advancement. Guns, cannons, airships, you name it you’ll probably find it here. Of course, due to this being a site for fantasy based role-playing the tech. level of the site and this region is kept to at most something around the late middle-ages. Flintlocks and matchlocks are going to be far more common than anything else, though it’s not unheard of for little additional things to come in as surprises from time to time.

Alerar is the dominant power on Althanas, rising to be the new superpower and command the respect of the site. The watchful eyes of the world are on this region, for good or bad depend on who’s watching, though wrestling the power and prestige of a superpower on Althanas is not easy, the title has slowly begun to shift from Corone to Alerar for the coming future.

--- Salvar
Frozen wastes, mountainous terrains, uncharted lands, Southern warm spots for agriculture, and mages to help tame the unforgiving blizzards and freezing temperatures is what you can expect to find in this unique and open world. To the north of this grueling land is the area called Berevar, an unknown and unexplored land. To the south are the constantly troubled nations of Alerar and Raiaera. Salvar holds the militaristic strength in terms of outright power and determination; one who can survive and thrive as a warrior of Salvar is one that can push through nearly anything.

The government is in shambles, broken in two by a bloody and long civil war. However, Salvar has always been a place where fortunes are won and lost by the player, not the country or what it can offer. Fighting to gain ground is not uncommon, minor wars between feudal territories is common as well, though a living is one that’s scrapped for and earned. Want to make your mark and control land, be your own boss, and struggle through the world to gain what others have or desire? Salvar’s your place. Take what you can, fight for what you want, and live through the harsh winters and unforgiving region of Salvar.

--- Fallien
With only one major city that thrives, Fallien is the most open lands. Irrakam, the major city at the center of the desert island, is connected to the world by a river that runs through the entirety of the continent. Careful where you go though, outsiders are not welcome within the inner sanctum of the city without a pass. Very xenophobic people are the ones that thrive and dwell in the land, keeping the region as isolationistic as any region ever in the world. The realm of nearly unending desert is unique in many ways, setting it apart as an isolated oasis in a world of conflict. The horse breeding within the lands is debatably the best in the world, debatable because Raiaera’s horses were originally known as the finest steeds in Althanas. Dunes of glass litter the southern half of the island, glass that is known not only for its unique beauty but also for its deadly usefulness; stronger than normal glass, hard to shape but not easily broken, the glass is a perfect dagger of the deadly killing skills that Fallien warriors are known for. Finally, there are the spices that are harvested and sold worldwide, a price tag as high as what is attached to these exports makes it desired by the wealthiest, most powerful, and well-known people across the globe.

However, this land is not without conflict. The matriarchal society that is devoted to their leader, known as the Jya and is thought of as a demigod in material form, has had years of conflict. The war is not an outright battle between opposing forces that stand so bluntly against each other. Internal conflict in Fallien, as well as conflict against opposing factions from outside the region, is fought in a particular and unique style. If you are interested in guerilla warfare, fought from the shadows and in minor skirmishes, assassin-vs-assassin, this land has the way you want to fight and the groups you want to be involved with. Either fight with the Jya and loyalist forces, or against them with the Cult of Mitra (Mitra=sun) and the legions of harpies that fight at their side.

--- Dheathain
Luscious rain-forests, thick swamps, and ancient structures fill the lands on the Eastern continent known as Dheathain. This land is much different than any other, having been populated and dominated by a mixture of races hardly seen in force in other regions. Draconian’s dwell in the swamps, amidst the dangerous flora and fauna of a nation nearly completely unexplored by humans. These reptilian humanoids are powerful, stubborn, and control a form of magic that most humans could only hope to ever learn. The second most prevalent race is the Fae, creatures that are short compared to humans but beautiful and seemingly frail. They control portion of the long lost ancient civilizations, beautiful cities few places in Althanas can rival. This land is a world undiscovered, should you have the confidence and curiosity to explore it your name can be placed upon many unknown artifacts, cities, and treasures yet to be found.

Features and Out of Character (OOC) Information

--- Tournament and Power Groups:
Other than the rubric, Althanas’s most unique features are its Tournaments and Power Groups. Tournaments are series of battles under unique rules and situations – teams of 2 characters battling each other, for instance, or battles where two player characters switch bodies. Tournaments oftentimes last for over a month, so it’s important to keep aware of their registration dates so that you don’t miss out on joining one.

Power Groups, commonly referred to as “Clans” or “Guilds” on other forums, are collections of players who band together to form an adventuring party or organization of some sort. Characters that join a PG will benefit by being able to create common storylines with their fellow members, and Power Groups are also allowed to host their own tournaments or large-scale battles, earning extra EXP then they would normally.

PG’s have been changed and are always looking for activity. Every group has a chance, so let your imagination flourish and pull in interest to start your own clan! You can find the rules regarding what is going on with guilds/clans/powergroups in this thread, and you can go to this thread to find out how to make your own group!

--- The Bazaar:
This area is made so that you can spend that shiny gold that’s burning a hole through your pocket, coin purse, or endless black hole. Wherever you keep it, there’s one place where you can go to spend it as frivolously or carefully as you want. There are almost no limits to what you can purchase at the Bazaar, from oversea’s-hard to find items like flintlocks to the common sword. Want that new enchantment to give you the edge in battle? Go to the Bazaar and get it. Want those poisons for your assassinations? Yep, they’ve got it.

Unlike quest spoils, where you have to wait for your level update to be able to use it, as soon as you have completed the purchase of whatever it is you are trying to get you are free to use it in any threads from that point on! So, that flame enchantment you can get rewarded for your sword if you’re lucky, go buy it and use it right away!

Out of Character Forums:

---Few people want to spend all of the time role-playing, so Althanas has several out-of-character forums to allow our members to cool down and talk about other things than writing. Any topic is open for discussion in the Flying Stone Tavern, but keep in mind that posts which are intentionally designed to hurt or attack another member are not tolerated and that players who engage in such activity will be warned.

The Creative Endeavors forum is a place for players to share artwork, photographs, or any creative writing that is non-Althanas related.

The Your Word forum allows members to post questions regarding any aspect of Althanas and to receive an answer form other members or one of the forum staff.

The Role-Player’s Corner (RPC) is where a player can ask for tips on how to improve their writing, or where recruitment for closed battles and quests may be done.

Finally, the Introduction Forum is an Out-of-Character chat where you can introduce yourself to the members of Althanas. Tell us everything that's even remotely interesting about you, because we all are dying to welcome you to our forum.

The Althanas Rubric

--- The Rubric (by Sighter Tnailog)

The judging rubric is, as mentioned above, a set of criterion used to determine writing quality here on Althanas. At the end of each completed battle and quest, an Althanas moderator will use the rubric to post a score for each player in the thread.

Here are the 10 different categories that make up the rubric:

STORY ~ A good score in the Story categories will require three things. First, it will need to be well-placed in time and location. Second, it will need to proceed with sufficient development to interest the reader without boring him or her at the same time. Most importantly, though, it will need to be original and creative.

Continuity (10) ~ Continuity situates a thread within a broader sheath of a character's storyline or personality. This should be done so that a moderator need not read any of a character's back story, yet can still figure it out readily based on the information provided. Does the player describe how a character arrived at the current location? Are there descriptions of past events? Continuity does not require a massive, epic storyline, or even keeping all threads in perfect harmony with another. Instead, continuity requires an explanation: Why is the story taking place?

Setting (10) ~ A good story requires both a place and a time. Closely related to continuity, setting asks another question: When and where is the story occurring? Setting will be scored according to how well these things are described -- do we get a sense of the landscape, do we understand where we are? -- and how well it is used. For instance, if a character describes a chair, is the chair used as a seat? Is the pen on the desk merely mentioned, or is it also picked up and twirled between a character's fingers? A good setting not merely describes the place, it also makes use of objects within that place. Setting is not simply canvass on which to paint a story -- it is a world in which you ACT a story.

Pacing (10) ~ If Continuity asks “Why?” and Setting asks “Where,” then Pacing asks "How?" Are your character’s actions clearly described? In scoring Pacing, the moderator will try to determine the author's intent. If the intent is to keep the reader from putting down the story, then a good Pacing score requires that the story delivered: it kept the tension high, releasing it in certain places and building it in others. It kept you guessing. If the intention of the Pacing is to develop a particular character, then the development of the plot must serve to provide the character with specific ways to grow. In other words, the thread’s story must keep you reading, but must also serve the intent of the author.

CHARACTER ~ There is one important factor to keep in mind when judging Character.
Do the thoughts, words, and actions of your character exhibit who they really are? If a particular character is doing something completely contrary to what they are normally like and do not justify that behavior in-character, then a low score will be awarded. If the character's actions truly illustrate who they are, then a high score will be awarded. Above all, a character should be BELIEVABLE. Does it make sense for an illiterate barbarian to talk his way out of a mess? No. Does it make sense for a dull-witted human to come up with a brilliant plan for ambushing the enemy? No. Does it make sense for a first-time lover to comprehend the depth of his emotions? No. In other words: simply because a character does something "smart" doesn't mean the player should get high scores. Sometimes, a stupid response to a situation can be just as important as an intelligent one.

Dialogue (10) ~ Dialogue must be sensible and believable. A fighter in the midst of a battle should not USUALLY break off the fight for a longwinded speech. A poorly educated human would not be able to converse with an extensive vocabulary. A quiet, withdrawn person would not speak at all, but might do more internal thinking. A dullard might not do much speaking OR thinking. On the other hand, a particularly flamboyant, arrogant, or witty character might indeed decide to pull away in order to deliver a speech he or she thought of on the fly. A poorly educated human might, in a moment of crisis, say a few words which, although short and unadorned, are elegant in their simplicity. A quiet person might do the same thing, or a dullard might assert their dignity with a few protesting, angry, halting words. The question with dialogue is not "How much talking was there?” Instead, the question is this: does it properly represent the character?

Action (10) ~ This can be explained in virtually the same way as dialogue. For an example, consider The Lord of the Rings. When the Witch-King of Angmar was slain, it was because he had ignored the hobbit Pippin, who was able to creep up from behind him and stab him in the heel at an opportune moment. This is entirely fitting with Pippin's character...he cannot block the attack of a man, jump backflips, or cast spells. But he can crawl quietly and wait for a chance to strike. His action made sense for his character. Similarly, a dullard might not come up with a battle strategy in the thick of things, but he might be able to appear at a lucky moment and swing a sword just in time to protect a friend's life.

Keep in mind that action is not limited to fighting! For example, a character might have a favorite book. A player could begin a thread with her reading it for a third time, and commenting on it as a friend walks in. Another example may involve a character who collects old coins - in a quest, one could come across a trove of them, and have the character go to great lengths to keep a hold of them as the quest progresses. Think of action as being just what it says: anything a character DOES. Just like dialogue, action is not defined by how cool a maneuver is or how intelligently the character planned and executed it. Rather, action is scored based on whether or not a character does what fits with the character.

Persona (10) ~ Persona refers to how well a character's emotions are depicted in relation to their personality. Emotions can be one of the trickiest things to talk about -- either one doesn't portray them enough or one does a bit too much. Characters, for the most part, do have emotions. They feel pain, they feel love, hate, anger, confusion. A few pointers can help with improving your Persona score. First, the characters should feel emotion, but not always know what to do with it. Most people feel emotion, but they often struggle with knowing the precise emotion they are having or determining how to act on the emotion. Whether a player portrays this conflict or not should determine the score. Second, is the emotion believable? Absent a specific reason, emotion should not be overblown. A lengthy description of how much love you feel for the person you just had sex with, for instance, can be rather obnoxious.

Keep this in mind, however: both these rules can be suspended if the emotion depicted is well-done in relation to personality. For instance, a character might be a warrior, used to pain -- used to not reacting with tears or cries if a dagger pierces them, for instance. Or they might have tried to harden their heart to love, or ignore feelings of hate because they think hate is a bad thing to feel. Or a character might be the clingy type, ignoring subtle emotions in favor of seeking that clear feeling of "I love her so much" that may characterize an adolescent boy. Or the character might merely be expressing emotions of an overblown nature as a way to mask their underlying uncertainty and fear. Persona is one of the hardest areas to judge; However, in a sense, it is like what Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said about pornography: ""I shall not attempt to define the kinds of material I understand to be pornography, but I know it when I see it."

WRITING STYLE ~

Technique (10) ~ This refers to special literary devices, such as foreshadowing, allusion, symbolism, or other "advanced" forms of writing. This can be judged in a few ways, often interacting with the other categories (especially “Pacing”), in the sense that certain devices, such as foreshadowing, can be used to build tension and so forth. However, Technique can also be applied to how well a special device was used. For example, if someone does a battle in poetry, Technique can refer to whether or not the poetry was good.

Mechanics (10) ~ This should be obvious. Are your commas in the right place? Are your sentences actual sentences, and not fragments? Do you spell words properly? In other words: are you following the basic rules of English? As is said in writing style, these rules can be broken without detriment, provided they are broken INTENTIONALLY in order to MAKE A POINT. And, as always, the moderator will determine whether poor mechanics actually serves the purpose of enhancing the style.

Clarity (10) ~ Basically, this refers to whether or not it makes sense. For instance, read the following few sentences: "Becky was a rat. The billygoat jumped over the wall. "Oh no," said Allan, "I have no idea what to do with my life. The pretty penguins parked in their parkas while praying." These sentences were technically correct. The last sentence even showed evidence of stylistic touches, using alliteration. Yet, did they make sense? Did one follow from another? Was the narration clean and easy to follow? I think we can all answer this question. Clarity, in a sense, is a way of expressing what we used to express with Brevity, only without implying the need for a short post. Clarity, in the purest sense, asks this: do you say what you need to say using effective, clear, easy-to-follow language?

Wild Card ~ Wild Card takes into account any facet of writing that does not fall under the description of another category.

Each category, including Wild Card, is worth 0-10 points. At the end of the battle, the results of each category are tallied and your character is awarded a final score, from 0-100, for the thread.

Experience and Levels on Althanas

--- These are the EXP levels you need to achieve to get to each level:

Level 1
2,000

Level 2
5,000

Level 3
9,000

Level 4
14,000

Level 5
20,000

Level 6
27,000

Level 7
35,000

Level 8
44,000

Level 9
54,000

Level 10
65,000

Level 11
77,000

Level 12
90,000

Level 13
104,000

Level 14
119,000

Level 15
135,000

~*~

--- How the judging works:
When you finish an In-Character thread (battle or quest), a moderator or administrator will judge it and give you a score ranging from 1 to 100. At that point, you'll be given EXP based on the thread's score and length. In the case of battles, you get considerably more EXP for winning than for losing.

~*~

--- What is the Maximum level one can achieve?
Twenty, though it used to be fifty. To be honest, if someone gets to level 20 and wants to go higher, we probably won't stop them. However, just getting to that kind of level would take a lot of time, so we'll face the issue when we get to it.

Rule Update 3/7/10:

Please note that from this day forth, in character posts will not be deleted provided they conform with Althanas' rules, even upon request. Special exceptions will be made for double posts, posts made using the wrong account, and other such issues at the moderators' discretion.