Meta Rules

[Tom]

This are the rules governing gameplay:


Story Creation / Chapter Writing

A chapter in progress can be flagged instead of regular voting, if it violates one of the meta-rules outlined below.

A Yellow flag means that the problem can be fixed by editing the chapter. For example, an effect is not explained in the chapter, the chapter contradicts an established fact in a way that can be solved with a minor change, etc. On a yellow flag, the player setting the flag is strongly encouraged to offer a suggestion on how to fix the problem.

A Red flag means that the problem cannot (in the eyes of the player setting the flag) be fixed without a total rewrite.

A Black flag is reserved for spam, trolling, harassment or other player-misbehaviour. We are playing a game together and even if emotions may sometimes flare high, we can all expect respectful, friendly behaviour from each other.



Game Facts

There are two kinds of game Facts.

A fact establishes a truth of the world, and thus can be a reason to flag a future chapter. Mutable Facts are those established by previous stories. They can be changed through story the same way they were established, but until they are explicitly changed, they are true. For example, a city created in a previous story and put at the side of a river in a lush forest cannot suddenly be located in a desert. A story can be written that changes the course of the river and destroys the forest through drought or fire or magic, in which case the fact has changed. But this requires said story to be written first, and its effects applied and paid for in Prime.

There are also Immutable Facts establishing the setting and boundaries of the game. These are the Immutable Facts:

   
• Stories should be written in the style of legends - 3rd person, full sentences, no modern references, emoticons or chat-speech.
• Other characters can not be killed or permanently disabled. Whatever you do to other characters, their players can always write their way out of it if they so desire. You can permanently destroy any Creations they like or control.
• The laws of physics and common sense apply, unless magic is used and Prime expended.
• Only named heroes of legends can channel magic. This magic always comes from Immortals and always requires the expenditure of Prime.

Game World Limits
Finally, there are some limits to the kind of world that can be created, in order to keep the world familiar and easy to enter for new players. These limits also count as immutable facts, but have a somewhat softer boundary:

   
• The game covers the world. It does not extend to space or objects in the sky (stars, the sun, the moon, etc.) and no amount of Purity can change the world itself (e.g. make it flat, grow or shrink it, change gravity or any such things). Maybe a later extension to the game can open up such features, for the moment we play on and within the world given.
• Technology beyond a roughly medieval level (e.g. no steam engines, electricity, gunpowder, and reasonable levels of mechanics, science and culture) counts as magic.
• Fantasy creatures are somewhat rare - they may exist, but travellers would mention them in their letters. So a small area of the world where people breed Unicorns or use Earth Elementals as workers is fine, but a world-spanning dragon express service isn't. All fantasy creatures are at best as intelligent as animals (see next rule).
• Humans are the only intelligent species native to the game world. Immortals can appear to them in the shape of elves, dwarves, trolls or any other creature of legend, and humans may well believe in the existence of such species, but no other intelligent species actually exists.