Harry Potter Universe Rules

RP Rules


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Keep the RP flow moving. Unless it's a fight scene or something like that where taking proper turns are important, don't slow the game down by fussing about who's turn it is to post. When in doubt, just post. The only real guideline to our RP format is that if your character is directly interacting or communicating with another character, it's common courtesy to give the other player(s) a chance to ICly respond to your RP post before you make your next post. However if your characters are not directly interacting yet, you are free to keep posting at your own pace whether or not the other player has, unless requested otherwise.


ALL in-character speech must be contained with " " marks, even if you use color coding. This is to cut down on confusion between descriptive text and character dialog text. Remember that not everyone's client settings use text colors, hence why you must use " " marks even if you do use color coding yourself.


Keep OOC chatter in IC rooms to a minum. IC rooms are for RPing, hence the only time you should make OOC posts in there is if you need to leave or go AFK for a bit, if you or someone else made a mistake, there's a rule break, or something else requires being brought to attention. Unecessary OOC chatter is annoying and disruptive to most players, and often breaks the mood of the RP.
If you must make an OOC post in an RP room, contain the OOC text in (( )) or [[ ]] marks. This is so people don't mistake it for IC text.


This is NOT a combat/fighting game. While violence certainly does happen in this setting and can be quite fun, it is NOT the main focus here. Characters who are combat-skilled types may be approved, but ONLY if they have genuine depth and believability to them, and if their players understand the risks that come with such characters. Combat, when it happens, is usually done to occasionally spice up the RP rather than be the main focus. Disruptive or otherwise undesired combat RPing may be subject to staff intervention.


No offensive godmoding. Actions taken against another character or their property must be done as an "attempt" which gives the other player on the recieving the right to describe whether it's successful or not. NOTE: The exception to this rule is when you have been given permission by the other player to make successful actions against their character.

BAD:
* Some_Guy punches Joe_Bob in the face.
GOOD:
* Some_Guy throws a punch at Joe_Bob's face.

BAD:
* Some_Guy sneaks up behind Joe_Bob and steals his wallet.
GOOD:
* Some_Guy sneaks towards Joe_Bob and tries to sneak his hand into his pocket in an attempt to snatch his wallet.



No defensive godmoding. Kind of similar to the above rule, though more concerned with those on the defensive. Just as you can't take an action against another character or their property without giving them a fair chance to describe whether it was a successful attempt or not, you're not invincible. Obviously some characters will simply be more powerful or skilled in self-defense than others and will realistically not get beaten up easily, but even they are bound to take a hit now and then unless there's a very good reason for them not to. NOTE: The exception to this rule is when the other player gives you permission to block or evade all actions their character takes against yours.

Defensive Godmoding Example:
* SomeGuy swings a crowbar at Darkbayne_WolfShadow's head.
* Darkbayne_WolfShadow dodges the swing and punches at SomeGuy.
* SomeGuy gets a nasty punch in the jaw. He reels back from the blow. "Rrrgh!" He swings his crowbar again at Darkbayne_WolfShadow's leg.
* Darkbayne_WolfShadow dodges once again and stabs at SomeGuy with his knife.
* SomeGuy narrowly dodges the stab, his waist getting nicked by the blade. He yells in pain, but it's not a mortal wound. He attacks Darkbayne with adrenaline-fueled fury, viciously swinging his crowbar at him.
* Darkbayne_WolfShadow dodges all of SomeGuy's crowbar swings and does a roundhouse kick at his face.



No metagaming. Just because you as a player know something, that doesn't mean your character knows it too. The most common example of this is using OOC knowledge to avoid IC consequences. For example, if the Ministry is secretly out to arrest your character for a crime they committed, yet you use this knowledge you have as a player in order to bail your character out of trouble even though your character would have no knowledge of this. That would be metagaming.


IC actions have IC consequences. You're not invincible. While HPU's physics are not tied to strict realism, this game's setting does involve a heavy dose of consequential realism. If your character does something that would realistically have consequences from other characters, NPCs, or elements in the setting, you are consenting to those possible consequences. Fighting the system, ripping off an Underlord, making enemies with a powerful person, and generally doing dangerous stuff can have reprocussions just like it would in the real world. Likewise, attacking or otherwise harming other player's characters opens up the possibility of your character being injured, maimed, or even killed by the defending character, which is a risk you must accept. If you do not like the sound of those consequences happening to your character, then simply don't have your character carry out the causitive actions.


Criminally harming a muggle (ie: fighting with, stealing from, etc.) can have LETHAL consequences - be prepared to accept them if you commit such actions. When a criminal offense is committed against a member of the society, the victim and/or witnesses are ordered by magical law to report the crime to the Ministry. Hence, anyone harming muggles are putting their lives at risk for Ministry reprisal, and UniClassers who refuse to report these crimes can be charged with enabling these crimes. Keep in mind this is a VERY risky action to take, and can have severe IC consequences. You are welcome to RP out such scenes, so long as you play out the end result in a believable manner. If you fail to play out the result in a believable manner, we will take the matter into our own hands in order to stay true to the game setting. This can mean character injury, imprisonment, or death for the involved parties.


The Ministry are NOT idiots - crossing them will have consequences. They rule Magical World for a reason, after all. Most of the time the Ministry will not seriously bother your character unless they try to fight the system or are non-conformist. But anyone who does go up against the Ministry is putting themselves at dire risk. It might be possible strike a blow against them or evade their wrath temporarily, but it is not possible to escape the consequences unless you have a very plausible reason for it. If you choose to RP such actions which will realistically warrant Ministry consequences, you are consenting to those consequences, which may include your character being imprisoned, injured, maimed, or killed, unless you can provide a believable reason otherwise to the staff.


Physics in this game world are not limited to true realism, but they must be played fair. HPU could be best classified as operatic sci-fi, in that there's more attention on style and story than on science. Hence it's okay to bend physics for style and coolness factor, but it is NOT okay to bend physics to powergame, metagame, or godmode, since none of those are stylish or cool. For example, it's fine to have your character perform an amazing physical feat that'd normally be unlikely or impossible in real life if it adds to the story in the RP or makes things more 'cinematically' compelling, but it's not fine to have your character do that just so he/she can be invincible. The key here is intent: use it to make the RP more dramatic and compelling, but don't use it for selfish powergaming and godmoding.


MAJOR city-affecting RP events must first be approved by the game staff. Examples would be an event which kills loads of people, destroy huge amounts of property, and/or otherwise affects the city in a major way. Something hugely out of the ordinary that isn't already at play, like a citywide virus outbreak, or an uprising against the Ministry would be a good example. Just use common sense there and send the staff a quick message about it through the Contact section. Chances are that if your idea is a good one or works with the game's plan, we'll gladly approve it.


If you have to RP out a detailed, sexually explicit scene, take it to a private chat window. While sexually explicit RP may not seem unusual to you, remember that some players may be minors, could be on work/family computers, or that some people simply do not want to hear about your character's wang size.


Some Other General Advice


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These here are not official rules so much as mere suggestions and advice learned from several years of experience with role-playing, and running RPGs.You're not technically required to follow these guidelines, but we've included them here for the purpose of sharing helpful knowledge which we've found make for a much more enjoyable gaming experience.

More may be added to this list as time goes on.

Make an effort to be inclusive to newbies. While it's perfectly fine to simply settling for being a nice player at CoU, it is especially cool if you make an extra effort to actively include newbies in your game-related activities. Most people, upon joining an RPG where they don't know many people or have a lot of experience, tend to be rather shy and unsure about themselves. If you can take the time and energy to offer to play a little introductory RP session with them, it'll go a long way to making them feel more welcome and involved.

"Dead periods" where there's little/no RP happen now and then, don't let it discourage you. Every so often, real life eats up time and energy for RPers, and so it isn't unusual for there to occassionally be periods of days or sometimes even weeks where the RP slows to a crawl. When this happens, don't let it get you down. It's all a normal part of a normal chat-based RP. Just as there'll be periods of insane amounts of awesome RP, there'll also be the low times too. But when this does happen, it helps if you take the initiative and stir up some RP yourself to get others involved. Sometimes people just need a kick of inspiration to get moving again.

Avoid creating comic relief/hyperfunnyinsane characters. Most players find these character types annoying or too shallow to have fun interacting with, and the game's setting is just not well-suited to them either. Keep in mind that City Of Unity is set in a grimly oppressive dystopia, not a Saturday morning cartoon. If you really do want to try and play a "funny" character, you're free to send in an application, but we offer no guarantee of it being approved. And if it is approved, we offer no guarantee that the character will last long in the RP. If you think this makes the setting seem boring, then this might not be the sort of game you're looking for.

New players are VERY strongly advised to avoid applying with Ministry or other very powerful character types until they are more experienced with the game. Since HPU's setting requires understanding of it in order to believably play a powerful character, we highly suggest that you start off with a different kind of character to play, and wait until you've gotten more experience in the game before making a character who's a Minister, an exceptionally strong/skilled fighter type, master hacker, or some other really powerful character type. Great power comes with great responsibility here.