Sim Rules & Info

                      -------------------------❖OOC Mission ❖ -------------------------------

Our mission is to create a community of proactive roleplayers built on respect for the BtB lore we have at our disposal, the stories created, and each other. With this in mind, our team is here to help you get entrenched in stories if you are not sure where to start. Just reach out!

Below you'll find our basic OOC rules, our IC setting, and links to supplementary materials for those who would like to make Selnar their home. 

Note: While this is a consent-based sim, players will not be supported in avoiding the consequences of their actions. Our moderators will help resolve in-character (IC) issues and OOC rule infractions once your own attempts have failed. Personal issues will not be moderated. By contacting a moderator, you consent to messages being shared with the administration team. 

If you should have any questions or require further information, your respective heads of castes or RP leaders will be able to help handle the majority of IC and OOC issues. 

                   -------------------------❖ City of Selnar, Isle of Cos ❖ -------------------------------

Selnar: The Rising Heart of Cos

Cos is a developed and civilized Island Ubarate roughly 400 miles off the coast of mainland Gor, and this sim represents one of four Cosian cities, Selnar. The only way is by ship. The coasts are patrolled regularly. Selnar stands as a city of strength, strategy, and tradition and has now emerged as the new heart of Cosian power, entrusted with the Home Stone of Cos after the fall of civil governance in Telnus. Its ports and fortified walls make it a key military and trade stronghold, teeming with warriors, scribes, merchants, and builders who uphold Cosian honor.

The people of Selnar are fiercely loyal and disciplined, and they value strength, order, and the legacy of Cos. The warriors are training relentlessly, merchants are driving the economy, and scribes and magistrates are preserving their history and law. Even the low castes are valued as they continue to be the foundation that all rests upon. With the era of civil rule behind them, every citizen holds a place in the city’s unfolding destiny.

Our IC laws are not OOC rules, but you should familiarize yourself with them or be willing to accept the consequences of your character accidentally breaking the law: Laws

            ----------------------❖ SIM RULES ❖ ---------------------------

❖ REQUIRED ETIQUETTE ❖

★ Roleplay first. Have fun. Be respectful of each other as well as sim owners, administrators and moderators.

★ The ZCS Meter is mandatory. 

★ By-the-book Gorean-themed attire. Domesticated Animal Avatars are allowed, but require administrative approval. No Chainmail or metal armor. High-Caste women must be veiled. The hair of all free women must be in an updo if free or you may find yourself fined and detained. See Selnar laws above.

★ No Metagaming. No Godmoding. No Powergaming. All actions should be attempted, even if towards a slave. Don’t assume. Familiarize yourself with the definitions. 

★ Wait your turn, allow time for people to post. Wait for posts when approaching a scene

★ No OOC in local chat

★ No shouting roleplay posts without a significant IC reason

★ Do not AFK in public areas

★ Avoid Negative/Passive-Aggressive Thought Emotes

★ NPCs can not rescue you from in-character consequences of your in-character actions. NPC warriors can not be used to commit crimes. 

★ No child avatars on sim. If your avatar appears child-like, you will be contacted. The minimum avatar height is 5'6" according to the indicator at the landing zone.

★ No Age-play

❖ MODERATION ❖

Be responsible and mature. Moderate your own RP accordingly. If you feel uncomfortable in the direction of an RP and aren't certain you can work with the other player(s), contact a moderator before the RP progresses. 

We expect players to resolve issues without the use of moderators, but if this is not possible, approach moderators before the RP expands to involving several players.

By playing on this sim, you consent to moderation. Disrespect towards mods in the form of arguments, trolling, bullying, disregarding, ignoring, or any other behavior deemed counter to improving a situation will be met with a temporary ban (or a permanent ban if the issue is repetitive). If you find it difficult to discuss things respectfully and privately, then this may not be the sim for you!

NOTE: Sim Admins are not your first contact for moderation. 

❖ COMBAT ❖

[Awareness] Warrior Responses to Combat

 Warriors are permitted to draw and attack their ZCS weapons, without posting, if they see:

        • Violent acts being committed publicly

        • Running away without posting

Personal ZCS Combat

Unless agreed to OOCly, Personal Combat requires one hour of role play OR the victim responding at least four times during a roleplay to prevent random attacks.

Personal Combat - Criterua for the Agressior

        • A challenge post must be made by the aggressor after requiring the required amount. A challenge is a post indicating you intend to harm the victim, verbal or non-verbal + plus an emote of drawing a weapon

        • Drawing a weapon is a “Ready” Action. Do not draw your weapon if you are not "Ready."

The victim of an attack must take a "Ready" action in response to your challenge in order to be meter damaged. The following are Ready Actions:

        • Drawing a weapon without posting

        • Running away without posting

        • An emote, ignoring or trying to diffuse the situation. 

For duels, both must verbalize ready after posting for a duel to begin. Unless the duel has been ICly and/or OOCly.

Unless agreed upon, OOCly or you are an Assassin, All kill posts must be at least 3 lines long and an ATTEMPT. 

Dice Combat

It is highly recommended that dice rolls be discussed before using them. If parameters can not be agreed upon ZCS is the chosen default combat of our sim. The unwilling party automatically concedes or loses. Work it out!

• Male vs Female - Male rolls twice and chooses highest roll

 • Skilled vs Unskilled - Skilled character rolls twice and chooses highest roll

❖ RAIDS ❖

We prefer raids that have a story-driven reason to happen and that create the opportunity for future roleplay. Here are some things to note:

• Selnar is a large city on an island. A band of panthers in rags would not be assaulting the gates with bows. As with all things, we want to leave the door open for good RP. If your group starts a long-term story with the city that would eventually culminate in an opportunity for direct conflict, awesome, let's do it. But as a general rule, 'we're bored, lolz' isn't why people attack fortified cities. 

• Melee only. See Raid Rules for more details. 

❖  IC WEAPONS CHECK ❖

Ranged weapons will be ICly confiscated. Please, respect the melee-only rule we have for this sim and do not wear ranged weapons on the sim. You will be asked by a mod to remove them. Why? When entering our city, you are being checked and confronted by guards. Wearing you weapons anyway is powergaming our city's checkpoints. 

❖ REALITY CHECK❖

Selnar is a city with thousands of warriors and guards on duty around the clock as well as citizens. RPing that you are in that city requires RPing that those people exist. You cannot steal the Home Stone, women, rob the bank, or destroy a building just because the sim is ‘empty’. If you're breaking into some place when nobody is around, play fair, and leave a notecard with details and clues. This kind of RP should be the start of a story and not just a notch in your criminal belt. Owners of homes, shops, etc have the right to ignore any damage done when no one is around. 

❖ Character Roles Welcomed ❖

The roles allowed to roam freely in Selnar are based on IC roleplay and common sense. The Ubar is one that has a strict sense of honor. This means characters that openly boast of being pirates, outlaws, assassins, etc, will likely be met with mild animosity. We encourage this conflict! We encourage dark roleplay. Just keep in mind our warriors and citizens are reacting ICly. There will be no BC court in Selnar currently, but we will have avenues for this kind of RP as we develop relations with BC members. BC characters are NOT banned, but must follow our rules regarding death. 

Kur, mambas, undisguised panthers, and mainland wild animals simply don't make sense. If you wish to play one of these roles, contact a moderator or admin so we can consider a storyline that would not break immersion. Example: A mamba might be captured and brought in via a slaver for fighting. 

Animals allowed are restricted to those domestic to Cos and known, trainable animals that can be safely brought to the island. Any exotic animal hoping to exist in Selnar will need an IC permit approved and the OOC-approved animal tag.

❖ Scene Eavesdropping ❖

To successfully eavesdrop, players should enter a scene with an action that signals their presence and the fact that they are trying to listen. You can not just stand there without posting or without acknowledging the scene your character is eavesdropping on. When near active RP, use common sense: walls, doors, and windows block sound, so unless you're posted into a scene, overhearing or reacting to conversations is metagaming. Simply being within 20m of text does not mean your character can ICly hear.

❖ Economy Note ❖

ZCS coin is optional for all IC transactions on sim NOT lindens. We're expecting all players to give real thought to what their character's financial situation is and to recognize that gold is not as plentiful as the meters say. What would they be able to splurge on if they are lower caste?  What would they do for more luxury?  We hope the layout and vibe of Selnar promotes the fun interactions that come with the disparity between economic classes. 

❖ NPC CHARACTERS AND STORIES ❖

Players may use NPCs to enrich scenes, but they are non-combatants. NPC guards (or owners) can intervene in violent conflicts. If a player threatens an NPC-protected character, a roll may determine if the guards successfully defend, allowing escape. If unsuccessful, the guards are incapacitated, and the scene continues.

Players uninterested in a scene (e.g., capture, enslavement) may use personal NPC guards to escape without a roll but must leave the scene. This is an OOC consent tool, not a way to avoid consequences.

NPC owners can facilitate sales or prevent random collaring, but won't shield slaves from punishments. 

Any actions by NPCs that would significantly impact the sim or a caste (serious crimes committed, alter sim dynamics, treasons) should be approved by the caste leader/mod since there would be no one to receive the consequences. 

❖ Alt Characters ❖

We allow alting, but with respect and common sense as your guide. Alts should never be used for metagaming. Preferably, alts wouldn't be used in cross-roleplay because of the appearance of metagaming. 

❖ SLAVE ROLEPLAY❖

• Slave roleplayers are valued members of our player base. As such, all new and/or unowned slaves are encouraged to begin their story in one of the following ways:

    1. Join the city kennels and begin your journey. 

    2. Have an NPC owner either permanently or until you've found an rp partner. 

                                               [LINK COMING SOON]

• This sim takes OOC consent seriously. All sales require OOC consent. All collarings require OOC consent. We also require OOC consent for any permanent and severe damage to a slave character that is unwarranted.  No exceptions.

❖ TARNS ❖

While warriors *of* Selnar *might* have a backstory where they brought a tarn by ship or bred a tarn, there is no reasonable scenario where tarns would make the 400-mile flight over water or be allowed to be used by visiting ships. Therefore, visitors are not allowed to rezz and fly Tarns in the sim. Only permitted and sworn citizens of Selnar are allowed. Contact SimplyBirgir if you want to ask about an exception for a specific storyline.  

❖ KIDNAPPERS ❖

• No one may be taken from the sim/city without their OOC approval. 

• Even with kidnappings inside the city, our guiding principles of fun and respect apply. We expect both parties to communicate and try their best to find a way forward that everyone will enjoy writing. 

❖ HOMES ❖

Private homes are generally considered safe zones. Randomly kicking doors down is invalid. That said, there are occasionally story-driven reasons for an intrusion. As with all things... treat each other with OOC respect. If you somehow get into a situation that can't be sorted with OOC communication and fairness, shout for a mod.

❖ DEATH & PERMANENT DAMAGE & CONSEQUENCES ❖

Permanent death or dismemberment is usually up to the player; however, we also encourage consequences for extreme criminal behavior or extremely disobedient slaves. Gor is a rough place to be, and we hope to bring back the thrill of dark RP and harsh consequences in response to harsh behaviors. While we support limits, we do not support using limits to roleplay without consequence. Consider the following: 

 • Moderators may impose a permanent death or damage in cases of murder, treason, espionage, and other major crimes. We may also accept Black Caste or Mercenary Death if they meet our RP and reason requirements.

• By participating in high-risk scenes, especially those impacting sim-wide stories, you consent to the consequences of your character’s choices.

 • Actions with severe consequences include but are not limited to: stealing a Home Stone, treason, capital offenses, runaway slaves, slaves attacking free persons,  theft, and arson.

Alternatives to consider:
• Death often ends roleplay rather than expanding it, so consider other options before resorting to it, like punishment collars, captivity, involving magistrates, public punishment, contacting a mod for ideas

 • Free may kill or harm slaves, but excessive damage makes them useless and limits roleplay opportunities.

❖ FADE TO BLACK (FTB) ❖

If you are uncomfortable with a scene, you may FTB, but the consequences still apply and should be agreed upon by both parties. If no agreement is reached, moderators can assist in finding a resolution.

❖ KEEPING IT GOREAN ❖

John Norman’s world isn’t without contradictions, so while some may be strict on certain lore aspects, others may allow flexibility for better RP. Respect differing interpretations, but be prepared for IC consequences. If conflicts arise, work it out, avoid each other, or seek a moderator’s help.