Role-Playing Rules

On behalf of the staff and myself here at SWTFW, I would like to personally welcome you to Star Wars; The Federation Wars RPG. For those who do not know what an RPG is, it simply means Role Playing Game. Role-Playing, for short. Many people tend to view this sort of gaming style as boring, weird, and for the 'anime' kids. Take heart and pride, it is still a gaming style and it takes skill to be able to sit down and write a chapter of a tale in an RP thread for the brain to visualize. The unique type of RPG on this site is known as free form role-play. It tends to be the most effective and free form of the RPG genre. With this type of RPG, writers can choose the exact words they want their characters to say, choose their exact backgrounds, and have an unlimited environment to work with. Here at this particular site in the Star Wars universe, you literally have an unlimited array of possibilities to work with, as its setting is set tens of thousands of years after the events that took place during the time of Luke Skywalker.

Whether new to role-playing in general, or just to that on this site, this guide is here to help you wout in any way possible. The sections in this guide are here to help you be a fair, honest, and fun player in the star wars tfw rpg. If anything, let this guide be a reminder on proper techniques when writing your posts. We are not here to tell you how to write or fix your grammar, that's all in your hands. What we do, as well as veteran members, is fix your characters' flaws and make sure they're acceptable to our standards. No one likes the typical godmoders who never die or never get hurt. Remember, your characters can die and will die if caught in that situation. But enough of my rambling, go on and read the guide.

Section I: General Role-Playing

1: The Main activity of the site is obviously role-playing.

2: Posting OOC messages in RP threads should be kept minimal. There's a reason we have OOC sections, so please make use of those.

3: I don't mind your use of language, but remember that this is a PG-13 site. Certain words are censored, but try not to use them too much. You don't need to use harsh language to get a point across in OOC sections, and there may be younger eyes on this site as well. So for your sake and the sake of those younger than you, let's not corrupt yet another generation of young people.

4: controversial subjects are absolutely not allowed. These include subjects such as rape, necrophelia, pedophelia, etc. Gore and torture are permitted In Context of the game, but must be kept at a minimum and are NOT allowed to be graphic in any way. Talk of torture, rape, or any of those other subjects in OOC can result ina 24 hour ban. Continuous talk on the subject may involve FBI Investigation. This is a very serious matter, and when someone constantly talks of raping someone or torturing another and isn't being funny at all, though I still do not condone joking on this subject, we take this into consideration. There are dangerous people on the web. We don't want them here.

5: When you start a thread, be sure you established a sense of beginning. Describe your surroundings including the environment, weather, people, animals, buildings, etc. This will help keep things clear for those who post in the thread.

6: Show respect to everyone in the role-play. Members, VIPs and staff members should all be shown the same level of respect by everyone. Just because someone has a higher title than you does not mean they are better than anyone else.

7: You cannot set up a challenge where the loser is to be banned for any amount of time. Bans are used only as punishments and deterrents for those who break rules.

8: The staff reserves the right to lay out any consequence they see fit for the breaking of these or any other site rules.

Section II: Creating your character

1: Your character is not a god or anything close to it, nor is he/she invincible. Remember to fight fair and make sure your character is defeated appropriately when needed. You must give you opponent a window of escape that he/she notices. No cornering into a wall where the only outcome is death and they haven't had enough time to even put up a fight. That isn't anywhere close to fair.

2: When creating your character, don't turn them into a mary sue or gary stue. These terms pretty much mean that they are the luckiest, best, most perfect character ever created. Nothing goes wrong with them, everyone wants to be them, and they're either there to save or destroy the universe. No one likes these characters really, and they're very overused. So please, be creative.

3: When making the profile for your character, be sure to make it detailed. A simple profile, even for a new character, is not enough. When posting a profile, it cannot say “Coming Soon” or anything else of the sort. It must have at least fifty words, but fifty words is nothing. Your history should be at least three to four paragraphs long and “he’s a new character” is not an excuse. Everyone has a back story. They were not simply twiddling their thumbs until they came into the story. There are two forms of character profiles you may use and you can click here to read them. If you still need help with your profile, feel free to consult any member of the site with your questions.

5: Remember to be reasonable with your character. Don't sit there and make them a non-force user and make them a master of the lightsaber. That would be impossible and unreasonable. In order to wield a lightsaber, they must either be force sensitive enough to have Jedi reflexes, or be a Jedi or force user themselves. Remember this rule, it is important.

6: You are only allowed 10 characters maximum. Links to your characters must also be posted in your signature and your signature must be posted in all you posts.

Section III: Fighting

1: f your character is killed in a battle between factions or a fight with other characters, you cannot claim that you were Role-Playing a hologram, clone, illusion, apparition or robot unless that was specified before the commencement of the fight. You must inform your opponent of those circumstances prior to beginning the fight and he must agree with them. If he does not, then you must fight as your character.

2: Any attack must be able to be countered unless you have approached the end of a duel. You cannot simply walk into a thread and kill someone instantly or destroy a shipyard with a single shot or launch fifty missiles at an enemy ship during their own wedding. Everyone should be given the chance to defend themselves after every move. Whether or not they are able to think of a defense is up to their own imagination.

3: You may not post things such as “and he shot his opponent in the head” because that gives your opponent virtually no chance of survival and you would be controlling another character. The best way to say something like this is to say that “he shot towards his opponents head”, as that gives the opponent a chance to dodge it.

4: If your Force Sensitive character is killed, he cannot return as a Force Spirit, a Dark Side Spirit or a Force Ghost unless otherwise specified by the staff. There is little to no chance that the staff will approve such a request for whatever reason, and there is even less of a chance that it will be for a Force Ghost.

5: If your character is a Force user, keep in mind what ability and skill level you’re at. A character who is a Jedi Master can use more Force Powers while prolonging its usage, while a Jedi Apprentice is restricted to only a few uses of certain abilities.

Section IV: The Force

1: The Force is the greatest power in the galaxy. This will never be questioned.

2: Characters who use the Force must undergo training from a master. If your “uncle” or “brother” trained you in the way of the Force then you are still restricted to only the Jedi Hopefull abilities as you cannot control the Force correctly until a proper Master, whether it be a Jedi Knight, Jedi Master or an equivilant, has tought you. This does not apply to those making Independent Factions.

3: Everyone must be instructed in the ways of lightsaber combat. Just because you may have inherited it from someone does not mean you know how to use it. It takes years to learn how to properly use a lightsaber so the likelihood of your character having mastered it, let alone learning how to use it, is slim-to-none. If you have come to the Jedi Temple with an inherited lightsaber, you must tell your master at the start of your training either in character or out of character.

4: You may only use Force Powers in this sites Force Powers list. If you believe one should be added to the list, please consult the Staff.

5: When using a Force Power in a role-play, you must make it detailed. “He used Force Push” is not an acceptable description.

6: Some powers and abilities are restricted to ranks that may be higher than your own.

7: All powers and abilities your character has learned must be stated in his profile.

8: Just because you are a Jedi does not mean you are invincible. When someone uses a Force Power against you, take appropriate hits. Everything should be kept fair.

9: You cannot use a Force Power that will cause massive destruction to a wide radius, cause massive property damage or kill hundreds or more people, even if they are all NPCs. It does not matter who you are or how long you’ve role-played.

10: You are not to use Force Choke against a non-Force user to kill them, as a non-Force users has no way to counter that attack. This is the same for any other power that cannot be countered by a non-Force user. However, almost all of the powers can be used against non-Force users.

11: You are not to create your own Force Powers without the consent of the staff. Creating Force Powers is reserved solely for Independent Force Users.

Section V: Classes/Ranks

1: In a pre-established faction, everyone starts off at the lowest level unless given special permission from the Faction Leader. The only exception is when you are creating an Independent Faction, in which case you would start off as the leader.

2: If you ask for a rank without proper reason you will not receive it.

3: You must follow the restrictions of each rank. If this is ignored, the Faction Leader may decide to demote you in rank.

4: Asking for special ranks (I.e. Jedi Guardian, Jedi Consular, Jedi Sentinel, etc.) is allowed.

Section VI: Independent Fleets

1: All Independent Fleets must be applied for and it must be very small. The Independent Faction Moderator will review your fleet, as well as your entire Independent Faction, and either approve or deny it. This also applies to any forces that are sold by an organization to someone else. If an organization wants to sell forces to someone else, either the organization or the customer has to request the forces being sold.

Section VII: Independent Factions

1: If you wish to create your own Independent Faction, you must explain it’s purposes, beliefs, etc. This is the same for all Independent Factions, regardless of their category.

2: All Independent Factions are able to find their place in one of the following categories: Independent Light Side Factions, Neutral Independent Factions, Independent Bounty Hunter Factions, Independent Mercenary Factions, Other Independent Factions.

3: All Independent Factions must be approved by the Independent Faction Moderator before they can begin being role-played in the Story board.

4: Please see SECTION VI when you are ready to build your forces.

Section VIII: Faction Sanctioned Executions

1: Faction-sanctioned executions, namely a faction executing a character after putting said character on trial, is a gray area in terms of killing characters, but it is allowed if role-played fairly. In a typical role-playing fight, if a player finds themselves in a situation where they are essentially backed into a corner and have no means of defending themselves, whether that be through losing a weapon or literally being backed into a corner, then it is only fair that the player allows the opposing player to kill the character if the opposing player so chooses.

Executions carried out by factions are viewed as being of the same principle. If a player gets their character into a situation where they have no means of escape or defense, such as being captured and/or imprisoned, then that is considered boxed into a corner because imprisonment means the captor is deciding the capture’s fate.

Because of the potential for unfairness and due to the fact that character killings of this nature are a gray area, a role-playing administrator will review each case to ensure that it is being role-played fairly. Criteria will only include whether or not the faction fairly captured the character and whether the character is in a position to fairly be executed. The merits of the case, such as the reasons for execution, will not be reviewed, though they may be commented upon if said role-playing administrator so chooses.