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| Guild of Adventurers |
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 ole-playing in Aelyria is like participating in a great game of make-believe that spans thousands of players over a period of the past few decades. Players assume the roles of characters and post their thoughts and actions over our forums (each of which represents a different settlement in the vast world of Aelyria). As writers interact and are guided by our moderators, plotlines unfold revealing an epic tale of adventure, magic, romance, and intrigue.
Playing in Aelyria
Participants in Aelyria play by posting stories with other players. These stories are as open-ended as your imagination, bound solely by the limits of your creativity. You can assume any role or character -- from the noble knight, to the scheming thief, a villainous wizard, or a pious priest -- by acting out the events, stories, and life of your character. You can post at any time, at your own pace, as fast or as relaxed as you wish, with thousands of participants around the world, from anywhere that is convenient for you: from home, work, school, or even on the go.
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| Character Creation |
| Creating a character in Aelyria is fun, fast, and totally free. First, take a look at the Races FAQ to familiarize yourself with the major peoples of the realm. Each race has unique physical attributes and physiological characteristics contributing to a set of strengths and weaknesses. Secondly, consider the Lands FAQ for an overview of the Kingdom of Aelyria, its cities and settlements, and the broader empire that sets the stage for our adventures. Soon, you should get a general sketch of a character concept and can begin considering things like name and appearance.
Once you register an account and name it after your character, you can create a charactersheet. Charactersheets, or character profiles, are public records where you can keep track of your character's knowledge, skills, abilities, and possessions; it can be in any style or layout of your choosing and is a great opportunity to express yourself. If you just want to hop straight into the action, just create a new post in the Characters forum titled after your character name and just enter a brief description of your character's Appearance. See also:
Starting Out
Characters advance in Aelyria through the learning of knowledge, the training of skills and practical use of those abilities, and the acquisition of wealth and treasure. All characters (except for those with Starting Packages) begin with the following items:
- 500 Gold Crowns
- 1 Rusty Dagger
- 1 Deed to a Basic Tenement
- 5 Flasks of Water
- 5 Rations of Food
- 1 Visa
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| Posting and Playing |
 New characters are encouraged to start out in Aelyria Prime, the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Aelyria and the seat of the sprawling Aelyrian Empire. However, players are free to begin their characters wherever they wish. When you are ready, you can claim your starting city by making your first post - your character home. Every character begins with a domicile to call their own, typically a form of common housing with a few simple rooms residing in the urban sprawl or residential district of your city. See also:
Interaction
All players interact by posting what their characters are doing, and sometimes thinking or feeling. Then, another player will post their character's actions and thoughts. It is typically recommended that players take turns posting so that everyone has an opportunity to participate. Because all interaction occurs on our message forums, all stories occur in threads. Each thread will always have a specific focus, typically either a location (such as a tavern or inn) or an event (an adventure or quest). The focus is usually declared or hinted at in the thread's title. Threads may be moderated or unmoderated, which affects how conflict and uncertainty are resolved. Also, threads are often marked "open" or "closed" (or "private"). This is a matter of courtesy and indicates whether the player who started the thread would like to welcome random players into the thread, or would like to play only with specific people they've invited into that particular thread.
Fig. A Typical Thread Listing.
Moderation
Throughout the course of your stories, you will be posting and responding to posts and witnessing actions and causes. The reactions or consequences to these are determined through moderation. Moderation is the resolution of uncertainty and conflict; when the posters in a thread cannot agree to how a competitive or confusing situation plays out, they are assisted by a moderator, a volunteer arbiter of adventure. Every poster moderates to a certain extent - for example, by describing one's surroundings - but a Game Master specifically moderates multiple players by describing how the fictional world and its imaginary inhabitants react to your character's contributions. When characters confront great risks, pursue fabulous rewards, face enormous challenges, or confront significant opportunities, threads should be moderated by a staff moderator. Otherwise, players are welcome to resolve most social and story interacts on their own. |
| House Rules |
 Aside from the post-and-response, cause-and-consequence dynamic, Aelyria has relatively few rules for its players. One defining characteristic about our community is that each city or settlement has its own team of moderators, a Game Master supported by Assistant Game Masters, who tell the stories with player characters playing the roles of the lead actors in those epic faerie tales. Each city may have special rules or adaptations that it requests of its players, so please familiarize yourself with them when your character travels. Players post in other cities at their own risk, so be cautious when pursuing rewards in lands governed by ruthless moderators. That said, Aelyria has certain global policies -- our House Rules -- that we expect all moderators and players to observe.
1. Player Characters.
Player Characters, or PCs, are characters that are created as a player's persona, the role that he or she assumes while playing in Aelyria. Players cannot kill another player's character without their consent. Players cannot otherwise permanently change, mind control, scar, disfigure, or permanently mark another player's character without their express permission.
2. Death and Dying.
Only moderators, such as Game Masters, may permanently change or force the death of a character. Usually, players will be given ample notice and sufficient opportunity to anticipate, react, and potentially escape death. However, sometimes, it may be unavoidable and a character may be incapacitated or even killed. Worry not, however, for death is only the beginning. See also:
3. Non Player Characters.
Non Player Characters, or NPCs, are the fictional inhabitants of the world of Aelyria. They are characters that are a part of the world, and can be created by anyone to describe a place, its setting and atmosphere, and the surroundings. Non Player Characters are subject to being "possessed" or controlled by moderators, and are usually instruments in stories and tales or used as obstacles or opportunities set in the course of an adventure or quest.
4. No Bunnying.
"Bunnying" is what we in Aelyria call god-modding or power-posting, which is, the act of posting the response or actions of another player's character. This is very much frowned down upon here, because at the core of the Aelyria experience is allowing and encouraging players to participate and interact with one another. Players cannot write-in someone else's action, which would limit another user's ability to choose and respond. People do not like bunnies, except in cartoons. Here is a comparison:
(Correct) Kaelon glared at Ieolus for the imprudent remark, a veritable insult, and lifting his scepter above over his head, swung it down upon Ieolus' head with all of his furious might.
(Incorrect) Kaelon glared at Ieolus for the imprudent remark, a veritable insult, and lifting his scepter above over his head, slammed it onto Ieolus' head breaking his crown and knocking him unconscious.
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5. No Stooging.
In Aelyria, players can control their character and other non player characters. Additionally, Companions can play an unlimited number of multiple characters concurrently. In order to keep everything fair, characters under your control cannot help each other. This means one character cannot rescue another, offer a loan or bailout, or even simply share information or knowledge of events. Stooging may be comical, but no one takes it seriously and after a while, it becomes very annoying. |
| Fluid Time |
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Fluid Time is a system of time tracking designed and developed for use in Aelyria. In traditional role playing games, players often have to wait until the action in one event has been resolved before participating in another activity. In Aelyria, players are allowed to post in as many threads as they would like to simultaneously. In order to make sense of posting at different points of in-game time, we recommend two optional steps:
1. Maintain a Character Timeline.
Many players choose to maintain charactersheets on the Characters forum to help them track experience points, knowledge, skills, and possessions, and so on. This is also a great place to store a Character Timeline where you can organize the events and threads in which your character has participated.
2. Timestamp Your Threads.
When a new thread is posted, the author typically includes a timestamp - a brief mention of when, roughly, the event takes place in the fictional timeline of Aelyria. Timestamping your thread can be as simple as mentioning the general time of year (e.g., "In the Early Spring"), to a very specific time of a certain day (e.g., "Sunset on the Fifth Day of the Month of Aperitus, Thirteenth Year after the Aetherfracture"). In either case, using timestamps can help other players know when the thread takes place so that they can be placed into other character timelines without creating conflicts. See also:
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| Travel |
| When players post as their characters, they are placing them in a location as the setting for their adventures. However, characters will certainly travel throughout the course of their adventures. When you wish to travel your character from one place to another, refer to the Lands FAQ so that you understand the path your character is taking. Then, it is recommended that if your character is physically traveling (rather than magically teleporting) through an area or province that you make a new thread in the Wilderness forum for that particular region. This will encourage other players and moderators to provide you with surprises, challenges, and opportunities that can lead to fabulous rewards tempted by perilous risks. See also:
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| Skills and Progression |
Skills in Aelyria are anything that player characters can be trained to do or learn through study. Players are encouraged to keep track of knowledge, skills, and abilities in their charactersheets. Aelyria has an open source approach to skills -- if it's possible to learn and progress in one's proficiency in it, it is most likely a viable skillset. There are generally three types of skills -- Combat, Magic, and Trades -- and there are five categories, or levels, of proficiency, each with their own separate title.
| Level |
Combat |
Magic |
Trade |
1
2
3
4
5 |
Basic
Veteran
Elite
Master
Grandmaster |
Initiate
Apprentice
Adept
Master
Archmage |
Novice
Apprentice
Journeyman
Master
Grandmaster |
Threads in which a skill is used counts towards earning experience in that skill. Moderators will typically award one (1) point for normal use of a skill, two (2) points where the skill played the central focus in resolving conflict or uncertainty in that thread, and three (3) points for exemplary use of a skill. As a player collects experience points in a specific skill, he or she may choose to progress and advance in skill level proficiency; this is known as "leveling up". Skill experience points must be collected before attempting to level up, and some skills take time to successfully learn. See also:
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All times are GMT -5. The time now is 12:12 PM.
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