Shadow World Project Rules

[Merkuri]

Hey everyone, welcome to the Shadow World Project! We are trying to create a gaming system compatable with the play-by-post style you see most often on this board. Anyone is welcome to give input or criticism or simply to watch. At some point we will need playtesters, and anyone is welcome to do that, too. Whatever you can do will be helpful, whether that's balancing game mechanics, designing cities, creating races and monsters, drawing maps, or illustrating our world. All I ask is that you follow these few rules:

• There is no "i" in "team." This is a group project. We will be discussing ideas and agreeing what's good and what's not. If you have an idea that nobody else likes don't sit here and complain. You are free to try and convince people to like it, but Remember that we all have a say here.
  
  
• Constructive criticism is a good thing. Feel free to be critical of other people's ideas, but make sure it's constructive criticism. Saying something sucks is not constructive. Saying something is a bad idea because A, B, and C, however, is better. Back up your opinions with reasons. Rules similar to the Wyrm's Den apply here: you can attack other poster's ideas/creations, but don't attack the poster themselves.
  
  
• Don't take criticism personally! This follows from the previous point, but because we want this system to be as good as it can be, be prepared for your ideas to be criticised. Don't take criticism of your ideas as criticism of you. Everybody has good ideas and bad ideas, and even the bad ideas can sometimes have good elements in them that we can use.
  
  
• Input is wanted from everyone! Please participate, even if all you're doing is saying "yeah, that sounds like a good idea" or "no, that's a bad idea." The more input we have the better we can make the system. Even if you're not a regular poster in this forum and you're just stopping by, we want your input! Be aware, though, that once you give us an idea it is ours to run with as we like. If you propose something and then don't come back here for a month, don't be surprised if we've taken your idea and have warped it into something totally different. If you really want it to stay the same make sure you stick around to defend it.
  
  
• In case of an argument that cannot be solved by discussion I will make the final decision. I hope never to have to use this, but somebody has to have tiebreaker authority, and by default that's me. I am aware that this is not my world, it's our world, and will only use this "power" in cases of emergencies. If I don't like an idea and everybody else does then tough for me. I don't have veto power.
  
  
• Have fun! I don't know about anyone else, but I'm doing this for my own amusement. There are no deadlines, no bosses to appease, no one specifically to satisfy (not even me). We're just trying to have fun making up a system that will hopefully make playing online easier and quicker.
  
  
• More rules and recommendations will come as I think of them.

[Merkuri]

Rules for creating a world

The "Shadow World" (working title) is a universe much like our own, composed of galaxies, solar systems, and planets. Some planets are inhabited, some are not. Most inhabited planets are ignorant of each other, though some have inhabitants that are capable of space travel and can travel between planets. The term "world" refers to one or more of these planets that are connected by a roleplaying theme or similar setting. A world may be made up of a single planet or an entire galaxy.

Anyone who wishes to can participate in creating a world. If you have a world you wish to create you can post your ideas in threads on this board. A world thread's title must have the following format: "Worldtitle: Threadtitle", where "worldtitle" is the title of your world and "threadtitle" is the title of the individual thread. You can have as many threads for a world that you want (within reason, of course) and they can be about any subject you want, whether it's about types of magic, a specific geographical region, or modes of travel.

Keep these things in mind when thinking up your world:

• Travel throughout the universe is mostly accomplished through wormholes. If you want your world to be isolated, simply rule that there are no wormholes connecting it to other worlds. It's recommended that worlds not be of such a high tech level that they can travel without wormholes, because this creates the possibility of worlds contaminating each other. Travel between worlds is possible, but very rare.
  
  
• The gods are dead. There has been a major event of apocalyptical proportions, and this event has left the universe godless. The powers that the gods wielded are not gone, however. They can be found most often in Godlings (see the Godlings world threads), but they may manifest in other ways as well. A world creator wanting to incorporate gods can create "false" gods (probably powerful Godlings, but possibly something else) that are unique to that world. For all intents and purposes, feel free to treat these false gods as true gods.
  
  
• There is a "fabric" of magic that lies just under/behind the visible universe. Most mages will draw their power from this fabric, but it is possible to have mages that use other sources. If your mages use the fabric as their source then they must conform to any pre-existing rules of that magic (including a Godling's "null magic area").
  
  
• Focus on roleplay details, not mechanics and statistics. Individual worlds will probably require unique mechanics for some cases, but these should wait until we've fleshed out the mechanics for the system in general.
  
  
• You should be prepared to recieve constructive criticism about your world. It's your world, and you can pick what advice to listen to and what to ignore, but be ready to consider everyone's suggestions. Also, don't be shy giving advice to other world-builders. The point of posting it here instead of working on our worlds in private is so that we can get feedback and ideas from our fellow board members.