Rules

Thank you for your interest in playing on Sundren, a Neverwinter Nights 2 persistent world. In order to make the playing experience more uniform and fair for our players, we have established the following rules. Please familiarize yourself by these rules, and abide by them at all times.

Rules

Please contact a DM if you have any questions about any of the following rules.

Death Penalty

XP will not be refunded for deaths that occur during lag, server crashing, etc.

Farming

Farming is defined as repeatedly traveling across a particular zone, killing enemies for gaining XP, items, and/or gold. Players should spend no more than three hours fighting in a hostile area without breaking for at least an hour to "rest."

Particularly, Sundren DMs will keep an eye out for the following farming behaviors:

-Killing unchallenging foes that grant no XP

-Getting extraordinarilly wealthy from repetedly killing foes

-Killing foes alone (soloing), which adds no role play value to our community

Sundren uses a unique experience curve system and incremental level cap that restricts farming activities. However, if you are caught farming, there will be repercussions.

Character Recreation

Players have the ability to recreate their characters from scratch, but XP, gold, and items may not be transferred.

PvP/CvC

-PvP combat is permitted everywhere in Sundren. However, you should consult with a DM before attacking in cities, towns, or highly-populated areas. Witnesses and guards might intervene, and it would be unfair to all parties involved to allow unintelligent, un-possessed NPCs to represent reactions to a violent conflict.

-Players must set the person they are attacking hostile. No exceptions. Because of engine mechanics, failure to do so may cause unfair advantages in combat. Nobody is allowed to PVP without Hostile set.

-Deaths resulting from PVP combat incur an experience penalty. Read the rules for subdual below for more information.

-Players must have an in-character reason to attack the person. "My char hates people" is a dumb reason.

-All players must be made aware of impending attacks through RP (threats, shouting "Prepare yourself!," etc.) or an OOC tell. This need not be immediately before an attack. Saying, "I'm planning to hunt your character," hours before the fight is just as good.

-Players may not use area transitions or other metagame knowledge to their advantage in PVP. For example, laying traps on or near an area transition, even with a road nearby, is not an option. This does not apply if there is a natural IC "bottleneck," such as a narrow hallway, gate, doorway, etc.

-Players do not have the right of refusal on PVP. If you feel the aggressor is being abusive, talk it out with them to understand their motives OOCly. We encourage players to consider the feelings of all parties involved while making PVP decisions, but the aggressor may, in the end, still assault the defender if it is warranted in-character. Neither level difference nor "carebearing" qualify as reasons to avoid PVP on Sundren, but we believe it is important to remember the feelings of everyone involved. If you still feel their PVP is unwarranted, contact a DM.

-Death from PVP will result in a memory loss unless the victim is raised or resurrected by another character at the location of their death immediately following the PVP event. Players may not contact other players OOCly for a resurrection, especially to retain memory of the conflict. Players who use a signus or respawn from the FEN lose all memory of the conflict and events leading up to it that might "finger" the villain. The purpose of this is so assassins and murders don't have their dead targets coming back and ratting them out. Respawning is a courtesy that should not cost our characters in-character consequences.

-Players should try to avoid using NPCs as strategic leverage in PVP. If the defender is engaged in a battle with monsters, wait until the fight is finished before you attack. While it could be in-character to strategically "jump" them while in battle, it could cause unfair lag and give the aggressor advantage.

-We do offer a subdual tool for players, where losing brings you to 1HP instead of death. This tool is meant to be used in-character--only use it if you do not mean to kill the person, not to OOCly save them XP. If death occurs due to DOT spells or some other accident, DMs will not refund XP (PVP is serious business). Subdued players must role play that they are knocked unconscious by the victor unless otherwise agreed on by all involved. Subdued players must allow the victor to perform actions freely to their unconscious selves, including robbery and carrying their body somewhere else. Please see robbery rules below.

-Abusing PVP by repeatedly killing a character within a short period is considered griefing. Nor will we tolerate players who seek out PVP with OOC reasons. We do not consider level differences as griefing. Characters who win in PVP may not seek out the character they beat for PVP again for a 2 week period. However, if the loser seeks out the winner, the winner may react hostilely.

-Characters that are subdued or killed must allow the victor access to their inventory, but with restrictions, for OOC griefing reasons. Victors may take all of the victim's gold OR a single item from their inventory (this includes worn and unworn items). Players are NOT allowed to ask "stats" on items; simply take whichever item your character thinks looks the most expensive or powerful. Players concerned about losing all their gold should be reminded about our in-game banking system.

Pickpocketing

Pick pocketing is not to be abused, repeatedly stealing from someone is considered harassment and abusive behavior.

Metagaming

Meta-gaming is the use of information obtained out of character in character. This is unfair to other role players and if problems arise a DM will handle the situation.

Ninja Looting

Ninja looting is defined as following someone else, letting them fight in combat while you pick up all loot right under their nose, keeping it for yourself. This will cost heavy XP deductions if anyone is caught doing so.

Out of Character

OOC or out of character talk can be disruptive to gameplay, Sundren is a roleplay server and people are expected to stay in character at all times, the occasional comment is fine but we ask that it is kept to a minimum (or preferably, use tells/party chat).

All OOC chat needs to be defined somehow, using brackets or otherwise.

E.g., // AFK or (( Be right back! ))

Transferring Items/Muling

Transferring items from one character you own to another is not permissible under any circumstances, as this is considered exploitation. Also, hoarding items on a particular character/account is not permitted.

Administrator Supremacy

Server administrators and dungeon masters make decisions for the good of the server. Their word on something is final unless appealed to another official who will then review the situation and decide to reinforce or abolish the decision previously made.

If you believe you have been treated unfairly by a member of our staff, please post a courteous topic in the Help Requests forums. If you need to speak with someone privately, send a private message to any of our senior staff.

Insulting DMs or staff members, whether publically or in-game, is not a good way to get help. They are regular people just like everyone else who want to have fun.

Harassment Policy

Harassment of another player will never be tolerated, for any reason. If someone is harassing you please contact a member of our staff and provide screenshots of the incident.

Sexual and Offensive Situations

-Sundren is a mature-content server, but we do not allow for plots that are offensive to players in real life. Abuse, child molestation, and rape should never be used in a plot on our server, even in character backgrounds. We realize that there can be grey areas, but you know when you are approaching "borderline" in your descriptions and plots. If you feel your actions are borderline, but you're not sure if they are crossing the line, simply consult a DM before going forward.

-If you are ever told by another player OOCly that your actions are offending them, work it out in tells. You may want to "tone down" your descriptions, or the offended party may simply leave the area if the actions are not truly offensive. Some folks are more sensitive than others, but all parties involved should work things out in a pleasant manner before proceeding.

-Sexual situations are not to be roleplayed on Sundren at any time. We do not allow for "cybering," even in the privacy of an inn room.

Cheating & Exploiting

Cheating and exploiting bugs in the server or general game mechanics will not be tolerated, and is bannable if you are caught deliberately doing so.

Griefing

Griefing is the physical component of harassment which includes repeatedly killing or pick pocketing a player. This will not be tolerated.

Naming Policy

The following is a general set of instructions for naming characters. It is by no means comprehensive and your best judgement and common sense should be used. If you are unsure whether the name you are contemplating would be allowed, then it probably either needs (at a minimum) DM approval or won’t be allowed.

-Nicknames are allowed in the character description, but must be <pre-approved or granted by a DM as part of RP before being put into the first or last name slot;

-Titles (Lord, King, Prince, Baron, etc) are not allowed in the name field unless granted by a DM;

-No names of famous fantasy characters, especially those relevant in Forgotten Realms.

-Names should be properly cased, where appropriate:
    Not acceptable: JoNhNnY or XJohnnyX
    Acceptable: Mac Dougle or MacDougle

-Derogatory / racial terms are not permitted;

-No odd characters, including " or ', ( or ), { or }, [ or ]

-No periods where they don’t abbreviate:
    Not Acceptable: .Johnny or Johnny.
    Acceptable: Bob Perkins Jr.

-Elves are allowed ‘ in their name, within reason:
    Not acceptable: Ti’re’ni’rv’ghr’it
    Acceptable: Tir’ene

-No numbers:
    Not acceptable: Bob Perkins 2 or Bob 2-Feathers
    Acceptable: Bob Perkins II or Bob Two-Feathers

If a PC has a question about whether or not they meet the standard when naming a PC, they should contact a DM or post on the forum in the help section. Anyone caught using a title will have to remake and may not be refunded their items and XP if the DM believes the player knew the rule.

Existing PCs with titles, as of 13 May 08, are grandfathered in.

Sundren DMs are the final word on the naming policy