The Player - The human writer, you!

The Character - The Vampire persona you have created for this sim

OOC - Out Of Character, used for messages written by the player to other players

IC - In Character, used for the body of your post, written in third person past tense to other characters

Post - A portion of the story which a player contributes

PC - A Player Character, a character created and played by a player

NPC - A Non-Player character created by the storyteller or another player, who is not under anyone’s specific control

Game Conduct:

-This sim is rated "R" due to the subject matter. Vampire is a mature game, and requires mature conduct. However the following guidelines should be followed to keep the game focused on story and not "shock tactics":

Pornography: As in all good stories, romance often blossoms. This does not mean you should fill everyone in to the steamy details. Explicit sexual content in posts can make other players uncomfortable, and it will not be tolerated. Not even the "getting there" scenes. In short, keep your pants on! Romantic scenes or other sexual encounters can be posted by using the "fade to black" method where the narration fades, only leaving hints about what the characters are doing. Kissing, romantic glances, and conversation are allowed, but do not bring the narration into the bedroom.

Profanity: In an R rated sim, profanity is inevitable, but we ask that it be kept to a minimum. Most posts should be kept at a PG13 level, and most characters interaction should not necesitate profanity. It is allowed in times of extreme stress for characters, but it should be kept well-checked.

Gore: Yes, we are playing bloodsucking creatures of the night, but we are not at the midnight cable splatterfest. Please keep graphic images at a mildly shocking level, and remember we are trying to go for story content, and not hack n’ slash gore.

Offensive Remarks to Other Players Out Of Character: Are not tolerated. Period. Your character can get mad at someone else's character, but in OOC conversations, please conduct yourself politely. If everyone particpates and gets along the sim is much more fun than if people are in-fighting.

We ask that every player respect these guidelines so everyone can get maximum enjoyment from the sim. These rules should not be restrictive to your character, but they must be followed. Failure to follow these rules will result in your character being ejected from the sim.

Post Content: A post is a section of the ongoing story. Think of it as a portion of a TV show between commercial breaks. It can be solitary, as in a character grappling with his/her inner thoughts, or it can be an interaction. You are allowed to post the action of another PC, but if there is a discrepany between that player’s concept for his/her character and your post the player of that PC is allowed to decide how his character reacts.

Posts should be posted in this general format

Subject: This will be what goes in the subject line of your e-mail. It includes your character's name and a short title for the post (like the title of a TV show episode) seperated by a dash ( - ).

Example: Sydney Lanouette - Things Couldn't Get Any Worse

Title: Each e-mail should be titled with the title you have given your post and the title of the post you are continuing in parenthesis. Say Sydney's is continuing a post from Mortimer which was titled "Look What You've Done!" Then Sydney's title would look like:

Example: Things Couldn't Get Any Worse (continuing Look What You've Done!) Continuing means what post (or posts) you are picking the story up from.

OOC: Place any OOC comments on posts, gameplay or any questions you may have before your post. If you have more than one question or comment, seperate them by OOC1, OOC2, OOC3, and so on.

IC: Here will be the bulk of your post. It is written in third person, past tense, much like the narration in most novels. You will be in your character for this portion. For clarity, there are certain ways to post different types of communication (spoken, verses that darn telepathic communication)

Out of Character comments are preeced by OOC:

In Character posts are preceeded by IC:

Actions are not enclosed in anything, they are written as action is in any book.

Dialogue is enclosed in "quotations" For clarity, extensive dialogue can be written like a play script.

Thoughts that are unheard (but interesting to the storyline) are enclosed in ~thoughts~

Telephone conversations are enclosed in [brackets]

Telepathic conversations are enclosed in *asterisks*

When asking for a response from another character or an NPC, end your post in:

When asking for unknown results from the storyteller end your post in:

For readability, please keep OOC comments at the beginning and end of posts, do not place them in the middle of your IC posts.

OOC: After the posts is the place to put OOC comments that do not relate to the game play, bits of humor, or general announcements. This is the place for you to say "Hi, Mom!" if you so desire. Again, seperate individual thoughhts by OOC1, OOC2, OOC3, and so on.

Signature: Each post should end with a short signature that identifies the character and recaps the post. The Format for the signature is:

-Character name

-Character’s clan, and the character's concept or position in the city

-A short recap of what happened in the post or the immedaite action the character is involved in.

Example (using dear Sydney again):

Sydney Lanouette

Friendly Malkavian Bookseller

Getting shot at.

Any questions can be posted to the list with the title of OOC - Question, or directed to TorontoMalk@angelfire.com