[RULES & ACCEPTABLE SERIES]

[mansionstaff]

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE READ EVERYTHING HERE FIRST!

Updated: 01/07/2016

GOLDEN RULE: Don't be a jerk.

Simple as that. Keep it civil, level up your respect, stay In Character. IC =/= OOC. You should not force, pressure or guilt other players to log with you, or play your character a certain way. Trolling, bullying, passive-aggressive behavior will not be tolerated. Do not canon puncture, godmod or metagame. (Don't know these terms? New to RP in general? Head over here.) These are things that should go without saying. If there's a dispute you don't think you can handle, PLEASE contact a mod so we can work something out. We typically employ a three strikes, and you're out discipline system, but we reserve the right to ban or temp ban anyone immediately if we feel the circumstances warrant it. Player comfort is an extremely high priority with us, and we'll do our absolute best to ensure that.

AGE REQUIREMENT

All players must be over the age of fifteen and must adhere to Dreamwidth's TOS. Please put any sexually explicit or excessively violent matter under a cut and use appropriate warnings in said cut. If you want to go the extra mile, we'd appreciate it if you also locked stuff like that to the communities. You are allowed and encouraged to play it out, just be courteous about it.

ABILITIES

For the most, your character can retain all of their abilities (and cars and spaceships and mechs and weapons and ponies and whatever else comes along with them). All we ask is you don't go blowing up the Smash universe if that's what their power is. Kirby is still able to copy abilities like he does in the games, Ganondorf still has his magic, etc. You can blow up some property, beat up some dudes, murder some NPCs if you really want, that is totally cool; just keep it under the godmod limit, think like a Smash Brother, and don't overdo it. This isn't a dick-waving contest.

Conversely, if you want to put a cap on your character's powers, you have the freedom to do that as well. If you need a reason, just say Crazy Handwaved did it.

If you apply for a non-human character and humanize them, they might not retain all of their abilities. For example, Meta Knight can't turn into a giant tornado with a swoop of his cape or anything like that if he's human, and Zapdos would have a really hard time flying or doing drill peck as a human. These details will be left up to the player to decide, but we ask that you be a little sensible with it.

CHARACTER DEATH

We allow it and is permanent for the most. You must get character death mod-approved first. If your character dies you effectively drop them. You may reapp them with moderator approval. You may also have them turn into a ghost type Pokemon if they are a Pokemon. This will considered as if you were apping a new character. In the event you are logging a big fight scene or something and realize a little too late that your character is effectively screwed and they need a deus ex machina to either prevent death or bring them back to life, also talk to a mod about that. We have a lot of powerful magic users here and fantastic science, not to mention 1-UPs and Phoenix Downs and whatever items you need, so we can certainly arrange something for you.

RESERVATIONS & APPLICATIONS & REAPPLICATIONS

Reservations last for two weeks. Reserving a character locks them in place for you and gives you priority when we review. More details on the reserve page.

Check the acceptable series guide and our application guide before you apply. More details on our application page.

If you're accepted, we will reply with instructions on how to enter the game, what communities to join and how to get your network tags. You will have two days to follow said instructions, or your app will be considered invalid. Then you have one week to make an IC post somewhere. The auxiliary communities (smash_creative, youre_smashing, smash_ooc, or smash_random) do not count. If you find yourself in a emergency and absolutely can't post for whatever reason; don't panic. Just leave a note in the smash_ooc or somewhere visible and we'll make sure you don't get the boot.

If we ask for revisions, don't fret! We are usually very clear in what else we're looking for. Just do the best that you can and try again. If you get three revisions, we will have to reject your application.

If your application is rejected, you will be barred from applying for a month. After a month has passed you may try again.

If you dropped a character and want to re-app them back (provided they aren't currently taken by someone else) we have a separate form for that! Please use the re-app form for returning characters. Please follow the instructions on the re-app form, and specifically we will want to know what your character was doing between leaving Smash Academy/Smash Rising and returning to it. We will also require new samples.

1UP! CHARACTER SLOTS & ACTIVITY REQUIREMENTS

From the get-go you get five character slots. You are allowed to app three when you join the game, the fourth and fifth can be apped two weeks afterwards. However, the mods reserve the right to deny you a character or a slot if they see you are completely inactive with the other characters you currently have. This will be dealt with on a case-to-case basis.

Sixth and seventh characters are a bonus; you can earn them only if you prove you are active and posting on a regular basis with all your other characters in the game. HOW DO YOU GET SLOT? Post some activity samples on the reserve/slot request page and we'll let you know if you're good to go or not.

Our activity checks are on the 20th of each month. Requirements are somewhat relaxed compared to other communities, though this may change in the future. (Don't worry though, we'll be giving you plenty of notice if that ever happens!) For now, activity checks require the following: Six (6) comments from your character in a thread. These should be fairly demonstrative of your character's voice- a thread made entirely of one word comments won't count. Threads can be split between each other, but please try to keep that to a minimum.

Activity Strikes can happen through circumstance or by request if you cannot get activity for the month but do not wish to drop just yet. Life totally gets in the way sometimes, we understand! Just let the mods know before the end of the check. You will need to provide full activity for your striked character in the next month. You will not get a strike if you are hiatused during a check, as long as you were hiatused before the check began. Hiatusing for two activity checks in a row, however, will count as a strike. Once you hit three strikes, you will be asked to drop your character, so please watch out! Character squatting is definitely frowned upon, but we trust you guys will know if you're doing that or not, and use your best judgement to act upon such.

TAG YOUR STUFF

Anytime you make a post or reply in smashrising or smash_network you must tag your entries with your character. It's this little button right here:

DROPS & HIATUS

Dropping a character is hard, but sometimes you've gotta do what you gotta do. If it's your first time dropping a character, you can instantly pick up another character if your heart desires (and if you have the slot for it). If it's not your first time however, you're going to have to wait two weeks before you apply for another character. The same applies to game-dropping. If it's your first time dropping the game and you suddenly change your mind, that's fine. But repeat offenders will have to wait three weeks. These rules are in place to try and prevent serial or impulse apping/dropping.

Your five slots are permanent once you get them, but you'll have to prove your activity again if you drop and want the sixth and seventh.

You may hiatus up to a month and if you need more time just ask a mod. You may not hiatus through more than one Activity Check in a row (which, again, means your hiatus should not exceed one month at a time barring mod-approved exceptions).

If you idle out of an activity check, for your first time you may use the re-app form to get right back in. If you idle out of an activity check any subsequent times, you must wait two months before reapping that specific character. Seriously, please just use the drop form if the character or game isn't working out for you. There's no shame in that and it keeps our modwork flowing.

NPCS AND YOU

NPCs (or non-player-characters) are a-okay to use in Smash. Link can run around with Navi or Epona, Pokemon Trainers can have their Pokemon, you can play a monster for a log, etc. The general rule of thumb is YOU SHOULDN'T BE PLAYING NPCS MORE THAN YOUR ACTUAL CHARACTER. We will be the judge of this as this can lead to abuse, but generally, we trust you guys. There are only (for the time being) TWO special circumstances:

∙ A licensed Pokemon Trainer or Gym Leader can have six Pokemon under their belt at a time, but the rest should hang out in the PC. You may swap them out with moderator permission.

∙ Personas will be treated exactly like Pokemon. You may also swap these out with moderator permission.

We also have a special game-wide NPC account! subspaceemissary is the Smash NPC journal, which you are free to use. These guys are always here in the background and sometimes they'll come out and have an official presence for a special event, or for shits and giggles. These include Nancy Fuk, Mr. Resetti, Sandbag, Parakarry, and the Gossip Stones. There are also other general Mansion Inhabitants (Mostly Shiny Pidgey.) that exist here besides Player Characters. Some might be mansion staff - Bath House Lady or a Grounds Keeper of some sort. You can have your characters talk about them freely, and are free to use them in any manner you see fit... except for killing them. You should ask a mod about that first, and we could very well say yes. (For example, we had a lake Kraken, but Caim killed it.) You can find the account password here, and detailed NPC profiles are in the journal itself. If it gets abused, we will have to take it away and we don't want to do that.

For any NPC type, if you have a journal for your NPC, you can add it to the comms but give a mod a heads up somewhere so we know to accept it. NPC journals should be for tag/comment use only.

POKEMON AND POKEMON TRAINING

We love Pokemon, but we really don't want 500+ Pokemon running around. Smash Rising isn't a Pokemon-centric game so there's a cap: no more than two Pokemon per player and no more than three of the same Pokemon in the game at any time.

Another thing that is popular in Smash is POKEMON TRAINERS, or non-Pokemon trainers learning the ropes of battle monsters. Simply put: if your character has a Pokemon Trainer's license, you can have six "NPC" Pokemon at your side. No more, even if canon dictates they have, like, a billion. Keep them in a PC, keep them back in Kanto or wherever. They should not be in Smash.

If your character does not have a license and you want them to get one, you can certainly log or handwave this; they can go take a test at the Pokemon Center in FDC, they can go on a Pokemon journey to Kanto/Johto/Hoenn/Sinnoh/Unova/Kalos/wherever and get one, whatever it takes. We just ask that you make it believable. Someone who has a widely known history of abusing animals, for example, probably would not be able to qualify for a license. Please note that your typical Pokemon Trainer rules apply; you need badges to make higher-level Pokemon obey you, and so forth. NPC Pokemon do not count towards the cap.

Also don't have your character train, like, an entire team of shiny Mega Stone holding Mewtwo or something. That's just tacky, bro. If a character does not have a legendary Pokemon in canon, they shouldn't have one in Smash. If you play Pokemon OCs, only one of the two can be a legendary.

You may also APP A TRAINER'S POKEMON. Just remember they do count towards the Pokemon cap, and it is mandatory to talk with whoever plays your trainer before writing the app to get permission first, and iron out details.

Characters who appear in video games in any form are acceptable, but we ask that you app them from the game canon.

Example:
Yes: Goofy from Kingdom Hearts
No: Goofy from An Extremely Goofy Movie

Yes: Batman from Arkham Asylum
No: Batman from the Adam West live-action series.

We accept "blank slate"/video-game based OC characters, but will treat these on a case-by base basis. Characters who deviate from established canon, sadly, won't be accepted.

Example:
Yes: An Argonian Dragonborn who followed the canon storyline + DLC and became a Vampire Lord and joined the Dark Brotherhood
No: A half-unicorn-half-angel from a non-canon Skyrim mod who did a bunch of stuff in a previous Dreamwidth RP that you'd like to keep in their backstory
No: Your Fire Emblem: Awakening tactician, who has a blue mohawk and is named Chesty LaRue (represented by Robin as a Smash-canon version)

Yes: An MMO character, like your WoW Paladin, given a backstory and powers that fit the setting of World of Warcraft
No: Sam Winchester but it's your Sim of Sam Winchester so it counts right


Yes: The protagonist of Pokemon Sapphire, given a personality of your choice (since they're a silent protagonist and all)
Yes: A Pikachu who lived in Viridian Forest until they were carried off by a Pigeot and landed on one of Smash's floating islands
No: Ash's Pikachu, Ash, Pikashtwo the Ash/Pikachu/Mewtwo fusion fan-Pokemon who knows Roar of Time
No: Mike Sephiroth the Stampede, a completely different guy who kicked the Pokemon Sapphire protagonist into space

We DON'T accept multiples of the same character. For "common" OC species, we allow a limit of three per each variety. Canon characters of the same species don't count toward that cap.

In the instance of spinoff games, or games where multiple different universes/iterations of the character exist, we'll accept clearly different multiples.

Example:
Yes: Link from Skyward Sword, Link from Twilight Princess (Different heroes who happen to have the name Link, canonically)
No: Link from Ocarina of Time and Link from Majora's Mask (the same character, just at different points in time)
No: Link but from an AU where he's a girl and lives in the Old West (not canon)

Yes: Goombario, Goombella, Goombanothy the Goomba OC, Goomez the Goomba OC, Goombarthur the Goomba OC (three OCs, two canon Goombas)
No: All of the above, but also Goombro the Weightlifting Goomba OC

Yes: The female protagonist of Pokemon Emerald, even though someone else has already apped the male protagonist. (Separate characters from parallel universes)
No: The female protagonist of Pokemon Emerald, even though someone else has already apped the female protagonist, but yours chose a different starter (The same character, sorry).