§1 The Cardinal Rules of UV

No character is allowed to kill or permanently maim another character unless its owner has given specific permission -ON THE FORUM- to do so.

You can post with each character in only ONE thread at a time. This will ensure continuity and keep relations with other characters clear. The only exception to this rule is all joining threads in the apropriate forums. You may have your character in as many joining threads as you want (as long as you feel you can keep up with them all, of course).

Do not take over and control a RP situation unless it has been agreed upon in advance for you to do so. Roleplaying is a cooperative thing. Always give your co-players a chance to react to your actions and never forcibly control what happens to their characters without their consent. This is bad roleplaying and not fun for anyone.

§2. Acceptance of New Characters into the Forest

You must have properly filled in a character sheet for your character. See §4 and §5 for types of characters that will be accepted.

You must now post this character sheet at the "Edge of the Woods" forum, including a short RP introduction on how he/she/it came to Deep Forest.

Your character may also already have been a resident of Deep Forest or the Boundary Mountains from before. If you want this you can post your character's bio in the normal way at the Edge of the Woods and RolePlay in the forest/mountain setting so we can see your writing quality. When you are accepted you may continue in the RP threads as normal.


NEVER START TO RP IN THE FOREST OR MOUNTAINS WITHOUT BEING ACCEPTED IN THE JOINING FORUM FIRST!

Creatures will be accepted into the forest by Gaeva, Shadowed Illusions or FoxDragon. Others may come to greet you, but only these three are allowed to accept you.

Time to get accepted varies but you are expected to roleplay your character faithfully in their own joining thread until that happens. If you want you can post in other players' joining threads at the Edge while you wait. Joining threads are the only threads in which your character can be in more than one at the same time (see §1).

§3. Number of Characters Allowed

Initially, every player can have up to three (3) characters, no more. They can be the same kind of creature or different species, related or complete strangers, whatever you like. Just no more than three when you join. If you do decide to join with three characters at once, then make sure that each has their own clear profile filled out, whether in seperate joining threads or the same.

When you have been here for a while, and your 3rd character has been accepted at least two months earlier, and you have proved that not only can you keep up with all three characters, but you also continue to write good quality posts while doing so, you may request to add a 4th character. This request is best done in the Away From the Woods forum. The character has to be accepted at the Edge as usual.

Once you have been a member of UV for quite a while, have continued to keep up with all four of your characters, and have had a 4th character for at least six months, you are allowed to ask for a 5th character.

If you decide to join 2 (or more) characters at the same time in a party of some kind, and agree in advance that these characters will always be together, and never roleplayed seperately in different threads at the same time, then the amount of characters you can have can be slightly increased while still abiding by the rules above.

§4. Character Types Allowed

Your character can be anything you want it to be, this isn't just about unicorns. If you wish to play a mutated swan then go right ahead. The only exceptions are NO HUMAN CHARACTERS. So if you have a human-looking character, make sure they have visible clues they are NOT. Humans will be chased away. Adaptations of these however are allowed, like a shapeshifter with a human form, or a centaur, or an elf. If you are still not sure if your character will be acceptable, you can always double check by posting in the Away From the Woods forum. Human items are allowed.

You may play a young creature (foal, pup, kitten etc) or have young ones as a parent when you join. But once you join you can not have offspring without a mate. Permission for having children is not needed, except from your chosen mate. Also do remember you may not have more than three characters until you have proven you can handle more than that. You must also be warned that RP time runs slower than "real life time" here at UV, so be prepared to roleplay a child for some time to come if you do choose to bring one in.

§5. Character attributes

Your character may have any abilities you want to give it, but keep it within reason. NO GOD-LIKE POWERS. Your character may be very good at something but it can never be good at everything. Give your character flaws to make him/her/it believable.

Unreasonable attributes, (examples: excessive size that would destroy the forest just by moving) will not be accepted. Also remember that too powerful characters will often not be able to be played to their full potential without breaking the rules in §1. Character flaws are the main ammunition in a good roleplayer's arsenal. Use them. If you still insist on bringing in an overly powerful character, be prepared to have certain restrictions placed upon you by someone of the staff. You will still be able to bring the character in, but you will always be limited, and not be able to play him/her to their full strength to protect not only the Forest, but other people's RP enjoyment as well.

Stick to the chosen abilities and flaws. Do not suddenly add a new one just because you feel like it, or because your character will otherwise be beaten in it's current situation. Characters get beaten, everybody meets their match sooner or later. Accept this. This may be fantasy, but it's a shared one.

You are allowed to develop your character's abilities while it lives in Deep Forest, but once again, keep it reasonable. Your character can not discover/learn something new and immediately master it completely in just a few posts. These things take time, enjoy your character's growth, do not rush it. There is also a special forum called Hidden Visions Reflected in which you can write your character's experiences while learning this new ability in a fic style if you think RPing would take too long.

§6 Good and Evil Characters

There are two types of characters on UV: Good and Evil. These need not be extreme in either direction, and the two types are not nessecarily enemies. An "evil" character can for example simply be egoistic or self-centered, it need not be a brutal villain out to kill all that is good (although those exist too). The concept of evil and good does not mean that the character's thoughts, visions or ideas about itself or the world are necessarily evil or good, they are meant to help your fellow players anticipate what to expect from them. Evil means that the character is likely to behave in a way we would disapprove of, no matter how neutral his thoughts are. Example: Not aiding someone in distress because it would mean "to side" with that person and lose neutrality is "evil" according to the definitions in UV's rules.

"Good" creatures can go anywhere they please, but when they enter the Boundary Mountains or the Swamps, they will no longer have the protection of Gaeva and Geaven, and are therefore on their own.

"Evil" creatures can not enter the Meadow of Peace as a magical barrier has been created around it by Geaven the Guardian to keep anyone with an evil mind out. They often roam the mountains, but apart from the Meadow they may come and go anywhere they like.

§7 The use of NPCs, pets/familiars and "extra" Characters

A NPC (non person character) is a character that isn't owned by any player in particular, and can thus be used and played by everybody. Examples are the birds that fly overhead through the forest, or that cute bunny rabbit that just crossed your path on it's way home, or that demon in the mountains that just jumped you from behind in an attempt to kill you but finds his own death upon him instead. They can be anywhere, anything, and usually lack a name and/or personality. They also don't last very long and must be out of the picture by the time your thread ends, whether it be because they went on their way again, or died.

NPCs have also been added to the living areas within Deep Forest, such as the Village and wolf pack. These NPCs are a bit more advanced as their personalities, ranks/jobs, and backgrounds have been established already, and can only be RPed within the area they were created for. Other than that anyone can play them, just like a normal NPC.

Your own character can have a pet or familiar that accompanies him/her wherever they go. This is not a formal character and does not require a profile, as their main purpose is to enhance/expand on your official character. Examples are a pet, like a dog (talking or not), or a horse to get around on. It can also be a smart mouthed sidekick to your character however. You have to mention such a pet or familiar in your character's profile, as they count as an ability or advantage (or disadvantage, depending on their personality). These beings can only be found at your character's side, and never alone in a seperate thread where your character is not present. If for any reason you wish to have your pet/familiar/sidekick do something that would require them to leae your character's side for the sake of a storyline you're in (like needing to take a message for your char, or getting kidnapped to influence your char), then you may ask permission in Away from the Woods to have this happen. The seperation lasts for as long as the storyline your character is in lasts as well.

"Extra" characters are just like NPCs, with the major exception that they are not "N"PC, but PC, as in owned by a particular player. These are for example used by mods who handle joining threads so as to give more variety for newcomers, or people hosting a plot and needing extra characters, like bad guys, to make it happen (Read §10 to learn more about these plot NPCs and how to get them).

§8 Joining a Local Community

Within the forest are certain communities, often consisting of several creatures of the same race or goals grouping together. You may freely post in these territories, but depending on the type of inhabitants, you should expect that they might react to your character's presence somehow.

If you want to join a Local community, first check if they have any special rules you should know about. Then you post in the forum housing this community, putting the word "Joining" somewhere in the title. People will show up to greet you and, after some roleplaying, they might decide to accept you into the community. These joining threads are, like all joining threads, not affected by the rule of "one thread per character".

Certain sticky threads represent fixed "landmark locations" within Deep Forest. These can be for example merchant shops or the habitat of a single creature. The very first post of these threads describe the location and what you can expect there -- read this carefully before posting. The title of the thread often reflects if the place is "empty/occupied" or "open/closed" or whatever status it may have, but there are no posting restrictions or joining requirements at a landmark location. Anyone may go there at any time, to face whatever the location holds.

§9 Longer Absence From the Boards

If you will be gone for a long period of time it would be greatly apreciated by all if you'd let us know by creating a post in the Deep Forest Spirit forum saying so, and preferable how long you think you will be gone. If you do not do this nothing will happen at first, but you will inconvenience the people you were roleplaying with and make them wait for nothing.

Every now and then on the 20th we will do a review on all members. When we find some are inactive a warning (Reaper) for them will be posted, and if you left an e-mail or have your private messaging option ON, you will receive a warning (Reaper) by mail as well. You will have a week to respond to the Reaper and let us know if you will be back. If you do not respond to the Reaper within a week your character will taken from the inhabitants list, AND will possibly be taken over by Gaeva. This could result in your character's death in either a roleplay or in the current story written in the Visions forums.

§10 Plots and Plotting

The RP at Unicorn's Visions is frequently enlivened by story plots created to entertain the players. This is usually done by either Gaeva or Barbannis, though others can of course plan something new as well. They are however the only two members at UV who are allowed to start a RP plot of any size with any possible consequences to the Forest and it's inhabitants without previous permission given from the rest of the staff.

If you have come up with a grand scale plotline that will affect numerous inhabitants and/or Deep Forest itself (or the unicorns in charge) in any way, you must present this to Gaeva first. This is done to first judge your course of action, and whether it will be appropriate and feasible to carry out. And second this is done to prevent several plots popping up at the same time and not only creating chaos, but interfering with each other.

If you have come up with a small plot that will only affect your own characters, or possibly those of one other member, but will not touch upon the unicorns in charge or affect Deep Forest and it's other inhabitants in any way, you do not need to seek permission first.

If you wish to carry out a RP plot that will need outside characters, other than your own or those of other members already accepted, then you however will need to ask permission first from Gaeva. Any extra characters brought in without any previous permission, for the sole purpose of any kind of plot, big or small, will be considered to be your own official characters. You will therefore be breaking the rules by not having them accepted at the Edge of Woods first, but also possibly by exceeding your amount of allowed characters.

§11 The Most Important Rules:

Don't be afraid to ask questions.

Have fun! ^_^