Rules on Subraces

Site Admin Joined: Nov 12, 2009 Posts: 472

When creating your account that will hold a subrace, it is important to not have any ( ' " , ) or other symbols in the account name, it causes conflicts with the data base, and may not apply stats correctly.

Ok, there seems to be a bit of confusion and varying thoughts on what is what and what should be, in regards to subraces.....

How will they affect my characters?
Well due to some changes that concern subraces some classes may be disabled. info on this will be announced.

Is this or that available?
We have plans for a good variety of subraces.

What are the requisites to play one?
We will not just be handing them out, they have to be earned through rp awards and we want to know in addition that a player knows what it is they are asking to play so that we can be comfortable that they are capable of the RP that comes with a subrace. Another factor is the subrace to nonsubrace ratio of the server as some sort of balance must be maintained to prevent the server from being flooded with them. Three weeks minimum active RP to all Players on the server with a normal toon.

Do I have to play one?
No, you are not required to play one if you don't want to.
This is not an excuse to fake being a subrace though.

How do they work?
Subraces work through a combination of scripting, leto, and applied skins.

Can anyone play any sub-race they want?
-See below-

Can I just fake being a sub-race by role-playing it?
-See below-

Do I need DM permission to play a sub-race?
-See below-

These are some of the questions that have been asked so far. We hope that you the players will post other questions so that we may compile a FAQ and get an idea of proper answers for these questions as many of them don't have single answers as different races have different needs that must be met in different ways. Some of these questions have been answered. More will be posted after we have more input, in the interest of efficiency.
We want to make them available to enhance your rp immersion. We don't want to be overly restrictive with them on how they can and can't be made. There are and will be however obvious limitations, i.e. you cant make an ogre from a halfling or a drow from a half orc, or say a vampire from a gnome. This is not because we want to tell players how to build their characters but rather a matter of logic and or scripting nightmares involved with certain applications.

Site Admin Joined: Nov 12, 2009 Posts: 472

Answers to some of the above questions:

1. Do I need DM permission to play a sub-race?

Some yes...... Others no....
At this time We have decided to open up a few subraces for general play by any who want to.

The following races are now considered "Open" subraces:

Drow, Arctic Dwarves, Wood Elves, and Orcs.

Please see the thread on open sub races for the specifics of each.

To play any other subrace will require staff approval. This is in part to keep the world from being flooded with subraces and thus the common races no longer being common.
In addition we want to know that the player of any subrace is familiar with the lore behind the subrace being requested this has to do with being authentic to the world that we RP in.

2. Can anyone play any sub-race they want?

Aside from the "Open" subraces mentioned above.....No.
The intent of having subraces is to provide a tool that can be requested by or awarded to players of proven Rp skill. This is not to say that one must be some superb guru at RP in order to be able to play one but mearly that we want to know that anyone who is interested in playing a subrace isn't biting off more than they can chew RP-wise or just looking to build a stronger character to hunt or even pvp with.

3. Can I just fake being a sub-race by role-playing it?

Absolutely not.
We have to ask that players not fake a subrace by using a common race and changing its appearance and RP'ing it as something that its not.
This has been a matter of much discussion as "faking" being something that is not supported by the mechanics of common races can lead to many problems. Some reading this may readily understand what some of these problems are and others may not.
The purpose of Having subrace templates is to provide continuity in game mechanics, so that a vampire will be a vampire, a werewolf a werewolf, or even a drow that is actually drow, each subject to its pros and cons.

this rule on faking things does not only apply to subraces. It applies to any class or ability that is not represented on your character sheet. for those of you who don't see the harm in this I submit the following that i found on another servers forums regarding what they refer to as cheesing...........

- No "Cheesing": "Cheesing" is the act of playing your character as if they have an ability or feat which the NWN engine would not otherwise allow them to have. "Cheesing" could also mean playing your character as being a race, class or otherwise that isn't applied to your character through the game. An example could be playing out a character as a vampire even if the character is not setup to be that. This does not mean, oh my regen is higher then my damage.. so therefore I dont have to rp that I have issues with the sun... when it is easy enough to say one player to another.."Do you mind if we step inside and perhaps havea drink * squints upward watching the sun as it begins to rise in the sky* "We can continue our conversation indoors, or over a drink." Vampires are not day walkers.

"Cheesing" a race is the act of picking one of the standard NWN player character races and then entering some other non-NWN race into the subrace in order to try and pass yourself off as a non-standard race. "Cheesing" an ability is the act of playing your character as if they have an ability which the NWN engine would not otherwise allow them to have.

Example: You cannot be a giant-kin by picking half-orc and writing "Veerbeeg" in the subrace field.

Example2: You cannot say your character is a vampire with exceptional strength and the ability to make other characters into a vampire by biting them. ONLY abilities that are granted by your class, race, and level within NWN are in-game. Extra powers that you make up or pretend to have are unacceptable.

There is a very very good reason that we have this rule. A long time ago *evil grin* a player came in and decided they wanted to be a vampire. So they did all kinds of things to fake being a vampire, and none of the abilities were really implimented in NWN. It got to be really bad because in order for that vampire to be successful, OTHER player characters had to PRETEND that this person was a vampire. So it became this whole big thing about having REAL NWN abilities and abilities that you are PRETENDING to have. Not only is that really cheesy, IMO, it can get very confusing.

Player1: *pretends to whack Player2 over the head* Player2: What was that for? Player1: You're unconcious now. I whacked you over the head. Player2: No I'm not. You didn't do any damage to me at all. Player1: But I have a 42 strength. I'm a giant. Player2: No you aren't. You look like a halfling, and your character sheet says you have a 7 strength. Player1: I know. I know. That's what my character sheet says. But I'm REALLY a giant and I have a 42 strength, so you better roleplay being knocked out, buster. Player2: That is the stupidest fucking thing I have ever heard.

That's just an example. You can substitute *pretends to bite your neck and suck blood* in there for the first line if you want. But I think you see my point.

http://wiki.avlis.org/Rules:Specific_Rules:Cheesing

I found this personally to be very definative and sensible and thus share it with you. On this note I also want to add the following......

If its not supported in the game and on your char sheet you do not have it.
It's funny too because there are some who will argue that its telling them how they have to rp..... and well yes if you look at it like that it is.
The world is based on a core set of fictional facts. These are the foundation for all things within the game. These things by their nature dictate how things are , just as gravity dictates in rl that if you walk off the top of a building your gonna fall.

Site Admin Joined: Nov 12, 2009 Posts: 472

It is against server rules for any factioned subrace to take advantage of looting crates, boxes and any lootables while playing that particular factioned race.

Players caught doing such will be subject to removal of the subrace, and may not be premitted to play another. This is considered an exploit as these races do not have to hunt the areas in order to gain access to them, and thus shall be treated as such.

Site Admin Joined: Nov 12, 2009 Posts: 472

It is against server rules for any factioned subrace to take advantage of looting crates, boxes and any lootables while playing that particular factioned race.

Players caught doing such will be subject to removal of the subrace, and may not be premitted to play another. This is considered an exploit as these races do not have to hunt the areas in order to gain access to them, and thus shall be treated as such.

Many of the subraces have been opened for player use. Make a point of reading up the section on subraces and languages. The rules will be followed explicitly. RP is a requirement for all Subraces. If you have no background on the Isles for RP the three week rule applies to you. This is not even up for negotiation no matter how many times over the years you have logged into the server. Don't tell me your working 60 hour weeks, or limited time, we all have life situations that prevent us from doing many things, this keep things fair. All rules apply to everyone, subrace or not.

Admin and staff have the right to pull a subrace if the requirements have not been met.

Re-levels require admin aid, do not just simply change the name and remake. Re-levels and re-makes will not be permitted if you are not rping the toon. Toon can be removed due to the discretion of Admin and staff if the character is not being RP'd, as can levels and classes that are not being RP'd.

**Note** levels and classes can be removed from any PC toon that is not being RP'd. Perm death can happen.