Expanded Rules of FreeForm RolePlaying in The LATTICE

Below are the details of The LATTICE's Basic Rules. Adjustments are made to the Rules as becomes necessary, and all players are expected to keep aware of them. Changes and additions are marked in red. Check this page once in a while for changes and additions!

Updates:
• April 1, 2000 -- Zero-Sum: Fatigue.
• July 30, 2000 -- Control of NPC's & player-created elements.
• August 29, 2000 -- Privacy of Passwords.
• August 29, 2000 -- Zero-Sum: Permanent Injuries & Physical Disabilities.
• December 2, 2000 -- Multiple characters per player are not allowed.
• January 15, 2001 -- Alternate dimensions do not exist.
• November 26, 2002 -- Posting for missing players.
• January 9, 2009 -- Single-character rule removed.

Freeform role-playing cannot be devoid of Rules! While you are mostly free to do whatever you like with your own character, these Rules serve to protect the freedoms of others within the game, as well as to promote smooth play and enjoyability. Some of these Rules can actually teach you to role-play better. Failure to heed these Rules, especially after warnings, can result in your getting booted out of this game.

The Golden Rule

You may be as unpleasant and evil as you care to be in character, but disturbances by players are forbidden. Before you get angry about an apparent insult or infraction, think about whether the offense has occurred within the game, between characters, in accordance with freeform Rules, or outside the game, player to player -- sometimes the distinction can fool you! No one is perfect, and your toes will get stepped on now and then. You are expected not to try to right wrongs with more wrongs. If possible, work out problems with other players by private e-mail; failing that, bring your concerns to the LatticeMaster for arbitration.

This game will be kept running smoothly. Fairness to concerned parties is the primary consideration in disputes, and all involved individuals will be given opportunity to argue their sides. The rulings of the LatticeMaster are final in all aspects, and complaints about the final judgment are held in very dim view.

Rules of FreeForm Play

1. You may not post actions or reactions for other players' characters. Every player in The LATTICE must retain complete control over his character.

   Notice that this is Rule #1. It is the most crucial FreeForm Rule in the game. Even if you are a Game Master, you must not post any events or effects that take away a player's power to decide what his character does or does not do, or how he reacts, or what he sees or thinks or senses. For example, if your character wants to attack another character, no problem! -- just be sure to post your attack, but not the effect on the other character, because that's up to the other player to decide.

   The Rule against controlling other players' characters extends to their NPC's as well, and also to any special devices or objects that other players might create. You may not post specific aspects of, or actions by, or effects on, anything created by other players. Any player who creates a thing (NPC, device, etc.) also controls that thing, exclusively. You may not, for example, shoot a weapon out of another character's hand, destroying the weapon; the weapon is considered to be a part of that character. Or, if some artifact appears in play, described anonymously or by a player, whoever first created it is considered to be its owner and controller, for all game purposes.

   As simple as this sounds, many players have a real problem abiding by this Rule -- don't be one of them! Just do not ever post anything for a character, NPC, or object that is not your own. If you did not create it, don't control it!

   Players may allow their characters or or NPC's or artifacts to be taken over temporarily (e.g., for vacation purposes), if specifically stated.

2. Forbidden Technologies. All actions must reflect the general physical possibilities of The LATTICE's future milieu. Faster-than-light transport, for example, is not possible (except via the Teegs). Magic is not acceptable, unless an appropriate scientific method for accomplishing that magic is posted. Although highly advanced medical technology abounds, death is final -- and unprotected exposure to vacuum, for example, will bring irreversible loss of life. Make yourself aware of The LATTICE's environment! or risk posting something as improper as "Captain Kirk pulls out his light-sabre ..."

   Check the official list of non-existent ("unconquered") technologies at Tour: Humanity: Unconquered Technologies.

3. The Zero-Sum Rule. Power not only corrupts; it seduces, especially in a FreeForm environment. It is far too easy to create characters or creatures or devices of such magnitude of ability and influence that game balance is completely destroyed. The Rules of any game must maintain the game's stability; in our FreeForm game, the Zero Sum Rule helps to serve this purpose.

   This is the wordiest of our Rules ... but it is a single, simple concept.

   1. THE RULE: Any positive aspect introduced into the game must have an equal and opposite negative aspect. If your character enjoys a great power, he must have an equally great weakness; and if your character can tap into great energies, he must pay an equally great price for their use. Most importantly, the negative aspect must manifest itself in the game at least as much as the positive aspect does (in other words, to offset a power that is used regularly, you cannot claim a weakness that is rarely if ever felt).
   2. BALANCE vs. CANCELLATION: The Zero Sum Rule is not intended to cancel out powers with weaknesses that directly counter them; that would defeat the whole purpose of having powers in the first place!
   3. INFINITY AND NEGATIVE INFINITY: All power must be finite -- measurably so. Incomprehensibly vast powers simply cannot be tolerated, no matter what counterbalances might be in effect. But, to say that a power is "limited" does not in itself satisy the Zero Sum Rule; there must be some negative counterbalance, not just a limit.
   4. UP-FRONT ACCOUNTABILITY: All negatives relied upon to satisfy the Zero-Sum Rule must be posted up-front in the game, either as soon as a corresponding power is used, or before-hand, on a character sheet or in play. No hidden or secret weaknesses satisy the Zero-Sum Rule. However, all players are free to introduce more weaknesses than are necessary to counterbalance their powers; any character may be "over-weak" -- and often such characters are far more fun to play in terms of challenges and triumphs.
   5. THE ARBITRATION: It is initially up to each individual player to define both his powers and his weaknesses. The Honor System assumes that the player will create a suitable balance, and all players are free to introduce whatever powers and weaknesses as they see fit. There are no "points" or numerical measurements involved; common sense must prevail in determining whether a given power is sufficiently balanced by a given weakness. Also, it is not necessary to have a strict one-to-one accounting of powers and weaknesses; if you give your character three or four reasonable powers, you might offset them with one or two extra-strong weaknesses, or five or six moderate weaknesses, as long as the manifestation of these weaknesses balances the powers -- of course, the more such discrepancy a player relies on, the greater the chances of losing his Zero-Sum balance, which can lead to an intervention in play to restore balance, for it is the ultimate decision of the LatticeMaster as to whether any character or creature or device is in compliance with the Zero-Sum Rule. The LatticeMaster reserves the right to demand and implement whatever adjustments are necessary to maintain game balance.
   6. "FATIGUE": Becoming tired after using a power, being able to use a power only once per time period, or using energy sources that deplete after a certain number of uses of a power, do not effectively create balance for a power. It rarely if ever fails to play out as more than a simple skipping-over of the fatigue, such as "Hax is tired for the rest of the day. Then, the next morning, he feels better ..." Also, if an ability is limited only by its energy source, that balance is lost when a new and better energy source presents itself, which is always the case (remember, in The LATTICE, we presume tiny, powerful, nearly limitless energy sources such as quark batteries and antimatter pods). When you are creating an ability for your character, do not try to assume Zero-Sum compliance by "limiting" the power.
   7. PERMANENT INJURIES & PHYSICAL DISABILITIES: Because The LATTICE exists in a far-future time, when medical technology is extremely advanced and readily available at low cost, any intended use of permanent physical injuries or handicaps such as blindness, missing limbs, deforming scars, etc., as a weakness to comply with the Zero-Sum Rule, must be accompanied by an explanation of why the character will not have the injury repaired. Physical handicaps are not disallowed, but their continued existence must be justified.

   The Zero-Sum Rule has caused some controversy; but most experienced roleplayers will embrace and agree with it, and would abide by it anyway, of their own accord ... for it is well understood that the unrestrained exercise of power ("munchkinism") appeals only to poor or misguided players, and that truly enriching and rewarding roleplaying thrives on the overcoming of personal obstacles and limitations. If you do not understand this Rule, just try to abide by it, and you will learn something about roleplaying in general.

4. Keep It Clean. Sexually explicit descriptions, excessive graphic violence, and otherwise objectionable content, are not allowed. You may include whatever you like in your storylines, but as it enters areas of offensiveness, tread carefully. There is nothing special about such content, and we have all seen plenty of it before, elsewhere. It's boring (which is worse than objectionable), so if you must incorporate sex and violence and so forth into the story, do so as economically as possible. Consider it a test of your writing ability.

5. Privacy of Passwords. Posting privileges (i.e., passwords) are granted only to those people who have proven their roleplaying ability, their understanding of the game setting, and their writing skill, by completing an acceptable Player Application. The Application is the game's main quality-control checkpoint that prevents inappropriate posts and disruption of stories. The password you are granted, upon acceptance into the game, is for your own use only. Do not share your password!.

   If you are absent from the game, and have given temporary control of your character to another player, that player should post with his own username & password (anonymously if desired).

6. Three Strikes. Players who continually break the Rules of the game, or generate trouble that does not technically break Rules but causes other players to lose their enjoyment of the game (take heed, Rules Lawyers), will be booted out, after having been warned as the LatticeMaster deems appropriate. And no, you might not get three chances, or even a second chance ... so behave yourself.

Suggestions, Requests, and Notes

• Playing Along. Though you are free to introduce any actions or events or situations whatsoever into your storyline, you are well-advised to wield this power restrainedly. Storylines, of their own accord, have a way of demanding certain elements and rejecting others. If you try to force unwarranted or overly-farfetched events into a storyline, you will probably disrupt the story and risk losing your fellow players' desire to share their game with you. Excitement and adventure and momentum are vital, but common sense must prevail in your efforts to keep the storyline moving.

• Time. While one game-day might take weeks in real-world time to play out, you might just as easily progress months or years through game-time in a single post. Individual scenarios simply cannot progress at the same rate. It is an imperfection in the system that (usually, hopefully) gets compensated for between adventures. Overall, the date is considered to be the same in the game as it in in the real world, except that The LATTICE is precisely 13,601 years ahead (i.e., January 1, 2000 A.D. real-time is January 1, 15601 A.D. game-time).

• Movement. Each separate message page is an individual area on the Game Board. Players are encouraged to think in terms of their characters as game pieces that move from one point on the board to another as their quests and adventures evolve.

  As a courtesy to other players, when your character leaves one area and travels to another, your posts should be marked appropriately. For example, if you are piloting a ship docked at an orbiting space station, and you land the vessel on the planet below, your last post at the space station should end with "(to Talus IV: Capital City: Spaceport)," and your character then begins posting at the Talus Spaceport, with your first post marked "(from Talus IV: Orbit: Space Station)."

  Some areas are large, and though they might be represented by a single message page, can contain several distinct areas of action (e.g., a bar scene, where a conversation at the door, one in a booth, and one in a back room might all take place together). It is usually up to the players to decide whether a new page should be created to split action into manageable pieces.

  Characters can only exist in one place at one time, unless a believable explanation is given for their occupying two places at once. Please note that time travel is one of the unconquered technologies.

  Area Pages vs. Event Pages -- It is the official policy of The LATTICE to use the Discus message pages as PLACES (i.e., spaces on a game-board) rather than as EVENTS such as chapters in a story. In pursuit of this policy, the LatticeMaster reserves the right to rename Event Pages as Area Pages. (This policy is NOT found throughout all Mystery & Magic games.)

• Area Interaction. If you post an even that affects not only the area you post in, but adjacent areas as well, be sure to post the visible effects of the event in all appropriate areas. You simply cannot expect players to read all the posts on the boards, so you must help to keep players aware of their surroundings.

• Flunking Physics 101. Some knowledge of science will come in very handy in The LATTICE! If you don't know the difference between velocity and acceleration, or don't know what blueshift is, or how many mesons there are in an "up" quark (trick question!), you might find yourself struggling with certain situations in this science fiction environment. Unfortunately it is impractical for us to require players to "go out and learn science," so take two pieces of advice to heart: (1) If you are unsure of how things work in the universe, stay away from posting things you don't fully understand, remembering that none of us know everything, and (2) don't be afraid to ask for an explanation of something that's not clear to you (preferably by e-mail, to keep the boards clean).

  Always remember, too, that your character can easily exist with no knowledge of science whatsoever, just as many of us exist in the real world without a single clue about anything scientific.

• Addictions And Intervention. the LatticeMaster, like the Supreme Being, is not entirely dim, and has seen many variations of NPC and Zero-Sum abuse. If you adhere to these two Rules, you will enjoy the freedom and benefits of creating fantastic and entertaining characters, and enhancing your stories with various NPC's. But if you become greedy and sneaky, you will risk penalty or expulsion -- this is true of all Rules, but especially of the NPC Rules and the Zero-Sum Rule, which both seek to help you avoid well-documented seductions of the FreeForm environment.

• OOC ("out-of-character") Comments. Please do not post frequent personal comments on the game boards. All players in the game have their e-mail addresses posted so you can contact them (exception: some NPC's are commonly without e-mail addresses; you may ask the LatticeMaster who controls those NPC's). The occasional OOC note is fine, but please keep them short, and put them at the end of your posts so they do not interfere with Discus Search Results.

• Missing Players. Occasionally, characters will not post for a period of time. Unfortunately a missing player can greatly disrupt a scene, often completely stalling all the other players in the story. In this case, a suspension of FreeForm Rule #1 goes into effect:
  • FIVE DAYS - If a player has not posted for five days, permission is granted for other payers in the story to post for his character, on the provision that no extreme or permanent change may be made to the missing player's character. For example, you may move that character, have him speak and act, interact with others, etc.; but you may not kill or mutilate him, obligate him to extended commitments, give away his prized possessions, etc. This is called "Carrying A Character (In His Player's Absence)." Temporarily, the character is owned by no one, and any player may post actions for him, in keeping with common sense and reasonable story progress.
  • TEN DAYS - After ten days, if a player is still missing, permission is granted to remove his character from the scene, but only in such a way that the character might return if the original player resumes posting. For example, you can have the character move away to explore a nearby area, after which his whereabouts become unknown; but you may not kill him off. This is called "Exiting A Character."
  • FIFTEEN DAYS - If fifteen days elapse without a post from the original player, his character must be exited from the scene in a timely fashion. The Missing Player guidelines are not intended as a loophole for players to inherit multiple characters, but as a method of preventing story stalls and smoothing the inevitable loss of players.
  • UPON RETURN - If and when the original player again resumes posting for his character, FreeForm Rule #1 again goes into effect, and permission for other players to post for his character is revoked.
  Please note that the Missing Player guidelines apply whether or not a player has posted in advance that he will be absent from the game; but also remember that it is only common courtesy (see the Golden Rule) to respect the expressed wishes of a player during an announced absence.

  The Missing Player guidelines are not intended to facilitate or condone the absence of players from the game. If a player fails to post for an extended period, or continually takes a week or more between posts, it is probable that he will be removed from play. The Missing Player guidelines, while hoping for fairness all around, are intended to help the players who are actively posting rather the player who is absent.

• Quitting The Game. If you need to withdraw, please advise the other players, either with e-mail or a posting. You character can be carried temporarily by your fellow players, if they are willing, but extended absences will get you dropped from the game.

• The Faceless Man. Anonymous posts are not anonymous to the LatticeMaster. Fair warning! ... and if you have something to say, you should not be afraid to have your name on it anyway. Differing points of view are always welcome in the Public Discussion area, and complaints are heard without anger and with the intent of getting your problem solved.

• Copyright Release. Intellectual property rights to all content, written or graphic or otherwise, including characters, storylines, and concepts, are ceded to MysteryAndMagic.com. All rights are reserved and ©MysteryAndMagic.com.

  This copyright umbrella is for our own legal protection only. We are not selling your writing. If you believe that this game is just a way for us to get free text for our own profit, you should find another game.

• Single-character rule removed. Multiple characters per player are now allowed.

If you have any questions, please e-mail the LatticeMaster.