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Rules and Information
A persona (PC) is your main character. You must have at least one active PC, and be current on posting for it to apply for new PCs. When you submit a join form a Webbie will approve your persona sheet, after which a mentor must approve your first post before you are released from mentoring and allowed to send posts to the list.
Ranking personas require council permission, and have certain requirements that need to be fulfilled before you may apply for them. (See “Rank”)
You may not use another member's persona (PC or NPC). Unless it is stated otherwise (i.e. A Wingleader is always present at a Wingmeeting) you may not assign actions (such as saying your PC saw them when they might be somewhere else according to the owner), or characteristics to a persona without permission of the owner. If a persona is used without permission then the author will be required to retract the post and rewrite it appropriately.
NPCs are "support" characters, usually created to act as an accompaniment to your PCs. There is no limit on the number of NPCs that you may create, however they may not hold rank without council permission. A ranking position may not be held by a private npc, and hence the npc will have to be NPCF before you have enough posts to turn it into an ONPC and receive additional approval.
NPC/Free (FNPC) personas are created for general use, and you may use any of them at any time. If there is a persona sheet please keep them in character. You may adopt or replace any of the FNPCs, though some may only be adopted as PCs and with council permission. (Contact Council or the Webbies for further information.)
An NPC may be turned into an ONPC (owned/NPC) after you release 12 posts using that NPC. You may put a persona sheet for them on the web pages, reserve their name, and ONPCs may hold ranking positions. ONPCs do not have posting requirements and hence cannot hold Premium Ranking positions (Level 1-3), though exceptions will be made for Rankers Level 4-5. You may not have more than five ONPC (rank or no) without council permission.
» You cannot role-play any major Pern characters.
» No personae can be a descendent of any of Ms. McCaffrey's characters.
*** Names ***
» All dragon names end in 'th'. No human/flit names end in 'th'.» No sound/ look-alikes to any of the copyrighted names in Ms. McCaffrey's books
A member's pc's name is added to the reserved names list, as well as their dragon and pets' names. You must check this list before creating a name for a new persona. Names of NPCs are not reserved, so if a new PC is created with that name it will be allowed. The two members may discuss the issue among themselves, though neither person will be forced to change the name of their personas. (You may petition the council with a valid reason only.)
Only Trader personas have a surname, which is the name of the Trader Train to which they belong.
A member must receive council permission if he wishes to keep the name of a deceased persona on the reserved names list. If a member reserves a common name (such as a pet's name; for example: Red) and you wish to use it, then you may ask that member for permission to duplicate the name. The member doesn't have to give a reason to reject the request, and council will not override that decision.
*** Ranking Personas ***
Premium Rankers Level 1 Weyrleader, Gold Rider, Hall Master, Lord/Lady Holder Level 2 Wingleader, Craft Master, Weyrling Master, Major Pirate Ship Captain, Major Caravan Leader Level 3 Gold Flit, Bronzerider, Wingsecond
High Rankers Level 4 Headwoman, Wingthird, Major Ship Captain, Small Pirate Ship Captain, Lord/Lady Holder's spouse Level 5 Bronze Fire Lizard Owner, Watchwher Owner, Steward, Minor Caravan Leader
** Please see Notes below for in depth Explanations **
Number of High Rankers - Any one person may own up to three premium personas (L1-L3), and up to five high ranking personas (L4-L5); a total of no greater than five.
Caravans Major Caravan (Level 2) 10+ wagons. (Only one in Club) Minor Caravan (Level 5) 5 or less wagons NPC/Private Caravan 2-3 Wagons
Time Eligibility for Rankers - Unless otherwise specified, a member must be in the club for five months to acquire a premium persona, and for three months to apply for one of L4 and L5. After acquiring a premium persona there is a two-month probation period during which the member can't apply for another premium/high ranker. This is to ensure that the member can handle the responsibility of owning this persona. During and after this time the member must continue to maintain a good posting record, or the persona can be revoked/demoted. We understand that real life does get in the way sometimes, but if you earned a high ranker it doesn't mean you can now sit back and watch it gather dust. Premium personas and high rankers bare more responsibility than non-rankers, and influence a lot of other personas, so their writers have to maintain the same level of excellence they did to receive these personas.
Ship Size - “Size” (as in major or minor) for a ship is determined not only by the type of ship, but mainly the number and type of crew. Eight crew members or less will be a “minor pirate ship,” 10 for a regular “minor ship.” A major ship contains a crew that exceeds these numbers. Keep in mind that Captains are high rankers, and you may not have a major ship without a captain. Non-pirate ships may belong to the Sea Craft or can be owned privately, but only regular “minor ships” are npc.
Lord and Lady Holders - Lord and Lady Holders are both Level 1, but as they are part of one family with council permission one of the spouses can become a Level 4 ONPC. (A call for Level 1 PCs will be sent first, and if there are replies you will have to apply with the rest and negotiate with the Council.) If you want your Lord/Lady Holder to have a spouse but would not like to make him/her your PC the persona will be FNPC (thus adoptable, replaceable, and available for general use).
*** Dragonriders ***
» Dragons Impress:
**Gold: Heterosexual females
**Bronze: Heterosexual males
**Brown: Heterosexual males
**Blue: Homo/bisexual males
**Green: Heterosexual females, homosexual males
» Your dragons' colors cannot be different than those specified in The Dragonriders of Pern® series.
They are:
COLOR LENGTH WINGSPAN Gold (female) 38 - 42 m (125 - 140 ft) 63 - 70 m (210 - 230 ft) Bronze (male) 35 - 38 m (115 - 125 ft) 58 - 63 m (190 - 210 ft) Brown (male) 30 - 35 m (100 - 115 ft) 50 - 58 m (165 - 190 ft) Blue (male) 25 - 30 m (82 - 100 ft) 41 - 50 m (135 - 165 ft) Green (sterile female) 20 - 25 m (66 - 82 ft) 33 - 41 m (110 -135 ft)
» No 'Hear All Dragons'» All dragonriders live in the Weyr (no rogues).
» No disabled person would be Impressed by a dragon.
» No mating flights occur at night or during Threadfall.
» A dragon doesn't have a permanent eye color - it is constantly changing.
A dragon may speak to whomever he/she wishes, but the club would like to remind you that dragons do so very rarely and for a good reason. In a weyrmated pair, both dragons and riders can speak to their partner's life mate. This happens only if there is a very serious bond between the pair, and you must ask council for approval in most cases. A dragon may /between/ without his rider, but only in an emergency. (Council approval required.) Timing happens only in an emergency. You must have a good reason for it, and on Pern your persona would be punished for it. Timing to the future never happens.
Weyrlings/Candidates Ages - Candidates must be between 12 and 25 turns at Impression, though usually they must be between 14 and 22. (Exceptions will be rare.) A persona is a weyrling for three turns, but they age at a different Earth to Pern ratio than the rest of the club. There are 3 levels of Weyrlings - Senior, Junior, and First Turn. A class is theoretically advanced in level once every turn. In DragonWings they are moved up when another Hatching happens. (Unless the hatching is not “age and rank” related, which will be specified.) “Age and Rank” Hatchings will be held approximately every 6 Earth months.
A Weyrling (usually over 14 turns) becomes a First Turn weyrling when s/he Impresses a dragonet. After the next Hatching (“age and rank related”) that same weyrling will become a Junior Weyrling and will be partnered with a one-turn-old dragon. The weyrling will be considered one turn older than at Impression. At the next hatching he will become a Senior weyrling partnered with a two-turns-old dragon.
After the third age and rank related Hatching, that weyrling will graduate into a fighting wing and will be partnered with a three-turns-old dragon. The now-dragonrider will be considered three turns older than at Impression. (After this the ex-weyrling is governed in age by normal progression of the Pernese timeline.)
First Turn weyrlings (dragon 0-1 turn) will not be allowed to have any sexual relationships. Junior weyrlings (dragon 1-2 turns) will be allowed to have sexual relationships, but it will not be encouraged. Greens will start having mating flight after one turn, and the male weyrlings will be allowed to chase. Golds will start rising for mating flights after at least two turns, by which point all greens had their first flights.
*** Craft Requirments ***
Apprentices must have at least 12 turns, Journeymen must have at least 17 (usually 18), and Masters at least 30 turns. Dragonriders and Holders may not be Masters. Personas may reach Journeyman level only in one craft.
*** Pets ***
Dragonriders and dolphineers may have only one pet to begin with. (You can't have both a dragon and a dolphin.) All other personas may start with two pets. Metallic firelizards are awarded, and are also ranking, so council permission is mandatory. A greater number of pets also requires council permission.
*** Posting ***
» You cannot post at Benden Weyr, the Harper Hall or Ruatha Hold.» You should observe the major tenets of Pern, i.e., be consistent with what you know so well from all the novels you've read
» All role-playing must be offline, that is, it cannot appear in print on the website ever as it is tantamount to online fan fiction.
» No cross-over posts (i.e., no little green men coming to visit Pern etc. etc.)
» There is no religion on Pern.
A "post" is a short story sent to the mailing list. The length of the post should be about 1-3 page typed. Posts are to be written in full by one or more authors. You can co-post, but 'round robins' are not acceptable. In the subject line please put the following:
DW: location: title of post
The DW indicates that it's for this club - for filtering purposes. Location is where the post takes place, and is abbreviated as follows:
Location Abbreviation Zakat Weyr ZAW Icundsa Weyr ISW Zakat Island Hold ZH Thetis Hold TH Starfall Hold SH Perquiso Hold PH Aedalu Hold AH
If a post doesn't happen directly at one of those locations, then put the location it is closest to and specify the exact location in the title block of the post. If writing a series then continue it in another post after the first one becomes too long. You can indicate a series by a number after the title. Please do not send posts longer than 5 pages to the list. Never send anything but posts to the main list. Never send junk mail to any list, _ever_.
*** Post Format ***
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Title: --the title of the post or series --
Author(s): --all PCs used, as well as any _major_ ONPCs/NPCs--
Subject: --Optional--
Date: --Pernese date of post - please stick to the posting timeframe --
Location: --abbreviated location and details (if different)--
Weather: --see the Weather page for the location--
Threadfall: -- closest future date of Threadfall--
NPC'S: -- NPCs used in the post--
Attn: --anybody who ought to pay special attention (optional)-
Mentioned:--other members' PC's mentioned in the post--
Notes: -- anything -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Your story~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Signature Block:
* Persona's name and dragon/dolphin name
* Pets (optional)
* Persona's rank and location (location = personas' home; where he/she's located
on the web pages)
* Your email addressPlease keep your signature block under seven lines.
Please write your posts using third person in the past tense. (Ex. “He opened the door.”) People will notice spelling and grammar mistakes, so please check your posts before sending them.
Content is to be kept at or below a PG-13 level. If you are unsure if a story is suitable for the club, check with council. You may use Pernese swears only. (“Shards!" "Shells!" etc)
Please, send plain text emails only to the lists. If you need instructions on how to set the options of your email program, please ask the Webbies or Council.
Please use the following punctuation when writing:
" " Human speech ** ** Human thoughts or telepathy }: :{ Dragon thoughts or telepathy ~ ~ Firelizard thoughts or telepathy (pictures and emotions only, flits don't use words) ^^ ^^ Dolphin speech == == Sign language _words_ Emphasis (underscore on both sides) /between/ Italics; used to indicate dragon travel between
*** Posting Frequency ***
You must post at least once a month for each of your PCs to stay current. Good posting records are required to apply for new personas, especially ranking ones. Ranking personas are expected to post more often than once a month (though it's not mandatory). If a member doesn't post for a persona the PC will be demoted and then revoked - temporarily or even permanently.Webbies and Council members are exempt from posting requirements for all non-rankers. Ranking personas come with a duty that can be as influential and important to other personas and member as a position on council though, so you may not abandon one for the other. If you cannot handle both at the same time then please choose one. You may ask for an exception to this rule, but it will only be granted for a good reason.
*** Council Approval ***
The following ideas require council approval:** Charter Holders reserve the right to veto any council ruling
- Weyr-wide, Hall-wide, or Hold-wide Storylines
- Storylines that will affect other personas
- Gold Mating Flight
- Fights involving 'Riders
- Firelizard Clutches containing eggs with metallic hatchlings
- Deaths of ranking personas and dragonriders
- Promotion to Ranking Persona, and transfers
- Serious bond between weyrmates, /betweening/ without a rider, timing
** Violations of the rules will have appropriate consequences. (Warning, demotion, persona revoked, banned from club.) Council will rule on individual cases. Most of the violations-consequences are self explanatory, so use your common sense. Again, Anne McCaffrey's rules are non-negotiable, so if you break them the consequences will be severe.
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All references to worlds and characters based on Anne McCaffrey's fiction are copyright© Anne McCaffrey 1967,2000, all rights reserved, and used by permission of the author.
