Character Skeleton Outline and Rules

Character

*Note: you do not have to use this format. Feel free to answer in a descriptive paragraph. This is a recommended format for a descriptive character.
Save your Bio somewhere on your computer and you MUST PM them to X or myself (Y) so we can have a post devoted to bios alone and can be posted there for easy viewing. All requirements must be answered in full sentences.

My name is...: (Character Name)
I am...: (Character Age)
I am a...: Gender
I'm in the Freakshow because/ My Codename is...:(Because this is a small community, freakishness will be assigned and not chosen. Please leave blank for admin to fill. Feel free to pm sugestions, though. Codenames for blood, metal and sand are of your choosing).
I like to wear...: (Example: clothing, chain mail. sheilds....ect..)
And I look like...: (Example: Hair color, height, thin or fat, eye color...ect..NO PICTURES, PLEASE)
I am kind of...: (nice, fun, asshole, jerk, outgoing, funny, likes, dislikes... ect...)
Alignment: (Example: nasty, cruel, kind, bitter. Basically good/evil/neutral.)
Well, If you really want to know...: (Your charater's story or any other information.)

Again, PM us the info, and you must be accepted (not that anyone isn't going to be) before you post.

Rules and Etiquette Systems
Though there are countless different rules systems and game-specific rules, there is a single universal criterion that separates role-playing from collaborative writing — there must be a variable under the control of one or more players that some other players cannot control. The most common example of this is for each player participating in the activity to have their own characters that no other participant may write dialogs or actions for. Most separate textbased gameworlds have their own set of rules or TOS by which all users must consent to abide. In addition to rules there is usually a universal set of mores and a terminology common to text-based role playing games, that more or less constitutes gaming etiquette.

Some common examples of these rules are:

Enforcing a specific genre or theme.
Sticking to a certain 'point of view'.
Observing correct grammar and spelling and use of a certain, default language.
Observing the rating of the game. Mature games may contain no restrictions on adult content.
Restrictions on or requirements to work together outside the story over plot and other elements.
Restrictions on:
who can contribute, and how often, when the work is being put together in an open area such as an online forum or mailing list.
Killing off or otherwise permanently changing a major character owned by another player without their consent.
Powergaming, twinking and/or godmoding.
Creating Mary Sues or characters with a set of characteristics or stats too beneficial to the player as to give them an unfair and unrealistic advantage over others.
Various forms of gaming that developed within these media, such as sparring (see below), have garnered their own cult following and developed their own sets of norms and subcultures over time.
OOC(out of character): Must be posted in ((double brackets)).
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Sparring
Sparring is a form of online role-play that deals with combat between two or more characters, usually conducted on play-by-post media. Two or more players take turns in writing a joint-narrative battle, each one attempting to defeat his or her rival. The battle ends when one participant acknowledges defeat or one is judged the victor by an unbiased arbiter after a review of all related posts. In the context of Internet-based role-play, sparring retains its traditional meaning of play or practice combat, but is limited to written interaction. It is different from role-play in that sparring usually contributes little, if nothing, to a story or character development and participants are subject only to the rules of an agreed on role-play fighting system.

These fighting systems fall into two categories, speed-based and turn-based. Of these, the former is such that the involved parties seek to outmatch one another via superior typing speed and stratagem, and thus is usually left for websites or programs that support an instant messenger or chats. The latter has no emphasis on typing speed, but focuses wholly on strategy, and are thus usually based on forums and message boards. Both systems are further divided into explicit and implicit subsets (also called open and closed), which refer to whether the outcome of an attack is stated by the attacker or assumed to have happened in the flow of battle.

There is a large rift of ideologies within the community of sparring. It comes from the basis of the spar's purpose and intent, and divides sparrers into two categories, being roleplayers and fighters. Roleplayers are grouped as "orthodox" combatants, where no "autos" are acceptable, and it is a mutually respectful practice. Orthodox matches are completely based upon the honor system, and are held more to the ability of the character than the mechanics of the system. Explicit guidelines and rules apply to the fighters, in an "unorthodox" system. Unorthodox spars tend to use hit claims, as discussed above as open and closed.

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Format
Play-by-post games are usually written in the third person perspective. This allows the players (and gamemasters, if any) to write in the personas of their characters. This is the best way to separate the player character from the person playing the character (the typist), and it makes the game more readable. Sometimes online game terms such as OOC (Out of character) or OOG (Out of Game) are used to differentiate character vs. personal posting.

The first message posted onto a thread of that nature is usually one person laying down the scenario, starting a story about their character and inviting others. The thread then becomes an ongoing story in which players periodically advance the plot by reading the latest reply and then typing what their character does and how the environment changes in response. These replies are often open-ended so that other players can continue.

Depending on the rules established on the forum, roleplaying and story can be pushed forward through moderation by a gamemaster, specific rules (often existing role-playing game systems), or by mutual agreement between players.

Role-playing by mutual agreement does not rely on statistics or dice; any combat is usually written in entirety by one or more players. In some games, players will be allowed to include the actions of another player in their post, but this practice is commonly considered cheating in more established play-by-post games, where players are responsible for their own characters. Any form of this cheating (automatic hits and controlling another player's character) is commonly referred to as "power playing" or "God modding". However, one player may temporarily hand over control of their character to another player if they cannot play for a while, rather than dropping out entirely.

In certain play-by-post gaming circles larger-scale boards exist where the entire board is devoted to advancing a single storyline, rather than many different stories proceeding in separate threads. They vary in organization, but many include a full set of rules governing roleplaying and combat between players, threads detailing a set storyline (often contributed to by plot-advancing, staff-organized events, or player roleplays), character approval forums, and a full staff with admin(s) and moderators. These types of games then vary from that groundwork; some games go as far as to include a virtual "world" to roleplay in, by cutting up the entire game universe into separate forums, each based on locations within that universe. All games set in a particular setting are played in the corresponding forum.

Many message board based games establish a hierarchy of moderators to manage plot flow and continuity. To keep story threads organised the message board is often organised into forums based on geographical location within the game setting.