Frequently Asked Questions

ow do I play? What exactly is a play by post RPG?
Play a role through your posts. Get into the personality of a character of your creation. Act as that character would in the circumstances created by you or others in the same story. Try to have a history, make up the present, and work towards a future for that persona. The play consists of posting your character's actions, observations, and reactions to the environment developed through the story moderators and/or other players' posts.

If you're still unsure on how this game works precisely, just take a look at existing stories and the interactions of the players with each other. To get introduced thoroughly in the art pf role playing, you'll also find a detailed tutorial on this matter at the Role Playing Message Board: See here.

hat do all these shortcuts (CD, CCM, OOC) throughout the RPG Board mean?
In the course of time some Santharia-specific shortcuts have found their way into the role playing game. Other terms are pretty much common role playing jargon. Here's a short selection of the most important terms for your reference, along with the explanations:

RPG	Role Playing Game
RP	Role Play
RPer	Role Player
RPing	Role Playing
CD	Character Description
OOC	Out of Character
IC	In Character
CCM or CCMod	Character Creation Moderator
Brick	Large block of unbroken text that contains more than one paragraph. Should be avoided to make reading easier.
AWN	Away Without Notification
Uri-Check	A in-depth check of a CD involving the original text with corrections made in color. Named after the Santharian member Uragel.

s this game played with a dice and point system?
No, this is free-form RPing based on the Santharian world. We do not have a pre-established point system. Your character gains skills, experience, and knowledge through role playing as you would through living your life.

oes this RPG take place in Middle Earth?
No. This role play takes place in different settlements across the world of Caelereth (of which Santharia is a part of), and is unique to it. The world is still in development by fantasy enthusiasts.

’m not titled yet, can I still role play?
The titles are what show that your character has been approved and does not contradict the world the RPG takes place in. Titles are also your way of describing your character in a few words, and a quick reference to others. So it's important to have your character developed before you can start to play in stories.

ow do I make a character?
You will need to write up a Character Description (CD), and post it in the Character Description Board at the RPG Forum. The Character Creation Mods (CCM), and Admins will then check the character for any contradictions to the world the RPG is based on. If no are found or they are deemed acceptable you will be given the title of your choice and are ready to rock'n roll... errr... roll play (see Basic Requirements).

s it absolutely necessary to post the character description?
Yes, the CCMs and Admins need to check the CD for contradiction, and sometimes we miss things other players will catch, and by reading and commenting on CDs they can also gain a chance to be a CCM and/or Administrator themselves and have influence on the way things progress on the board. Also, you can't just pop out from nowhere and join a story. The other players must know who they are playing with. Specifically your physical appearance. The mods will also delete any posts in RP threads from people that have not been titled and have joined the play anyway, so just make sure you do your homeworks first!

ow long does it take to get titled?
It varies. Hopefully a couple of days. The better done, the faster you'll get your title. But if your char has major flaws that need to be fixed it might take a little longer. Titles are not first come first serve, character that are posted after yours may get titles first if nothing is found to be wrong with them or if they are corrected more quickly. Also remember that Mods and Admins have lives, so it might take awhile to get to you. Be considerate.

hat is appropriate to post?
No excessive cursing, nothing being of explicit sexual nature, absolutely no advertisement, and no harassing posts.

ow do I get into a story? I have been following one of the existing games and would like to join in as a player. How do I do it?
There are two ways to join stories. You can start role playing in the Thirsty Harald without needing to ask permission to join, some new stories may start here and the story mod may pick up characters through out of character (OOC) contact and in character (IC) role playing that he/she feels will fit into the story. The other way is to join an existing story. To do this, ask the mod if you can join and if your character fits into the current setting of the story, he/she may give you an idea how to introduce your character into the game without disrupting it or creating too much confusion.

an I create my own story? How do I create my own story?
Yes. All you have to do is come up with a reasonable plot that fits with the Caelereth world. So make sure to do some research on the site first. Then, once it is approved by the Admins, they will set up a thread for your story and you'll be ready. You have to have at least a minimum of role playing experience before you are allowed to start a plot of your own.

ow long do I have to wait for a reply to my post?
The time of reply to your post may vary. We are all humans, and at times we are busy with many things. But you will receive an answer as soon as possible. Please understand and be patient. If you play for a while, you will learn more about other people and will get to known and used to their posting habits as well.

an I kill another player's character?
No. But if you work out in advance with the people playing that character this could be possible. No one is allowed to kill another people's char without the confirmation of the owner of that char. Your post will be edited if you kill another PC without consent, and you will be given one warning.

y post or part of my post was deleted. What happened?
Your post was modified for some reason. It may have contained things or actions that were considered improper by the mod like coarse language, sexual explicit scenes or advertisement. Your post might also be edited or deleted if you posted something deciding another character's action without having permission to do so or killing another character or NPC. Post your question, complain or request in the OOC thread or mail the moderator and he/she will help you as soon as possible.

ow do I get a moderator to help me?
Post your question, complain or request in the OOC thread or mail the moderator and he/she will help you as soon as possible. Please refer to the contact information found at the Contacts page.

an I have more than one character? Can I have more than one character in a story at the same time? Can my character be in more than one story at a time?
You can have more than one character. But you have to have separate ezBoard accounts for each of them. You may also have more than one character playing in the same story at the same time, but it is still up to the mod which, if any, additional character you can have in there story. Do not count on settling a set of characters as a package deal.

There is no problem with having the same character in differents stories but you can not have one character in two settings within the same story, as a character can not be in two places at one time.

Also note that you should be able to manage all the different characters you have. If you have too many characters at the same time you may neglect certain stories, so sometimes it's better to go with just a few and play them thoroughly.

hy doesn't ezBoard remember that I'm logged in?
To solve this problem you need to know a bit on how a message board works. So here's a little explanation: Once you log in at the main page with your username and password, the board stores a "cookie" at your computer. Unfortunately this is nothing you can eat, but it helps the board to identify you when you open the role playing board again, even if you've turned your computer off for a while. If the cookie is there with your information, ezBoard knows immediately who was in front of the computer the last time and can restore your settings.

If the cookie cannot be stored on your computer, then it might happen that the board "forgets" that you're logged in. And if you're not logged in, you also won't find e.g. an "Edit" link at your own post. Often cookies cannot be stored on your computer due to the fact that your Privacy settings (e.g. at Options at Internet Explorer) are set to a rather high level (see slider on the picture below). That's ok, as a higher security prevents your computer from unwanted popup windows, viruses etc. Unfortunately if the slider is at medium height, also storing of cookies is not possible anymore - for all sites you open, also for those which would need to store cookies to work properly.

To solve the problem you can either a) move the slider to a lower level (not recommended as this reduces your security level in general) or b) simply define exceptions for certain pages/sites you deem trustworthy. In Internet Explorer locate and click on the "Tools" menu, this is just to the left of "Help" at the very top right. This will produce a menu with many options. Within this menu, locate and click on "Internet Options" at the bottom of the menu, this will produce the "Internet Options" window. Within this window, locate and click on the "Privacy" tab, which will be the third from the left, the window contents will change showing an upper box with a slider and three buttons, and a lower box with a single button:

Now in order to allow the message board to store your user cookie do the following: Click on the button in the lower box, it is labeled "Edit" and the "Per Site Privacy Actions" window will appear (see below). In the box labeled "Address of Web site" enter "ezboard.com" and click the "Allow" button on the right, then repeat this with "santharia.com" and your problem will be solved, while you still haven't reduced your general security settings. You can add further trustworthy sites of course as well, which have similar problems.