policies and rules of conduct
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[[policies_and_rules_of_conduct]] last edit on Apr 12, 2006 2:42 AM by phased

Policies

Addressing grievances with the DMs

If you feel you have been treated unfairly, or a DM has made a disagreeable decision, your course of action should be:
  • Stay In Character. Do not use the Shout channel.
  • Do what the DM asks first - without hesitation or argument.
  • After the fact, use the DM channel for clarification. If no resolution is found, then...
  • Post a description of the problem on the DM Complaint Box thread on the Forums - make sure to have Chat Logs or screen captures available..

To create a screen capture, press Alt-PrtSc, then open Photo Editor or Paint or some other suitable bitmap editor, and paste a new bitmap.

To enable Chat Logging, open your nwnplayer.ini file in your NWN installation directory. Under the [Game Options] heading, include the line: ClientChatLogging=1 (or, change the value from 0 to 1 if it exists already). This will create a file called nwclientlog1.txt in the logs directory under your NWN install directory. Note that this file will be overwritten each time the NWN client is started, so remember to save it immediately to a new file if you need to retain the log.

The DMs are reasonable people with a mission to make the game enjoyable. However, everyone makes mistakes and players are encouraged to voice their legitimate concerns. Your argument will be heard and should the DM in question choose to alter his/her decision, you will be informed. Otherwise, the DM's decision stands and is final.

Experience and Equipment loss due to bugs, crashes, or other out-of-character reasons:

On very rare occasions, a crash or server problem may foul a character file. Backups are taken regularly, and in the event of a completely bugged character file, can be restored.

If you character has been created after the last backup, and cannot be restored, it must be restarted as a new character.

As the module does not currently log level gains or equipment acquisition, we cannot restore unverified information. This may change in the future as more administrative features are built into the module.

However, we understand that a character can be a significant investment in time for the player - as such, the Admin and DM Staff will make as great an effort as possible to restore your character to playability.

For bug related experience loss, compensation may be granted at a DMs discretion. Important factors in this are:

  • The nature of the bug - lag, mis-clicking, failing skill checks which cause NPCs to go hostile, etc. are not considered bugs, and no compensation should be expected. Only verifiable bugs will be considered.
  • Player actions which may have affected the outcome - for example, a 4th level character dying alone in a group of CR10 giants may have actually been subject to a bug during combat - however, the chances of surviving such an encounter are virtually nil given the respective levels, so the primary reason for death is not the bug itself.

Back-spawns and leaving monsters on transitions

Characters occasionally encounter hostile creatures which they have no ability to slay, requiring them to flee the area.

Since many monsters will give chase, they often end up in areas where they are not normally encountered - including well-used travel routes and areas most often associated with low-level characters.

The character(s) who flee the scene should, at all times, alert the DMs to the existence of the back-spawn. The character may, optionally, use the Shout channel to alert other players. If the player intentionally opts to leave the spawns in place where they may harm another character, this should be treated as a PK attempt which requires alerting a DM.

Failure to alert a DM or other players in some way will be considered griefing, and be dealt with accordingly.

If a DM elects to leave the spawns in place after being alerted, then, as with any DM action, any death or experience loss which results from the spawn is in-character and legitimate and no compensation should be expected.

Characters are expected to be wary, watchful and prepared at all times while travelling. If a character is required to flee, they must accept the risk of using a transition to escape - if a monster giving chase reaches the other side of the transition before you do and your character suffers a death as a result, it is not a sufficient reason for compensation to be expected.

In-character character loss

Bruehawk's is a PvP enabled world. At times, other players may, provided specific conditions listed in the Policies are followed, engage in the killing of another player character. This may include the permanent death of the victim.

In cases such as these, any compensation due is up to the discretion of the DM staff - it may include xp and/or equipment rewards sufficient to bring another character up to a comparable playing level as the character that was lost or some other non-character centric compensation, or even no compensation.

As each case is unique, the level of compensation granted is a discretionary matter and will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Plot-related permadeaths

If the loss of a character is due to a plot related event - meaning that a DM initiates the event and it follows logically in-character, compensation is customary and will be granted the vast majority of the time.

However, even in cases such as these, there is some discretion involved. Be assured that the DM staff will be as equitable to the situation and player as possible.

Items, Special Rewards, and Tokens

The practice of using DM given Tokens to create custom items will no longer be available.

Current token items are considered valid, even if their properties are no longer consistent with the item guidelines which follow. However, custom token items have no special protection over other items in a character's inventory or equipage. They are considered in-character items which can be stolen, destroyed, lost or looted just as any other item.

For those that may still have tokens, however, they still hold some value. DMs may, at their discretion, use them for any of a number of things - either as a gauge to your overall standing (DM Karma) on the server, to a form of currency which can be exchanged for special rewards.

The exact nature of those rewards will be determined by the DM, and could vary from small, in-game assistance (a free resurrection, for example) to custom item properties, to custom character changes. There is no set scale, nor menu of options. They are purely a measure of DM Karma which can be used as a DM sees fit.

One may gain tokens through good role-play, assisting a DM or new player, fulfilling quests, solving puzzles, or any of a number of actions which reflect positively on the player and/or character.

One may also lose tokens for excessive out-of-character play, soloing, minor infractions of the rules, being disruptive or argumentative, or any of a number of things which, though short of violating actual rules, disrupt or show that the player/character is not playing in the spirit of the server as a whole or playing in such a way as to negatively affect the game play of others (including DMs).

Restricted Item Properties:

Although the random treasure generation scripts are reviewed, occasionally, items which exceed the maximum allowed properties will spawn. The player is expected to inform a DM if an item with any of the following properties is spawned. The DM may or may not offer a replacement item - regardless, it is expected that the player will not use, sell or transfer the item and will turn it over to a DM, or use the Trash Barrel placeables to destroy it. The exception being any item which was given by a DM.

The following item properties are not allowed, except for special case-by-case circumstances:

  1. Any item with a persistent spell effect (with the exception of Spell Resistance and Regeneration).
  2. Any item which grants a persistent immunity.
  3. Any item which boosts an ability more than +5 in total.
  4. Any item which boosts a skill more than +10 in total
  5. Any item which provides Regeneration greater than +1
  6. Any weapon with greater than +4 enhancement
  7. Any weapon with Keen, Vorpal properties.
  8. Any weapon with on-hit cast spell effect with a DC greater than 16.
  9. Any armor with greater than +5 AC bonus of any type in total
  10. Any item which casts a spell more than 3 times/day, or casts more often but does not use charges.
  11. Any worn item which casts a spell which is not Self-Only targetable.

Spell, Skill and Feat Changes

Some spells, skills and feats as implemented by BioWare's defaults do not fit well within the Mel'Heron world's theme and/or possess exploit potential or irreparable bugs.

Documenting prior alterations or removal of those items is underway, as well as implementing new changes. A summary list will be provided in this section as the list grows.

Prestige Classes and Character Changes

Prestige Classes on Bruehawk's are locked for all players by default. In order to gain a prestige class, the character must not only have the sufficient prerequisites, but also be able to demonstrate sufficient role-play to make the adoption of a PrC reasonable in terms of a character's history.

Additionally, certain PrC's may require affiliation with a guild, order, or organization. For example, a Champion or Blackguard must be associated with a deity and have proven role-play activity with that deity's church. Check with a DM for details on what requirements you may have to fulfill.

Character remakes were previously allowed because of changes to class skills introduced by Hordes of the Underdark expansion. While the flexibility of this provided a great boon to some players, limits weren't effectively enforced.

Thus, character remakes will only be allowed under the current guidelines up to level 9 and only under special circumstances. Once a character has reached level 10, their personality and background are firmly enough established that any significant changes would be unreasonable.

Mistakes can be made, so there are a few exceptions to the character change level limit:
  • A character may have 1 level removed then reapplied in the event a mistake was made in Feat, Skill or Class selection so they may reselect their choices for the new level-up.
  • A character may replace a Feat if it possess a known or verifiable bug.

All other character changes (cosmetic or description changes, portraits, CEP updates, special character ideas, etc.) should be requested by writing to: BruehawkADM@yahoo.com with the details of the changes.

Note that when requesting character deletions, please submit only the characters which are to be deleted.

Area Submission

Bruehawk's encourages players to contribute to the growing world by offering their creativity and effort in creating areas. However, to ensure consistency, quality, and ease of integration builders are expected to follow these guidelines:

1. Submit in writing to BruehawkADM@yahoo.com your area idea before you start building. Include in it the following information:
  • Description of the area - including theme, general geography, backstory and history.
  • Location of the area - where on the current map will the area exist and how will it be accessed.
  • CR or approximate appropriate level for dungeon or combat-oriented areas.
  • Any special features, effects or scripting.
  • Any merchants along with a brief description of their inventory.
  • Any special items along with a description of the item and it's properties.
  • Optional - a brief map or sketch of the area (JPG or BMP preferred).
2. If the area is approved, you will receive an Area ID Number. Use this number as the identifier for everything pertaining to your area - scripts, items, creatures, placeables, waypoints and transitions, etc. Further instructions on how to use this ID will be provided on area approval.
3. Comment all NPCs, items, areas, scripts and placeables! Include your player name, the date, and any descriptive comments which will allow someone to understand what the object is, what plot involvement it may have, and a brief personality description if an NPC.
4. Keep the CR range on encounters as close as possible to the stated CR for the zone.
5. Mark all treasure spawns with a Waypoint called "WP_Treasure_X" where "X" is A, B, C or D in order of value. Those waypoints will be replaced with the Bruehawk treasure spawns for the appropriate treasure level.
6. Make sure all scripts are compliant with Bruehawk's standard scripting libraries and are commented.
7. Before the area goes into the live module, it will be reviewed and tested. To ensure your area is integrated into the production module more quickly make sure you have addressed and finished all the following tasks before submission:
  • Doors and transitions - including keys, Area ID tagged triggers and waypoints, lock state, etc.
  • Encounters - make sure there are multiple spawn points for an encounter - this speeds up the spawning process significantly.
  • Scripts are compiled without debug information.
  • Area lighting, sound and environment has been set.
  • Conversations - ensure all nodes are spell-checked, and linked nodes are not infinitely looped.
  • Area heartbeat scripts are optimized
  • All monsters/NPCs have appropriate feats/skills/abilities.
  • All merchants have appropriate buy/sell adjustments.
8. Once live, the player is expected to not divulge secrets or give information about the details of the areas they have written. While not a breech of conduct, per se, it does spoil the fun of discovery for other players and devalues the builder's work.
9. Note that Bruehawk's uses the Community Expansion Pack and will, once it's released, support the Community Tileset Pack. These are the only HAKs we use - so please, do not submit anything which requires a custom Hakpack to implement.


Rules Of Conduct

Violations of the rules are dealt with in a variety of ways, from talking out problems to banning of keys/players, removal of items/gold/xp from the character to character deletion.

The DM staff does *not* exist to police the world or levy punishment - actions which deplete the enjoyment of everyone. However, when required, it is done in order to benefit Bruehawk's as a whole and to run a honest game.

In order to do this, and as a last resort, we reserve the right to remove or boot any character, or restrict or deny any player access to Bruehawk's, with or without cause, if we determine that it is in the best interest of the server and community and the integrity of the game.

The following behaviors are considered offenses which merit punishment.
1. Out-of-character harassment, which is any profane or abusive language directed at a player, rather than the player's character, is prohibited. This includes any comments made in typical out-of-character areas (such as the Welcome Area), or abusive comments made when no role-play scenario would imply the comments are in-character.

2. Harassment or disrespect to a DM is prohibited.

3. Cyber-sex, cybering, or any other explicit description of sexual activity is prohibited and subject to an immediate key-ban. We have no age restriction for access to Bruehawk's, and wish to have a place where all are welcome, including minors. Additionally, we do not wish to take any legal risk, no matter how remote, that could disrupt real-life concerns for the DM staff and Admin.

4. Exchanging items or gold between characters of the same player is prohibited. If a legitimate role-play reason exists, the player is expected to engage a DM for both approval and performance of the actual transfer.

5. Exchanging items or gold between characters of different players where the value/power of the items is not level appropriate or has no legitimate role-play reason to occur is prohibited. When in doubt, consult a DM for approval.

6. Using any bug or exploit, known or unknown, to give your character an unfair advantage over either the game or another player is prohibited.

A bug is considered any defect in the game engine where the actual result of a character's actions is unintended by the game developers. An exploit is a defect or flaw in the design or planning of the module which results in an unintended advantage to the player.

For example - using crafting skills to duplicate items is a bug. Pulling trolls to cityguards at low level, letting the guards almost kill them, then taking the final strike for your character with a torch to gain unearned experience is an exploit.


Some known exploits are:
* Slingshotting experience - gathering experience without levelling-up in order to avoid true-level appropriate spawns.
* Using NPC guards to kill monsters for loot, or for unearned experience gains, where the guards have no ability to actually make the final kill.
* Stealth looting - using stealth or invisibility or taking advantage of an occasional bug that prevents monsters from spawning to remove treasure from a zone without fighting the mobs guarding it.
* Using familiars to bypass locked doors.
* Swapping-weapons repeatedly to receive additional attacks.
* Disarming a PC while polymorphed explicitly to gain the polymorphed form's weapon for sale or use.
This list is not comprehensive and may be amended at any time. Consult a DM for clarification on any practice.

7. Sharing of characters between players, without express DM permission, is prohibited, as is any attempt to access another player's account without authorization or permission.

8. Griefing - the practice of abusing lower-level characters either directly or indirectly or creating new, unvalued characters with the express purpose of stealing from or killing other characters is prohibited.
This includes direct attack, pick-pocketing, spawning monsters with the intent of killing lower-level characters in the area, the setting of traps in frequently travelled areas, or any other practice in which a character maliciously harms another character without sufficient in-character motivation.

9. Player Killing:
PvP play is allowed on Bruehawk's as it can enhance the role-play experience. However, there are ground rules in place to ensure the scenario occurs fairly. Failure to adhere to these procedures will be considered griefing.
  • Before engaging in a PK, the attacker is required to inform a DM of their intent to ensure oversight of the scenario and to gain permission to continue.
  • If no DM is available, the players in question are expected to use cooperative role-play to adjudicate the outcome. It is important to note: without DM supervision, do *not* actually attack another player.
  • If a DM is available, and an actual attack occurs, it is expected to set the target character to "Dislike" in the PvP screen before initiating the attack.
  • If a character dies to a PK - that knowledge is only immediately known to direct witnesses. Note that this includes friendly and sentient NPCs who may be in the area. If an NPC is witness to a PK, it is assumed that the authorities, and therefore other player characters, will have knowledge of the event in due time.
  • If no direct witnesses to the event exist, it is assumed that other characters do not know of the event until the victim is known to be missing. In other words, immediate reprisals from other characters, logging in a character to avenge the death, or using Tell or Party Chat to alert other players to the event is disallowed
  • If a PK is to be used to subdue another character - cooperative role-play is encouraged. In the absence of such, the attacker's intent should be disclosed to the DM when asking for permission to PK.

10. Using, selling or transferring items with illegal properties is prohibited.