Kleothera's Roleplay Guide for The Clan

The Circle has been designed as a role-play clan. We encourage, and indeed enforce, role play among our members. New members sometimes find it difficult to fit into the clan culture. Having a written RP Guideline is an attempt to smoothen the transition.

This has been designed as the companion to Kleothera's RP Guide. It focuses on only those aspects that are specific to the COF. If you want to improve your RP skills in general, refer to the DE Guide. Read together, they should provide a fairly comprehensive introduction.

1. Name

If you have already been inducted into the Circle- surviving the screening process, one would assume you have a meaningful name. You could pick a surname and have an immortal set it for you. COF is based on a Celtic theme, therefore, a name reflecting that culture would be welcome, but not essential.

2. Class/Race

Ours is a 'good' clan, therefore, anyone from a race or class traditionally seen as evil can expect extra scrutiny (drows, demons, ogres, vampires, necromancers, illithids). You will need to have a VERY good RP explanation for wanting to join and sustain that in your RP.

3. Place of Origin

There are no unknown places or alternate dimensions in DE. Each character must be born in an existing area. This ensures that its NPCs can be used in RP, adds richness of detail and helps to facilitate a continuous interaction between the players and those areas.

4. Description

Each member should have a typo-free, grammatical, formatted description 4-12 lines long. You may use the Bonus Race Descriptions from the DE website to find a way to visualize your person. Create an image of his appearance in your mind and describe it. This is not the place to describe his past, motivation or effects on other people. Change your description with time - for example a warrior may get more battle scarred with time.

5. Title

Change your title to something other than the DE default. It is better not to have one at all than to go around with the standard one that says you are a human!. Make sure that the new title is a title (not a phrase, remark or comment), is IC in nature and is not inappropriate for the COF theme.

6. Background

Your background is the written record of your character's history. It explains the type of person that your character is and how they got to be that way. All Clan members are required to submit their life histories or character backgrounds as one of preconditions for promotion to Tribesman of the clan. As members of the clan your peers would like to know whom they are admitting to their ranks. It would consequently shape their actions towards you, and yours towards them. A psionicist traumatized by an unhappy childhood and an arrogant elven warrior are likely to act in a totally different manner and be treated accordingly. In addition, clan quests may be at times adjusted to suit the individual history of a particular individual or group of individuals. All stories submitted shall be included in the library. The background should have the following details:

Players are requested to read the CoF Story writing Guideline for further details.

7. Reputation

Reputation should only contain information that would be easily accessible to other characters, either through public offices or through word of mouth on the streets. Things that one might wish to include in a Reputation are: Lineage, Place of Origin, Clan Membership and Rank, Profession, Salient Personality Traits, and Recent Achievements. Any major heroic deeds that you feel constitute an extraordinary achievement could also form a part. Your Reputation should be well thought out and carefully edited before being posted. Try to keep your Reputation under 10 lines of text. A reputation need not be complex, and its length should probably depend upon the degree of notoriety your character has attained. Place in it anything about your character that you feel would be easily obtained public knowledge. An Officer or Preceptor will have a more substantial reputation than a peasant new to the city. Read other players' reputations to see what they've written.

8. RP Plan

This document is a prerequisite for promotion to Centurion and consists of the direction and manner in which you are intending to RP the character. The final document is to be no more than one page long and contain the following components:

The present document is strictly OOC and is not yet another story. Once the same is finalized, the person will then be expected to RP in accordance with the same. Therefore, don't decide on something you cannot sustain long term. Also, please try to be as specific as possible. The behaviors should be such that they can be clearly visible to an observer and not simply general and vague statements of intent to RP someone 'nice and helpful to everyone' or the like.

9. Alignment

The Circle of Fire is a chaotic good clan. This has repercussions at two levels.

At the technical level this means that you should predominantly be killing evil mobs. Your alignment should not drop below neutral. If it does, pleas bring it back up as soon as possible. If you consistently fail to adhere to the stipulated alignment, you are making a living by killing the innocent and would, therefore, be highly eligible for an outcasting.

At the philosophical level, the character's alignment is a guide to his basic moral and ethical attitudes toward others, society, good, evil, and the forces of the universe in general. Use the chosen alignment as a guide to provide a clearer idea of how the character will handle moral dilemmas. Alignment is not so much what the world thinks of you but your motivations for your actions. Although alignment defines general attitudes, it certainly doesn't prevent a character from changing his beliefs, acting irrationally, or behaving out of character.

Chaos, generally, believes in the rights of individuals. Those who adhere to this belief prefer randomness, and shun order. While some of these presume to give orders, chaotics will rarely take orders except when a) unity is temporarily required to oppose some alternative threat, b) some threat of force sufficient to enforce obedience accompanies the order, or c) the order is something which the chaotic would do anyway, or at least is something which it would not be sensible to disobey. Chaotics adhere to the maxim that the government which governs least governs best. Chaos is the antithesis of Law.

Good is the belief in the promotion of the general well-being of all creatures. It is, at times, necessary that those who oppose this should be forcibly stopped, even killed; but those who are good will avoid causing unnecessary suffering, and will only resort to violence when it is necessary and justifiable. In monetary terms, good characters tend to spread wealth around, and will only save money on the justification that the character will ultimately be able to use the money to further good, such as by buying a ship to pursue pirates, or building a keep or fortress to defend the local peasants, or constructing a chapel to further the worship of good deities and provide a focal point for charity. It is the antithesis of Evil.

A chaotic good character acts as his conscience directs him with little regard for what others expect of him. He makes his own way, but he's kind and benevolent. He believes in goodness and right but has little use for laws and regulations. He combines the free spirit of his Chaotic nature, with benevolence of Good. He doesn't much care for what others think of him, and will act on his own. However, he will stand up for what is right, and will oppose Evil, in their own way. They are unlikely to join any crusade against Evil, but will act independently, such as guerrilla attacks against enemy troops and supplies. Or Adventuring. He hates it when people try to intimidate others and tell them what to do. He follows his own moral compass, which, although good, may not agree with that of society. A ranger who waylays the evil baron's tax collectors, is chaotic good.

When dealing with others, Chaotic Good people prefer to keep their morality to themselves, and expect others to do the same. They join adventuring companies to broaden their horizons and see the world. If they get to whip some evil butt along the way, so much the better. They will work with the party as long as they are given room to express their own ideas and feel that they have a say.

10. Clan ranks

Each clan rank has an IC description centered around the premise of a militant brotherhood dedicated to a life of service to the community and furthering the cause of virtue. Each higher rank brings with it greater IC and OOC responsibility and involvement in clan activities. This ranges from the Auxiliaries who have very limited rights and responsibilities beyond offering military service in time of need, to the Preceptors, who act as the mainstay of the Clan. Please read these descriptions and act in accordance with them. If you are promoted, change your RP accordingly

11. Clan theme/Historical period

The Circle of Fire is based on a mixture of Celtic and Scandinavian mythology. The Fire was sacred to the ancient Celts, with the Druids conducting their sacrifices before the sacred flames. Many of the names of the Clan NPCs are directly derived from Welsh and Irish mythology- Taliesin, Morrighan, Teutates, Gwydion. The Irish semi-mythological Fianna served as the direct inspiration for the Clan (with some elements- anachronistically- borrowed from the Knights Templar). The time of the Historical King Arthur- the British Dark Ages following the fall of Rome is the epoch around which the Clan is centered. Therefore, some knowledge of that time and culture would be an added asset.

12. The Armigers (the Officer Aides)

This section has moved under the heading "Other Appointments".

Back to Guideline and Regulation