.. I am not a huge fan of a lot of rules. However, when you scroll through here you may be like WTH$#@#%%?! .. So let me begin with these very simple rules; Don't be a dick (OOCly), share the screen and practice good RP Etiquette, and respect that we prefer a lower fantasy, grittier setting for our Nord community.

Code of Conduct

While our visitors are expected to adhere to Wheaton's Rule. We expect our actual members to take the next step and be an active part of building a kind and tolerant community where trust and respect are the standard.

Be Kind

Kindness in a community will grow it, a lack of kindness will kill it. A failure to be kind will drive out those players who are themselves kind and keep only those who are not. Gamers and role-players come from all walks of life with all manner of personal challenges. Let's function under the premise that "if we have nothing nice to say we say nothing at all" - and its "not what we say, but how we say it that matters".

Be Tolerant

While I tend to equate a lack of tolerance with a lack of kindness, I'm going to make an additional statement here. Please welcome everyone regardless of race, creed, religion, politics, or sexual/gender orientation. Additionally, do not accuse anyone of being racist, homophobic, fanatical, nazi, fascist, etc.

Disability Respect

If you suffer from any form of mental, physical or emotional disability you have both our understanding and our sympathy. If that disability might affect how you interact with the community and you need allowances made, please let an admin know privately so that we can advise the staff team as to how best to support you.

No Religion / No Politics

Being kind includes caring about how your words and your topic choices effect others. Topics such as religion and politics, and any others like them, do not belong at the dinner table. Most of us come here to escape real life; leave it at the door. I don't care if you want to debate if pineapple belongs on pizza - but that's as far as it should go. Consequently, if anyone calls for a topic change, respect it immediately.

Role-play Etiquette (Rules)

We expect that everyone is familiar with common role-play etiquette and knows not to do such things as; metagaming, forceful role-play aka godmodding, superman or mary sue role-play, and negative thought emotes without representation. (All players have permission to respond to negative thought emotes, directed at them, as if they were spoken out loud.) Read More ...

RP Etiquette Specific to Hofborg

Keep the Immersion

No OOC in local (say/yell/emote) or house zone. Exception: Quick "brb" or typo* corrections are acceptable. Take the joking and arguing to whisper or your own group chats.

Role-play Not Welcome

No homophobic or transphobic role-play is allowed by visitors anywhere in the town.

Lore Shaming

We do not condone lore shaming either out of character or even in character. As a community we welcome players of all lore levels and do not tolerate them being driven off over lore. If there is a serious lore break bring it to the moderators. It will be the final call of the lore-masters if the lore break is culture impacting and should be dealt with.

Role-Play Style

All the Nords

This community was created and is maintain for those role-players who are part of the Nord Community. We do allow other races, but we will actively maintain the Nord cultural feel if we must. So while you are welcome to bring your non-Nord here to join, we expect them to adopt our culture and traditions. We reserve the right to restrict how many non-Nords are in our community.

High Fantasy vs Low Fantasy

ESO offers a wide spectrum of role-play options for players that swings quite far between low and high fantasy. This is good, it gives the overall role-play community more options than just one does. However, as you likely know, individual players have individual preferences. As a group, I think we tend to fall closer to the low fantasy side and are likely to view high fantasy characters with suspicion. I welcome you to come discuss this with me if you have any concerns about how your preferences fits in.

What this means for magic

We are applying no OOC restrictions on what type of magic is used and will be supporting the player base's IC opinions on magic. And while we expect the average nord to have a problem with necromancy, daedra or even magic in general, we expect it to be handled ICly.

However the OOC guideline is: The guild wants to see magical solutions used less then a third of the time to solve guild problems. This can be handled in a variety of ways by the players, and will only be addressed by the guild leadership if this guideline is ignored.

Magic vs Melee (Rules)

While magic is generally discouraged in character for our guild setting, the players agree that its not a question of high magic or low magic, but rather magic should be used in a narratively satisfying way. Since magic is bending the rules of the world to your whim you must always be giving something in return for this power. There are several things you can give to varying degrees:

• Energy, such as the exhausting of personal reserves
• Time, both casting time and time for preparation
• Possessions such as reagents
• Incurring future problems

Magic can be used when it:

• Makes storytelling interesting for everyone
• Furthers the plot without diminishing it
• Allows for creative problem-solving that aligns with your character and the theme of Hofborg

Theory: ND-TLM by SisterGrimz

My approach to Hofborg is ND-TLM (Narrative-Driven - Thoughtful, and Logical Magic).

ND-TLM has three objectives:

1. Make storytelling interesting and fun for everyone
2. Further the plot without diminishing it
3. Allow for creative problem-solving that aligns with your character and the theme of Hofburg

These objectives can be achieved by following our rules for RP Etiquette

God Modding - Forcing an action upon another character or environment.

Example: Dr. Example punches the hapless fool with enough force to break their nose.

Correction: Dr. Example attempts to punch the hapless fool with enough force that it could break a nose.

Meta-Gaming - Using OOC (out of character) information against a character IC (in character)

Clarification: Just because a person’s character's sheet says something doesn't mean your character knows it.

Power Gaming - OP (Overpowered), or God-like abilities being used in a way that takes from the RP.

Clarification: Try not to ruin the fun by making characters that can solve everything. Let there be room for drama.

Let's take a closer look at Power Gaming

Usually, you can figure out if you are Power Gaming if you take a look at how much narrative weight something has. You want to try and have scenarios where your victories are earned, not given. This does not only apply to the character itself but as well as the group. To help create a balanced narrative, you can defer to thoughtfulness and logic. Every action will have a positive and negative reaction. Don’t defer to magic because it’s easy; use it because it’s interesting.

Example

Nothing can be gained without giving. You come across a tall ledge. You need to get up. How do you do it? The ledge is meant as an obstacle to be overcome for the group.

Magic - Levitate

One person can cast levitate on the group, but at what cost? Do they lose the object they use as their magic focus? Causing a future event where they have to find a new one? For the rest of the event, can they still use magic? A group of people can cast levitate on the group, but at what cost? Is that all of their big spells for the day? Are they all now tired and need to be protected? How long does it cost to cast the spell? Did they prepare beforehand?

Knowledge - Dwemer Tech

If one person can fix an elevator leading up the ledge, the entire group needs to be meaningfully involved; this can be achieved by having the repairs trigger a robot response that tries to kill the party; the group has to work together to survive. Or acquire parts. If the group knows about the Dwemer technology, have those people work on the elevator and make the process quicker.

Physical - Climbing

Perhaps an individual is strong enough to climb the ledge and then help others get over it. This would require planning and teamwork.

The goal is to sell the effort in a way that is believable because it is grounded in cause and effect, where the narrative work put in equals the narrative output.

The effort to use ability + Things of importance lost + Preparations + Future problems =Completing a task of a certain level

No Vamps, No Weres

We have a strict no known werewolf or vampire policy. This means that if your character is showing obvious signs of affliction, you can expect big trouble. The mindset of the average Nord, including the Saebjorn's Captain Baene, cannot justify allowing known afflicted into the fold. If you are an afflicted character, you must endeavor to keep it secret or there will be IC consequences that may include death or exile. Please also note that we will firmly police any meta-gaming that unjustly "outs" a secretly afflicted member.

Be aware of when to use NPCs

Hofborg has both general guidelines and specific rules on the use of NPCs in role-play. Before you bring an NPC into your role-play you will want to check this guide on when to use NPCs for trivial issues verses problem solving issues, as well as how to introduce NPCs into DM ran events. Read More ..

Conflict Resolution

We are a predominantly free form combat community. However we use a basic set of Dice Rules from the Nighthaven guild when free form fails between players. We also have a recognizable format for group combat that we use with our game/dungeon masters. We will adjust rules as necessary. Read More ..

See Also

• Creating Positive Conflict (Guide)
• Moderator Guide (Rules)
• How to play with NPCs (Guide)

Rules, Other

IC Leadership Positions

We will have a selection of IC leadership positions that will be given out ICly to those who have earned it in their RP. However, such positions have OOC expectations. Therefore we are going to define those as:

1. Two events a month that are related to the job you are doing.
2. Two posts a month to the appropriate Discord journal, such as the Captain's Log that shares the information the leaders need ICly; i.e. Who participated, what was the event, and what needs to be followed up on by whom.

Earning a position will take quite a few weeks. If you are interested in having such a position you may open a ticket on discord to discuss with the Player Council. Read More ..

Housing

We have plenty of room to add player homes. Our custom add-on, "Role-Play Town Portals" is able to offer a multi-destination option for player homes -- allowing a near unlimited number of player homes to be attached to the town. Fictionally, these "Housing Lanes" are described as streets, alleys, neighborhoods, etc depending on the fiction. Each of the areas has a particular look and feel and homes must match both the style and intention of the "housing lane". We do allow custom builds using both the Solitude and High Isle assets to create homes thematically appropriate to Western Skyrim and Solitude. The Leyawiin assets are too clean for our purposes, where as the High Isle Tudor (waddle-and-dab) assets are appropriate for Solitude buildings.

Our commitment to the town's immersion requires player homes to match the region, be fully decorated and appropriate for your character's IC position in Hofborg. We will not link a home until the build is complete. Read More ..

Events

All players are welcome to host events for Hofborg. The discord event feature is active for everyone and new events can be created easily. There is only one restriction: If you want to run a plot line inside the town or using the Saebjorn ship please reach out and let the team know. The easiest way to do this is pop open an event ticket 24-hours prior.

Otherwise, everyone is welcome to host events or run adventures with the group overland or in their homes. Some bits of advice: Pictures help events look more professional to visitors, the rumor mill can be used to announce upcoming idea's ICly, the captain's log and other journals are a good place to report on how the event went, and more then one day's notice for events will increase possible turn out. And finally, if you don't feel comfortable making something this officially, you can post up in the #lfrp-new-arrivals channel.