Checks and Balances of Naelthira

Naelthira has some basic checks and balances in place to ensure a reasonable and enjoyable gaming experience. The list below and explanations are considered the guidelines and rules of our game. Over time, additional systems and changes may be made as the community grows and we learn from our experiences.

Naelthira is primarily a player vs. environment (PVE) setting. The elements of conflict focus on the tension between the adventurer's character and the Game Master-controlled elements within the setting. These elements include things like enemies, natural hazards, and phenomena.

This creates an environment perfect for collaborative writing where adventurers work to develop stories together, solve problems together, face external threats, and have intense personal interactions. However, it discourages situations where Player vs. Player (PVP) interactions occur. This prevents adventurers from constantly being in situations where they have to defeat each other and eliminates the need to always be winning in roleplay.

Power Gaming has a few different components. The first being the unhinged use of powers to do things like: destroy a solar system, destroy a planet, go back in time to kill a character before they are born. The second is any action that does not allow another adventurer's character to respond, defend, or nullify the action. An exception to this can be something the adventurer and Game Master have discussed ahead of time and are both in agreement about the outcome.

In Naelthira as a setting, this also includes the unfair use of technology level differences. So an in-universe story-based solution has been deployed. To protect lower technology settings and factions from being stomped on in passing. Conflicts are allowed, but a conversation should be had between the involved parties and the staff to ensure fair representation and a fair playing field. Consent and communication is important in these situations.

Puppeting and Autoing can also be considered Power Gaming and are not permitted. Puppeting involves an adventurer controlling another adventurer's character without that adventurer's consent. A permitted exception to this, however, would be a Game Master reasonably moving a character of an adventurer who has gone inactive.

Autoing is to direct an action at another character or NPC in a way that the outcome has already been decided. An example of this would be if an adventurer writes something like the following:

The above is an auto action. The proper way to word this type of action would be something like this, which allows the adventurer controlling the character Sarah the opportunity to dodge, defend, or react to the attack:

Metagaming is any situation where Out-of-Character knowledge is used where that knowledge has not been learned In-Character and is used to affect the outcome of a scenario. It also includes the use of other external factors, such as grudges, to change the outcome of a story. For example, if you read a page here on the Wiki, it does not mean your character has the same knowledge that you do. We have a zero-tolerance policy for any metagaming that is used to harass another adventurer or a member of the staff. If such an infraction occurs, it will be investigated and may result in a ban or another type of restriction.

The majority of the adventures in Naelthira are Game Master directed.

• Mechanic #1 - The Game Master controls the scene. Their posts include the information and description of the scene, the actions of Non-Player Characters, and anything to do with the environment.

• Mechanic #2 - Players control their character. This includes things like the character's actions, emotions, etc. In general, they should be reacting to the actions and conditions of other characters and the elements controlled by the Game Master.

• Mechanic #3 - The Game Master will post to present and control the scene, and adventurers will then post in order, which is generally just determined by the order of the first round of posts. The cycle will then repeat until the story is finished.

• Mechanic #4 - In combat situations, adventurers should not auto-attack NPCs. The Game Master will determine the outcome and damage for the enemy unit.

Naelthira is a text roleplaying experience, and the staff has worked hard to maintain a system that does not require players to do a lot of math.

The system here puts it on the Game Masters and Adventurers to be reasonable when handling high technology, weapons, and other elements. Things like the effectiveness of weapons should be determined through writing, not through complicated formulas or stat sheets. In some instances, though, a Game Master may promote the use of something like a dice roll to help ensure a random outcome.

Some things are established, however, like the fact that habitable systems are generally located further apart than in most settings. It is expected that Game Masters and players will take advantage of using perceived travel times to enjoy some story development while in transit.