Greetings to you, and welcome to the beginning of a long journey. You have a choice now. You may turn back...or come with us. The road ahead is a long one, but whatever lies at the end will be worth it. Before proceeding to join this RP, please be sure that you have read and understand all of the rules presented, and if you are certain you wish to continue, then you may go on ahead.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong>RP Rules</strong></span><br/><br/><strong>1. Always abide by the Elliquiy rules and terms of service.</strong><br/><br/><strong>2. Be respectful and considerate.</strong>Both in regards to how you treat one another OOC and how you deal with other people's ideas. You do not OWN the story. I do not OWN the story. All of us collectively form the story, and therefore we must be open to others' ideas and be willing to work our plans with, around, and through everyone else's. Don't get bent out of shape if not everything goes your way 100% of the time. That's life, but that's what also adds suspense.<br/><br/><strong>3. This is meant to be a dark and extreme pokemon RP. That said:</strong><br/><ul class="bbc_list">-Swearing is allowed, but I would personally appreciate less swearing over more.<br/>-There is going to be crime. It won't be a focal point of the RP, but it will be present. <br/>-This RP will contain realistic violence, blood, gore, and even death.<br/>-There may be alcohol and smoking. <br/>-Sexually explicit situations will arise and may engender scenarios that not everyone is comfortable with, including but not limited to sex with monsters.</ul><br/><strong>4. NO god-modding. NO EXCEPTIONS!</strong>There are many definitions of the word, but for us the most important things to remember are:<br/><ul class="bbc_list">- Don't change someone else's previously posted story ideas to fit your view. <br/>- Don't make a character with no weaknesses that always wins no matter what. Much as we all love our characters, not everyone can win all the time (and that gets boring anyway).<br/>- No controlling other people's characters without their consent.<br/>- No killing other people's characters without their consent.<br/></ul><br/><strong>5. In the event you DO decide to kill a character:</strong><br/><ul class="bbc_list">-If the character is yours, you may kill them.<br/>-If the character is a nameless NPC, you may kill them.<br/>-If the character is an NPC with a name, you may kill them after contacting the person who originally introduced them to the story and asking if it's okay.<br/>-If the character is a player character, you MAY NOT kill them unless the other player agrees and officially types out their death post in response to your efforts.<br/>-If the character is played by you but is a canon character, you must consult with me before killing them.</ul><br/><strong>6. Do not try to initiate any major changes in the storyline unless you have been given permission by me. </strong>By "major changes" I mean MAJOR, like key people dying, you blowing up entire cities, capturing Legendaries without permission, initiating the apocalypse, etc. You're more than welcome to carry the story wherever you want it, as long as you don't go overboard and disrupt the flow of the overall story.<br/><br/><strong>7. A pokemon is controlled by whomever owns it, regardless of whether the monster was stolen, captured, or given as a gift.</strong>The moment a pokemon changes hands, it immediately becomes its new owner's character UNLESS both the original owner and the new owner have a mutual agreement that the original owner may continue to play as the pokemon. Wild pokemon are generally NPCs (with the exception of Arceus and the Incarnus) and may be played by anyone at anytime as long as it does not conflict with the story in any way.<br/><br/><strong>8. You are allowed to attempt to steal other people's pokemon, if that is your character's calling.</strong>HOWEVER, you may not successfully steal a pokemon from them unless they give you permission out of character.<br/><br/><strong>9. Pokemon are capable of communicating, but in order not to be too cheesy, we ask that you follow a couple of guidelines when posting as your pokepals. </strong><br/><ul class="bbc_list">-Humans can speak to pokemon, and pokemon generally understand the human language. They also understand facial expressions and body language, so they have no trouble understanding any human. Even wild pokemon understand to a degree.<br/>-Pokemon can communicate with humans, but in a more limited fashion. They use body language, facial expressions, squeaks, grunts, barks, whimpers, etc. They do not speak English, so do not write their communications to humans in English. There is only one exception to this rule: The Incarnus.<br/>-Pokemon who are communicating with other pokemon understand one another completely. When a pokemon is communicating to another, AND NO HUMANS ARE PRESENT, you may have them communicate to each other as if they were speaking English. However, please color-code their speech with a color that relates to that pokemon somehow so that we know who is talking.<br/>-Some pokemon--especially a few legendaries and all psychic pokemon--have the ability to communicate telepathically. These pokemon may communicate in english to anyone, directly into their minds. Their speech should be italicized to indicate the nature of their communication.<br/></ul><br/><strong>10. Unless engaged in a battle, this RP is not about taking turns posting.</strong>If you have something that you can reply to, reply. Waiting for other people to reply will slow the thread down a lot if we get into the habit of taking turns, so just remember: if you can post, do so. In the event that you vanish for awhile, we will give you a short amount of time to return and respond. Several days or weeks, however, will not be given. Your character will be ignored and when you return you can decide if they were left behind or if they followed whatever group they were with in silence.<br/><br/><strong>11. Don't chat in the RP.</strong>It is okay to go out of character to discuss small crucial matters about the RP, or to say goodbye, but anything else is forbidden and should be taken to pm or instant messenger. Questions or BPA related comments that require long answers should be posted on this thread. (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=119745.0)<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><em>Joining Procedures:</em><br/><br/>NEW MEMBERS ARE ALWAYS WELCOME! If you are interested in becoming a member of BPA, you must remember that all RP rules apply. Anyone who breaks the rules is subject to warning, reporting, and possible banning from the RP, depending on the frequency and severity of the offenses.<br/><br/>You must also have your character's history, and you will need to make up a sidestory for your character to begin the RP. We do not allow people to just "appear" in the RP and participate as if we have always known them. Each character must be gradually and effectively integrated into the story, otherwise the flow of the storyline will be broken. Posts that break the storyline will be ignored.<br/><br/>Finally, in order to be a member of this RP, post your character sheet for approval in the Recruitment Thread. (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=119561.0)