Characters

On Hero MUX, most of our characters are based on their comic counterparts from Marvel or DC comics. Characters should stick reasonably close to the tone and flavor of the character while producing an application. Characters such as those from Milestone or Image comics, or those from comic book inspired animated sources, will be considered on a case-by-case basis to ensure that they fit the tone and theme of the game. It may be helpful to discuss it with staff first.

Characters that occur outside the normal Marvel or DC Universe may be accepted on a case by case basis and only if their backgrounds are altered to fit seamlessly within theme. A character such as Snake Eyes from G.I. Joe or Donatello from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles would need staff approval before the process begins. Other comic characters whose theme is clearly outside the bounds of normal comics, such as Star Trek and Star Wars, will not be approved.

There are two ways to obtain a character login. If the character does not yet exist on the game, you can use create " " , such as create "Mister Amazing" abcd1234, at the game's connect screen login prompt. If the character you wish to play already exists and is open for apps, you can use the command +chrequest , as described in +help +chrequest. You can use the commands +chars and +chars/open to see what pre-made characters exist already and may currently be claimed. Finally, if you see a character listed on +idlers, they may be available. You can send in a +request to the game's staff to obtain an idle character (+help +request).

The following rules apply to all characters (or "alts") on the game.


 * Each player may control up to five (5) characters.
 * Players may only serve as OOC leader of one team and IC leader of one team; these do not have to be the same, however. Exceptions may be made if a particular team is listed across multiple +groups for logistical reasons, and leadership of special interest groups or "family" groups will not count against this as these are not treated as active IC organizations.
 * Characters who are considered idle may be deleted or repossessed by staff (see: Activity).
 * Players may not control characters who live or work together, are allies on the same close-knit team or sub-group, who are directly related, or otherwise linked and have strong reason to interact.
 * Players may not control both a hero and a villain who directly or primarily oppose one another (Lex Luthor and Superman, Cyclops and Magneto, etc.)
 * Player alts may never directly interact with one another.
 * Characters may be broken down into several categories, noted below.

Feature Characters
Feature Characters are noteworthy characters who have appeared in comics or other published media.
 * To start with, each player may only control three (3) FCs.
 * FCs must exhibit activity each month (on game: '+help +vote').
 * Additional FC slots may be purchased with Karma.
 * → See Features for a list.

Support FCs
Support Feature Characters are FCs who are neither heroes nor villains: Alfred Pennyworth, Edwin Jarvis, J. Jonah Jameson, Lois Lane, etc.
 * When apped, support characters are treated as regular FCs, however...
 * A player's first support character alt does not count toward their limit of FCs.
 * Support characters who are open for app may be run as NPCs.
 * → See Support FCs for a list.

Original Characters
Original Characters are characters created by individual players who have not appeared in any published media.


 * There is no special limit on how many OCs a player may control apart from the total number of alts allowed on the game.
 * OCs should never try to take the names, likenesses, or codenames of prominent FCs. In the case of codenames if, by a staff vote, there is confidence that the use of this codename will not impede any FC who is likely to be apped, then it may be allowed. But, if such an FC is apped, the codename will default to the FCs control.
 * OCs generally should not have strong FC ties, unless they have been approved to have them as a GFC (NEWS GFC). OCs also may not be directly related to FCs.
 * → See Originals for a list.

Adapted FCs
"Adapted Feature Characters" (AFCs) are Feature Characters who come from sources outside DC or Marvel Comics. These range from other comic book labels to TV and films to characters from other media entirely. It costs Karma to create AFCs.

Our fundamental approach to AFCs is not so much where they come from or what their original theme was like so much as how they can be adapted to fit our own. As an example, in the past characters such as The Tick or Carmen Sandiego have been allowed, but they did not simply "portal" the characters in or attempt to drag their canon onto HeroMUX. Instead, AFCs must be adapted, as the name implies, to fit our game's world and theme.

Note that staff may place limits on what sources may be used and how many characters from a given source may be allowed, depending on how well they are able to integrate into the game's theme and setting.

AFC Karma costs range from 10 to 100 points, based on staff's evaluation of the impact the AFC might have on the game's theme, setting, etc. Note that if an AFC concept is especially well-done, the cost may be reduced.


 * Easy Fit - Little adaptation is required.
 * Fair Fit - Moderate adaptation is required.
 * Reasonable Fit - Extensive adaptation is required.
 * Difficult Fit - Exceptional adaptation is required.
 * Unlikely Fit - Nearly holistic adaptation is required.

Game FCs
"Game Feature Characters" are essentially Original Characters who are treated as Feature Characters. They may incorporate some FC races and concepts, but they are generally much more player-defined. GFCs take elements of Features but branch out in new ways. GFC alt slots must be purchased with Karma, and the slots may be of Common, Uncommon, or Rare value. A GFC slot of higher value may be occupied by a GFC that holds lower value, but not the reverse (a Common GFC may fill a Rare GFC slot, but not vice versa). Players begin with 0 GFC slots.

Note that staff may place limits on how many of a particular group, race, or pantheon may be apped at a given time, particularly if that group is meant to be especially rare.

The following are examples of possible GFC types:


 * Group: Members of established, fairly exclusive FC organizations; Examples: Cadmus Labs Creations (Common), Weapon X Program Creations (Uncommon), Green Lantern Corps Members (Rare)


 * Mythical: Myth-inspired characters who are not established as prominent FCs (approved on a case-by-case basis given the complex and often problematic nature of mythical characters); Examples: Fomor (Common), Fae (Uncommon), Demigod (Rare)


 * Race: Members of limited/specialized FC races; Examples: Kree/Skrull/Shi'ar (Common), White Martians/Inhumans (Uncommon), Kryptonians/Daxamites (Rare)


 * Advantage: These include advantages significant enough to alter the balance of power on the game, such as owning a major corporation or holding political office; Examples: City Councilman/High Police or Military Rank (Common), State Assembly Member/Foreign Ambassador/Major Corporation VP (Uncommon), State Senator/Foreign Royalty/Major Corporation CEO (Rare).


 * → See GFCs for a list.

Plot Characters
Players who are interested in making more extensive use of certain villain NPCs or NPC groups have the option of requesting a 'Plot NPC', a special kind of temporary alt slot designed to provide plot-runners more flexibility in stirring things up on the grid. There are two main types of Plot NPCs:


 * Characters who would otherwise fall under the Banned Concepts umbrella (such as Darkseid, Thanos, Galactus, or the Spectre). Concepts such as villainous, alt-U versions of existing FCs, or clones/relatives of existing FCs that would normally be off-limits for appers are also fair game; characters from themes that we wouldn't normally allow (such as most anime, Star Wars, etc) are still off limits, however.


 * Small villain groups with relatively stable and/or exclusive membership (such as the Wrecking Crew, the Serpent Society, the Royal Flush Gang, or the Fearsome Five). Groups such as the Sinister Six and Injustice Gang that tend to be made up of whichever villains happen to suit its theme are generally too broad to qualify, however.

In order to receive a Plot NPC, you'll need to submit a +request with a basic outline of the story you plan on telling with the character(s) in question, then fill out a +sheet and shortened app. The outline will also need to give us some idea of how the character will be written back out of the game's story when the plot is over, bearing in mind that the toys generally do need to end up in the box for later usage; this is particularly true for villain groups, who should preferably still be in a more or less recognizable form for future storytellers.

Please note that if a player wishes to apply for a member of an NPCed villain group, the apper is well within his or her rights to keep or discard as much of what happened during that character's tenure as an NPC, just as they would be with any other character; people apping for such characters are strongly encouraged to try and work with whoever is NPCing the rest of the group in whatever way works best for all parties involved, though.

Restrictions
Note: Staff is willing to entertain discussion on any banned or restricted concept if you believe it can be made to work on the game. We do not promise to allow it, but we are always willing to hear you out and have a discussion.

Banned Sources
The following source materials may not be played.


 * Real life people, currently living or dead
 * "Outer space" science fiction or space opera (Star Trek, Star Wars)
 * Most anime, cartoons, or manga (Simpsons, MLP, Akira, Death Note, etc.)
 * Giant mecha, Godzilla, Transformers, Super Sentai, or other "giant monster/robot" sources

Specific Banned Characters/Sources

The following characters, sources, or concepts are currently banned:


 * Dragonball (Z, etc.) - Scale/theme incompatible; staff vote
 * Howard the Duck - Parody/pastiche; Declined by staff vote

Banned Concepts
The following concepts may not be played.


 * Original Charactes who are based on Banned Sources (as above).


 * Original Characters who appear to be designed as overt knock-offs, parodies, or pastiches of extant Feature Characters.


 * Original Characters who are relatives of Feature Characters.


 * Duplicate Feature Characters; there may only be one Carol Danvers, one Clark Kent, etc. The only exceptions to this are FCs who have been clearly established as separate entities, such as Power Girl and Dark Beast.


 * Cosmic scale characters who are not primarily based out of Earth may not be apped, but they may possibly be used in plots. This includes Oans, Galactus, The Endless, Watchers, Celestials, New Gods and characters from New Genesis or Apokalips, etc. (Notably, characters who have reason to spend extended periods of time on Earth, such as Big Barda, are fair game.)

Restricted Concepts
The following concepts may be played, but they may be more difficult to get approved.


 * Extremely powerful characters, especially OCs, who might have a heavy impact to the game's balance of power


 * FCs whose powers explicitly violate or clash with existing game rules or policy may require extensive modification (reasons of consent, reasons of TS-related powers, problematic continuity, etc.)

Artifacts
Unique Legendary Artifacts


 * A reasonable level of tech items can be copied via elseworld origin, when integral to the character on a conceptual level. The justification for this is that, by its nature, technology can be copied, duplicated, emulated, and so forth, while mystic artifacts tend to be truly unique and are oftne bound to potent magical powers and/or deities.


 * Unique mystical artifacts, named and mythical, cannot exist in more than one instance at a time. Any "generic" magical enchanted item has no such limit (staff of firebolts, potion of waterbreathing, etc).  The FC with what staff can determine as the strongest canonical claim to the artifact in question will be able to have the "true" object as appropriate.  (For instance, Thor gets Mjölnir--other FCs who have wielded it cannot app it away from him and must go with an alternative.)


 * Items removed in this manner can be replaced by another object of similar mythic power, with a variant or original lore created for it. This will either happen through tailored miniplot ICly or be adapted from a deviant origin or transformation in a character's background info: possibly as a side-effect of the worldswap itself or from conflicting mystical energies.

Examples
Examples of Unique Legendary Artifacts


 * Mjölnir, Exalibur, The Spear of Destiny, The Holy Grail, Joyeuse, Tizona, Colada, etc.

Mjölnir is a useful example. Thor has the strongest canonical and mythological claim to the hammer, and therefore others cannot app it away from him, nor can they simply have "another Mjölnir" as that would be a bit strange and cheapen the importance of the original.

Now, some may claim that having claimed the hammer is key to their origin as it represents their worthiness, as decreed by Odin. As such, staff is willing to allow a plot wherein a similar artifact is bestowed by Odin (or whomever might be appropriate) upon the bearer. If the bearer is, In Character, from another reality, then they may be told that the bestowed substitute is to make up for what has already been claimed, here, by the FC who holds first claim to the artifact.

Alternatively, another explanation for the replacement could be offered. It might be that reality itself adapted the extradimensional version of the artifact into a similar one, as the two "originals" would not share space within the same reality. If an alternative reason is desired, you can ask staff about it--but direct duplication of the unique artifact is to be avoided, as it both cheapens the original and, on the whole, does not make a whole lot of sense.

See Also: Hypertime

Age
Characters, including both player characters and NPCs, on the MUX must have a minimum age of 13 years with the exception of clones or other rapidly aged characters, who must still have at least the same emotional and intellectual capacity as a teenager. Characters must also look at least thirteen years old. (Younger characters may make incidental appearances in scenes, such as "rescuing the baby from the burning apartment," but they may not be recurring or ongoing characters in role-play.)

MINIMUM AGE (13): These are underage characters. They have very limited rights. At sixteen, characters may have a driver's license, leave school with parental permission, or take on full-time employment.


 * Characters aged 13-15 will be treated as "Child" characters and subject to such status in all game policies, such as those below.


 * Characters aged 16-17 will be treated as "Minor" characters and subject to such status in all game policies, such as those below.

AGE OF INDEPENDENCE (18): Characters who are eighteen may leave school, purchase tobacco products, enter military or other public service, make their own medical decisions, enter into contracts, hold property and assets, and are automatically emancipated from their parents if they choose to do so.

AGE OF MAJORITY (21): Characters must be twenty-one in order purchase alcohol, firearms, or ammunition. This is the age at which they are considered to be fully adult.

Age Appropriate Role-Play

 * Sexual activity involving a "Child" character (as defined in NEWS AGE, above) is not to be implied or stated in any way. Any violation of this policy is a serious offense, and violators risk being site-banned from the game without warning or appeal.


 * "Minor" characters should use appropriate discretion when entering into romantic play and any other related sort of scenes.


 * Child and Minor characters may be legitimately unable to enter some scenes for primarily In Character reasons. For instance, an underage character may not be allowed to visit bars, strip joints, or other "adult" venues for obvious reasons, and there are many situations where they may be otherwise barred for IC social reasons.


 * Caution should be exercised in portraying characters who appear to be children but have a more adult psychology. There are times when such a concept can be legitimate, but this may skirt close to a number of awkward and uncomfortable issues for many players. Damian Wayne once again makes a ready example: he has far from a normal kid's psychology, but he must be played responsibly in order not to become a psychotic mass-murder machine.


 * Note that characters who physically appear to be children or minors will be held to all the same rules as characters who are actually that age, even if they are constructs of some kind or are, in fact, older than they appear.

Race

 * Humans are ordinary Earth people, lacking special powers except as granted by specialized training, technology, artifacts, and so on.
 * Aliens are any characters who are themselves from other planets or whose DNA comes primarily from some extraterrestrial source.
 * Metahumans carry the "Metagene," an ancient genetic marker of unknown origin. It grants powers and is often passed from parent to child. In some cases, the metagene must be activated by an outside catalyst.
 * Mutants are a spike in human evolution. The "X-Gene" grants powers and may either be passed parent-to-child or arise as a spontaneous mutation. Its unpredictable nature has led many to fear the rise of mutants.
 * Mutates are similar to mutants, except they usually do carry no "X-Gene." Their genetic changes are triggered by external catalyst some time after they are born, often from exposure to radiation of some sort.
 * Clones are characters created via genetic engineering, usually with their DNA copied from an original source, even if it has been modified.
 * Constructs include androids, robots, golems, and any other artificially created life forms. They may be sentient, but they are not "born."
 * Immortals are exceptionally long-lived, such as demigods or the like. They may have once been human, but they are more than human now.
 * Other: Any character who does not fit into any of these categories can instead simply identify as "other" for application purposes.

Role

 * Hero: You uphold (and usually obey) the law, and are generally honorable and civil to others--you are not perfect, but you try to do what is right. If you break the law, it's when you have little other choice, such as to protect someone in direct danger. (See: Guidelines for Superheroic Activity)


 * Anti-Hero: Your motivations are basically good, but you have your own brand of justice and willingly ignore the law to one degree or another. You work for what you see as the greater good, but you are more comfortable with shades of gray rather than simply buying into "right vs. wrong."


 * Neutral: You are your own person, and you live by your own rules and motives. Whether you uphold the law or not, you might play both sides, but you're really not on anyone's side but your own--whether you save others or victimize them--though you probably don't do harm without a reason.


 * Villain: You take what you can get, and woe to he who steps in your way. Morality is no issue, and others are probably expendable to some degree. Regardless of whether you lead or follow or believe you're acting for the greater good or not, you will hurt others to meet your goals.


 * Reluctant Villain: You are perhaps a decent person at your core, but you have an internal or external compulsion to do something bad. You may eventually move in one direction or the other on the moral scale, tipping over into true villainy or becoming a legitimate anti-hero.


 * Mentor: You may have been a hero or anti-hero in the past, but these days you keep a lower profile or enjoy semi-retirement. You usually avoid direct conflicts and spend most of your energy training or advising others -- but you may well be willing and able to throw down when needed.


 * Civilian: You follow the law for the most part, but if you occasionally break it, you're generally neutral in the major conflicts of the world. You're no hero, villain, nor officer of the law, and while you may end up in the thick of trouble, you don't tend to be the one to start it.

Big Bads
Villain characters who are designed to provide a larger threat on the game are designated Big Bads. They might have more resources or greater power than normal characters, but their primary purpose is to serve as threats for our heroes to face, to facilitate interesting stories, and to eventually be defeated, probably only to escape at the last minute and fight another day.


 * Big Bads must be discussed with staff via +request before they may be applied for. This requirement is designed to save everyone the effort of completing full apps that wind up not working out.


 * They may be approved with greater power levels than they would otherwise have, but they are required to use this power responsibly to help generate role-play on the MUX.


 * Staff may allow GFC Big Bads at a reduced Karma cost if the pitch for the character seems especially apt to generate game activity (GFCS).


 * Each player may only control one Big Bad, but a player's Big Bad does not take up normal alt or FC slots (but GFC Big Bads still occupy a GFC slot).


 * Big Bads do not have special activity guidelines, but they do need to stay in regular contact with staff about how they're facilitating play on the game. Playing more than one Big Bad at a time is discouraged.

Character roles are tracked for mostly statistical purposes, and they are not a hard and fast rule for how your character must behave.

Registration
There are three notable "registration statuses" that may be of interest on the game.


 * Registered Codename: The character is registered with the Bureau of Superhuman Affairs under their codename only. If they are an active hero, they receive full benefits of registration. In all legal dealings, they are identified by their codename and whatever uniform they normally wear while operating under that identity.


 * Registered Real Name: The character is registered with the Bureau of Superhuman Affairs under their real name. If they are an active hero, they receive full benefits of registration. Whether they publicly disclose their identity or not is entirely their own business; the Bureau takes extensive steps to protect the identities of registered members.


 * Unregistered: The character is not registered with Bureau of Superhuman Affairs and does not receive special aid from it; however, the character is still (in terms of the IC law) expected to abide by the law.

Note that villains may be registered with the BSA, but rather than receiving benefits and support, this simply means that they are listed (by either codename or actual name) in the government's database of known super-criminals.

Application
We have designed the character application process to be simple and straight-forward. There are two stages to approval; first is the actual application, and second is the write-up. The write-up consists of setting the items noted in NEWS STATS. When a character is first created, both the write-up and application will be reviewed for approval. Yet, once a character's write-up is approved, it never has to be revised or reviewed again unless by special request or if staff determines revision is in order. A Feature Character's traits, once approved, will be treated as part of the MUX as per our fair use policy. All subsequent applicants will only have to complete the character application portion of chargen.


 * For new characters: create your character at login and enter chargen.


 * For requesting existing available characters: Use the '+chrequest' command (on game: '+help +chrequest') to access the character object and then enter chargen.


 * All character generation code and commands may be found in the chargen rooms off the nexus of game's OOC area.

The character application consists of questions that are to be answered in written paragraph form and submitted to staff for review. Applications that may be accepted will communicate what staff is able to judge as a fair adaptation or representation of the character and how they might fit into the world of the game. However, for high-demand FCs, the process differs.

High-Demand FC Apps
Once anyone requests the password of an FC who has been +tagged into high-demand, the character is placed open for application to all comers for 48 hours. If any additional requests are made during that time, the additional players are granted up to one week to submit their own applications as well. Then, at the end of that time, staff selects the application that seems best and that player is granted access to the character object to enter play.

If, in the case of such a contested app, staff deems it necessary, "test scenes" may be run to give the applicants the opportunity to demonstrate how they would play the character if granted approval.

After 48 hours, if no one has applied for a high-demand FC, the character opens up to general application like any other Feature Character.

App Questions
The character application questions are as follows:


 * 1) Describe the character's identity.  Who is this character?  How does his/her history affect that identity?  What are the character's most key, prominent personality traits?  Even if various elements of this character were changed, what is absolutely essential to its core?
 * 2) How does the character fit into the world of the game?  This is very important for Feature Characters in particular; demonstrate how the character fits in the world of the game rather than only in the world of its original creation and publication.
 * 3) Please explain your character history (in 8,000 characters or less). This should be kept simple and to the point, giving the basic facts needed to understand the character's origins. Please avoid heavily stylistic or lengthy responses--you will be able to post your full character history on your character's wiki page if you wish. (The '+bg' command will recall this information on game.)

App Limits

 * Players must wait at least one week between the approval of one character and applying for another. They may begin the app, but they must wait one week to submit..


 * Players may not apply for more than two (2) characters per period of 28 consecutive days (4 weeks) from submission of the first application.


 * Players are asked to play out at least one scene with a newly approved character before they apply for another (verified by +votes or logs).


 * Players may only control five (5) alts at any given time. Normally, anyone with five alts must drop one before beginning a new character app, unless...


 * If you have five alts and are applying for a newly vacated Iconic FC, then you must let staff know which alt you plan to drop if your app is accepted.

App Review
Apart from the more complex rating methods discussed in the game system, when reviewing apps staff uses the following "quick" method to review character sheets. We consider how many points are spent on general stats, as well as individual stat rankings. We also consider individual abilities; we look at skills as well as "other" abilities because skills are assumed to be based on training, while other abilities might come from gadgetry, super powers, etc. We also look at the average ability level for a character and the total number of ability points the character has. There is no firm limit to how many points character may have spent on them, but this allows staff to easily compare characters and attempt to be fair about approving general stat and ability levels. (Players can also use this command: '+review ' on the MUX.)

Skill-Based Ability Levels (Per Ability):


 * 01-03 - Amateur Skill
 * 04-05 - Professional Skill
 * 06-07 - Expert Skill
 * 09 - Master Skill
 * 10+ - Legendary Skill

Other Ability Levels (Per Ability):


 * 01-03 - Street-Level Ability
 * 05-06 - Heroic Ability
 * 08-09 - Master Heroic Ability
 * 10+ - Legendary Heroic Ability

Character Updates
Through the natural course of role-play, characters often discover or learn new abilities, obtain new advantages, or otherwise change their station in the IC world. This might mean anything from a new job that increases their IC income, developing a new power or tech item, improving a skill, or even losing a piece of tech or sustaining a serious injury. The general idea is that any notable and long-term change to a character needs to be approved as an update to that character. Fortunately, this is a fairly simple process.

First, make sure you have a +decomp of your old version, just in case! You can see how to do so in '+help +decomp'. To actually begin making changes to your character, proceed to the OOC Area and enter Character Generation again. There, make whatever changes to your sheet are needed. Once you have made all the desired alterations, please use the '+update' (+help +update) command to send in your request for staff review. This is generally a quick and simple process, though of course the more extreme your update is, the more likely that staff will need to give it due consideration before we offer a response. (This is especially true for very high-end abilities.)

Please understand that our requirement for a staff review before allowing major character changes can be implemented is not done to "police" your role-play or rain on your parade. Our goal is simply to make certain that we all stay on the same page, that character sheets remain accurate, and so forth. This fosters good communication between staff and players, keeps players from being confused about what other players' abilities are, and just helps avoid undue frustration or befuddlement all around.

Also, if you would like to submit extensive changes, it may be a good idea to submit a +request that outlines your idea before you write it up so that you can discuss plans for it with staff and we can help minimize your need to do rewrites in case there are any snags or issues we can see coming in advance. We appreciate your cooperation with this policy, and as always we welcome any feedback, concerns, or questions that you might have. Thanks, guys!

Plot Apps
Plot NPC +sheets generally don't need much in the way of thorough detail; some elements of some characters (such as Darkseid's Omega Beams or Galactus' worldship) might still require a little bit of explaining, if you're so inclined, but we're more concerned with making sure that it's easy to get a sense of what the character can do than anything else; remember that these characters are temporary, after all!

Additionally, players who are applying for an NPC group have the option of formatting them a bit differently from the norm, to make figuring out which member of a given team does what easier: rather than entering 'Power', 'Skill', or similar as categories, just use the names of the group members.

As for the app itself, we only ask that you answer questions 1 and 2; 3 will mostly be covered by the plot outline itself, and 4 and 5 aren't so important for temporary characters.

Activity

 * Characters who are not active on the game for extended periods of time are considered "idle." Idle Feature Characters may be placed up for application, and Original Characters may be deleted from the game.
 * Approved characters may not be idle for more than 30 days.
 * Unapproved characters may not be idle for more than two weeks.
 * If you need to be away for longer than this, make sure to inform staff and set your +vacation.
 * If a character is on vacation significantly longer than expected, they may also be subject to idle purge.
 * If a Feature Character fails to meet the minimum requirements for activity, it may be treated as idle and placed up for application.
 * If a player loses a character due to idle-purge, that player may not re-apply for the same character again for a minimum of 30 days.

A newly approved character does not have to meet log requirements for the first month in which they were approved. After that grace period, if an FC, Adapted FC, or Support FC does not meet their 1/month log requirement, they will be set unapproved and up for application after noon PST on the first of the month. These characters can then be requested normally with +chrequest. They will be claimed on a first come, first served basis. The player who lost the character to inactivity cannot re-app them for a period of 1 month. If they have not been claimed in that period, they may re-app them.

Connection Requirements
Approved Feature Characters must prove monthly activity by connecting to the game and accruing +votes from playing in scenes.

Original Characters must connect to the game at least once every 100 days, or they will be archived. If they remain in archive for too many months, they may eventually be deleted in an archive cleanup.

Unapproved characters who do not log in for seven days or submit an app within 30 days of beginning the application process may be removed.

If you need to be away for longer than this, make sure to inform staff and set your +vacation (see: '+help +vacation' on game).

If a character is on vacation significantly longer than expected, they may also be subject to idle purge.

FC Role-Play Requirements
If a Feature Characters (FC) fails to show evidence via '+vote' ('+help +vote') that they have had activity within the last 30 days (excepting if they are on vacation), they may be treated as idle and made available for new applications.

Some FCs may end up in high demand. To address this, players may '+tag' FCs to indicate that the FC is in demand ('+help +tag' on game). Once an FC has two tags on it, it will be treated as in high demand.

If a high-demand Feature Character fails to show evidence via '+vote' that they have been active in RP within the last 15 days (excepting if they are on vacation), they may be treated as idle and made available for new applications.