InsaneJournal

RESPECT
Please show common courtesy to your fellow players and mods! Please remember that IC does not equal OOC. This is in terms of player and character knowledge and player interactions. Drama will not be tolerated. Just because a character does not like your character does not mean that their player doesn’t like you. Equally god-modding and other such things will not be tolerated. Once will get you a warning, twice will get you removed from the game.

ACTIVITY
An active game is a happy game! Our suggested activity requirement is a completed thread every other week, though more threads are highly appreciated and encouraged. At least one thread a month must be with another character. There will be monthly activity checks just to make sure everyone is still alive so to speak. If your character hasn't been active that month, you'll receive a warning and a week to become active, or the journals will be reclaimed.

CHARACTER LIMITS
Players are permitted to control a maximum of three characters but may start with no more than two. This is to ensure people can handle the requirements of multiple characters. Please do not pick up another character unless you have the time to devote to him or her. It's no fun for anyone if characters suddenly go missing for weeks on end. Also there is a one Weasley limit per player. (Children do not count towards limit, example you want Bill to have his daughter, she would not count towards character limit).

DROPPING CHARACTERS
If you drop a character, you must wait a month before picking the same or another one up unless you have discussed it with the mods. (The mods do understand that the muse for a character can disappear but if you give a character up, he or she will immediately be available for pick-up by anyone else. If you're unsure whether the muse will come back or not, use the option of a hiatus.) There will be a hiatus post placed in the mod journal. The general rule of thumb will be a hiatus of no more than 6 weeks will be allowed. Anything longer than 6 weeks will be considered a drop. Please have an IC reason for the characters to be away, to allow for character life to go on as normal.

PLOTS
Plots will be up to players to create for their characters. We will have very little restrictions, but if it's something that will affect the game as a whole (lust potion in the on-tap beer at the Leaky, or a rash of robberies in Diagon Alley) please let the mods know first, and make a detailed post in Writers so that others can react/play as needed.

Please add Behind Charing Cross: Where Wizards Come To Play at the end of your application to show you've read all the rules.

GAME TIME
The game is set in 2003 and runs in real time eg. 12 Jan 2009 real time = 12 Jan 2003 in game. Backdating should be used with care, and only when necessary. The same goes for placeholders, and those should be filled within 48 hours of posting. Should the placeholder action be pending completion of events in another thread, exceptions can be made.

ADULT THEMES
This is an adult game and will feature sex, violence, death and anything else that might happen in life. Therefore you must be 18 years old. No exceptions.

THREADS
All role-play must be done via threading on the main game comm in third person past tense. No IM chat logs, netspeak or one liners. Please use good grammar, proper spelling, full sentences and paragraphs. And detail! Detail is love! It also makes it easier for those RPing with you if they have something they can react to. That doesn’t mean that each entry must be an essay but do try and be as descriptive as is sensible for the situation. The exceptions to the above rules are Owl Posts. These can be in first person present tense and can be replied to in first person, present tense. However, these types of posts will not count towards the activity minimum.

POSTS
Post headers must take this format: In the subject field should be either RP: {Insert witty/profound title} or Note: To {Character name} or Owl: To {Character Name} or Excerpt: {From: X's Journal, Warded to/from/Private} (Wards on both Owls and Journal Exerpts must be specific)

Date:
Characters:
Location:
Private/Public:
Rating:
Warnings:
Summary: Please edit your summary when the thread is complete to reflect the major events. This makes weekly game summaries simple and easy!

All text must then go under a cut.

CONSEQUENCES
Please remember there are some times when your character does something in public (i.e. Harry wears a dress to the Leaky) where other characters would react (Ron mistakes him for a girl and starts flirting; Seamus tells Dean who tells Neville who tells Rita and it ends up in the Prophet) that would not be considered Godmodding. Take this into consideration while writing, to make sure your character is prepared for the consequences!

CHARACTERIZATION
Please be as canon-realistic as possible. While we don't expect minor characters to have a lot to go on, please don't create a Mary Sue or Gary Stu. Past canon-relationships must be mentioned and dealt with realistically (preferably in game, but a well thought out reason in the application will be accepted). If you're unsure of your characterization, take the Mary Sue test before sending in the application. On the application page, we have listed several resources to help create a meaningful, interesting character.

PBs
The approval or otherwise of PBs remains at the sole discretion of the mods. Please choose an appropriate PB for your character taking into account any description given in the books. (ie. No blond Hermiones or Harrys or dark-haired Weasleys or Malfoys, no extremely gorgeous Goyle or Flint)

JOURNALS
You will be provided with a character journal by the mod. You do not need to create one for the game. All character journals remain the property of the game though you have complete control over them while you are playing in the game. If you change the password, you must notify the mods.

SLASH AND RELATIONSHIPS
GLBT characters are more than welcome in game, and our universe on a whole is accepting of such things (i.e. Men can marry other men, women can marry women, etc). Of course, not everyone is accepting of such lifestyles, and there may be times when this comes up in game.

MISCELLANEOUS OTHER THINGS
* Hogwarts is a British school, for British students, people born (with citizenships) in other countries do not go to Hogwarts, there are no exchange students.
* Animagi are not common – there are less than 10 in total in Britain according to canon.
* Not everyone can cast a Patronus, cast unforgivable charms or brew Wolfsbane potion – they're complicated and complex spells/potion and many would not bother to learn as most will not need it. Try to consider carefully what your character can and cannot do before applying.

Any further questions, please leave a comment here or email the mods at CharingCrossMods@gmail.com.