The Rules

Every club needs to have a few rules that need to be followed for the greater enjoyment of all, and Rocky Crater is no different. As a condition of being allowed to operate this Pern club, Anne McCaffrey has laid down several rules which we all must follow to keep playing in her world. To them Rocky Crater has added a few of its own. We expect all members, even us BoD-types, to stick to them.

If you have any questions about these rules, you may e-mail the BoD at: rcwh-bod@rockycrater.org.

Last updated or changed: June 9, 2004

• Anne's Rules - These are Ms. McCaffrey's own rules (as were in effect when RCWh was founded).
• General Rules - This is a catchall for everything that doesn't fit into one of the categories.
• Mating Flight Rules - This contains information concerning mating flights and how to roleplay them at Rocky Crater Weyrhold.
• Persona Requirements - These are the guidelines that must be followed to produce an approvable persona sheet.
• Posting Rules - Before sending that first post to the list, be sure to read this.
• In-Post Speech - This gives details of how to indicate speech and thought within your posts.
• Posting Syntax - Each club has its own guidelines for headers and signatures, and Rocky Crater Weyrhold's can be found here.

Anne McCaffrey's Fandom Rules

1. Ruatha Hold and Benden Weyr can NOT be used as settings in the club. (note: Benden Weyr has been closed for over six centuries in our timeline, so it's impossible to have a character from that Weyr. Likewise, High Reaches and Telgar Weyrs were closed at the same time as Benden.)

2. Ms. McCaffrey's characters may NOT be used in any way, shape or form in this club. They may mentioned in passing, but you can't role play them, or have a character who is related to them. (note: Remember, this club is set some 720+ Turns (years) after the end of the 9th Pass. F'lar©, Lessa©, Jaxom©, and all of Ms. McCaffrey's other Pernese characters are long dead.)

3. There are five established colors of dragons and firelizards: gold, bronze, brown, blue and green. No other colors will be added; Ruth was the only white dragon there ever has been and ever will be.

4. All role playing must be done off-line. It can NOT appear in print on a website ever as it is tantamount to online fan fiction under Ms. McCaffrey's rules, which is something she does not allow. (note: For this reason Rocky Crater does not have a publicly accessible list archives. The posting archives is available upon request to the BoD: rcwh-bod@rockycrater.org)

5. Dragon Impressibility: Ms. McCaffrey asks that only females Impress gold dragons and only males Impress bronze ones. To that, Rocky Crater adds:

• Gold: Heterosexual Females only
• Bronze: Heterosexual Males only (mating flight bisexuality is common)
• Brown: Heterosexual / Bisexual* Males (mating flight bisexuality is common)
• Blue: Homo/Bisexual Males
• Green: All Females and Homosexual / Bisexual* Males

(note: * = Bisexual brownriders and bisexual male greenriders are extremely rare in this club.)

6. There is no religion, magic, ESP, or extra-terrestrial influences on Pern. The 'worlds' of other writers (Star Trek, Star Wars, etc.), or any of Ms. McCaffrey's own other 'worlds', may NOT crossover into Pern.

General Rules

Rocky Crater's Rules:

1. Content Rating: RCWh's main and special events lists (RockyCrater-RP and RockyCrater-SE) are rated PG-13. This means that sexual scenes fade-to-black, and that language and violence are kept to a minimum, with cautions and warnings above the headers as required. A membership-optional mature content list (RockyCrater-NC17) is provided for more graphic posts. Edited versions of these are usually sent to the main list.

2. Potential members must be at least 13 years old to join Rocky Crater, and over 18 years old to subscribe to the RockyCrater-NC17 list.

3. Whether you call it meta-gaming, power-playing, posing, or some other term, writing for a character (PC or NPC) owned by another player without their permission is forbidden. This includes those characters listed as BoD-NPC or adoptable on the website.

4. In-character actions have in-character consequences. This is never anything personal against the character's player. Just as in real life, Pernese characters are expected to live by the standards of Pernese Society, and Dragonriders are expected to follow a militaristic chain of command.

5. No flaming. If you have a problem with another player, please take it up with the person personally in a private e-mail. If all else fails, you can bring club-related problems to Rocky Crater's Council: council@rockycrater.org.

6. Posts should follow the format set down in the posting style guide (see below). Posts to the main and mature content lists (RockyCrater-RP and RockyCrater-NC17) should be in the finished, full-post format. Round-robin style of posting is only allowed on the special events (RockyCrater-SE) list.

7. Both an out-of-character, chat list (RockyCrater-OOC) and a message board are provided for members to chat, ask / beg / plead for coposters, and for making LOA / LIA announcements. Role playing posts and virus warnings are strictly forbidden on these two locations.

8. LOA / LIA Policy: As a curtesy to your fellow club members, we must insist that all members post Leave of Absence (LOA) and Limited Internet Access (LIA) notices to either or both Rocky Crater's chat list (RockyCrater-OOC) and message boards. LOAs / LIAs are defined as events expected to last more than three (3) days.

10. Most importantly of all: Have Fun! That is what Rocky Crater Weyrhold is here for!

Lurking:
Here at Rocky Crater we do allow list-lurking -- in fact, strongly encourage it of potential members. List-lurking means that you are allowed to subscribe to the club's lists and lurk there, reading the posts, and getting a feel for the club before you commit yourself to creating a persona. No club is perfect for everyone, and this is a great way to see if Rocky Crater is right for you.

If you are interested in list-lurking here, please fill out our List-lurker Form so that the BoD knows who you are.

VIPs:
The important people of the club whose names you should know, along with their e-mail addresses.

Co-founder & Webmaster: AJ (piyer@rockycrater.org) -- Lord Weyrleader D'ylen
Co-founder & Timeliner: Vickie (vickie@rockycrater.org) -- Lady Weyrholder Imara
BoD Address: rcwh-bod@rockycrater.org - To contact BoD as a whole
Council Address: council@rockycrater.org
Personae Approval Team Address: personae@rockycrater.org

Mating Flight Rules

Mating Flights are a part of life for dragonriders, and they are a rather popular topic for Pern role players. This section just covers Rocky Crater's rules regarding Mating Flights, for additional details, please see our Mating Flight FAQ.

1. Mating Flight posts are optional for the players of greenriders. Mating Flight posts are a requirement of playing a goldrider, however, sexual content of any sort is not required.

2. Mating Flight post or not, pressuring a player into writing something even remotely sexual is grounds for immediate suspension and / or expulsion from Rocky Crater Weyrhold. It shall be the club's policy to act first, and then ask questions.

3. Flights for Weyrleadership will not be open. The Lord Weyrleader will be chosen, secretly, beforehand by the BoD from among those personae meeting the rank requirements.

4. All gold dragon Flights will be written and posted to the main list. The goldrider's player will choose who wins the Flight, but the BoD have the final say on the number and color of the eggs, and must agree on who Impresses (though we will respect your choices). The Flight and clutching posts will be written in full-post for the list. Hatchings will be conducted round-robin on the Special Events list.

5. All green dragon Mating Flights are optional. The greenrider's player will choose who wins the flight---you can post a request for contenders to the RockyCrater-OOC list. Green Flights are to be written in full-post format. Green dragons do not lay eggs. For your convenience, using an average cycle of every 8 sevendays---every 4 real life months---a Flight list has been provided to help you plot your storylines. If you would like your dragon's assigned date(s) changed, please e-mail the BoD.

6. Firelizard Mating Flights, greens and golds, will be decided by the firelizard's player with the BoD having the final say on the number and color of the eggs, and must agree on who Impresses them (though we will respect your choices). As firelizards are fairly rare in our section of the Eastern Ring Islands, your persona will probably be required to, IC'ly, turn the eggs over to a local ranking character, like a Headwoman, for distribution.

Persona Requirements

1. Persona Limits: Upon joining Rocky Crater, while you are on moderated posting and / or mentoring, you will be limited to two (2) personae. Once you are released from them you'll be free to create as many personae as you can play. But keep in mind that even non-ranking PCs are expected to be posted for once each real life month.

2. Ranker Limits: At this time there are no limits on the number of rankers that a player can have, but this is subject to change. We do ask that players wishing to have more than one ranker spread their rankers across the six main PC'ed locations in the club. Keep in mind that a ranker is awarded on merit and that, once awarded, you'll be expected to post at least two full-posts per real life month. You'll also expected to help plan major Weyr-wide events, and to keep round-robin threads going. A ranker, as you can see, is a lot more than an IC job at Rocky Crater.

3. Candidate Personae: A candidate for green, blue, brown, or bronze, should be between 12 and 20-Turns-old. We DO NOT accept gold-only candidates because we will never have a gold egg on the Sands.

4. Dragonrider Personae: As implied above, a candidate can Impress a dragon when they as young as 12. Young riders will remain with the Weyrling Wing until they reach the age of 16. After that they'll be promoted to the fighting Wings as a junior rider until they turn 18. Only then will they become full-riders. There aren't any fixed ages for Wingseconds, Wingleaders, and Weyrleaders. Within this club, a Wingsecond should be brown or bronze rider who is at least 20-Turns old with a dragon who's at least 5-Turns-old. A Wingleader or Weyrleader should be a bronzerider who's at least 30-Turns-old with a dragon who's at least 15-Turns-old. The rider should also have at least 5 Turns worth of leadership experience.

5. Crafter Personae: Female crafters are only allowed in the Weyrs and Weyrholds. Apprenticeships usually start at age 12, with the apprentice walking the tables to become a journeyman around age 18, but the exact age will depend on the craft and / or specialty involved. Crafters don't reach master-rank until at least age 30, but this is rare. Most masters do not achieve that rank until their mid 40s. The majority of Journeymen never advance past that rank. Rider-crafters tend to advance through the craft ranks at a slower pace than their non-rider counterparts.

6. Ranking NPCs: Effective February, 2004, ranking NPCs -- Masters, Lord Holders, major Holders, etc. -- will no longer be accepted on persona sheets except as reference to the master that a crafter is or had been training under. Those wishing to have a master as a relation to one of their characters are strongly encouraged to PC the master before submitting the other character. There are currently a number of openings for PC'ed crafters within Rocky Crater's territory.

Posting Rules

1. Posts will be in finished format AND round-robin / tag-team styles. Finished or full posts will be used for most events and storylines, and will be posted to the RockyCrater-RP or RockyCrater-NC17 lists. Full posts may be solos (written by one person) or co-posts (written by two or more players, with writing done by private email). Major Weyr-wide events will be written in round-robin format, with events announced by the BoD and a set time limit placed on posting. These events will take place on a membership-optional special events list (RockyCrater-SE).

2. Any member who continually posts materials that are out-of-canon or in conflict with club rules or history will be placed on posting probation and only allowed to submit mentor-approved posts to the list until a time determined by the assigned mentor, and subject to BoD review.

3. Please put location and an appropriate title in the subject line of your post. The following abbreviations can be used in the subject line for common PC'ed locations in the club:

• RCWh:  Rocky Crater Weyrhold
• FVSH:  Fairview Seahold
• SPH:  Star Peak Hold
• SPO:  Star Peak Observatory
• ATS:  The AIVAS Technical School (at Star Peak Hold)
• TSS:  The Seamen's School (at Fairview Seahold)

4. Signatures should be kept to a minimum, and may be either IC or OOC. Please do not send attachments to the list.

5. All new players' first few posts will be moderated by the BoD.

6. Rocky Crater operates on a fixed calendar, with one Pernese month equal to two real life months. Calendar information can be accessed online.

7. Important events that affect more than your own characters MUST be cleared with the BoD. These include character deaths, character permanently relocating to another location, gold dragon or gold firelizard mating flights, clutches and Hatchings, and the like. If you aren't sure if you need permission, e-mail the BoD to ask.

8. Depending on your character's rank, you will be expected to post a certain number of times per real life month. Non-ranking characters should have at least one post per RL month. Ranking characters should have, at the least, two posts per RL month. Those who write for ranking characters are also expected to help plan major Weyr-wide events, and to keep round-robin posts active. Behind the scenes work will be credited towards these requirements at the BoD's discretion. We intended for Rocky Crater to be a high-volume, high-quality PBeM Weyr, and we hope that our players share this wish as well.

In-Post Speech

Human to Dragon
::Perfecth, why aren't you living up to your name?::

Dragon to Human / Dragon to Dragon
{{Like rider, like dragon, I guess, A'hunk.}}

Firelizard images or emotions
~~hungry~~

Human speech
"Four score and seven hours ago..."

Human thought
**I think that it's time to get a new speech writer.**

Dolphin speech
><>Need more fish!<><

Posting Syntax

This little paragraph must be typed in to the beginning of your post, before the content. We will be quite strict about it, so expect a warning if you flout this rule.

Finished Posts:
Who:  PC Characters in it
NPCs:  NPC Characters in it (can be dropped if there aren't any)
Author(s):  Who wrote it
When:  Pernese Date (see calendar information for open month)
Where:  Area(s) of the Weyrhold, Hold, or School in which scene takes place
What:  A one-two sentence summary of your scene for the Chronology
Notes:  Any other info or who/what kind of person you want for a co-post

Round-robin Posts (to be used on SE list only):
Who:  PC Characters in it
NPCs:  NPC Characters in it (can be dropped if there aren't any)
When:  Pernese Date (see calendar information for open month)
Where:  Area(s) of the Weyrhold, Hold, or School in which scene takes place

In addition, all posts will include a brief signature line, consisting of member first name or nickname used in the club, member email address, persona name, and persona rank.