Hello and welcome to E pluribus unum, a message-board based role-playing game set in Revolutionary War-era New Jersey. In order to ensure ease of operation, we have a few guidelines we ask all members to follow.

Administration
1. This is an English-speaking forum. Players whose native languages are not English are welcome to join, but please be aware that your mastery of the language must be to a certain standard. If the grammar or spelling of your post is so bad as to limit understanding, your post(s) may be deleted.

2. This board is rated PG-13, literally. If you wouldn't want your 13-year-old sister reading it, don't post it. This goes for both violence and sexual content. Smoldering kisses, innuendo, etc. is okay. Describing the act of procreation is not. If it would make your grandmother blush, don't post it.

2b. As for violence - please don't write out in excruciating detail how your character disemboweled your character's wife's lover then cut off certain body parts one by one. Nobody here wants to read that.

2c. All posts are open to the public, so be aware.

3. Avatars: Avatars should be limited to 100 x 100 pixels and depict your character. Please crop the image to the head, neck, and shoulders region. Note, avatars are not mandatory, but they are fun!

3b. Signatures: Signatures should be limited to a maximum size of 200 x 500 (H x W). Signatures will be held to the same rating as posts. Please no inappropriate images. Like avatars, signatures are not mandatory, but they are also fun!

Registration
1. Please create separate accounts for each character and join with your username as "Firstname Lastname". No middle names unless your character has a double name (ie. Mary Jane Baker).

2. New members are limited to initially submitting three characters, including at least one of each gender (2 males, 1 female or vice versa). You are, of course, permitted to have only one character, if that's all you're interested in. After you have been active for a certain period of time and each of your current characters have at least 100 posts, you may request additional characters. Contact me via PM if you wish to create an additional character.

3. You are welcome to recreate your characters from other games, but please remember that their roles in EPU may be distinctly different that their roles in other games. Mr. Scotts may be terribly popular and everybody loves to have a chance to RP with him in Game A, but he may not get that same reputation here in EPU.

4. Please give notice if you plan on leaving the RPG. This will enable the admins to notify involved parties and allow players to wrap up threads with your characters. Please note, if you leave, your character may be killed off as a way of explaining his or her disappearance in-game.

In Character Behavior
1. Historical accuracy is important, but don't be afraid to make mistakes. A certain amount of research on the part of the player, however, is expected. Please visit the Helpful Links thread in this forum for a good starting point.

2. You may not under any circumstances act on behalf of another character. This includes, but is not limited to, posting dialogue, thoughts, actions, and facial expressions. Under NO circumstances may you kill another player's character.

3. Please strive to keep your posts true to the character sheet you created. If you find that the character you are writing is straying from the character post, please contact an admin and request permission to update/rewrite your character sheet. Please note that all changes must be approved by the admins and if your character changes too dramatically, you will be asked to create an entirely new character.

4. This board is intended for intermediate players. We expect at the minimum a paragraph per post, with absolutely no one-liners. Two paragraphs per post is encouraged. Of course, more experienced players are welcome and multi-paragraph posts are always encouraged.

4b. We also welcome beginners who are willing to put for some effort to better their abilities. Unfortunately, however, we are not willing to compromise the quality of the board simply to accommodate people new to role-playing. Therefore, your application may be rejected on the basis of your writing abilities.

5. Please do not alter the font size, family, or color in in-character posts. We are trying to maintain a uniform appearance and some members find particularly small fonts difficult to read.

6. Attached NPCs are permitted, but if they begin to occupy larger and larger portions of your primary character's posts, you will be asked to create a new character sheet. Example: Lady Louise Davis has a companion, Miss Christine Martin. In order for Miss Martin to be played at all, she must be in the company of Lady Louise and her dialogue and actions may take up no more than 50 percent of each post.

7. When starting threads, please include the current in-game date as part of the title or subtitle (ie. Title: Raindrops on Roses; Subtitle: April 1775).

8. Please reply to posts in a good amount of time, as the story will be hard to continue if you are not responding. If you are going to be unable to post for a period of time, as a courtesy, please make use of the Player Announcements board.

Out of Character Behavior
1. Please maintain a certain level of respect for players. If your character is enemies with another character, he or she may act the part. This does not mean, however, that you are permitted to treat any player with disrespect. If you feel that you are being bullied by a player, please contact me via PM.

2. Please make OCC posts in the OCC boards or use the chatbox. If you must include an OCC message to another player inside an IC post, please use brackets and include the abbreviation "OOC". ie. [OOC: Hey, Liz, I've got to run. Can we finish this post up?]

3. Discipline here in EPU is very simple. We operate on a 3 strike rule. The first strike, for whatever reason, will result in a warning only, with no loss of privileges. The second time you must be warned, regardless if it is for the same thing for which you were warned earlier, there will be a temporary ban placed on your account. The length of the ban may vary based on the offense. A third strike will result in expulsion from the game with no opportunity to rejoin in the future.

Other than that, have fun! Thanks for reading and enjoy!