Board Management

• Legalities
• Ratings
• Forbidden Material

Account Creation

• Character Creation Rules
• Multiple Accounts or Alters
• Signature/Avatar Rules

Account Management

• Managing Your Account
• Your Panel

Conduct Rules

• General Board Conduct
• Character Conduct
• Student Conduct
• Adult Conduct
• Disciplinary Policy
• Role-Playing Rules & Guidelines

By joining Potter's World you indicate that you have read and do agree to abide by these rules. Failure to do so may result in warnings, disciplinary action, or removal from the boards.

Legalities

The following Terms of Service (ToS) and General Forum Rules are intended solely for the purpose of sites that are a part of FANFICTIONWORLD.NET. It may not be copied in whole or part in any form (electronic or otherwise) without the prior consent of the owner.

Disclaimers
PottersWorld is an unofficial, not for profit RPG fan site, and is in no way connected with J.K. Rowling, Scholastic Books, Bloomsbury Publishing or Warner Bros. It is not endorsed by any of the aforementioned parties. Rights to characters and their images is neither claimed nor implied.

All members and visitors to our website must comply with and understand the following:

I. Monitoring and Content

PottersWorld.net will make every effort to monitor it's discussion boards, postings, and outbound links for material we consider inappropriate, but does not guarantee suitability of content for all readers. You acknowledge that PottersWorld.net is viewed/read at your own risk. If you come across material which you find offensive or inappropriate, please contact the staff.

While the administrators and moderators of this site will attempt to remove or edit any generally objectionable material as quickly as possible, it is impossible to review every post. Therefore you acknowledge that all posts made to this site express the views and opinions of the authors and NOT the webmaster, administrators, staff and moderators and hence they will not be held liable.

II. Links

Although we may provide links to other websites, we are not responsible for any material at these sites. You acknowledge that you visit these other websites at your own risk.

III. Our Privacy Policy

Any information given to us (email address, name, etc...) will not be given to anyone outside the staff of this site and will be used ONLY for contact purposes concerning this site. We will not email you unless it directly concerns this site. While this information will not be disclosed to any third party without your consent, the webmaster, administrators, staff and moderators cannot be held responsible for any hacking attempt that may lead to the data being compromised or corrupted.

IV. Removal of Material

Although PottersWorld.net encourages creativity and discussion, we reserve the right to remove, limit access to, or censor posts, threads, or other material that we believe are inappropriate for this website at any time based on the terms and conditions within this document or other administrative documents within the site.

V. Copyright Disclaimer

Copyright and Intellectual Property Disclaimer. By agreeing to become a staff member, prefect, or any character classified as a "stock" character, you agree that all characters, graphics, assignments, documents, rules or textbooks created in the commission of PottersWorld and any of its affiliates becomes the property of Potter's World. We reserve the right to reproduce, edit or delete any content as the need arises. Upon your departure of Potter's World, you agree to relinquish all control to the intellectual property created in the commission of your association with the site and all property will be utilized how the site administrators deem fit. This disclaimer should not be construed to expand beyond the community of Potter's World and/or any of its affiliates. Should you decide to post the character at another site, you do so with the understanding that this in no way diminishes the creative control Potter's World site administrators exercise over the characters created at this site.

VI. Character Disclaimer

The staff at PottersWorld wish to acknowledge that your character(s) is/are yours, and you own the rights to the name, any artwork, and text you post with them. Because this is an interactive, role-playing community, by posting here, you give permission to the staff and other members to use your character's name and prior actions as part of the game, and as part of that interaction.

What does that mean?
Basically what this says is that by creating an account and posting on PottersWorld, you give up sole ownership of this character and its name but only under the following conditions:

• Other characters are allowed to talk about your character within the context of the game
• If your character "dies" within the game, or is deleted (either at your request or by the staff), other characters can and may continue to talk about your character, using your character's name and events posted by you previously on the board (other characters will NOT be allowed to god-mode yours; in other words, give it actions that have not been created by you).
• The staff of PotterWorld will make every effort to ensure that treatment of your character is handled in a sensitive manner, in good taste and within reasonable bounds. That is, once you leave our site, you can reasonably expect that what you have done here will not be exploited in a way that is unfit or unseemly for their character's reputation or yours.

Your Control
Please remember, this is the internet. You can only expect a resonable amount of control over what you post on it; once public, you lose total control forever. Our site costs money to operate, and by allowing you to post here free of charge, you are a guest, and as such, can expect a reasonable (but not total) amount of control over your creation. Because this is an "interactive" game -- not a personal story but an interactive multi-player activity -- it is impossible to expect 100% control over your creation. By posting here, you acknowledge that you give up some of that control.

(following is a copy of what you agreed to when you signed up an account)



By joining Potter's World you indicate that you have read and do agree to abide by these rules. Failure to do so may result in warnings, disciplinary action or removal from the boards.
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Revision History
11JAN06 -- reposting; formatting changes but no content changes

Ratings

All of the sites of FANFICTIONWORLD.NET (PottersWorld, HarryPotterFanFiction, FictionCentral, The Dark Arts) pride themselves on being safe for users of all ages. While sometimes it can be hard for the limited staff to keep track of all Terms of Service/Forum Rules violations, we do our best in enforcing our rules and procedures. We also ask that our members help to dig up anything that may have slipped through the cracks.

Because PottersWorld is based off of the Harry Potter series of books by JK Rowling, all content should be based on this canon. That is, if it is part of the book-series, it can be part of PottersWorld. We will take our definition of what is allowed as far as sex, violence, and some plotlines from the books. For the most part, this also applies to use of movie-canon.

There are 3 levels of Ratings for PW: 12+, 15+ and Young Adult.

12+ Rule:

Where Used: For our OOC (out of character) parts of the board, including rules, sign-up topics, discussion topics, fun quotation/pictures topics, and areas visible to guest accounts only.

What it means: The 12+ rating means that nothing can be posted that a 12yr old child or older couldn't comfortably read (or their parents). There should be no descriptive violence, no controversial/sensitive topics, and any pictures posted should not contain violence, blood, gore, or be sexually suggestive in nature.

15+ Rule:

Where used: Any true "role-playing" area of the board, areas that are IC (in character), including all of Hogwarts, London, Hogsmeade, and other areas where members post "in character". You must have a full and active membership on this site to view these areas.

What it means: It may be more appropriate for children/members who have acquired the developmental skills needed to distinguish between make-believe and reality. Themes and elements in your posts may include realistic fantasy, strong violence, and blood. It contains little or no sexual dialogue or situations. A good example to follow is what is contained within the Harry Potter books. The level of violence in there is what is allowed in here, but as there is little or no sexual content, that will be followed here as well.

Young Adult Rule:

Where used: Use of the Young Adult rating can ONLY be used in those areas of the board designated for Adults Only. These areas will generally be invisible to accounts not already designated as adults. The words "An Adult Only Forum" will be included in the forum description.

What it means: This rating means basically the same thing as the 15+ Rating -- with one addition... the ability to have moderately sexually suggestive material. Only members that the staff feels are able to handle such material in a mature and emotionally stable way are able to move up to this higher level of membership, and only after they complete the 7 terms at Hogwarts required. More details on what we consider "moderately sexually suggestive material" are available to those members once they reach the adult level.

By joining Potter's World you indicate that you have read and do agree to abide by these rules. Failure to do so may result in warnings, disciplinary action or removal from the boards.
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Revision History
11JAN06 -- reposting; formatting changes; changes to ratings (RP areas to 15+; OOC areas 12+)

Forbidden Material

Posting of pornography, racist or otherwise discriminating remarks, threats of harm, material that breaks any law or otherwise totally unacceptable posts or links to pages that contain inappropriate material will not be tolerated. Such material is entirely at the discretion of the staff to judge.

Forbidden material can be (but is not exclusively):

• rape
• sexual deviancy (paraphilia)
• suicide or suicidal threats
• self-harm/cutting
• physical child abuse (see below)
• physical spouse/boyfriend/girlfriend abuse (see below)
• incest
• student-teacher relationships
• mental illnesses including (but not limited to) anorexia and ADHD (see below)

Romance

Where there is a young male/female student body, there are bound to be romantic encounters, and that's just fine. However, keeping in the mind the HP Canon Rule and what has occurred in the books/movies, you will need to contain the ... erm, vigor with which you describe these encounters. The following rules will apply:

• hugging, snuggling is fine but rubbing may get you into trouble. Keep the rubbing to hair, arms, faces, backs.
• keep your descriptions of physical contact to above the waist (for females, the chest area is off-limits)
• dancing in the Harry Potter world consists of the rather old-fashioned but charming "ballroom" type dancing. If other dancing takes place, it should never consists of "descriptive grinding".

Marriage/Engagements

Marriage and engagements are allowed in the books, so it is considered 'canon' and therefore allowed here. Marriage and engagements are permitted ONLY between adult characters. A student must have graduated from Hogwarts before being allowed to be engaged.

Arranged Engagements/Marriages:
In canon, it's hinted that some pure-blood families, especially of a higher social position that could be considered something like the wizarding world's nobility. However, we want to be careful that this doesn't cross into anything gross like semi-slavery. If you want to work in arranged engagements/marriages into your plots, you MUST follow these rules:

• an underaged student (one who is still at Hogwarts) may discuss their parents/relatives desire for an arranged marriage for them
• this should NOT be something that has actually been arranged; students CANNOT get engaged or married -- only the "wishes" of their relatives can be discussed
• the student should not "agonize" over this. They can be irritated, angry, indifferent or even all for it, but they CANNOT be terrified, trembling, wailing, begging to get out of it. We don't want implications of "forced" engagement/marriage while they are students
• once a student reaches adulthood, the parents/relatives CAN force the issue of an arranged engagement/marriage, but the only threats that can be used are of disowning or disinheriting.
• NO physical violence or false imprisonment can EVER be used as intimidation techniques by family to force an engagement/marriage.

Please read the Adult World ToS for further information on marriages (student characters will not be able to view the Adult World ToS).

Slash

Slash (same-sex romantic relationships) should be treated in the same way as the heterosexual relationships. Kissing is allowed, but no touching below the waist. This forum is not the place to push any political or moral agendas, so please be tasteful.

In our world, slash-type morality is accepted. We do not want to see students agonizing over "coming out" because in this world, these are accepted ways of life. Again, we just don't want to see anyone pushing any larger social agendas here.

Pregnancy

Pregnancy and pregnancy scares (even joking about them) are not permitted among student characters. Adult characters are permitted to have children but must follow the rules for such laid out in the Adult World ToS (student characters will not be able to view the Adult World ToS).

Illness & Death

Characters are allowed to only get and role-play the usual temporary illnesses -- colds, flu, etc. Nothing of a profound or lasting nature will be allowed except by specific permission of the staff.

For characters referring to their NPC (non-playing character) relatives, they should avoid using terms like "cancer", "heart-attack" or any other life-threatening illnesses. We would strongly prefer that you use your imagination and come up with a magical illness, or keep your descriptions very vague. Example: 'wasting disease', 'blood disorder', etc.

Violence

Conflict will be a key element at PottersWorld as it also is in the Harry Potter novels. Good vs. Evil make for really exciting interactions and PottersWorld will provide many venues for that. Tough matches on the Quidditch Pitch, practice duels in the Dueling Arena at Hogwarts -- all are places that have a potential to bring some harm to your character or others.

• Descriptions of wounds are allowed. Blood may be mentioned but try to keep the 'gore' down. You don't want to make your readers sick
• Physical fights between characters are allowed, but try to keep the age of the participants in mind. Younger fighters will probably be doing mostly shoving, while the older characters may get into more serious fights. Think of what the books have.
• Any fights taking place at Hogwarts will be treated by the Prefects and Professors accordingly. As a general rule, fighting is not permitted in British boarding schools, so anyone fighting should be prepared to suffer the consequences from the Hogwarts staff. Fighting in public areas (open threads) WILL be noticed. Fighting in private areas (closed threads) may not.
• Battles between characters should also avoid descriptions of terrible wounds. This will be easier in magical battles, but old-fashioned fist fights between opponents should concentrate on the conflict and the feelings (rage? fear?) of the individuals, not the various damage done to their bodies. Descriptions should be brief and then move on.
• The Unforgivable Curses cannot even be attempted by students, even in jest. Adult characters wishing to use the Unforgivables will have to get permission from the staff via the Private Communication forum first.

Abuse

Abuse is a touchy area. Of course, Harry was most probably psychologically abused at the Dursley's, however, it never went to physical abuse. Therefore the following applies:

• physical abuse is defined as any physical harm cause to an under-aged individual by an over-aged individual
• NO mention of prior physical abuse is allowed, even if it's in the distant past.
• sexual abuse is defined as any abuse of a sexual nature (rape, forced groping, forced kissing) by any individual of any age.
• no mention of sexual abuse
• students cannot play out the "forced kissing" game
• as Harry and Merope both experienced abuse at the hands of their parents we allow neglect and psychological abuse to be mentioned on the board. If the staff deem the content to push the boundaries of appropriateness, it may be removed.

"neglect" -- to pay little or no attention to; to fail to care for or attend to properly
"abuse" -- to hurt or injure

Spousal/Boyfriend/Girlfriend physical abuse:
Slapping/hitting/punching while in extreme anger is NOT permitted by EITHER gender; a girl cannot slap a boy for drama. Yes, boys are bigger and stronger than girls, but it's not fair to allow girls to slap boys when the boys cannot do the same thing back. Playful punching, poking, tickling, etc. is, of course, allowed.

Mental Illness

Mental illness is an extremely touchy issue and so should be treated with maturity and compassion. With this in mind, the following applies:

• No student account can suffer from a mental illness. This includes (but is not limited to) anorexia, depression and ADHD.
• No adult account can suffer from any mental illness except exhibition of defective reasoning ability, memory loss, loose grip on reality, especially as the result of magical accident, malady or battle. Depression is permitted by adults. Extreme cases must be applied for at the Private Communication forum.
• Mental illness displayed by non-player characters should be kept to a tasteful level. Please do not glorify this -- make one mention of a parent having a mental illness and then move on.

'Joking' about mental illness: Please be tasteful with your 'jokes.' Any joking around that seems to be intended maliciously will be deleted. If the joke is harmless in nature and done in good taste and fun, they will be left alone. This is entirely at the discretion of the staff to judge.

Example of 'good' joking:
-- "Are all Gryffindors as insane as you are?"
-- "Do you know what? You're making me crazy!"
-- "He's absolutely mental!"

Example of 'bad' joking:
-- "I think we need to send her to the mental ward. She can wear a straight-jacket and drool in her jello."
-- "He's a complete mental case, if you ask my opinion. He should be committed and pumped full of anti-psychotics."

Swearing

No severe swearing. No profanity is allowed. Note that posting a single letter plus several asterisks (*) following it to simply indicate swearing is considered the same as swearing, and it will result in a warning.

Following are the only swear words that will be permitted:
Arse, Ass/Asshole: "Don't be an ass, James." "Goyle couldn't find his own asshole with a map and a flashlight."
Bastard: "I don't care what you think, Draco. You can be a right bastard at times!"
Bitch: "I wish she wouldn't act like such a bitch."
Bloody: "Bloody hell, Ron. Where did you get that?"
Bollocks:"That's bullocks and you know it, Ron!"
Bugger: "Bugger off, Fred."
Crap: "Ah crap, I tore my Charms essay!" "Well thats a load of crap!"
Darn: "Oh, darn! I forgot my Potions book in the common room. I'll be back in a minute."
Damn: "Damn it! - my pencil broke." (putting "god" in front of this word is NOT acceptable)
Hell: "Go to hell, Malfoy."
Poop: "I hate Care of Magical Creatures," exclaimed Parvati. "Just look at my new shoe, it's covered in unicorn poop!"
Piss, Pissed off: "Piss off, Granger!" "Once she hears about that, she's gonna be real pissed off!"
Sod off: "I told him to sod off."
Sucked, Sucks: "That test today really sucked!" "Did you hear he made the Quidditch Team? That really sucks!"

PLEASE NOTE! Some words are also censored (meaning you are not allowed to use them) that we do not consider appropriate for use on this board in any discussion, but that may not be considered a vulgarity. Those words are: retard, suicide, pot head, queer, wtf, skank, and other words that could be considered slurs.

By joining Potter's World you indicate that you have read and do agree to abide by these rules. Failure to do so may result in warnings, disciplinary action or removal from the boards.
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Revision History
11JAN07 -- reposting; formatting changes; changes to forced marriage rules, to reference to illnesses rules, separation of "forbiddens" from ratings.

Character Creation Rules

In any role-playing game, keeping good track of active players is essential. Please read through the following rules, then enter your character in the Character Role-Call thread in the Enter Your Character forum. All characters in this forum will be considered ACTIVE unless further designated by the staff.


Choosing a Name
-- When registering, please use ONLY the first and last name of your character. No middle names, titles, or initials are allowed. You ARE permitted to have a hyphenated first or last name, but bear in mind the length of your name and how it will appear to others.
-- In the member panels, the system will truncate (cut off) anything beyond 16 characters long.(example: The name "Bernadine VanHousen" will appear like "Bernadine VanHou...")
-- The following last name prefixes ARE permitted with a space between them and the last name:

• De
• Del
• Der
• Dos
• El
• La
• Le
• St
• Van
• Von

-- Anything beyond this list MUST have staff approval BEFORE registration (see Staff Contact List).
-- Your display name WILL BE YOUR CHARACTER NAME. Pennames have no place here; enter the name of your character as your display name.
-- Do not register a canon character or surname without prior permission from the staff. Be unique, create someone original and fun!
-- You CANNOT claim any sort of kinship or relation to any character (whether listed below or not) from the Harry Potter books without special permission of the staff.

Surnames (last names) on this list are NEVER to be used:

• Black
• Crabbe
• Dumbledore
• Dursley
• Goyle
• Granger
• Krum
• Lestrange
• Lockhart
• Longbottom
• Lovegood
• Lupin
• Malfoy
• McGonagall
• Moody
• Patil
• Pettigrew
• Potter
• Quirrell
• Riddle
• Snape
• Tonks
• Umbridge
• Weasley
• Zabini

Choosing a Face
For instructions on choosing your character face (also known as a 'play-by'), please read the first post of the Character Face Masterlist.

Your Character's Backstory
-- All characters are unique individuals, but you should NOT start with any of the following to try to distinguish your character as different from the rest:

• descendant of a founder
• descendant of canon character
• part-anything other than human (we are all humans here, not vampires, not veela, not centaurs, giants, or other creatures as noble as they may be. The only exceptions are if these traits are in your family history, i.e. your great grandmother might have been a veela, but that doesn't mean that you have remarkable sway over men).
• having remarkable powers (no animagi, legillimens, occlumens, you can't start fires because you're mad, you can't freeze water with a glance - - this is Harry Potter, not X-Men.)
• bizarre physical characteristics, like amazing eye colour that changes, hair that grows or shortens on its own, or any other physical attributes outside of what is in the "real world".
• mental or physical disability of any kind.

Adoption/Guardianship
Under-aged characters (those who have not yet graduated from Hogwarts) may be adopted or taken under the guardianship of an adult character ONLY under the following conditions:

-- you must first acquire approval by the staff through the Private Communication forum
-- you cannot advertise for an adult character to adopt you via the Want Ads forum
-- you cannot mass-PM members controlling adult world characters to 'adopt' you
-- you must properly set up and RP the set up for this by your character prior to the adoption (no "snap" decisions)
-- you cannot be "unadopted"; once the arrangement has been made, it cannot be undone UNLESS the adult is deleted or dies.

Once proper permission has been obtained, you can begin to RP this adult person as your adopted parent or guardian. You may meet them at the common student-adult areas such as Hogsmeade, the Owlry and Diagon Alley.

Adults wishing to adopt will have to follow a special set of rules designed for them. Adults can read these in the Adult ToS (not viewable to students).

Offspring/Children
Adult characters cannot birth or adopt children once they already have other children in the AW. It goes without saying that this also applies to NPC parents, no matter how many times they've been married and how many step- and half-siblings are involved. In other words, once your character has children old enough to have reached the AW, your character's birthing/adopting should stop. It's time for the next generation to take over. This applies to children you "inherit" by either gaining them from other family members, or you gain by marrying someone else who has children.

In that same vein, new students/siblings cannot be brought onto the board after the youngest existing student character in the family has graduated and is now in the Adult World. What that means is that if your character is currently the youngest student member of their family (or the only member) and they graduate, no additional siblings can enter Hogwarts.

The only exception to this rule is children born IC to existing families on the board. Parents can birth/adopt children up until the point that the youngest student child graduates - these new children CAN be brought onto the board.

To make this crystal clear:

• Your character has older siblings (or is the only member of the family who has been in Hogwarts) who have already graduated and is currently a sixth year: the following term (said character will now be a seventh year) a new sibling/student CAN be registered as a first year.
• Your character has older siblings (or is the only member of the family who has been in Hogwarts) and is currently a seventh year: the following term (said character will now be an adult) NO new siblings/students can be registered.

The exception:

• Your character has older siblings (or is the only member of the family who has been in Hogwarts) who have already graduated and is currently up to a sixth year: the following term (said character will now be a seventh year) a new sibling CAN be born/adopted into the family and WILL be permitted to be registered as a student character, and go through Hogwarts
• Your character has older siblings (or is the only member of the family who has been in Hogwarts) and is currently a seventh year: the following term (said character will now be an adult) NO new siblings/students can be born/adopted into the family - and therefore no new siblings/students can be registered on the board.

Children of previously existing characters cannot be brought on as new characters when both parents are deleted characters. This applies to both staff-created child accounts AND accounts created by members.

Sorting -- Please be aware of our procedure for the Sorting into the Hogwarts Houses. Characters will NOT be able to choose their own house. They will be assigned to a house by the staff. This will take place when a new student enters Hogwarts for the first time and posts in the Sorting area in the Great Hall. If you disagree with this rule, it would probably be best to search for another RPG site.

Originality
It goes without saying that the character you create should be YOUR creation. We don't want to see a rehash of your fav character from a TV/Movie/Book. Not only is that copying, it is dangerously close to copyright infringement. If the staff feels you are modeling your character's traits too closely to that of a famous character, you will be asked to change it or be subject to account removal. This applies to close alliterations. If you decide to call your character "Larry Cotter" and give them an interesting scar, it will be greatly frowned on.

Gender
We do understand that because a good portion of new members on PottersWorld will come over from HPFF (harrypotterfanfiction.com), most of them will be female. But PLEASE remember that if Hogwarts is populated by 50 girls and 2 boys -- let's just say that the Yule Ball will become a very tedious affair. So take a look over the current membership in the Character Role Call thread and if it looks over-populated with girls, why not try a boy character? Boys can have fun too!

Blood-Status
As you know from canon Harry Potter lore, a person's blood-status (also known as blood purity) refers to a concept within the wizarding world that distinguishes between individuals whose family have different levels of magical members. Because the idea of whether one's blood is "pure" or not could sometimes result in prejudice and conflict -- AND because it was such an important part of the HP books and their plots -- we have decided to implement its use here. This may lead to future private or board plots in which your character's blood status (or lack thereof) could have an important impact. whatever your character's blood status is, is entirely up to you! The staff won't be watching to make sure your character "behaves like a pure-blood". This is for YOUR use, and may come into future board plots but beyond that, the staff won't be much concerned with how you use this.

THEREFORE.... you will be able to add (or not) your blood status to your character panel (the sidebar area in your post that shows your avatar, your Year/Job, House, etc.), just like you do for your character's "location. To change this, go through My Controls > Edit Profile Information > Blood Status.

For our purposes, there will be 4 classifications of blood status:

Pure-Blood -- Those individuals who "claim" that their family tree it pure and free of muggles. This would usually apply to those within 2 generations, though most families who proclaim themselves 'pure-bloods' may have the occasional muggle or squib in their family, but the family would disown such a disgraceful member and deny any knowledge of them. This is mostly a state of mind rather than actual biology.

Half-Blood -- Those individuals who are magical but have at least some family members within 2 generations who are muggle.

Muggle-Born -- Those individuals who are magical but have no magical family members for 2 generations are considered muggle-born.

Unknown Blood Status -- Those individuals who, for whatever reason (personal plot, etc) have decided they are not going to reveal their blood status IC (in character). This can also apply to those characters who are adopted and/or do not know their blood status, or apply to those who don't really give a wet slap about blood status (despite what their family may think).

"2 Generations" -- defined as yourself, your parents and your grandparents. This also applies to anyone who is in the same generation as your parents and grandparents (for instance, your mother- and father's siblings, and your grandfather- and grandmother's siblings).

Twins
Twins are not permitted except by special permission of the staff. If special permission is granted, it must be under the following circumstances:

• twin accounts will only be awarded to current, experienced players who have excellent activity records
• the 2 accounts must be created and maintained by different players/handlers
• the player/handlers must live in different households so as not to confuse IP addresses. NO exceptions!
• if one twin fails to pass to the following year and the other passes, they will cease to be "twins", and be merely be siblings of different ages.

Relatives
Being part of a family may be extremely important to some characters and their development. There also appears to be a driving need among some members to bond together with other members and characters, and some have found the best way to do this is through creation of varying degrees of FAMILY.

Following are some rules and guidelines when having characters who are relatives.

1. No two characters with the same last name can register in the same term.
2. No two (or more) siblings, half-siblings, or step-siblings can enter Hogwarts in the same term. (except for twins; see the "twins rule" above)
   
   This rule also applies to siblings, half-siblings, or step-siblings who "don't know about each other" for whatever reason.
3. "God-parents" do not count as relatives.

Record-keeping
Sometimes, there is confusion between characters about who is related to whom. On order to share information about your family with other members (and cause less confusion for the staff), there is a place for you to enter your family information. This is located in the Family Tree subforum (viewable to members only).

It is YOUR responsibility to communicate with your relatives when you wish to bring on new relatives. It's only fair that they have some say in the matter.

If you want to have NPC family members involved with either of our two Adult factions (the Order of the Phoenix or the Chapter of the Cadena), then you will need to read CAREFULLY the following links:

Issues concerning your relation to the Order of the Phoenix

Issues concerning your relation to the Chapter of the Cadena




By joining Potter's World you indicate that you have read and do agree to abide by these rules. Failure to do so may result in warnings, disciplinary action or removal from the boards.
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Revision History
11SEP22 -- added section on "Blood Status"
11AUG28 -- added note forbidding claiming relation to any canon characters.
11JUL15 -- added clarification about NPC parents in generational relationships.
11JUN20 -- added to rules regarding children of existing or past characters.
11JAN12 -- reposting; formatting changes; major changes to relatives rules.
11DEC12 -- added to "Generational" rules; included information on new siblings becoming students after youngest child has graduated

Multiple Accounts or Alters
When the same player/handler creates more than one account, we call this having an 'alter'. The first character created is referred to as the "primary" and any after that are "alters".

Because we have had a large problem with members frivolously creating/deleting accounts in large numbers -- which does not give them enough time to properly develop a character -- the following rules are in place for creation of more than one account:

For all Members:

• may not register more than 1 new account per term.
• may not have more than 3 students at Hogwarts at any given time
• may not have more than 4 accounts TOTAL without special permission from the staff (handling of stock accounts does not count)

If you have requested an account be deleted, or if an account is deleted due to inactivity:

• you must wait ONE FULL TERM before you can register another new account.

If you want to try to risk ignoring these rules:

• anyone attempting to register an account in violation of the above rules may have all their accounts deleted, and they themselves banned.

A word about IPs
IP -- (internet protocol) - a special number assigned to your computer/internet connection; it is also a primary way for the staff to identify which accounts go with with member.

The only way the staff has to identify whether an account belongs an individual member is through the IP. Therefore, the above rules WILL apply to those IPs. No one IP will be allowed to register more than one account per term. No IP will be allowed to hold over 4 accounts to the same IP except by special permission of the staff.

A word about Proxies
Proxy -- a computer network service that may allow a member to hide their true IP.

The platform this board runs on is Invision Power Board (IPB) -- not to be confused with InvisionFree. IPB costs money to purchase and run, and therefore, it has FAR more to it than InvisionFree. We have some very powerful tools at our disposal, ones that can capture and store every IP that has ever logged onto an account on this board. Using those tools, the staff have the ability to search each IP thoroughly, and can keep a very accurate record of what accounts are connected through the IPs.

Some people may try to sneak on more accounts than allowed using a proxy server. This is not a good practice. First of all, you cannot guarantee that the proxy you use will be "private". Most proxy companies have a limited number of IP numbers to use, and you may find your character sharing the same proxy IP with another member -- someone who may misbehave so badly, they get banned. In that case, your account would be banned as well. Proxy sites are also somewhat of a pain to use; if you log onto our site through a proxy site, you may find your refresh time is incredibly slow, you cannot see certain things, or certain functions (like using editing or formatting) doesn't work for you. So too, if you slip up JUST ONCE and log on with another IP, our system keeps a record of this. Your supposed "secrecy" would be forever breached.




By joining Potter's World you indicate that you have read and do agree to abide by these rules. Failure to do so may result in warnings, disciplinary action or removal from the boards.
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Revision History
11JAN12 -- splitting from character creation rules; adding more about separate IPs; adding/clarifying alter rules.

Signature/Avatar Rules

(how to show your character in the best light)

We've all heard the saying, "a picture is worth a thousand words". Once you have created your character, you may want to give him or her a face. Pictures (or graphics) are the easiest way to do this; they can be visually appealing (or menacing) to other characters and give a real flavor and dimension to your posts.

Below are the specifics of avatars, signatures and a guide to the information contained in your panel.

AVATARS
The avatar is the small square picture that appears just under your display name in the upper left-hand side of a post. Though small, this is a powerful picture; it is often the first thing a reader will see about your post. The following rules must apply to avatars:

• must be no bigger than 100x100px (pixels)
• the image rated 12+ or lower
• total file size used can be no bigger than 50kb

To set your avatar:

1. Click on MY CONTROLS (found in the upper right-hand corner of your screen)
2. Click on EDIT AVATAR SETTINGS (found on the lower left-hand side of the screen under the Personal Profile section)
3. Locate the entry ENTER A URL TO AN ONLINE AVATAR IMAGE and the blank box next to it. Paste in the URL of your avatar from your image hoster. NOTE: though the selection is still there, we do not allow uploading of images to PW; that function, if tried, will not work.
4. Click UPDATE AVATAR.

You should now see your avatar displayed. If you have done these things and you receive an error message and/or your image does NOT display, it could be one of the following:

• refresh several times
• log off, clear your cache and cookies and log back on
• your avatar file name is too long. If you have your avatar image in a sub-sub-sub album of your image hoster account, it may have created a long file name, something the avatar loader will not accept. Move your image in your image hoster to a base album with a shorter name.
• your offsite image hoster link is broken. Check the URL name carefully.

SIGNATURES
A signature is the area of pictures/text that appears at the bottom of posts. The area can house a larger picture of your character and perhaps links to your author's/artists's pages. It's a little piece of personality to follow your posts and in conjunction with the avatar, can really help define your character.
The following rules apply to signatures:

• Images, links and text may be rated no higher than 12+
• you must not have more than four lines of text.
• images/pictures alone must be no larger than 500x200 total. (see illustration below)
• text appearing in the signature must be no bigger than the #2 setting on the font size selector.

To set your signature:

1. Click on MY CONTROLS (found in the upper right-hand corner of your screen)
2. Click on EDIT SIGNATURE (found on the lower left-hand side of the screen under the Personal Profile section)
3. Enter your text or create your links to your pictures.
   -- to create links, click on the "tree" button located above your text box. Paste in the URL to your graphic in the box that pops up.
4. Click on UPDATE MY SIGNATURE.

You should now see your signature displayed.

Signature Content
Because this forum is acting as a role-playing setting, please use only character-related or plot-line related material in your signatures. Graphics of your character or themes along those lines are fine, things that may show what your character is like. However, please DO NOT put items that have nothing to do with the game or your character in your signature, i.e. your favorite rock-band's logo, your own website, your favorite TV show. The only exception to this is that you ARE allowed a small link to your own author's page at HPFF/FicCentral or your own artists page at TDA, or an acknowledgment to the artist who did your graphics.

Members are allowed to use lines and quotes not written by them in their signature graphics (pictures) and in their text WITHOUT providing credit to the original author. However, you are allowed only 3 lines of uncredited quotes. If you use 4 lines, you MUST provide credit to the author or musical artist (you are NOT allowed to use more than 4 lines.

If a quote is used that is a one-line slogan from a company, this WILL need to be acknowledged. (ie. The brand name)

Graphics for Clubs & Groups
Please see the Student Handbook and the section on Clubs for further information on icons or graphics for clubs.

Requesting an Avatar or Signature
To request a signature set from The Dark Arts, either sign into your TDA account or sign up, then follow their request instructions. If you request and are granted a sig set by an artist at TDA, it is in their rules that you MUST put an acknowledgment to the artist in your signature text.

Personal Photos
Within your personal account settings is an area that says you can load a "personal photo". This is a reminder that no true personal photos are allowed on this site. Personal photos are defined as pictures of yourself, your family, friends or even your personal surroundings (school, home, etc.) or even pets. These are NEVER allowed. Online predators can take advantage of this and attempt to track you down.



By joining Potter's World you indicate that you have read and do agree to abide by these rules. Failure to do so may result in warnings, disciplinary action or removal from the boards.
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Revision History
11JUN04 -- removed reference to Graphics Central on this site; only TDA is now being referenced
11JAN17 -- reposting; format changes; rewording of reference to TDA and requesting artwork rules.

Managing Your Account

Account Security
It is your responsibility, not the staffs, to keep your account information secure and private. Please keep in mind the following:

• Only ONE account per IP address per registration period. NO EXCEPTIONS! If your bestest friend is over at your house or your sister in the next room is absolutely going to DIE unless they get to register this weekend too.... flip a coin. One of you take this weekend, the other do next registration weekend in October.
  
• Think twice before registering someone else's account on your computer, even as a nice gesture. Anything this other person does to their account (disciplinary action, etc) will lead straight back to your account and you may be held responsible. Understand this -- there is no other way for the staff to track accounts except by IP addresses and if yours is connected to another's account, you may suffer the consequences of their actions.
  
• DO NOT GIVE OUT YOUR LOGIN/PASSWORD TO ANYONE!! We cannot stress this enough. We do not accept the excuse that "my sister/brother/friend used my account and racked up those violations, not me!" You and you alone are responsible for your accounts.
  
• If you help a previously banned member by allowing them to sneak back onto PW, your accounts -- ALL of them -- will be deleted without notice.

This includes:
-- registering FOR a banned member, then letting them use that account
-- letting them back on to PW for a "looksie" using your account

We rarely ban people from PW, so when we do, it's for a very good reason. Chances are, the banned member will not cover your back and "confess" if something happens, so you shouldn't feel obligated or bullied into covering theirs.




By joining Potter's World you indicate that you have read and do agree to abide by these rules. Failure to do so may result in warnings, disciplinary action or removal from the boards.
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Revision History
11JAN12 -- splitting from character creation rules; adding more about separate IPs.

Your Panel

Your panel is the area to the left of your post. It contains all sorts of information about your character, most of which is placed there by the system. It's a good idea to glance at this area every now and then -- some things will change periodically, perhaps without your knowing it!

The panel is also a good way to see the status and information of other characters. You will know which characters are which, how long they've been around, what their house is, etc.



A
This is the name you registered under and will appear to all users.

B
This is your chosen avatar.

C
This is your member title. There are many sorts of titles, some assigned by the staff (like for stock characters), and some assigned by the system based on your post count (beginning player, novice, etc.). Adult characters are able to choose their own titles.

D
This is your assigned User Group banner. There are many types of User Groups -- it would be a good idea to keep an eye on your user group banner, because it can change at any time, indicating that you can see areas of the board you were never able to before. Reasons for the group banner changing MIGHT be post count, tasks performed, promotion to the next year, a new job, etc.

E
This area shows your personal member statistics (post count and account creation date). You can also enter where your character is from.

F
This is your affiliation. If you are a student, this will show your house once you are sorted when you reach Hogwarts (Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Slytherin). If you are an adult, this will either be blank, a feather (to indicate a member of the Order of the Phoenix), or broken chain (to indicate a member of the Chapter of the Cadena).

G
For students, this may show a prefect badge; for adults, these two icons indicate their job title and shop/department of employment.

H
This is the Governor's Quality Poster Seal, awarded to member's who exhibit excellent writing and RPing skills.

J
Your Warning Level Bar. If you click on the number/percent (0%) sign, you will be shown your account's permanent log. This will show any violations you have committed and any permanent records the staff has attached to your account (such as graduation dates, promotion records, etc.). Each time you are warned, the level will rise by 10%. Please see the Disciplinary Action post below for further information.



By joining Potter's World you indicate that you have read and do agree to abide by these rules. Failure to do so may result in warnings, disciplinary action or removal from the boards.
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Revision History
11FEB09 -- update graphic to include student & adult; updated some descriptions

General Board Conduct

(the following rules apply to every location within PottersWorld)

1. Purpose

These forums have been set up for the sole purpose of providing a setting for a role-playing game based on the Harry Potter series of books. If you need to carry on a discussion into something unrelated, please move it offsite. Before you joined the forum you agreed to it's terms and conditions. If you decide not to abide by these conditions, your account here will be terminated.

2. Personal Info

Do not publish or otherwise give out any personal information about yourself or others, such as addresses, telephone numbers or full names.

3. Treatment of Others

Please respect your fellow members. Rudeness, harassment, or abuse towards any member of the forums is prohibited. This includes incessant requests for a certain member to post or forcing them to RP scenes of issues that they may not be comfortable with.

Please read the article about Harassment here.

Bullying/Player Coercion
Pottersworld is an RPG accessed by people of all ages and backgrounds, and while all of our characters may be around the same age, it is important to be mindful of the age gap that does exist in real life. Some members are legally adults and others around their mid-teens (or younger) and while the romance here is 12+, be aware that some may not feel comfortable involving themselves in that kind of expression.

It is also important to remember that while your characters are friends/dating/mortal enemies, those dedications do not extend outside of what is being played on the board. No single person is obliged to RP with someone if they have other pursuits they wish to do with their characters. You have no say in how they spend their time here. It's not worth getting angry over if someone isn't replying as quickly as you want them to, or they are choosing to RP with someone else over you.

Try writing in a partnership and be understanding that sometimes inspiration and time constraints are a factor. A person may feel a strong tug towards another character or thread that does not involve you. Trying to force people to RP with you IS bullying and will not be tolerated.

If you have heard of or are the victim of this kind of behavior, please don't hesitate to contact a Governor and we will investigate the matter.

4. Treatment of the Staff

Respect must also be extended to the staff, and this included IC staff (prefects, professors, etc.) The staff work many, many long hours keeping this site working and thriving. Abuse to the staff will not be tolerated. If you ever have dealing with a staff member that you feel are incorrect or not fair, please contact another staff member. Abuse to staff also includes a term we call "stalking" where a staff member is pestered with continual questions or repeated requests. We are here to answer your questions, but please do not abuse this privilege.

5. Board Moderation

We understand the desire to help, but if you're not a moderator, please don't moderate the board. You can offer helpful advice, especially to new characters/members. But please do not tell characters/members if they are doing something wrong. We do not want to place people in the position of judging each other; that is the staff's responsibility. Please report any rule breaking to the staff (see Staff Contact List).

6. Board Promotion

Occasionally, we may need to take on additional staff. Trust that we will notice helpful people, and will potentially promote. But don't PM us asking for a promotion... that won't really help you and could be seen as staff stalking or abuse.

7. Song lyrics/Poems/Other quotes

You cannot use more then 4 lines of 'quoted' text. Quoted text is defined as anything that has come from an outside source; be it the internet, books, songs, poems, etc.. If you didn't write it - you need to credit it.

Please keep serenading, song writing, crooning and balladeering to a minimum. This is supposed to be a magical world dealing with issues of magic learning, mysteries and all things Harry Potter. This is not "High School Musical" or Julliard.

8. Translating Non-English Words/Phrases

If you choose to use non-English words or phrases in your posts, signatures, profile page or anywhere else on this site, you MUST provide a translation into English. This can be in the form of a small note at the end. ANY and ALL non-English words must be translated.

9. No spamming

Spam is defined as Silly Pointless Annoying Messages. Spamming can be described as posts that detract from the main purpose of role-playing; that of interacting effectively with other characters. Don’t spam -- it just ruins the experience for everyone else and is annoying.

Following is considered spamming:

• posts with under 50 words
• posting in an old topic that hasn't been 'active' in over a month
• posting in an old topic whose character(s) has been deleted
• posting in a topic, completely disregarding the people/setting/everything going on in it

10. No double posting. Double posting is making two or more consecutive posts. Doing this does not give others adequate time to reply. Edit your original post rather than make a new one if you decide you have more to say. There are areas around the board where double-posting IS permitted. Those will be marked specifically as such by instructions in that particular forum's pinned rules (example: The Owlrey).

We do understand computer glitches do happen; if you accidentally double-posted the same thing, please report it in the Ask the Staff forum, to the pinned thread ("Double Post Boo-Boo's"). It will be taken care of by the staff.

11. Linking

Because this is a role-playing game forum, linking to other websites is not permitted. The only exceptions are The Dark Arts (the-dark-arts.net) and the websites of FANFICTIONWORLD.NET. including HarryPotterFanFiction.com. You are permitted to link to your author's page at Harrypotterfanfiction.com or at Fictioncentral.net, or your profile or gallery at The Dark Arts. You CANNOT link to a specific story.

No images may be put within individual posts unless you have prior permission of the staff.

You may not link to any threads you make in Pottersworld to "advertise" what you have written. The site is routinely cleaned out and so your link will at some point "die." Additionally, it's just not needed as the profile pages let readers follow your posts/topics anyway. The only exception is linking to your own Character Library thread.

12. Promotions of Other Sites

Topics and threads containing advertising or promoting other websites are not permitted.

13. Staying Active

PottersWorld is an active board, and we want active members. You must maintain a certain level of active role-playing on this site or your account may be subject to deletion.

• all accounts not logged in for 2 months will be deleted without notice
• adult accounts that have not made active, role-playing posts for 2 months will be placed on Involuntary Inactive status (Read more on this policy here. )
• all accounts that have been placed on Inactive status (voluntary or involuntarily) for over 6 months will be deleted.
• student accounts that have not advanced a grade/year level in 3 terms will be deleted (Read more on this policy located here in the Student Handbook)
• once deleted, an account is gone forever

14. Absences

Everyone needs to be absent at one time or another. You do not want to leave the people you are RPing with hanging by leaving without notice, so please post in the Absence Thread when you will be gone. There are more explanations of this policy located in the first post of the Absent Thread.

15. Ask the Staff

This document cannot possibly encompass all the variables to the rules. When you are in doubt that a particular action or plotline is ToS compliant, ASK THE STAFF! The staff are any of the Governor or Magistrate accounts.

• If you have a question, you can post it on the general board in the Ask the Staff forum.
• If you have a question you wish to PM a member of the staff, you can contact them via the Staff Contact list.
• If you have a specific plot idea that you are not sure about, you can contact specific staff by PM, or you can submit your idea through the Private Communication forum.

By joining Potter's World you indicate that you have read and do agree to abide by these rules. Failure to do so may result in warnings, disciplinary action or removal from the boards.
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Revision History
11JAN22 -- Simplifying lyrics/quotes rules; reformatting for clarity; clarifying spamming rules.

Character Conduct

Two very important distinctions need to be made when entering the role-playing world. They are "character" and "player".

Character -- the entity you created for PottersWorld, the one you registered with. Most characters on this board will start at students at Hogwarts.

Player -- the person behind the computer screen controlling the character. The real YOU. Also referred to as the "handler".

In Character (IC) vs. Out of Character (OOC)

In Character ('IC') refers to within the world of the characters, rather than the world of the players. That is, you should make decisions about actions based on what your character would do, how your character would behave based on his/her past actions and experiences. A character talking to another character is an IC interaction, set within the IC world, while two players talking about a real life football game or their real lives is an Out of Character ('OOC') interaction.

All posting at PW needs to be IC except for the following forums:

• The Characters
• Ask the Staff
• Your Plot (and it's subforums)
• The Adult Arena (and it's subforums; visible to Adult characters only)

Thus, IC and OOC are not only words to differentiate between role-playing posts made by character and non-roleplaying posts made by the player, but are also basic concepts for roleplaying, and in role playing communities, to be praised as playing a character "IC" is a high compliment, whereas to be told a character is behaving "OOC", can be something of a detriment.

For instance, some players are criticized for interfering with their character's actions and psychology to produce a desirable OOC effect - ie. players forcing two characters into a romantic relationship when it is quite clear that they don't get along. These players are often believed to be treating the roleplay as a "game" rather than as storytelling. While the term game is often used to describe roleplay, purists observe that important traits distinguish it. For instance, in a traditional "game", the player molds the character, forcing it to play out the wishes and desires of the player, whereas in roleplay, the player themselves attempt to become the character and "realistically" portray him or her, as an actor might portray a role.

A final note: even in their darkest days, Tom Riddle and Draco Malfoy were always respectful to the professors and staff at Hogwarts. Perhaps everyone should think upon this when they decide how their characters would behave in certain situations. Sure the Marauders had some mis-adventures, but they did not run rampant throughout the school. Please try to rein in your enthusiasm at playing bad characters; this is not a reform school. I'm sure Hogwarts had to expel the occasional student; please don't make us do the same thing.

By joining Potter's World you indicate that you have read and do agree to abide by these rules. Failure to do so may result in warnings, disciplinary action or removal from the boards.
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Revision History
11FEB04 -- reposting; formatting changes; rewording of what IC/OOC means to a player

Student Conduct

Rules concerning conduct and play for Student characters can be found in the Student Handbook.

Adult Conduct

Rules concerning conduct and play for Adult characters can be found in the Adult World ToS. (note: this link is viewable to adult characters only)

Disciplinary Policy

There are two kinds of disciplines at PottersWorld:
1. discipline that is real, the result of real rule-breaking of the forum rules. (OOC)
2. discipline that is part of the game, part of the role-playing at Hogwarts and beyond. (IC)

For the majority of infractions, warning PMs will be sent to you by either a Prefect or Magistrate/Governor. Records of these warnings will be kept on your permanent record, which can be found in your side panel. (see YOUR PANEL) By clicking on the percent number (Usually displayed as 0%), you will be shown a box containing the comments about your infraction. Repeated warnings can result in suspension, deletion and banning.

Some warnings - those more severe, or after a number of other, smaller warnings, repeat offences after being warned etc - can result in your Warn Level being increased. You will be notified of these by a system PM giving details of the infraction.

In Character (IC)

If the message starts with IC, this means the post is being made "in character" of the role-playing. In other words, your character is being warned for perhaps a rule breaking at Hogwarts (teasing the caretaker's cat, being out after curfew, getting caught with a forbidden item from Zonko's, etc). These warnings can be taken as board disciplines, but primarily they are part of the game. Your character should roleplay that they are serious, perhaps a detention or other punishment is issued. As a general rule, 3 IC warnings will equal the same as 1 OOC warning and multiple IC's may prohibit your character from making it to the adult world.

Out of Character (OOC)

If a message starts with OOC, this is a warning for you, the handler. This can be anything from an oversized signature graphic to something far more severe. These violations are taken more seriously by the staff when it comes to decision making when considering your character for perks or entry to the Adult World, as being given these infractions involved reflects poorly on your ability to read and understand the rules of the board, as well as exercise personal judgment.

Both IC and OOC warnings can result on a Warn Level Increase. This is decided on a case-by-case basis.

Warn Level Increases are taken very seriously, and repeated warnings and increases can result in suspension, deletion of an account and banning of the IP.

Major Offences

Depending on the nature of the offence, your account may be immediately suspended, deleted and/or your IP banned.

All rulings and actions against members will be entirely at the discretion of the webmaster, administrators, staff and moderators of PottersWorld.

By joining Potter's World you indicate that you have read and do agree to abide by these rules. Failure to do so may result in warnings, disciplinary action or removal from the boards.
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Revision History
11FEB08 -- reposting; rewording to update current policies, emphasizing staff judgment.

Role-Playing Rules and Guidelines

Rules for actual role-playing and how it's done on this board can be found in How to Role-Play.