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Why is my name yellow? Why can't I PM?

In an effort to combat the spambots who had begun spamming via PM, we have restricted the PM permissions of all new users - and the names of those are colored yellow.

In order to shed this status, post four times. Please don't spam threads with inane posts, but try to stay on-topic and helpful in your reply. If you find that you there are no topics in which you can constructively reply, feel free to try out our dice code in this thread.


How Do You Play on This Site?
Overview:

Basically, check out the DMs advertising open spaces in their games. If one really interests you and you meet the DM's requirements for playing, follow the instructions s/he has posted for applying to their game. You'll be rejected from a few, and accepted to a few. Don't let rejections get you down--they've happened to us all. But once you're in, follow the DM's instructions on character creation. S/He will provide you with a link to the forum where the game is being played.

The DM will also have specified what rulebooks you need to play. In many, but not all, cases, the SRD provided by this (and other) forums will suffice. Sometimes you need other rulebooks, though. If so, it's your responsibility to legally procure these.

The system by which gameplay occurs is called Play-By-Post (PbP). We use a bulletin board format that will be familiar to many Internet users. A game has its own mini-forum, which contains threads for gameplay, often divided into chapters as the story/game progresses. There may also be sub-folders if the DM wishes, to assist in keeping everything organized.

Players and DMs all post in manner they feel that is most appropriate. Usually the DM waits for players to say what they do in their posts, and then s/he posts results. If you're new to the system, try describing anything and everything your character sees, thinks, says, does. More details, better posts.

Remember to pay attention to what your DM says. Have your character think and act in ways that move the game forward. Play well with the others, and you'll find yourself accumulating a good reputation. This in turn will aid you in getting into more games. It's a virtuous cycle.

Don't be afraid to ask questions, either in your game forum or in forums such as I'm Confused, Rules, etc. Browse ongoing games to find ones that you like, and learn from the other players' styles. Our Hall of Fame is a terrific starting point; it features some of the best games on the site, as selected and voted upon by the community. And please remember...

...Have fun in here!


Are There Requirements for Becoming a DM?
The simple answer is "No, any member can be a DM and/or a player."

A bit more in depth, there is a prerequisite to not be a New Member. Until you've shed that New Member status, you won't be able to request a game, open a (required) recruitment thread, or send PMs to your potential players.

What Campaign Settings Are Available?
All.

Note: If it is your own campaign setting (Homebrew) when creating a game in enter Homebrew under campaign setting. If the official, published campaign setting you are looking for is not listed, it belongs under "Other Games".

What Game Systems are Supported?
Many d20-based games, including D&D, Star Wars, d20 Modern, etc. Prospective DMs who want to play something different, or develop homebrew rules/campaigns, are invited to apply.

Why Isn't [X] Game System Supported?
"Supported" here means, we provide tools and reference material to help you play it. We're not adding any of these beyond what's already here. However, that shouldn't necessarily stop you from requesting or playing in a non-supported game.

Almost any RP game is ALLOWED (they probably fall into the "Other Games" section), but we only support a few.

If you are playing a non-supported game, then you will have to look on other sites for character sheets, rules info, etc. As long as your DM and players have legal sources of such, then we'd love for you to play it on our boards! Other than that, Game On!!


Do You Need a Special Program to Play?
No, we play in publicly viewable posts in forums; similar to an e-mail game in some respects. If you have access to the Internet and a web browser (Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Edge, etc.), you can play. It's not even necessary to log in from the same computer each time.

Do You Need the Books to Play?
While the System Reference Documents included in our Tools will provide necessary rules information for playing, they are not and should not be treated as absolute replacements for the rules.

The SRD is more difficult to navigate through, and it doesn't always have descriptive text to help with understanding. Further, it only contains OGL (Open Gaming Licensed) material; you won't find things like Forgotten Realms or Complete Adventurer in there.

Is There a Minimum Number of Players for a Game to be Created?
It depends on the DM. We have an active Solo forum for games with a DM and a single player. Most DMs like to assemble small parties of up to six or eight players; some expert DMs run large campaigns involving dozens of players!

Will My Game Application be Approved?
Games must be approved by the validators (a duty shared among the Admins) before they are added to the system, and some games will not be accepted. They are judged arbitrarily, but mostly for effort and staying power. Note that those doing validation live in different time zones and the time they can check the queue is limited. Most games do not spend much time in the queue.
In the application description, we are looking for: Effort that shows that losing the game would be as much a loss to the creator as it would to us; evidence suggesting long-lasting vitality for the game; a description that will give the validators a good idea of what the game is about, where it is going, and whether it is the kind of game that can represent RPG Crossing. In order to apply for a game forum, please click here.
Games that follow the story lines of video games or movies exactly will more than likely be rejected continuously. Games based in the worlds of such that display some creativity do have a chance.

I'm a DM; How Does Folder Management Work?
In order to manage your folders, you may need to meet some requirements.

Community Supporters, as well as Staff members, can manage any number of folders in any order, to any depth of hierarchy and with the possibility of adding passwords. Other members will need 1000+ posts and 6+ months on the site in order to receive the privileges to use folders. Even then, however, they are only allowed up to four folders per game, one level of hierarchy, and are not allowed passwords.

If you meet these requirements, find the folder management tool (DMCP) in the Tools drop-down menu.

How Do I Join a Game?
Search for games that need players in the Advertisements forum, or post a thread in Advertisements, saying that you need a DM, and explaining what kind of character(s) you enjoy. Ideally, you should provide an example or two of your role playing (writing) style. (See the Advertising FAQ item for more on this.)

Get in contact with a DM of a game needing players by whatever method s/he has specified in their advertisement. In no time, you'll find yourself gaming on our forums!

Is There a Restriction on the Number of Games I Can Play?
No, but you should be active in all games you play. Being active means that you are posting at the rate expected by the DM. If you are unable to maintain the expected posting rate, you should notify the DM.

Where Do I Make a Character?
Find a game to play in. Ask DM how to roll your abilities, and then do so where and as the DM wishes. Then use character options under the tools pull-down at the top of the page. There create a character, and edit it to fill the sheet. There is more on this in the Character Database FAQ item.

What are House Rules?
House rules are rules different than those in the books. They are created by the DMs, and players should always check with the DM if s/he has some house rules. DMs on this site sometimes create separate threads in their game forums explaining their house rules.

What's With These Green Dots? -- RPXP, Explained
Role Playing (e)Xperience Points, or RPXP, appears as green dots to the right of each post a member makes. Once you get used to the idea that the points are not necessarily about role playing, and may not have anything to do with 'experience', you'll get along just fine. Many forum-based websites have a Reputation system - 'RPXP' is what we call our Reputation system.

If you come across an excellent post, especially a game post that demonstrates high-quality role playing, please click on the reputation button and reward the poster. The reputation button is represented by tiny scales icon in the upper right of the post. We only provide the option to award positive RPXP.

Guidelines for Giving Reputation (RPXP): It is extremely counter-productive for the reputation system to give reputation for reasons other than rewarding post excellence or, rarely, commenting on inappropriate posts. Users who participate in the gratuitous inflation of reputation scores, since obviously they place little value in supporting the usefulness of the system, can be subject to having their own reputation set to zero, having all reputation they have ever given to others set to zero, and/or user infraction points. This solution is only reached in extreme cases in which members are blatantly abusing this feature.

Rules govern how much RPXP one may award, and how often one may award it:

* The amount of RPXP that can be awarded by a site member can be simply stated like this - 1 point per 100 days of membership, 1 point per 100 posts, 1 point per 1000 RPXP. This may change at Administrative discretion.
* There is a 50-point cap on how much RPXP any user can award, regardless of the above formula.
* You must have over 50 posts to award any RPXP. If under this amount, you can still use the scales to leave comments for people, but this will not result in any awarded points.
* You can award RPXP five (5) times within a 24-hour period.
* You must award RPXP to three (3) different people before you can give it to the same person again.

RPXP means different things to different people. Some members give RPXP for funny jokes, sympathy, or clever debates. Other award RPXP only for gaming excellence, and prefer it only to be awarded for that reason in return. Some members will come right out and ask you for RPXP. Others refuse to accept any at all. Keep this in mind when viewing your RPXP levels and those of others. It means different things to many, everything to a few, and nothing to some. Most recent comments are displayed on user profiles, so if you're curious about what someone's RPXP value means to them, it may be researched.

Every so often someone wants to change the system. It's not going to happen, so we suggest you acclimate yourself to it and have as much fun with the system as you care to.


Will an Idle Game Be Deleted?
No. We are currently not using an archival system, and inactive games will not be out-right deleted. An idle game may be closed by the staff, but that's as far as it will go. If a DM would like their game re-opened, and can't do it themselves, all that's required is a request to a staff member.

Can An Archived Game Be Brought Back?
We are no longer using an archival system. Games that were archived prior to August, 2009 are currently unavailable to be recovered. We apologize for any inconvenience that this causes anyone.

Why Are Some Usernames in Different Colors?
Site Administrators, called Admins, are in bold red.

Our community's Moderators, the Supermoderators, are in red.

Folks who've contributed to the site financially are known as Community Supporters. They enjoy some privileges and their names are in green.

New Members have some restricted privileges, including the ability to Private Message other users, use a custom avatar, or use a signature. Once a New Member has made four or more posts, they will be moved out of that user group within a short period of time. New members' names are in yellow. For more information, see the FAQ "Why is my name yellow? Why can't I PM?"


Why Do Some Members Have 'Badges' On Their Profiles, or Under Their Usernames?
RPG Crossing uses different badges in order to reward those that have gone above and beyond to help out the Site.

Good PeopleThe Golden Dragon badge is awarded mainly to the site members that take the time to help out new members by running New Player Solo Games. This badge may also be awarded to members that donate their time to help out RPG Crossing in other ways, as well.

Artist in ResidenceThe Artist-In-Residence badge is given to members of the community that have contributed their own artwork to benefit RPG Crossingin same way. Including Explosive Runes (RPG Crossing's official newsletter), anything used in Site development, etc.

Explosive Runes WriterThe Quill of Contribution badge is awarded to site members that take the time to work as staff members for Explosive Runes.

Former StaffThe red colored dragon is the Scarlet Letter for our former Staff members. Be sure to recognize them for their past contributions - RPG Crossing wouldn't be what it is without them.

How Do I Become a Community Supporter?
You will want to first review the Information About Community Supporter Accounts. You can become a Community Supporter by going into your user control panel (My Account or Settings) and then to Paid Subscriptions, or by clicking this link: Become a Community Supporter Now!

What method of payment is acceptable?
RPG Crossing currently uses PayPal to service all our monetary transactions. You may pay by PayPal account or by major credit card

Where is the Chat Room?
RPG Crossing is a PbP site, meaning we play by posts and not by chat. We feel that chat room games tend not to have good grammar or spelling usage, and are thus not up to par with the quality we expect.

Almost all DMs offer a thread in their games called OOC, for Out Of Character, for players' open discussion.


Why Can't I Log Off?
This depends on your OS and your browser, but it is probably a cookie error. Try deleting your cookies, and if this doesn't work, search in I'm confused for additional help.

For security and stability reasons, we suggest using

for your browsing needs.

Why Does My Computer Bog Down When I Access RPG Crossing?
This problem has been reported occasionally. The simple solution is to click on the 'My Account' tab at the top of your screen, select 'Edit Options' from the 'Settings and Options' menu on that page, and change your default Message Editor Interface settings from Standard to Basic, located at the bottom of the page under 'Miscellaneous Options'. Unfortunately, this results in the loss of the ability to use the code buttons - code must be typed out manually. For a list of the vB codes that work on RPG Crossing, you can reference this guide.


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