I M P E R I U M ~ A Guild in the Age of Conan

Light RolePlaying - Guidelines

Updated August 14, 2009

Note: these are guidelines and can change due to feedback from the Imperium community and the Assembly.

Light RolePlaying
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The Imperium overall will maintain a Light RolePlaying environment. I want the members to enjoy the setting and story line of the game but you are not required to be fanatical about RolePlaying. Members are expect to maintain an In Character persona when playing the game and respond to situations as their character would. So basically the RolePlaying in the Imperium would be Situational or Lore based RolePlaying at minimum. So if you are an Aquilonian Soldier who is crawling through a dark Stygian crypt and are confronted by some ancient evil that was last look upon by the eyes of serpent-men, you should say 'Mitra! Save us! ....and not OMG!!! .....

Each Militia and House can define the RolePlaying beyond the Situational or Lore based RolePlaying. You should see your Militia Commander or Devote for more info on what is expected.

All we expect is that a member of the Imperium when in an IC chat channels is to at minimum responding how that character would depending on the Situation he/she is in. If you want to go beyond that that is your choice.

What is Inappropriate in IC chat
- No modern day swear words
- No modern day jokes
- No Leet talk
- No MMO jargon
- No direct Roman references (like referring to the Guild City as Rome)

What would be see as Appropriate in IC chat
- Curses or exultations that are similar to or the same as what would be in the Conan books, Comics or Movie.
- Use of Latin words and greetings (ex Ave general Tullos or Salve citizen Galisius)
- Jokes or funny comments that would make perfect sense to a Hyborian person.

So basically anything that your character wouldn’t have prior knowledge of its existence shouldn’t be said in IC situations

Interactions between RolePlayers: (this is more of a general guide)
- Light Roleplayers should simply react to the situation that the Heavy RolePlayer is presenting you as their character would and not willfully interfere with the immersion or contradict the pre-existing imagined events. Example: lets say a Heavy RolePlayer Cimmerian approaches a Light Roleplayer and tells him that another Cimmerian Thorin is trying to kill him because of an old blood feud between their clans and he needs your help. The Light Roleplayer should just except that the blood feud could be real on face value and choose to participate in this Situation based on how he/she thinks their character would respond to that request.
- Heavy RolePlayers should never impose a role onto another player. Example: A Heavy RolePlayer shouldn’t go up to another player and tell him “You are the Cousin of Thorin and because of this blood feud we are enemies prepare to die, Dog!”
- Two groups of Heavy RolePlayers should workout the basic structure of the imagined Situations OOC before hand so to avoid conflicts.
- If you participated in some sort of RolePlay at one point with a player and later that player wanted to continue the RolePlay you should participate unless it was agreed OOC. Example: You agreed to help fight Thorin and in the battle you killed Thorin’s sister. Next weekend Thorin came looking for the person you killed his sister for revenge, you should continue to participate in the RolePlay until you can inform the other player OOC that you would not like to.
- IMPORTANT: All interactions between Imperium Guild members and Non-Guild members should be Initially treated as the Imperium member is the Light RolePlayer and the Non-Guild member as the Heavy RolePlayer with the same guidelines as above.

NOTE: My basic definition of a Heavy RolePlay is when someone has imagined a situation that occurred prior to or surrounding the current situations he/she is in.

When would you be considered to be IC or OOC?
Basically when your character is in earshot of the other player’s (or group’s) character(s) you should be IC.
- Guild chat would be OOC.
- All Voice Channels (Vent) will be considered OOC
- Vicinity chat should be IC
- Team chat should be OOC
- Militia Chat should be assumed OOC unless the Commander determines otherwise, the Militia Commander would set the rules regarding this (see your Militia Commander)
- All Assemblies Chat when meeting In-Game should be considered IC. But depending on the issue being discussed it could be considered OOC.

NOTE : if IC and you need to say something OOC just announce out of character or OOC and then say what you need to say. Example: out of character someone is at the door be back 2 minutes or OOC my kid just lit the couch on fire!

What happens to me if I accidentally do something OOC when I should have been IC?
If it is accidental and occasional not a big deal. But if it becomes a consistent or deliberate and it is interfering with the immersion of the game then the Patricians Commanders and the Praetor will have to issue warnings and if continues could result in temporary or permanent removal from guild.

NOTE: I would like to ask members to be a little tolerant since I’m sure no one is a perfect roleplayer and the Hyborian world and its Lore is new to many.

Imperium Backstories:
Any backstory of the Guild should be excepted as fact unless they conflict. The Guild backstory taking precedence over Character, Militia or House backstories. If different backstories include common events from other backstories then the writers should synchronize their stories or the backstories would be consider possibly not true events or different perspectives of the same event. Also backstories can not contradict the Conan Lore.


IMPORTANT: the roleplaying rules and guidelines are subject to change based on feedback from the Imperium community and the Assembly.


Funcom's Role-playing Rules
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Please also review Funcom’s Role-playing Rules
To read click HERE


Helpful links to get started understanding you Character
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These links will give you an overview of the Characters so if you have not already done a little research on the background of the character you will be playing I like you to read the following: (It will take you 10 minutes)

If you are going to play an Aquilonian please read:
http://hyboria.xoth.net/gazetteer/aquilonia.htm
http://hyboria.xoth.net/races/human_aquilonian.htm
http://hyboria.xoth.net/gods/mitra.htm

If you are going to play a Cimmerian please read:
http://hyboria.xoth.net/gazetteer/cimmeria.htm
http://hyboria.xoth.net/races/human_cimmerian.htm
http://hyboria.xoth.net/gods/crom.htm

If you are going to play a Stygian please read:
http://hyboria.xoth.net/gazetteer/stygia.htm
http://hyboria.xoth.net/races/human_stygian.htm
http://hyboria.xoth.net/gods/set.htm