Rules

  1. Names from Harry Potter, or characters that are already in use at another role-playing site, should not be used.

    bad: Ginny Potter played Gobstones with her friend, Draco Lestrange.
    good: Ilya Alkaev skipped excitedly down the hall in search of his friend, Celia Hier.


  2. All posts should be in the third-person, past tense at all times except in character dialogue.

    bad: I am going to talk to Garen after lunch.
    also bad: Headmaster Morgan was going to talk to Garen Tennant, who is his Deputy Headmaster, after lunch.
    good: Headmaster Morgan was going to talk to Garen Tennant, who was his Deputy Headmaster, after lunch.


  3. Not only do Muggle appliances malfunction inside RMI, but you are also not permitted to reference years or specific 'real life' events (for example, Michael Jackson's death) in relation to your character.

    bad: "My dad was Prefect twelve years ago, in 1985," Chase Taylor said, while he fiddled with his iPod.
    good: "My dad was a Prefect when he was in school," Chase Taylor said, while he fiddled with his quill.


  4. Do not write for other peoples' characters without their permission, and recall that each of your character's actions will have logical consequences.

    bad: Even though Rosetta Blackburn punched Trevor Jacobs in the nose hard enough to break it, he laughed at her and turned her into a cow, then walked away unscathed.
    good: When Rosetta Blackburn punched Trevor Jacobs in the nose, he started crying as he felt it break, yelped a spell that should turn her into a cow and ran away, trying to stop the bleeding while he angrily hoped that Rosetta would spend the rest of her day mooing.


  5. OOC notes should be added, if necessary, at the beginning or end of a post. They should not be posted as their own post on an IC board, and nor should they be inserted into the narrative of a post. If at all possible, they should be avoided.

    bad: We don't have one. Try to avoid your post being this example!
    good: Look at this post


  6. All in-character posts (which means all posts on all boards (and applications!) except the OOC board) should be a minimum of two hundred words (or ten sentences) long for characters in their first through third year, and a minimum of three hundred words (or fifteen sentences) long for students in their fourth year or above. This better enables you to explore your character's unique and distinctive personality while also helping your fellow authors do the same by giving them more substance to work with when responding to your posts.


  7. Each author may only submit one student application per term. If you would like to write more than one new character in one term, you must submit an Exceptional Student Application for each subsequent character, for a maximum of three total new characters (including transfers) per term--please note that if you choose to write twins, each character must have their own application. Additionally, if you wish to have more than four active student characters at any given point in time, or any character with a "special" ability (Metamorphmagus, Parseltongue, not fully human, etc), you must submit an Exceptional Student Application instead of a regular student application, even if it is your only new student in that term. Students with "special" abilities may not be submitted as transfers.


  8. All in-character posts on the main site boards must maintain a PG rating. A post is PG if:
    • it contains two or fewer instances of profanity, neither of which may be derogatory in nature or sexually derived.
    • it includes minimal or no violence; physical abuse may be alluded to but may not be expanded on. Violence should not be graphically described.
    • it is not sexual in nature. While characters are permitted to date, any activity beyond mild kissing is not to be described, although it may be alluded to. Similarly, sexual abuse is not to be specifically discussed, although it may be alluded to.
    • it does not discuss drugs--magical or Muggle--or their effects. Again, these may be alluded to.
    • it does not mention self-harm, STDs/STIs, teen pregnancy, or anything similar. Yet again, these situations may be carefully alluded to if they are strictly necessary.


  9. If you choose to take part in the Outside of RMI (ORMI) community or the RMI Author Cafe, you may include PG-13 content in the information you discuss. However, you must follow the following guidelines:
    • you must be at least thirteen years of age
    • in the RMI Author Cafe, you must avoid excessive use of capital letters and chatspeak. You are also not permitted to share screen-names, email addresses, pictures, ANY personal information, or links to any accounts that may have such information on them
    • posts on the ORMI community may not be sexual in nature. While characters are permitted to date, any activity beyond making out is not to be described, although it may be alluded to. Similarly, sexual abuse is not to be specifically discussed, although it may be alluded to.
    • posts on the ORMI community may include minimal violence. Physical abuse may be discussed but violence may not be graphically described.


  10. Please keep character features (hair and eye colour, height, abilities, experiences, and behaviours) to a realistic and normal level, unless you have previously requested the permission from the Heads. TO CLARIFY:
    • eyes do not change color in response to emotions
    • natural eye colors are brown, blue, green, grey, and hazel.
    • natural hair colours are black, brown, blonde, and (more rarely) red.
    • eleven-year-old girls have an average height of 4'5", while eleven-year-old boys have an average height of 4'7"
    • keep in mind that most girls experience puberty from age 11-14, while most boys experience puberty from age 12-16
    • most eleven-year-olds (even from magical families) do not know any spells when they come to magical school. For example, Ron Weasley only knew the 'Sunshine, daisies, butter mallow' spell when he first came to Hogwarts...which is not actually a spell.

  11. No author is permitted to contact any member of staff or the admin team with regard to said staff member's RMI responsibilities through any method other than the submission of an RMI Contact Us form.
    This includes via Facebook, text message, personal email, the RMI Author Cafe, and anything else we have neglected to mention. Informal, friendly communication is permitted, but the topic of the staff member's responsibilities should be avoided and under no circumstances will it be acceptable to request or remind the staff member to fufill what you or anyone else perceives as their responsibility. Violation of this rule will result in consequences fitted to the inappropriate request made of the staff member.