News Files - Banned and Restricted

Not every type of character can work in a MUSH setting. Some are simply too powerful to conceivably interact with the world around them, some are embodiments of concepts such as Death, some are not able to be played in a cooperative storytelling environment, some are concepts that are overused to the point of saturation on the game, etc. We attempted to come up with guidelines for things that we will either Restrict in some manner or those that are Banned and cannot be applied for at all.

These are things we have seen requested often. Obviously, we cannot conceive of every idea that may come up. Concepts will be considered against game policies and how they may fit into our game world. They may be denied if we feel they are unsuitable for the game, but this would be discussed in the Pitch process (see +news Pitching Characters).

The below subfiles will list both Canon and Original Character banned and restricted concepts under each header, instead of separating out the two types of characters. There may be a few that are OC specific but that will be stated in the header.

Alternate Universes

We will not be allowing any player characters whose origins come from what is considered an alternate universe/reality from the mainstream timeline of a given theme. For example, mainstream timelines consist of DC's Prime Earth, Marvel's Earth-616, etc. Characters originating from alternate realities may appear as Tiny Plot Characters but must go home at the conclusion of the event and not leave any tidbits or pieces behind.

Characters that were previously approved but now fall under this policy will be moved to Event Only characters or may be asked to change things such as their history. For example, Power Girl on our game has the Galatea history and has been part of this world, instead of coming from her own alternate universe.

We do allow for some modification to allow for a blend of cinematic and comic versions, but this will be decided on a case-by-case basis.

Animals and Supernatural

This file covers animals of all types as well as supernatural and mythological creatures. Supernatural characters are things that go bump in the night essentially. These include things like ghosts, Vampires, werewolves, demons and angels. Mythological are things like minotaurs, centaurs and kitsune. General animals are exactly that, some form of fauna from this planet or another that is not considered a higher life form.

In Canon, there are a wide range of characters fitting all of these types. However, not all of those characters may be allowed on game, so it is best to get with staff on a pitch before trying to create one. That decision is made based on the character, their type of entity, how many appearances they might have in the comics, power levels, etc. For example, Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer would be allowed with no questions. Someone like Wonder Woman's personal chef might be allowed, as he has a history in the comics and is not overly powerful. However, a dragon character from Marvel with a single appearance would not be. Someone like White Tiger, the version that was an animal given human form, would have to be pitched and staff would have to decide if it will be allowed, or a different version of the character required.

For Original Characters, supernatural and mythological creatures are disallowed with the exception of: Angels, Demons, Ghosts, Half-Angels, Half-Demons, Vampires or Werewolves. We will not allow Original characters as Archangels or Archdemons, nor can they be the offspring of both an angel and a demon. While other supernatural and even mythological species exist, we are not allowing them as PCs. If we have a plethora of OCs of a specific, staff may choose to disallow further OC concepts to prevent an over-saturation.

Supernatural creatures will have their own news files, so please review those for detail. Note that vampires are universally evil outside of a few oddball Canon exceptions. Other supernatural creatures, such as werewolves, should generally fit in the realm of common depiction and legend.

Animals are likewise disallowed as general concepts for Original Characters. A character with animal traits or able to turn into an animal is perfectly fine! That is a well-established character type on comics. But an animal that is purely animal or even one that can shift to human but is still in essence an animal mentally will not be allowed.

Canon Relationships

Original Characters are restricted from using Canon characters as relatives, friends, direct contacts, or historical events outside of a poster on your wall or something extremely minor. You may, with the Canon character player's permission, have a minor plot point such as attending a lecture or being saved once. Understand, though, that this may be retconned with a new player to a canon character, so do not make this paramount to your character.

Gods and Avatars

Canon Characters who fit this may or may not be allowed, depending on the entity. For example, Zeus and Odin are both Tiny Plot Characters only. However, beings such as Thor, Loki, Ares, and Athena are playable on our game. If you are playing a character of this type, you may not grant abilities, powered items, etc., to PCs as that would affect their +sheets and require modifications. Giving a normal item that does not increase the wealth or power of a character is fine. Ares on game has given a present of a normal weapon to someone in the past on game. If he wanted to give them an enchanted weapon that never dulls or breaks and always hits true? That would require approval from staff before it is played out and is unlikely to be approved without a compelling reason.

Original characters may not be gods or avatars of gods. This would be things such as all-powerful characters (Celestials, gods, etc), being a vessel or avatar for something that is all powerful, requesting to play a physical entity of something unknowable like the embodiment of 'Missing Socks', and related concepts.

Kryptonians and Like

We do not allow OC Kryptonian characters. As they're essentially a heavily endangered species, we only allow Canon Characters at this time. We also will not allow Original Characters to be Daxamites.

At no time will we be allowing characters who have Kryptonian like levels of abilities, especially if they have no inherent flaws for a weakness. They must be far lower, and not have the full suite of Kryptonian type powers.

Lanterns

OC Lanterns are outlined in their own file as they have specific limitations for how they can come into being on game. These can be found under Emotional Spectrum in the Fundamental Forces section.

Magic Users

Feature Characters who can use magic may be applied for, though some of their power sets may be limited. For example, Doctor Strange can be played but he is not allowed to utilize time or reality manipulation without staff approval. Often such things are limited to Tiny Plots only. Certain magic users are on the Tiny Plot list, such as Doctor Fate, because he is not one to usually come out unless there is a world level threat. Thus, he is not one we have on the grid for coffee shop RP or the like.

Original Characters who are magic users are limited. While you may be born with the ability to access magic, actually using it takes time and effort. Know that your young, burgeoning magician will probably know very little. Magic is not as intuitive of an ability as your mutant power around. We ask that you be very detailed in outlining exactly what you can do, including the how, range, limitations, etc. Understand that an OC out of character generation will be nowhere near as strong as an FC of the same age.

Mind Control

Our standing policy is that powers that will directly affect another person must have the player's consent, even if the IC character wouldn't technically have the ability to reject an attempt. As such, this makes mind control as an overarching power difficult to make use of freely. For Canon Characters, there are many such characters available but they need to be played responsibly.

For Original characters, these powers will be heavily scrutinized before approving.

Original Character General Limits

No OC may be equal or stronger than a Canon character of similar design. For example, your speedster could not hold a candle to Flash. OCs as a rule will be lesser than the closest minor Canon character. To become stronger, they must work towards it through RP, but will likely never be able to measure up to their heroes.

This is not because OCs are lesser, it is simply they do not have the weight of years of comic appearances behind them. Being a new character, they have to work their way up. Most characters in the comics even started out quite different from what they are years or decades later. Being an OC just means you are starting at square one but there is room for improvement, through IC training and experiences. These are also great RP opportunities.

Characters should be balanced and possessing reasonable abilities. For example, a fifteen-year-old is not going to be the equal to Jackie Chan and a master of martial arts. A normal elderly character is not going to be able to do parkour. A simple country farmer is unlikely to have an extensive knowledge of quantum physics.

This also applies to the meta/superpowers that your character possesses. We recommend restricting them to just one or two, although they can have multiple applications. Then work through roleplay over time to learn others. A freshly chargened character would not be able to manipulate all five elements but could start with one or two and work to improve. If you want to start with more than two abilities, those powers will need to be lower and make sense for the character instead of just throwing in a list of random abilities that don't have a cohesive theme.

Powers should also have weaknesses to balance them out, staff is likely to ask you to limit what you can do and apply some restrictions. These need to be actual weaknesses, not ones that in some way actually benefit your character. Character development makes for excellent RP and ensures that you have things to work for in the future.

Reality Manipulation

As this has the ability to do some messy things to the grid and timeline of the game, not to mention requiring player consent to warp their world/possessions, we have elected to disallow this ability.

Canon Characters with this type of ability are mostly set as Tiny Plot Characters. There are some characters that have these abilities, such as various magic users, but they will be limited to Tiny Plot or Staff approval required to be used at all.

No Original Characters will be able to have this power at all. This includes reality warping or creating objects out of nothing.

Sexually Themed

As we strive to keep to a respectable rating and environment we will not allow characters whose day-to-day functions and/or abilities are of a sexual nature. This can apply to playing prostitutes/escorts, sexual predators, succubi/incubi, characters who use pheromones to manipulate people to like them, etc. If events like this are critical to your background, keep it tasteful and your concept should not rely on said events. Always be sure to ask staff during the pitch process to be certain there are no issues.

Time Related

Time manipulation abilities that impact other players, objects, and the world around you are not allowed, be they Canon or Original characters. While some Canon characters may have access to such powers, they would be restricted to Tiny Plot or Staff Approval for any use on game. This applies to characters that can move through time or affect time flow of other characters in some manner. Something like a speedster accessing the Speed Force so that time seems slower around them are not prohibited.

Related to alternate universes, we prefer to avoid time travel origins for OCs and heavily restrict it for Canon Characters. For example, we would not allow a character from an alternate timeline to end up in ours via botched time travel (see Alternate Universes). We are also unlikely to allow Canon Characters to use time travel to come to our time to become playable, if they have not done so in the comics. There have been some events we have allowed, such as the Legion of Superheroes did come back to game time and are trapped here for the time being, unable to return to their future.

Time Manipulation or Travel can be used for an approved Tiny Plot, so long as characters from other timelines are returned to their own time in the end and returned to Tiny Plot character status. The plot would need to be approved with staff before using such a character.

Underage Sexuality

For game purposes, underage is below 18 years old. No character who is under the age of 18 should be engaging in or petitioned to engage in anything of a sexual manner. There should never be anything of any sexual nature between adult and underage characters. While characters who are underage may be doing such things together IC, it should never be logged or played out on our game.

Weaponized People

Underage
To prevent an over-abundance of murderous youth, we do have a moratorium on children who have been released, escaped, or otherwise gone through or created from a super soldier like program. This applies to Weapon X, Hydra, various governments, shadow organizations, evil ninjas, etc. There are several Canon Characters who fit in this category and we'd like to keep such individuals as a rarity. No OC minors of this type will be allowed. Canon characters must be at least 16 years of age.

Adult Likewise, successful adult subjects of specific programs, such as Weapon X, are restricted to Canon Characters only. Original Characters may have gone through such programs but failed, with no new Abilities and likely plenty of physical and emotional scars for their wasted efforts.

We will allow general soldiers from Hydra, Aim, Foot ninjas that are street level for example. Some Skills may be permitted, like military weapons, combat, lock picking, explosives, etc., depending on concept. We will not allow a soldier who has multiple powers, is a super soldier in some form, is a super ninja personal bodyguard to Shredder, etc.

Characters who have escaped or betrayed some of these groups can expect to be hunted from that point on most likely. No one wants their rivals, governments, or others to know they're doing super-secret experiments on people. Keep that in mind for weaknesses if you choose to apply for such a character.