Our rules address the following topics that you need to know:

• Core Rules: Code of Conduct, Discord, Don't be a Dick.
• Must Know: Cheating is bannable, you must role-play and can not avoid role-play.
• Combat: RP before PvP, Capture Intent, Mechanical Death, Permanent-death/Maiming, Stealing and Seizing/Building Damage
• OOC Limits: No consent server, Challenge as un-Gorean, Right to Fade to Black
• Community Rules: Gor RP Etiquette, In Character Restrictions, Building and Bases (Rules)
• General Information: Application and Alts

Core Rules

These rules are ones that Admin's will actively step in and enforce on a first offense basis.

Code of Conduct (Rules)

In addition to the general behavior rules expected by Discord, we have a general code of conduct for players. More so then even the Gor RolePlay guidelines and the RP Etiquette, the Code of Conduct is crucial to goals of the community. Seek to Educate, no unsanctioned BtB discussions, be here because you want to be or leave, if you rage quit don’t come back until you are over it, be part of the story telling, let staff play, and take responsibility for the RP of others in your clan. <Read More>

Discord (Rules)

In accordance with Discord's Community Guidelines and Terms of Service, these guidelines govern user behavior on Discord and outline what is and isn’t acceptable in all communities. While many of these things are common sense, they should still be incorporated into your rules so that there is a clear expectation set among members as to how they should behave. <Read More>

Don't be a Dick/Troll

Gor is harsh, no one is trying to deny that, but if another player asks for a reasonable OOC accommodation allow it. Don't interrupt other player's scenes casually. Try not to disturb scheduled events. Be patient of players with children and disabilities that may require them to log off or step away unexpectedly. In other words, practice good sportsmanship.

Cheating is ban-able

If you find or use a work around that cuts out the generally known mechanics or takes advance of a bug or loophole, bans will be implanted.

Role-Play Required

Must Role-Play

With the exception of real life emergencies, you are expected to be in character when playing. If you come across someone while out hunting or harvesting we expect you to engage them in at least a little role-play.

Slaves and Free Women did leave their villages to gather things like reeds and hunt things like deer. Our in game thralls are a perfect companion for your role-play travels, either as guards with a free woman, or as a free man (the thrall) and his slave (you) commanded to come along. (The idea that free women couldn't leave the area of their home is not born out by all of the book examples of free women engaged in hunting and gathering. For anything else, you have mechanical guards to role-play off of.)

If you are reported more then 3x in a month for not role-playing when actively engaged we will assume you are on the wrong server and remove you.

Avoiding Role-Play

Additionally, you can not avoid role-play thru the use of mechanical means. You can not make use of the /home or quit game (or anything else) to avoid role-play especially consequence role-play. If there is a real life emergency and you have to log off immediately, please make your apologies within a reasonable time. Obviously, using this to avoid RP will be addressed.

Abandoning Story Lines

It is never fun to be pursuing a storyline with another player only to have them drop the storyline without notice. Obviously, if a player stops playing, especially if they leave discord, there isn't much we can do. However, the community takes a dim view of players who do this and we reserve the right to disallow those who abandon storyline - either due to leaving & return, changing characters, etc. If you want to remain in good faith with the community then give your RP partners the information they need to continue their storyline. (Yes this does include just abandoning a RP partner out of the blue.)

Combat/Capture/Death/Theft

Opt-in Warmode for AOS Consent

Barbarians of Gor is primarily an RP before the PvP server and requires PvP Intent declaration. However, at least half of our community prefers AOS (Attack on Sight), allowing the role-play to flow organically before or after. Consequently, we have implemented a status in RPR (Role play redeaux) that allows an individual to toggle on and off “war mode” as desired. There will be no further rules about when the role-play should occur nor how long that roleplay should last, however, significant and satisfying role-play is required along with any PvP War Mode activity. If a player is reported more than three times for not giving quality role-play they will have their option to use War Mode revoked, and possibly be removed from the server.

Combat Role-Play Required

Updated 12/4/23: We require RP before Combat and all player versus player combat requires significant and satisfying role-play. "Role-played before combat" means we requires OOC agreement before initiating PvP. Role-play reasons must be within known standards for Gor. <Read More>

Capture Intent

Updated 12/6/23: This server allows for the intentional capture of a player without consent. Capture for Season Three is defined as "taking a player to some location where they are restrained without the option to return to their prior role-play after the current scene has ended". You are expected to give at least two hours of role-play with the captured player immediately. Don't Cap if you Can't do the RP. If an unexpected issue arises you must schedule these two hours of roleplay to happen within the first 24 hours. If this can not be arranged due to time zones or scheduling conflicts, you must allow them to escape or agree to keep a clan NPC in their place. <Read More>

Mechanical Death

The mechanical death that sends you back to your bed/bedroll is not a fictional in character death. There are any number of creative ways for you to role-play what has happened. Simply saying something like "I lost the encounter with a larl and returned for supplies so that I may go get my things/slave/men/whatever." If you kill another player (rather then capture) please do not role-play that you killed them, but rather killed one of their men/guards/slaves -- this will keep the explanations less confusing. <Read Me>

Perma-death/Maiming (Rules)

In our experience, FORCING a player to take a perma-death (or to role-play with a character negating effect such as maiming) is tantamount to the player either rage quitting or being banned. Consequently, we are not going to put non-consensual perma-death into the rules. Instead, we will simple handle it as admins with the player directly. If a multi-session role-play devolves to such an extent that the only solution appears to be the perma-death of another character, please open a discord ticket and reach out BEFORE any death-scene role-play. <Read More>

Stealing (Rules)

While stealing does happen in the fiction of Gor, and while we are interested in game items and materials having value, we are opting not to implement mechanical stealing on this server. This will include taking items out of open containers but NOT from stealing items off players as part of PvP. Role-play (only) stealing is acceptable and we have tools such as Ravencrest mod to support it. <Read More>

Sieging (Rules)

Updated 12/6/23 When our basic PvP rules don't meet the players needs we require players to open a discord ticket to discuss their goals. This can apply to any number of scenarios including: claiming/attacking an abandoned base, sieging another clan's base, sieging an NPC base which is part of an ongoing staff lead storyline, setting up your own server wide plot lines, etc. Read this page and open a moderation ticket. <Read More>

OOC Limits

We will not be allowing personal limits that contradict with what can happen in the books, instead we maintain the following server wide limits:

Challenge as Ungorean

Players may challenge any scene which involves actions which are not Gorean. As much as I love a good blood-eagle scene, players are able to challenge it for not being Gorean. If challenged, I would have to pick a more Gorean style of torture. Obviously, if you think the action is in theme for Gor, don’t challenge needlessly.

If the situation is not resolved by a simple challenge, and you can not extricate yourself from the scene without impacting it, please open a moderation ticket in discord so we can discuss it.

Slaves who are purchased by someone who is not acting in a Gorean manner may open a ticket and let us know what is going on, and then have the right to leave the collar and submit to any other free. (Obviously, pick someone who has the skill/power to keep you.)

Right to Fade to Black or Fast Forward

Players have the right to “fade to black” on any scene that is more detailed than is found in the books. Fade to black means that you opt to be excluded from the details of a role-play scene and is similar to “fast forward” where you ask to skip the middle details and go to the end of the scene.

The Gorean books do not detail sex, punishment, torture or death. Consequently, you are not obligated to participate in a level of detail you don’t enjoy.

Perma-death/Maiming

In our experience, FORCING a player to take a perma-death (or to role-play with a character negating effect such as maiming) is tantamount to the player either rage quitting or being banned. Consequently, we are not going to put non-consensual perma-death into the rules. Instead, we will simple handle it as admins with the player directly. If a multi-session role-play devolves to such an extent that the only solution appears to be the perma-death of another character, please open a discord ticket and reach out BEFORE any death-scene role-play. <Read More>

Otherwise, if it happened in the books it can happen here.

Community Rules

These are the expectations of the community and admins. They will be enforced when there is significant and repeated cause.

Gor RP Etiquette (Rules)

There are some significant differences in our role-play etiquette then you may be familiar with if you come from a standard role-play communities. Such differences include the way we communicate with each other out of character, how we handle thought-emotes, meta-gaming, power gaming, and OOC limits. You will be expected to understand these differences. <Read More>

In Character Restrictions

There are codified rules on how you must dress and act on Gor. Many of these are actual laws in some of the cities and can be enforced in character with a wide variety of punishments. These minimum restrictions apply to all characters regardless of their background -- Hyborians are not exempt from these rules. These standards are much more flexible than the books and is intended to be a compromise between the ideal and the reality of role-play. Do not ignore this list, we will enforce it if necessary. <Read Me>

Building and Bases (Rules)

There are limitations in place for personal and clan building. These limits include the total number of build parts, placeables (deco), crafting stations and lighting. Further aesthetic restrictions are in place for us as a role-play server. <Read More>

Caste Guidelines

Some of the castes, such as the Assassin (Black) Caste require specialized rules to keep the RP fair and avoid the need for moderation. Please review this page. <Read More>

General Infomation

Application

Barbarians of Gor converted from a registration only server to a white-listed application server in early February 2024. While we would have preferred to remain a registration only server we discovered far too many challenges were being presented:

• Players coming into the server not knowing the server setting or actively intending to ignore the server setting. This creates a great deal of frustration which causes players to leave the server. An application process can help manage expectations and assure current players of a consistent server setting.
• Actively Engaging new players when they join right here in discord. With an application process we can begin a dialog with new players immediately. Determine their goals for their RP, answer their questions, and most importantly connect them with active players who will be able to help and included them.

Consequently, we implemented an application process. <Read More>

Avatar Appearance

All avatars must meet the minimum standards, no exceptions. Admins reserve the right to make changes to your avatar to meet this minimum level of immersion. Repeat offenses will result in loss of white list status and or possible banning.

• Adult (sexually mature) avatars are required.
• Human looking avatars with naturally and commonly occurring body, hair, eyes and skin are required. (Albinos, or similarly rare genetic disorders, require special permission.)
• Grossly disproportionate avatar shapes are not allowed.
• Regardless of item availability medieval clothing is required. (Short shorts are not acceptable)
• Less than full platemail regardless of item availability. More on this below.
• No use of undead pets/mounts or anything that is not plausible to the Gorean universe. Dogs and wolves are fine, flaming undead dogs are not.

Additional race information.

Alternate Characters (on alt Steam Accounts)

We allow alts to be played on a separate steam account. We require you to have the time to dedicate to two fully developed and invested characters. The alt character can never be used as a crafting mule, combat monkey or anything that is used to avoid role-play consequences or effect consequences on others related to either character.

• Ideally, alternate characters should be completely separate from your main character's plot line. (If you do not do this and it becomes a problem for you or anyone else we reserve the right to removed the alternate account.)
• Both characters need an application, however we do not require two discord accounts.

Alternate Characters (on the same account using IQOL)

We do not allow alternate characters on the same account. The occasional "quick change" for an NPC character to push a scene or host an event is fine. Please make sure that this is reasonably clear to players - preferably with the tag (NPC) after the name.