The Rules

This document attempts to be as all-encompassing as possible, detailing the ins and outs of how the Wheel of Time Role-Play operates, and how its members and administrators fit within day-to-day operations. These rules should be followed at all times.

Before reading these rules, it is highly recommended that you read our Commonly Used Terms, as well as familiarize yourself with What is role-playing? and our Writing Style Guide. The Library contains many other documents which are complementary to these rules.

Section One: The Wheel of Time

1.1 Our Wheel of Time

This site is based closely on the Wheel of Time fantasy series, written by Mr. Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. We try to keep to their descriptions as much as possible, without plagiarizing ideas and story lines. However, we have taken a few artistic licenses to allow for better role-playing.

While the site’s timeline is not based in an alternate period from the books, we are not (yet) directly affected by all of the events in the series. We are, however, affected by some. Here’s a quick list of examples… and yes, there are contradictions, but we try to just overlook those:

  • The Dragon is reborn, but tends to stay far away from our characters and we from him.
  • The taint on saidin has been cleansed by the Dragon Reborn, and the Black Tower exists and is thriving in Andor, but male channelers are also beginning to be welcomed into the White Tower, primarily by the Red Ajah.
  • The Seanchan’s Return has begun on the mainland, but only to a small extent thus far.
  • The White Tower is whole and is beginning to feel the Pattern change as Tarmon Gai’don draws nearer; more channelers, new Talents resurfacing, and the rediscovery of certain weaves, like those for wholeistic Healing.

More information on “our” Wheel of Time can be accessed from the Library.

1.2 Interacting with the Wheel of Time

You may not include any of Robert Jordan’s characters in your plots or writing. If they are essential to your plot, their part must be minor and you must obtain permission from your section leaders (see the Contacts page) to include them. As noted later on this page, you are not to write anything that changes what we know of Robert Jordan’s characters. This means that if you do choose to include one in your plot, you must stay true to the characteristics he has written for them. Likewise, you may not kill any of his characters.

You may do nothing to change his world without permission from all of the Officers. If you wish to write a role play that does change something, you must change everything back to how it was before by the end of the plot. Continuing from this, your character may not become a prominent leader or ruler in any country or society. Distant claims to thrones or rank are permitted, and you’re welcome to invent your own politics, but these may not affect the general Wheel of Time plotline.

Our characters, other than being members of the Wheel of Time universe, are unique. They don’t share names with Wheel of Time characters, use their prominent characteristics (no braid-tugging, please!), and have their own friends and families (i.e., no being Egwene’s cousin and growing up grumbling about Nynaeve’s herbal potions).

1.3 Remaining faithful to the Wheel of Time

Despite taking artistic licenses, these are institutional frameworks that are ingrained into the fabric of the site and are applicable to everyone. We do remain faithful to smaller details of the series; for example, your character is expected to follow traditional cultural traits, use Wheel of Time-style names, and use expletives like, “Light!” and “Blood and bloody ashes!”, not other colourful ones you may have heard on a street corner here on Earth.

Our characters are also not as remarkable as the ones in the books. We are not the most powerful or the most talented, most experienced or amazing. Robert Jordan (and Brandon Sanderson) has dibs on those kinds of things. Use your creativity to find other character traits!

Section Two: Interaction

2.1 The Golden Rule

Do unto others as you would have done unto you. In other words? Be polite, considerate, and respectful of other people’s feelings, efforts, time, and beliefs. This manifests in several ways:

  1. We assume that all members of this site are adults, or are at the very least aspiring to become adults. Please interact with maturity and common decency.
  2. While you don’t have to worship them, do give the administrators of this site the respect that they deserve for spending their time keeping this site going. It’s a hobby, but an important one to us!

2.2 Keeping in touch

Email is our primary form of contact at the site, and we prefer that it remains so. While you may become friends with someone on Facebook or add them on Twitter, these are considered external to the site and “official” or urgent communiques may go unnoticed. Likewise, if you have something that needs attention right away from only one person, please use email instead of posting it on our boards. That said, if you do have Twitter or Facebook and want other members to be able to find you, we encourage you to add it to your writer’s profile.

If you are changing your email address, email your section leaders with your old email address, and your new address typed out. (This is important, as certain mail programs hide the sending address.) Please do not post email address changes on the boards.

Unfortunately, @wheeloftimerp.net email addresses are reserved for Officers only, due to hosting restrictions. However, GMail is free and amazing!

2.3 Tolerance

The WoT RP is an open community for those of all ages, cultures, genders, sexualities, religions, politics, and nationalities. We respect your beliefs, so please respect others’ too. While we encourage healthy discussions on our OOC Board, please remember that we aren’t a soap box for you to voice your opinions about such-and-such an issue. There will be exceptions, but if you feel the need to become a pundit, get your own blog and send us the link instead!

If you have difficulty interacting with those from a different background than yourself, we first of all invite you to approach our members and ask questions about their lifestyle or beliefs, so long as you remain respectful. However, if you can’t see yourself being able to get along, please quietly say so and simply leave well enough alone.

2.4 Offending Members

Things don’t always run smoothly. Being a member of the WoT RP is a privilege, believe it or not. We work on a “three strikes you’re out” system—and Officers get to decide what the strikes are. Failing to follow rules, blatant rudeness, hate speech, discrimination, harassment, and so forth are all great ways to earn warnings. If the action was despicable enough, a member might be asked to leave the site immediately. Please, don’t push us.

Section Three: Posting

3.1 Expectations

Before more is explained about characters, it’s necessary to know what you’re doing with them. Posting! The Wheel of Time RP is first and foremost a creative writing site, not a gaming site like other Wheel of Time-based communities out there. What they do is great, but we have our own take on it all. The first and foremost expectation is that you write, and write to the best of your abilities, and have fun doing so! That said, you do not have to be an amazing writer to join—you just need a desire to write, and to learn how to write better. Hey, if you just want to join to get some practice before going into an English exam, that’s great too. (But don’t blame us if you spend more time in lessons than studying!)

Every post that you write at the site should be a minimum of three good paragraphs long, each paragraph containing roughly four sentences. We say this equates about 300 words, give or take a few. Every post should be spell-checked and should use proper grammar and punctuation. It doesn’t matter how great your vocabulary is, you need to do this! Read our WoT RP Writing Style Guide for how your posts should be formatted. While you don’t need to follow this precisely to the letter (we’re not your English professors), it is important that you follow it to the best of your abilities (we do have English degrees). Posts that do not meet writing standards may be deleted, but we enjoy helping you to become a better writer, so a deletion isn’t the end of the world.

3.2 Allowed Posting

At the moment, we only have a small handful of boards, so it should be obvious who can post where. Everyone may post on the Out of Character board (OOC Board), and on the White Tower Board. Only Novices and Accepted and Aes Sedai may post on the Novice & Accepted board. Only Gaidin in Training and Warders and Aes Sedai may post on the Training Grounds Board. In character posts are not to be posted on the OOC Board, and OOC posts are not to be posted on the in character boards. If you have something to communicate that is out of character, either add it into a note at the bottom of your post, or send your fellow writers an email. Posts without content (‘nm’ or no message posts) may be deleted without notice.

When (or if) we have more boards, this rule will be updated accordingly.

3.3 Notes on Post Deletion

It’s a fact that Officers delete posts on occasion. If the post is of about 100 words or more, we’ll save it and send it back to you. These are things to avoid if you don’t want to get your post deleted:

  • Posts that are not three or more good paragraphs long or are shorter than required.
  • Posts including atrocious spelling, grammar, or punctuation.
  • Posts containing inappropriate images to our PG-13 rating.
  • Posts with content that does not fit that board’s subject/purpose.
  • Posts containing offensive language, WoT derogatory terms excluded.
  • Posts with plagiarized passages.
  • Posts including a misuse of another person’s character.
  • Posts that have questionable material that has not been cleared by a section leader.
  • Posts that break a rule. (Ambivalent? Sorry!)

3.4 Questionable Material

For the most part, we keep our posts to about a PG-13 rating. On certain occasions, slightly more mature subject material is necessary for a story; in such cases, your post should be forwarded by a warning for under-age readers, or to those who might find it offensive. That said, while we are a creative writing site, we are not an erotica site, or a blood, gore, and guts site. Tasteful mature material is permitted with a warning, but if an Officer deems your post inappropriate, you will be asked to re-write it. If your post contains overly graphic or slanderous material, you may receive a warning.

3.5 Frequency

Any member may actively post on up to three threads per board that they are permitted to post on. This does not count for the OOC Board.

Section Four: Characters

4.1 Creating

There are two important things to remember when creating your character: originality and realism. Your character is your portal into the Wheel of Time and this site, so let them be something amazing—but something that could actually exist in the Wheel of Time world. While there are all sorts of interesting characters, such as Viewers and Sniffers and channelers and Wolfkin, what makes these characters truly fascinating is how they’re developed, not their special abilities. Your character does not need to be the strongest, best looking, smartest, or most skilled to be a good character—in fact, it’s more interesting if they’re not. Nor will your character have silly things, like colour-changing eyes or telepathic abilities. As we said, realism.

When you submit your join form, you will be asked to write a biography for your character before you begin posting with them. This is your opportunity to start developing their strengths and weaknesses, faults and abilities. Maybe take a few minutes to think about interesting people that you know, and figure out what made them so interesting. Maybe it will give your character something to work towards!

Realism, too, speaks to the Wheel of Time. While you might wish to be unique, we do require a certain amount of faithfulness to the series. For example, your character’s name should be formatted according to their WoT culture. Their physical characteristics should remain consistent too. We want you to have a distinctive character, but anything too outrageous will be filtered out, so use some common sense.

4.2 Number of Characters

Anyone may join with one character. Once that character has been approved, they may submit for another character after a waiting period of approximately two weeks. A third character may be completed after one of the previous characters has been raised to mid-rank. A fourth character may be submitted for several weeks after being raised to mid-rank. A fifth character is permitted after one of the characters has been raised to full rank.

This is a general guideline for numbers of characters permitted per person; it should be noted that all new characters created are subject to Officer approval. If your activity with one character is abysmal and you appear to make no effort, or if you have difficulty following site rules, we’re not going to be keen on the creation of more characters.

4.3 Ranks

All characters begin at the first rank (novice, or Trainee without merit badges). You should show deference to everyone of a higher rank than yourself; within the same rank, whoever has the greater time spent as an active member (with that character), wins. Novices should curtsy to Accepted, Aes Sedai and their Warders, Trainees should bow to their teachers, Aes Sedai, Warders, and Accepted, and so forth.

On occasion we allow character “transfers” from other Wheel of Time writing sites. This is dealt with on a case-by-case nature.

4.4 Supporting Characters

Your own character, who you write for, is called a “participating character,” or a PC. There are three other kinds of characters that enhance the lives of our PCs: NPCs, MUCs, and NSWCs.

NPC: Stands for “non-participating character.” This is the filler character who your PC passes on their way to a class, or an Aes Sedai who always gives them punishments. You never write from this character’s perspective. Anyone may make an NPC of any rank.

MUC: Stands for “made up character.” This is a character who you write for instead of from your PC, for a few occasions only. Usually, MUCs are made to teach lessons or to provide an alternate angle on a role-play. You may only create MUCs to the rank and section in which you belong; for example, Accepted may make novice or Accepted MUCs, but not Aes Sedai or Trainee MUCs. Please note, however, that first rank characters are not allowed to create MUCs.

NSWC: Stands for “non-specific writer character.” These are fairly rare, but are characters that are shared between several writers by mutual agreement. They are not official characters and therefore cannot be written for often, but can make appearances at the appropriate time if necessary. Only full rank characters may participate in using an NSWC character, and must have cleared the character’s status by an Officer first.

Please note that we at the WoT RP have developed these character concepts for our own use only. If you wish to use them for your own site, please email Joni first.

4.5 Others’ Characters

The whole point of role-playing is writing with other people, and other characters. Nothing is more exciting than a great thread with someone else! But if you don’t know who you’re posting with very well, then be careful “writing in” their character. You know your character incredibly well, and so do they; it’s important to do your research and get to know their character and writing style before you put words in their character’s mouth. Worse come to worse, ask! Planning RPs is great fun.

That said, don’t be too afraid to keep the conversation and action moving in a RP. Nothing is more frustrating than reading a post where your character re-hashes everything that happens with an extra line of dialogue at the bottom. Be polite, be brave, but not assuming!

4.6 Bonding

Bonding is a very important step in a character’s life. It should never be taken lightly, and you should consider the ‘rules’ that have been laid out in the Wheel of Time regarding bonds. These are a few points to remember:

  • Novices and Accepted may not be a part of a bond—should they be bonded, they may not be permitted to continue their training, as the testings to become Aes Sedai cause undue stress on the bondmate
  • Aes Sedai may bond whomever they wish, so long as that person is not a novice or Accepted
  • It is accepted practice for Aes Sedai from Ajahs who traditionally bond only one Warder to bond no more than that one; additional bonds may garner chastisement from that Aes Sedai’s Ajah
  • Red Ajah members do not bond Warders, though in recent times have been known to bond male channelers in the Black Tower
  • Trainees who have not earned all four marks of merit may be bonded, but are not considered full rank until the marks of merit have also been completed
  • Wolfkin cannot be bonded, as their connection with wolves ‘fuzzes’ the Aes Sedai’s bond
  • A bond is only broken by death; however, the bond can be passed to another channeler

4.7 Determining Character Abilities & Strengths

The special skills and abilities that your character has—such as with weaponry, channeling, or other skills (such as woodsmanship, horsemanship, etc.)—are part of what make them unique. When creating your character, it is important to keep these realistic. If your character is overly talented in everything, not only is it boring to read, but it’s called ‘god moding’. Your character will grow and learn and develop their abilities over time and as they take lessons, which is far more interesting to write and read.

If any character is suddenly too talented at something, you’ll be hearing from the Officers. Keep it realistic!

4.8 Talents

All channeling characters may have two Talents. These Talents are specific aptitudes with the One Power which allow them to do certain kinds of weaves with greater ease and success. Talents are rated as common, special, or rare. The Talents section of the Library has information on all the Talents and the elements with which they are associated. Your choice of Talents will be guided by the Mistress of Novices at the time of your raising to Accepted.


Read more in the Library – Top