We have a unique character system on Aeipathy, designed to ensure that all players are matched with the right characters and get to write at their own speed. Each character has a type (be they Canon, Original or Wanted). And all characters have a status (Major, Minor or Legacy). We also have mystery accounts for our Gods players and the Mortal Personas that they take on when roleplaying in our fictional world with the rest of the character roster.
Character Types Different character types come with different levels of pre-determined information. Some have character expectations, relationships and plots already in place. Others are open and more flexible. All writers have different preferences on how proactive they want to be when seeking plots and creating new characters, so our canon, original and wanted types cater to different needs.
Character Statuses We at Aeipathy also know that everyone writes differently. Some are inspired by large-scale, detailed plots that require daily posting. Others like a more relaxed to and fro, with stories less involved in global plot and more fully under their own control. To that end, we have a diverse character system that supports different members with their preferred style of fun! Different allocations tell the staff team and other members just how active you intend to be and what issues might arise if you need to place a character on hiatus. Character statuses can be changed at any time. If uncertain of which your character should call into, we recommend choosing 'major' as your default. Better to be offered more plots than necessary and drop your character to 'minor' if you need to than be left without enough stories when you want to be musing on forward. Canon Characters Canon characters are usually Major characters though can occasionally be considered for Minor status. If they die during the canon storyline, they may also become Legacy characters.

Canons are characters pre-made by our staff team at the inception of a new land or realm. Whilst new canons may be added to a kingdom further down the line, this is rare and generally our canons are here to stay without removal or addition. Most canons are 'Major' characters because they and their families are built into the global plots of their lands. They are usually of noble or royal standing and have positions of influence over citizens in their kingdoms. As such, if a canon player becomes inactive, it can cause hold-ups and issues for other peoples' stories. They are therefore almost always categorised as 'Majors'. Canon characters are also usually global plot sensitive meaning that their lives / plots will be impacted by any changes in their realm's global stories. This benefits how easy they are to integrate into the roleplay, with pre-made connections and in-progress drama they can immediately jump into. Canon characters are often a great choice for members starting out with us and looking for an easy way into their first threads.

Canons have several elements of their build already in place. These details cannot be altered and must be incorporated into the creation of the character:
* Face claims are open to discussion with our staff team. However, great effort has gone into creating canons with face claims that bear resemblance to their familial relations. Any suggested alternatives will be carefully veted.

Whilst these details are already confirmed for canons, their use and incorporation is open to creative flair / invention. For example, if a canon character blurb states that they are currently cheating on their spouse, the writer will need to include this fact in their history. It cannot be changed. Why they are cheating, however, (if not specified in the blurb) is up to the writer. Are they commiting adultery because they have a secret gay lover? Are they being blackmailed into commiting the adultery in the first place? Do they hate their partner and loathe the vows of marriage? Do they mistakenly believe their spouse cheated on them first and this is a revenge tactic? Whilst the facts must remain, the interpretation of them is open to creative license.

Canon Characters

Pros » Immediate integration. » Pre-made stories. » Relations potentially in play. » Upper social roles. » Global plot significance. » Already partially made.

Cons » Certain unchangeable elements. » Almost always 'Majors'. » Global plot sensitive. » Potential wait for relations to be claimed.

We recommend canon characters to Original Characters Original characters can be either Major or Minor characters: creator's choice. If they are killed in-game and their creator wants to continue writing their pre-death story in past threads, they become Legacy characters.

Original characters come solely from the imagination of their specific creators. Members may discuss their ideas for new original characters and plan to have them attached to pre-existing creations but, generally, original characters are unconnected to current characters and storylines, until they are in play or at least under development. As our canons occupy the higher echelons of society, original characters are normally not royal. They can sometimes be nobility and are generally lower. This, however, does not hinder upper-society roleplaying. Original characters may not be able to hold positions of high class but they can always possess wealth, connections and other means of access into Court, or even the Senate. Original characters, therefore, have the benefit of high society plots without the in-built expectation of their presence in global plots or IC Events. Unlike our canons, which have pre-determined storylines ready to go, originals take a little extra work to integrate into our on-going world. They are more than welcome and our member base are always open to additions; it just takes a little proactive creativity to see them hit the ground running.

Our general advice to anyone considering an original character is to check the canon and wanted ads in our Compendium first. As our canons and wanteds come with lots of flexibility, things work best if we can match a new player's original idea with a similar canon / wanted ad: two birds, one stone! If there's truly no character that could be assimilated with your vision for an original, creating a brand new character is always a welcome option.

Original Characters

Pros » Complete creative freedom. » Can be either 'Minor' or 'Major'. » Less global plot sensitive.

Cons » Unlikely to be royal / noble born. » More challenging integration.

We Recommend Original Characters to Wanted Characters Wanted characters are pre-made original characters, requested by our community. Like original characters they can hold Major or Minor status; as agreed between requester and creator. They may also be currently deceased characters, if a member of the community is requesting an old relation for past roleplay threads, making them Legacy characters.

Wanted characters are not canons because they are not part of the lore of their lands or made by our staff team (therefore they must be originals, technically) but they have several canon-like features. Ergo, they occupy a space in the middle and deserve their own term: 'wanteds'. These canon-like features may include:
There are three ways a Wanted character can come into being:
Whilst some details are already confirmed for wanteds, like with canons, the incorporation of those details is open to creative flair / invention. Whilst the facts (including past threads and story-telling) must remain, creative license can be applied when interpreting how to move forward with the character's creation (or recreation).

Wanted Characters

Pros » Relations potentially in play. » Immediate plotting. » Can be either 'Minor' or 'Major'. » Already partially made. » Good balance of pre-integration vs. creative freedom.

Cons » Certain unchangeable elements. » Unlikely to be royal born. » Research into past threads may be necessary.

We recommend wanted characters to Major Characters The terms 'Major' and 'Minor' do not apply to how important a character is to our IC world or to our community. All of our characters are equally beloved and significant to us. Instead, these terms are used to indicate how significant a character's absence from the roleplay would be. I.e. how difficult it would be for other characters if the creator of this one suddenly became inactive.

'Major' characters are not solely characters with IC class or authority. A king, for example, would be classified as a 'major' character due to his significance to plotting. But not all 'major' characters must be kings. An orphaned slave of a blacksmith can easily be a 'Major' if they are actively engaging with other characters. A king, bedridden by sickness and hardly able to leave his chambers, on the other hand, might actually be able to be relegated to 'Minor', should their creator wish it. Most canons and most players' primary characters (regardless of whether they are canons, originals or wanteds), are 'Majors'.

Think of 'Major' characters as a roleplaying default. Most sites will expect all characters to be getting in on the main plots, exploring their world to the extent of their abilities and finding new plots on a fairly regular basis. If you have joined Aeipathy with this experience of roleplay and are eager to get a character going, 'Major' is the classification for your character. A 'major' character is: Minor Characters The terms 'Major' and 'Minor' do not apply to how important a character is to our IC world or to our community. All of our characters are equally beloved and significant to us. Instead, these terms are used to indicate how significant a character's absence from the roleplay would be. I.e. how difficult it would be for other characters if the creator of this one suddenly became inactive.

'Minor' characters often play supporting or estranged roles in our story. They might be a pirate who spends most of their time at sea. They might be a prisoner whose story pops up and becomes significant only when others visit their cell. They may be a traveller who mysteriously disappears for long stretches of time and is thought to be some kind of mythical prophet. Characters that are difficult to write with regular consistency, yet high levels of activity when they are around, are classified as 'Minor'. Playing a 'Minor' character allows members to play within global plots without feeling the pressure of long-term importance. It also stops the writers of these kinds of characters being hounded for unnecessary posts simply to satisfy activity checks / rules. Many originals are 'Minor' characters.

'Minor' characters are not unimportant on Aeipathy. They are just as significant to us as our 'Major's. This classification of character is simply a tool that allows players a) to recognise when a character might not be as active as others and b) to not have to force posts / stories from characters whose lack of posts isn't currently an issue. Legacy Characters One of Aeipathy's unique features is to ability to play dead characters. Not in the afterlife, or as zombies, but in a timeframe prior to their death.

'Legacy' characters are those listed in the census section of our Compendium as no longer alive in current roleplay. Characters in the census who are alive will either by open wanteds / canons or accepted characters. The rest are 'Legacies'. To play a 'Legacy', a member creates an account in the same way as any other living character. From a player's perspective, the creation process and writing all happens in exactly the same way. We do not roleplay our past in a separate place. 'Legacy' characters and their storylines are roleplayed on our main boards right alongside all other stories. Our thread descriptions list the month and year of the thread you are writing, so that we know the story is historical. 'Legacy' characters must: Changing Statuses A character status is versatile. They can be altered from 'Major' to 'Minor' or vice versa. They can even be altered to a 'Legacy' if your character dies in-play, allowing you to continue roleplaying their history without activity expectations. A character status can be changed in one of two ways: staff change or voluntary change. Moving a character from 'Minor' to 'Major' type classification does not require any confirmation at all. If you want more plots, you just go right ahead, friend and update your profile. However, shifting a canon character down from 'Major' to 'Minor' requires a conversation with a staffer. Please complete the code below and submit to our staff team and they'll be happy to get in touch. If this is a temporary arrangement, there is usually no issue as Aeipathy prides itself on being RL-sensitive and considerate to its members. If this is a permanent / for-the-forseeable-future status change, it may require further discussion. To clarify which changes require staffer input, please refer to the tables below.


» If it states 'No Requirements', change away - no need to alert anyone!

» If it states 'Inform Staff' simply message our staff team on the site or on Discord to alert us of the change. No permission required - we just like to stay informed.

» If the change of type states 'Request Code' please complete the below code and submit it to the staff team.
Changing Statuses and our Activity System
Please be aware that it is considered bad form to alter your character's 'status' just before or around the end of the month in order to avoid activity penalisation. All profile changes are tracked in our admin panel. At the point of our monthly activity sweep, your character will be 'classified' as whichever 'status' they have spent the most time being for the past month. E.g. if your character has been a 'Major' character for twenty-eight days of the last thirty and is now a 'Minor' character, they will be held to 'Major' character activity requirements, as this is the status they held the longest. Their new 'Minor' status will be taken into consideration in the next sweep. Ghostwriting At Aeipathy, we tell a single, complex story collectively. This means that, if a character is dropped or discontinued, threads and stories can grind to a halt. Canon characters are particularly entangled together so, if a relative is not yet or no longer in-play, some stories become more challenging. To avoid these issues, Aeipathy has a ghost-writing feature.

Ghost-writing is the creation of a post, written as if you are the creator of the character. A ghost-written post is made using their normal character account, then re-skinned to look like that character, using the ghost icon at the bottom of the post.

The story can then continue thanks to the ghost-written character's temporary presence in the thread. Players have the ability to ghost-write any characters within their own canon family.
Ghost-Writing Rules Gods and Deities On Aeipathy, Gods are playable characters. Whilst ninty-nine percent of our story-telling is set in the mortal world with our human characters, Gods are used for story prompts and deliberate drama-provocation as and when needed. The players of these characters are secret within our community.

Gods roleplay like normal characters in our other-world boards, out of sight of normal players. Their posts in the mortal world are limited to Divine Curveballs and roleplaying in the form of Mortal Personas (see below).

To add an additional element of fun - only staff members know who play our Gods. The applications for God characters are anonymous and when a God is selected from the applicants they are added to a secret God chat on our Discord and given access to the appropriate God realm boards. They are forbidden from allowing others to know that they play Gods and they are unable to discuss their divinity or anything that might hint at insider knowledge in general chat spaces. This means that no-one is aware which of the original characters on the site are actually Mortal Personas (because no-one knows who plays the Gods) and means that, when your character is interacting with an original character, they may or may not be pleasing or angering a God...
Creating a God
Due to the Gods needing to create Mortal Personas within the world of characters we already have, our way of recruiting new Gods is very specific. Firstly, we're required to have enough members. We have one God character per ten members on our Discord (e.g. 50 Members = 5 Gods). We also require this same ratio between original characters and God characters. One God, per ten original characters. God applications are opened per land and these original character numbers must be met in that specific land. The doors are not opened for God Applications until both ratios are met. Announcements are made both on-site and in community server when applications are opened.
Divine Curveballs
Here at Aeipathy, we have a system in place in which our staff throw Curveballs at characters, events, plots - you name it! Basically, if a story or character is needing something more to do, or a communal Event needs a new direction, a Curveball is thrown their way. This Curveball is immediately applied.

For the divine, Curveballs can be thrown at communal Events and Stories or personal rp threads whenever and however that God chooses. Provided that the Curveball is within that God's specific ballpark (water-based for Poseidon, for example) and is cast with a reason behind it, all Curveballs are permitted. Gods are permitted one Divine Curveball per IC month and all Divine Curveballs are authorised by our staff team prior to posting.

Please note that, from a character perspective, these Curveballs will be seen as freak accidents or changes. It is down to individual characters and their own personal religious beliefs whether they believe these shifts or changes to be attributable to a particular God, or to the Gods at all. OOC-wise, our players are always aware if a God has thrown a spanner into the works.
Blessings and Curses
Each of our God characters has the ability to Bless and Curse human characters. These Blessings and Curses can be creative in any way the God's writer sees fit but must be appropriate in severity to the affront or honouring that the character enacted for the God. I.e. their insult or worship of the God must stand out in some way and be in IC writing on the site to avoid favouritism. All blessings and curses can be whatever the God writer wishes but must be able to be explained in some way within the real world. I.e. they could be someone who's charm never fails or who is lucky in their cunning ploys... but they can't shoot fireballs from their hands. Those who are "Touched by the Gods" must be able to have their "abilities" both believed, and disregarded, by believers and nonbelievers alike. Our blessings and curses list can be found in the census page of our Compendium.

God writers have one God account (for roleplaying in the Godly realm) and may have up to two Mortal Personas in play at one time. Across these three accounts every 100 posts = one Blessing and one Curse. Gods can enact these whenever they like, using them straight away or saving them up for when another character offends or pleases them.
Working It Out
Here at Aeipathy, we think that this additional level of game-play and story manipulation is an exciting and interesting dynamic that is unique to us. Not only does the idea of mortal personas tie in to many of the mythological stories of ancient Gods that have been so popular throughout history but the idea of having specific characters on site whose sole (and hopefully subtle) purpose is to turn plots in their own desired direction helps to make sure that our global plots and events keep moving and never get bogged down or staid, like many other roleplay sites unfortunately suffer from. Ergo, we ask our members and our community to not actively attempt to work out who plays the Gods and their personas. This spoils the fun and the unique element of our site. It is, therefore, one of the rules of the site that people do not actively seek out who plays the Gods, ask who they are or try to play games or tricks in order to have the God writer reveal themselves.

However, as with all things, mysteries are far too exciting and not all writers are as adept at secrecy and subtlety as others. Sometimes you might suspect or work out that a particular member on our server is playing a God, without actively trying. Instead of disrupting the fun for others, we recommend using this information as a new opportunity for fun! Rather than tell the person you believe them to be a God, why not simply work at having your character please the character you think is a persona, in order to secure a future blessing? Or deliberately piss them off to see what happens? If you suspect a member of having a God, there's no need to spoil the fun and reveal it. Just play along and turn it into a tool for your own plot mechanics. Bonus points for the fun game you've gotten your character entangled in, if you turned out to be wrong! Mortal Personas Mortal personas are original characters on the site that are created solely for the purpose of a God interacting with the human world. Their character history and bio is entirely fictional, their profile pages full of nonsense. They (in post) must think and act as if they are an individual character which means they are required to be carefully planned and thought out (in terms of how much they are effected by the world around them and how much they are simply their Godly presence) and will never break the disguise (such as internally thinking - "damn, I wish I had my lightening bolts" ). Think of it as the Gods method-acting, and playing the role they are pretending to be.

Once they have a persona established in the real world, a God will then be able to start lending a hand or an encouragement here or there to turn plots in a way that's favourable to their own personal goals. Hera, for example, might become a seductress in order to punish the cheating husband of a devout follower of hers. Hathor a fortune-telling matchmaker determined to make people fall in love. The mortal personas have no divine powers whilst in their persona form and they cannot enter the mortal world in their Godly shape. Ergo, they must rely in good old-fashioned plotting and manipulation to try and turn characters the way they want and mess with the world in the way they see fit.