Respect every player
Personal attacks, harassment, discrimination, and deliberately disruptive behavior are never character conflict. Behind every avatar is a real person.
Agency · Consent · Respect
Rules of Engagement
“The rules support collaborative storytelling. They do not replace it.”
Official reference
Know why.
Then know how.
Community standards for player respect, IC and OOC separation, character agency, consent, conflict, consequences, and narrative-first play.
The complete reference is the authority. Examples explain intent; they do not create loopholes around consent, staff direction, or collaborative play.
Rules of Engagement
Agency first.
Story together.
The governing principle
Control your character.
Offer actions to the scene.
Opaline is narrative-first. Rules protect collaborative storytelling rather than simulate every moment of conflict. No mechanic gives one player ownership of another player's character.
Community standards
Conflict belongs between characters.
Courtesy and communication keep dramatic roleplay from becoming personal hostility.
Separate IC from OOC
Characters may argue, deceive, threaten, betray, or become enemies without expressing the feelings of their players.
Real life comes first
Work, health, family, emergencies, and other responsibilities always take priority. Extend patience when someone must leave.
Assume good intent
Mistakes, missed details, and misunderstandings happen. Communicate before treating an error as malice.
Respect staff decisions
Raise disagreements privately and respectfully. Constructive feedback is welcome; public disruption is not.
Play to create stories
Struggle, failure, change, and consequence build better stories than treating a scene as something to win.
Fade to Black
No justification is required.
A player may end or fade a scene involving violence, intimacy, torture, emotional distress, or simple discomfort at any time. Honor the request immediately and without argument.
Perception · Knowledge · The Veil
Lineage Recognition & Detection
This baseline applies to characters in ordinary, human-appearing forms, without purchased abilities, spells, or prior knowledge. Recognition is limited to the information each rule expressly allows.
| Lineage | Recognizes Own Kind? | Recognizes Other Lineages? |
|---|---|---|
| Hearthborn | No | No |
| Duskborn | Yes — Blood Sense | No |
| Ridgeborn | Yes — scent | Can distinguish Wildborn and Duskborn by scent; Hearthborn and Hollowborn register as human. |
| Hollowborn | No | No, without spells or knowledge. |
| Tideborn | Yes | No |
| Wildborn | Yes — scent | Can distinguish Ridgeborn and Duskborn by scent; Hearthborn and Hollowborn register as human. |
| Aetherborn | Yes | Yes — all seven lineages through Aetheric Awareness. |
Obvious Supernatural Forms
Any character can recognize an unmistakable supernatural manifestation without a special detection ability. A Ridgeborn in War Form is visibly recognizable as a supernatural shifter, reflecting their permanent inherited lupine, feline, or ursine nature. Recognizing a manifestation does not always establish its exact lineage.
- Fangs alone do not necessarily establish someone as Duskborn.
- Wings alone do not definitively establish someone as Aetherborn.
- Witnessing spellcasting does not automatically identify someone as Hollowborn.
Ridgeborn and Wildborn
Their natural senses allow them to recognize their own kind, distinguish each other, and identify Duskborn by scent under reasonable circumstances. Hearthborn and Hollowborn both register as human; scent alone cannot distinguish a witch from an ordinary human.
Hollowborn
Hollowborn do not automatically recognize other Hollowborn. Appropriate spells, knowledge, or observable evidence are required.
Aetherborn
Innate Aetheric Awareness immediately identifies another being’s lineage within the Aetherborn’s normal perception. Under ordinary circumstances, no additional purchased ability or roll is required. This applies equally to Radiants and Infernals.
It does not reveal identity, abilities, intentions, allegiances, or personal history. It grants no unlimited range, vision through obstacles, or unrestricted supernatural tracking.
Detection Is Not Omniscience
Recognition provides only information legitimately available through established senses, physiology, or abilities. Purchased detection abilities and prepared spells retain their existing mechanics. No automatic recognition beyond the baseline rules above is granted.
The Veil
Recognizing a lineage does not grant permission to expose that character publicly. Obvious supernatural manifestations may have in-character consequences. Metagaming and powergaming restrictions continue to apply.
Rules of Engagement
Resistance Check
Resistance Checks are distinct from general opposed checks. When an ability directly affects an unwilling character, the actor rolls:
1d20 + appropriate Attribute + ONE applicable Ability
The resisting character makes:
1d20 + appropriate Attribute
Situational Advantage and Hindrance modifiers do not apply to Resistance Checks by default. Do not automatically apply general Modified Check modifiers.
The higher result succeeds. Ties favor the resisting character.
The defending attribute depends upon the effect:
| Threat | Resistance Attribute |
|---|---|
| Influence, fear, temptation, visions | Wisdom |
| Poison, disease, exhaustion, physical draining | Constitution |
| Sudden environmental effects or area attacks | Dexterity |
| Physical restraint, forced movement, grappling | Strength |
| Illusions requiring analysis | Intelligence |
| Social pressure without supernatural control | Charisma or Wisdom, depending upon the situation |
An explicitly authorized defensive Ability may be included only when an established rule specifically permits it. This does not create any new defensive Ability exception.
Consent Option
A player may always accept an effect without rolling. That is useful when the influence would create better roleplay.
Even after losing a Resistance Check, the player retains control of their character. The ability determines the temporary supernatural effect, not the character's exact decisions, dialogue, thoughts, or long-term behavior.
Background and practical knowledge
Common Skills & Professional Training
Characters automatically possess the ordinary skills, education, training, and practical knowledge reasonably associated with their established professions and personal backgrounds.
These skills do not require Ability Points, Milestone Marks, or separate purchases through Lyra. This clarifies existing roleplay expectations; it does not introduce a new skill system.
Examples of Common Skills
Police Officers & Investigators
- Firearms handling and safety
- Criminal investigation and evidence collection
- Interviewing and interrogation techniques
- Arrest procedures and defensive tactics
- Report writing and law-enforcement procedures
Doctors & Medical Professionals
- Anatomy and medical knowledge
- Patient examination and diagnosis
- Emergency treatment and first aid
- Medical procedures appropriate to their qualifications
- Surgery, when supported by the character’s medical training and specialty
Military Personnel
- Weapons handling and safety
- Military tactics and procedures
- Physical conditioning and basic hand-to-hand combat
- Field survival and navigation
- Leadership and operational planning appropriate to their experience
Martial Artists & Combat Instructors
- Boxing, wrestling, judo, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai, MMA, or other trained disciplines
- Striking, grappling, and defensive techniques
- Physical conditioning and combat instruction appropriate to their experience
Mechanics & Engineers
- Mechanical diagnostics and repair
- Vehicle maintenance
- Equipment operation
- Technical troubleshooting
- Engineering knowledge appropriate to their specialty
Attorneys & Legal Professionals
- Legal research and interpretation
- Courtroom procedures
- Preparing legal documents
- Negotiation and advocacy
- Knowledge of applicable laws and legal processes
Other Professions
The same principle applies to teachers, firefighters, paramedics, pilots, chefs, scientists, musicians, tradespeople, and other ordinary occupations. Characters may possess the knowledge and competencies reasonably expected of their established backgrounds.
Learning New Skills
Characters may acquire or improve ordinary skills through education, training, practice, and roleplay without spending Milestone Marks. For example, a character attending martial arts classes may develop appropriate combat knowledge through continued training and roleplay.
Such training does not automatically increase numerical Attributes or grant purchasable Abilities.
Common Skills vs. Abilities
Common Skills establish what a character reasonably knows how to do. They do not guarantee success, provide automatic dice bonuses, or override established roleplay mechanics.
When an action has an uncertain or contested outcome, players must use the appropriate Attribute rolls and existing Rules of Engagement.
If a particular effect is explicitly defined as a purchasable Ability in Lyra, the character must acquire that Ability through the established progression system before using its mechanical benefits. Professional experience does not automatically grant supernatural powers, enhanced Attributes, or special mechanical effects.
Character Backgrounds and Fair Play
A character's claimed expertise should be reasonable for their established history, training, and profession. Players should not invent previously unestablished expertise during a contested scene solely to guarantee success or gain an unfair advantage.
Common Skills remain subject to consent, fair play, and the existing Rules of Engagement.
Roleplay styles
Quality over quantity
Match the pace and style of the people around you whenever possible.
Semi-Paragraph
Enough action, expression, and dialogue to create detail while maintaining a useful pace for everyday scenes and larger groups.
Paragraph
Expanded emotion, environment, observation, and internal thought for major events, investigations, and dramatic moments.
Experience submissions
Progression follows meaningful play.
XP consideration uses Lyra's shared-scene submission system. Every participating approved character must appear on the roster, and each included character uses that character's daily allowance for the submitted Second Life/Pacific calendar day. Only Staff may grant an explicit administrative override.
Awards reflect quality, participation, creativity, and contribution—not grinding. Staff reviews each individual recommendation before XP is awarded.
Read the complete Experience guide →When no rule anticipates the moment
Choose the path that creates the better story.
Treat one another with kindness. Communicate before assuming the worst. Leave every roleplay richer than you found it.
Frequently asked questions
Using the rules in play
Can my character behave badly toward another character?+
Yes. IC hostility, deceit, threats, betrayal, and rivalry are valid story choices. They become an OOC issue only when rules such as harassment, metagaming, godmodding, or consent boundaries are violated.
What does character consent protect?+
Each player controls permanent changes to their own character. Death, permanent disfigurement, limb loss, lasting injury, and forced transformation require explicit permission.
Can I leave an uncomfortable scene?+
Yes. Any player may request Fade to Black or end a scene at any time without explaining why. The request must be honored immediately.
What is metagaming?+
Using information learned through OOC chat, Discord, profiles, streams, or alternate characters when the active character has not learned it in play.
What is godmodding?+
Declaring another character's action, reaction, injury, failure, or outcome instead of describing an attempt and allowing that player to respond.
Must I write long posts?+
No. Quality matters more than length. Match the scene's pace and leave other players enough room to contribute.
Is Discord required for roleplay?+
No. Roleplay primarily occurs in Second Life. Optional Discord channels may complement in-world stories, but participation there is never required.
Can XP awards be appealed?+
No. Staff awards are final. Players may ask about submission procedure, but individual amounts are not negotiated.