Note: This page is to be used by both players and staff when playing on the server, ignorance is not an excuse to break a rule, if you have any questions about a rule, please ask in the Discord at the channel staff questions.
S.P.L.U.R.T. Station is a hybrid server for erotic roleplay and mechanical gameplay, due to this, we have fairly diverse rules when it comes to behaving on our server, it may take some getting used to, but if you do not act malicious, your behavior should not come into question.
Do not treat these rules as a comprehensive list of everything that can get you in trouble, the rules are always bound to change. If you act in a way that impacts the server or interact in a malicious way then you can get punished depending on the context, even if it is not a written rule. Simply put, just because it is not explicitly mentioned, does not mean you cannot get in trouble.
This section is the most important section, and pertains to your general conduct while in-game. These rules have precedence over all of your actions while playing on SPLURT.
At minimum, you should be familiar with these rules. If you are confused about these rules, please ask a staff member in #staff-questions, or make a discord ticket.
Rule
#
Rules
Examples/Info
Special Rulings
0 - Server Safety Rules
0.1.
Violating either Discords terms of service (ToS) or BYONDs ToS is prohibited.
0.2.
Underage characters, or playing non-sentient feral characters is not allowed under any circumstance.
0.3.
Playing real-life animals (such as Ian) for sexual purposes is also not permitted.
Interacting with creatures that are of fantasy nature or animals that are different enough from real life animals are okay to ERP with. (Ian is off-limits, but ash drakes are allowed.)
0.4.
Using slurs, regardless of kind, and whether in-character or out-of-character (through OOC or LOOC) is prohibited.
Using slurs (such as the f-slur) within a private area between consenting parties is allowed, so long as this is kept to subtler anti-ghost and is used solely in a non-offensive manner.
0.5.
Spreading hate speech toward any group or bigotry is not allowed here, we host a diverse range of people from all backgrounds, even if you dislike a group of people, keep it to yourself.
0.6.
Do not violate the privacy of any community member (staff or player), including doxxing, whether accidental or purposeful.
0.7.
Do not create lag to the server (increasing TD or ping), including DDOSing and threats thereof.
1 - General Rules
1.1.
Do not metagame or metacommunicate
1.1.1.
This includes not discussing real-world constructs such as business organizations, politics, current global situations, etc.
1.1.2.
You may reference music or games, and may choose to treat them as old media (as SS13 is set far in the future, typically.)
1.1.3.
You may not use syndicate radio implants or encryption keys as non-syndicate.
1.2.
Speak English
1.2.1.
If a staff member believes that your level of English will not allow you to follow our rules, you may be asked to leave.
1.2.2.
You may speak non-English languages in LOOC if you are in a private setting, such as dorms or infinidorms, but this should be kept between two people and not performed in a group.
1.3.
Be respectful to all community members, whether player or staff.
1.3.1.
Targeted harassment, conspiracies to drive off/get another player in trouble, and giving out player usernames/ckeys without permission are prohibited.
1.3.2.
Reasonable IC drama can be permitted, if kept in moderation. The best rule of thumb is whether or not everybody involved is enjoying the interaction. If you feel unsure, use LOOC.
Pervasive, round-to-round IC drama may violate this rule.
Politely ignoring somebody you do not want to interact with is permitted and encouraged.
1.3.3.
Publicly complaining about other players in Discord is prohibited, even without stating the player’s name. Said player will likely see your message and know exactly what you refer to.
1.4.
Do not perform, or attempt to perform the duties of a staff member as non-staff, including vigilante moderation or backseat moderation.
1.4.1.
Accusing other players of rule-breaking, threatening punishment, and/or threatening to call the staff is prohibited. If somebody is breaking the rules, contact the moderation staff. Threatening to contact us tends to start/worsen drama and may get you in trouble.
1.4.2.
Observing the round solely to search for rule-breaking is prohibited. Many behaviors may seem questionable without context and many rules deliberately include grey areas. This is a primary duty of staff members.
1.5.
Do not bring IC information into OOC chat either to disseminate this information or to escalate an IC issue into OOC. This is termed as "mixing".
1.6.
Do not disconnect if contacted by the moderation team.
1.6.1.
Disconnecting when contacted about a rule violation will be regarded as an attempt to avoid punishment. If you must leave, say something first.
1.6.2.
We will be understanding if your internet cuts out at a bad time, but you may need to contact us through Discord.
1.7.
The intent of the rules is more important than the letter.
1.7.1.
The rules deliberately contain some grey areas, as it is not possible to detail every potential situation which does or does not violate the rules. The intent and thus enforcement of the rules is to provide an enjoyable roleplaying environment and to curate SPLURT to a server which can host such an environment.
1.7.2.
As such, a staff member may permit a rule to not be enforced if everybody involved in the situation is enjoying themselves; conversely, a situation which upsets a large number of players may need admin intervention even if not specifically addressed in the rules.
1.7.2.1.
If allowing a behavior is likely to lead to repeat instances of minor negative behaviors that detracts from SPLURT as a whole, then this must be enforced against.
1.7.3.
Attempting to find a technicality in the wording of the rules will be ignored. If your behavior is causing problems for many other players, it must stop.
1.8.
Staff maintain final say.
1.8.1.
As implied by rule 1.6, the enforcement of the rules is flexible and thus up to interpretation by the moderation team. Our job is to tackle problems not mentioned in the rules and never seen before by anybody on the team: if an admin tells you to do something, do it; if an admin tells you to stop, stop.
If you disagree with a ruling, contact the staff member after the situation settles. We frequently need to make quick decisions on limited information and may not be able to fully address your concerns in the heat of the moment.
1.8.2.
If you suspect bias, you may discuss your case with up to three other members of staff, as outlined in the staffing guidelines for SPLURT.
1.8.3.
Pressing the issue further will be considered harassment.
2 - Malice Rules
2.1.
Do not harass someone over their character, kinks, grammar or preferred roleplaying style
2.2.
Do not meta-grudge a player or their character for their past actions against you, by either killing them, griefing them, being problematic toward them OOCly, or through taking intentional malicious actions against them IC (such as demoting them for no reason).
2.3.
Do not reveal someone's CKey, discord account, or list of characters they play without express permission.
2.4.
Do not lie to staff about what you or another player did. This includes misrepresenting or withholding the truth.
2.5.
Do not prevent a player from engaging with the round without a valid reason, such as barring them from your department as a head of staff for no reason.
2.6.
Do not abuse bugs, quirks or exploits in a disruptive manner to get the upper-hand against another player.
2.7.
Do not bait someone into typing before attacking them.
2.8.
Do not use size changing quirks or gear to make your character smaller for mechanical advantage against a player
2.8.1.
The current minimum size for Command, Security, and Antagonists is 0.8 or 80%.
2.8.2.
Characters naturally smaller than 80% (0.8) cannot play as a role expected to end up in combat. This includes command, security and antagonist roles.
2.9.
Do not disrespect or harass staff. While we allow players to voice their disagreements with staff members, or voice their opinions on rulings a staff member has made, making fun of, or harassing staff is prohibited. Staff are both players and volunteers; if you have a genuine issue with a staff member, speak to their direct superior.
2.10.
Do not touch, loot or otherwise harm or inconvenience players who are AFK (SSD).
2.10.1.
You may strip a player of important or unique assets who has been SSD for more than 30 minutes (this can be checked through examining them) only if you are then placing the player into cryo storage. Important or unique assets include irreplaceable head items, job-specific items that would be hard to replace, etc. You must not strip any personal, disposable (such as medication, etc.) or antagonist items while doing this, and should disregard any antagonist evidence you may or may not find while doing this - just cryo the player with the antagonist gear in their possession.
2.10.2.
Players who go SSD mid-fight are not instantly protected, but it is reasonably required that any attempts to kill the player are ceased, as they are now able to be non-lethally detained.
2.10.3.
Players who do not have the SSD icon, but are visibly AFK (not moving, not responding) are only protected if it is reasonable for the person performing any actions impacting them to be aware that they are AFK.
2.11.
Do not powergame.
This is defined as "a player making themselves un-killable, highly resistant to all forms of damage, or making themselves absurdly powerful compared to other players.". Violations of this rule always constitute a violation of our playing-to-win rules.
3 - Impact Rules
3.1.
You must not cause damage to the station that is impactful to players without a valid reason.
3.1.1.
You may only perform End Of Round Grief (EORG) on the Central Command Z-level. This is the area you arrive in after the emergency shuttle lands.
The pod waystation (where emergency pods end up) may not be griefed.
3.2.
You must consider your impact on the round when performing antagonistic actions. If you are a traitor on low chaos, you shouldn't suddenly be murdering every player on the server.
S.P.L.U.R.T. Station is a medium erotic roleplay server, and this means that you are expected to both create a character that makes sense, but also conduct yourself in a manner that makes sense for your character. You should also avoid disrupting the roleplay of other players without reason.
To this end, your characters should reflect a quality of roleplay that follows the rules below, and conforms a "medium roleplay" standard. This means avoiding characters and actions that may disrupt player's experience or immersion, and playing as a coherent and believable character.
Justifying in-character actions through proper roleplay is a our greyest area within the rules. If all players are satisfied, consenting, and the rules broken are conducive to roleplay and in-world lore, and do not needlessly impact other parties, then many of these rules can be broken. This is not an excuse to needlessly break rules, as poor justification that does not have the explicit intent to foster a good roleplaying environment for other players will be punished.
If your character or their personality is deemed to not contribute to the roleplay environment, you may be asked to not play said character in that way anymore, and staff are within their right to ask you to do so.
0. - OOC Roleplay Rules
Rule
#
Rules
Examples/Info
Special Rulings
0 - OOC Roleplay Rules
0.1
Roleplay, and in doing so, play a reasonably sane and mature character and stay in character.
0.1.1.
You must roleplay in a manner realistic to real-life, reasonable for your current circumstances and the current setting.
This is with respect to the lore and world setting. While Nanotrasen technology isn't real, you must act as a reasonable person would in the setting.
0.1.2.
Your character cannot have any special powers which are not possible via game mechanics, except in private dorm roleplay. For example, you cannot canonically be a sorcerer.
0.1.3.
You are expected to adhere to the roleplaying setting and maintain suspension of disbelief even when game mechanics contradict.
For example, you will not automatically know another player is a xenochimera because a tooltip says so; likewise, repairing a broken bone isn’t simple because it takes 3 clicks.
0.1.4.
You must not use netspeak in your messages in-character (IC), except in contexts where it would make sense, such as PDA messages.
This includes things like "pls", "lol", "uwu", etc.
0.1.5.
You may not use generative artificial intelligence (AI), such as large-language models like ChatGPT, to generate your in-game flavor text, speech, or emotes.
0.1.6.
This is the major, blanket roleplay rule that enforces our medium roleplay standard. As a bare minimum, it should be believable for a real person to commit any In-Character event through some justification. Roleplay trumps most.
0.2.
You must not play as characters that imitate real-life figures.
0.2.1.
You may not play as any character from media other than Space Station 13.
0.2.2.
You may play as species from other media, but may not link yourself to the lore of the source of said species (or mention it in-character), and must follow 0.2.1 while doing so.
0.2.3.
As such, per 0.2.1. and 0.2.2., meme and licensed media characters are prohibited.
0.2.4.
Staff reserve the right to rule a character as too 'non-differentiated' from a pre-existing character from another piece of media, and thereby ban said character under rule 0.2.1.
0.3.
You must not respawn as the same character if your character has entered the round (left the interlink).
0.3.1.
You may receive staff permission to respawn if you have entered, but this is not a guarantee.
0.3.2.
Cyborgs may respawn, but must roleplay their re-entering of the round; cyborgs must not respawn as the same cyborg if killed in any way prior to respawning.
0.4.
SPLURT is an English-speaking server, and you are expected to speak English while playing here.
0.4.1
If a staff member believes that your level of English will not allow you to follow our rules, you may be asked to leave.
0.4.2.
You may speak non-English languages both IC and OOC if you are in a private setting, such as dorms or infinidorms, but this should be kept between two people.
0.5.
You must not cryo, ghost, or DNR your character in order to avoid In-Character punishments. If you have to leave at an incidental time, you must Adminhelp before doing so.
0.6.
You must not circumvent the 150 character minimum for flavortext, as this minimum was implemented to ensure players can showcase a baseline level of roleplay skills. Manners of circumvention include spamming random characters, using invisible characters, intentionally inputting random words, etc.
0.7.
Should you die and be later revived, you are expected to forget the events leading to your death. This applies even to rounds without antagonists.
Cyborgs are exempt from these rules, but may not remember the name or appearance of their killer. They may remember the events surrounding their deaths and all other related information.
0.7.1.
Death during ERP is an exception if all involved players agree to letting you remember.
0.7.2.
You must not remember the name or appearance of your killer after being killed.
0.7.3.
If you were knocked unconscious, you may remember the appearance of your killer (species, clothes), but not their name.
0.7.4.
Proteans must follow rules 0.7.1., 0.7.2., and 0.7.4. where they are killed and their 'memory reset' button has been engaged IC.
0.8.
You must not be antagonistic while not an antagonist.
0.8.1.
You must not continue committing crimes that escalate your current status as a criminal on the sole basis that you have committed a crime.
For example, just because you assaulted an officer does not mean you should now kill the next security officer who speaks to you.
0.8.2.
If you have escalated properly, you may commit any number of crimes, but you should be careful to follow what is logical for your non-antagonist character, and what is justified. Don't go on a mass killing spree because someone slipped you with a banana peel, but you may get into a shove fight with them. Similarly, if someone fucks your wife and kills your dog, it may be justified to maim them.
Roleplay can be used to justify most crimes you will commit, but it may still be unreasonable to commit some crimes. You will need a very strong reason to commit most 5XX crimes, and will likely struggle to find a justification to commit a 6XX crime. When in doubt, OPFOR or AHelp.
0.9.
Do not play to win
0.9.1.
Better known as "powergaming". Powergaming/playing to win consists of acquiring items, assets, etc. for the sake of being powerful. Common examples include adding extra access to ID’s without reason, stealing powerful objects from other departments, or doing the job(s) of other departments when said department is available and willing to do the job itself.
0.9.2.
You may not mechanically prepare for unconfirmed threats.
This rule includes being fully armed, armored, and/or medicated as a member of security with no confirmed threats and while outside of the appropriate alerts. This rule also includes other forms of mechanical metapreparation, such as saltsmoking the station before a revenant even shows up.
1 - Role-specific Roleplay Rules
1.1.
1.1. You are expected to fulfill the basic responsibilities of the job you sign up for.
1.1.1.
Repeatedly failing to do the bare minimum required by your department may result in a job ban. The specifics vary from job to job while Heads of Staff are held to higher standards than other staff.
1.1.2.
Your character must be physically capable of performing the job. For example, most jobs require at least one functioning hand. Security needs to be physically capable of subduing criminals and thus lack easily exploitable traits such as lightweight or dirt weakness.
1.1.3.
Heads of Staff are expected to be knowledgeable in their department. The bare minimum number of hours to play a role is not a license to take command of a department you have never played.
1.1.4.
As a Head of Staff, abusing your authority against players you dislike is prohibited and may violate other rules.
1.1.5.
This rule does not apply to failing a job due to not knowing said job. You are expected to make mistakes frequently while learning a new job.
1.2.
As security, you must not enforce space law outside of the station Z-level or within 22 tiles of a lavaland mining outpost.
1.2.1.
Members of security are also not permitted to space tide (explore and loot space ruins), but may leave the station Z-level (such as visiting Port Tarkon).
1.3.
You must not leave the station Z-level as a member of command.
You may do this if you have clocked out and surrendered all unique or irreplaceable gear.
2 - Escalation Rules
INFO
Fighting and mechanics should be proportional to the conflict, taking into account your character and the situation they are in. .
In general, escalation should follow a linear path, although this will not apply to all situations:
Verbal (including insults) -> Minor Aggression (non-harmful physical acts, such as pushing) -> Non-lethal (stunning, less-than-lethal ammunition/weapons) -> Lethal (Soft crit, hard crit, and death)
2.1.
You should not needlessly cause a confrontation in order to escalate to murder.
Conflicts must have a roleplay backing, and if you start insulting people to escalate to killing them without reason, you will be considered to have violated this and other rules.
2.2.
You must not kill someone over being denied access from an area
3 - Validhunting Rules
3.1.
You may defend your own person to a reasonable degree. If someone is attempting to kidnap or murder you, you may reply with lethal force.
Players are expected not to respond to non-lethal force with lethal force, unless the situation demands it. For example, getting shoved by a traitor does not mean you can kill them, but getting attacked by a traitor with a contractor baton means you may fight for your life.
You may defend the lives of others to a reasonable degree.
This rule principally applies to attacks and physical harm enacted by antagonists.
3.2.1.
If there is no threat to life, you may not engage.
Common sense applies. Even if a traitor is not actively murdering someone, a threat to life can be assumed if they've just stunned the captain and are dragging them into maintenance.
3.2.2.
You must be at the scene of the attack or antagonist action while it is happening: you may not witness something on cameras or from afar and then engage.
3.3.
You may defend your department to a reasonable degree, including material assets within a department.
3.3.1.
While you may not kill an antagonist for stealing, you may attempt to incapacitate them.
3.3.2.
You may only defend your department in your department, and must disengage the moment any antagonist interactions leave your workspace or your department as a whole.
3.3.3.
If an antagonist is clearly attempting to leave, you must let them, and may not use lethal force to stop them unless other validhunting rules apply, such as 2.2.
3.4.
Staff reserve the right to apply violations of validhunting rules to the spirit of the rules, and not necessarily the wording. Abusing the wording of any of the validhunting rules leaves you subject to malice and validhunting rules.
4 - Fuck Around and Find Out (FAFO) Rules
INFO
Your actions in character (IC) on the server, just like real life, have consequences from the rest of the players. If you, or your character, are acting like a general nuisance, then you may be treated by other players as a nuisance.
If you or your character's behaviour is awful over multiple rounds, expect players to bring their retaliation onto future rounds; playing an intentionally rude, disrespectful, or negative character exempts you from the receiving end of the metagrudging rules, meaning that if the staff team determine that your actions are due to how you have been acting as your character, then things will be allowed to continue.
Consider this when deciding on your actions in-game and how you decide to act.
4.1.
Players reserve the right to give the same as they have received.
The harder your character is to interact with, the more effort you should put into them. A character that's both hard to approach, and generally low effort becomes a negativity sink on the roleplaying environment and with that in mind you should make an earnest attempt to play up the actions or lack-there-of for the sake of adding in as much roleplay as you might be shutting down.
Read over these rules before erotically roleplaying with anyone to make sure you don't accidentally break a rule, we takes these rules seriously.
0. Consent
If you plan to engage in any erotic roleplay (ERP) with anyone, get their consent before, this can be achieved either through in-character (IC) methods, L/OOC or if consent is given in a players OOC notes.
Ensure you are aware of everyone's preferences before you interact erotically with them, this means reading over their OOC notes if they have any, make sure to communicate with your potential ERP partner.
For whatever reason you need to end the scene, just voice it in L/OOC, your partner is to comply with your request, regardless of your reason.
Examples and exceptions.
Examples:
1. Using ERP mechanics, such as stomping on players who did not consent, we don't allow this to happen, accidents may occur, but using ERP mechanics to attack someone who did not consent is not acceptable.
2. Interacting with creatures from real life or animals that resemble real life creatures are not okay to interact within an ERP manner.
Exceptions:
1. Interacting with creatures that are of fantasy nature or animals that are different enough from real life animals are okay to ERP with. (Ian is off-limits, but ash drakes are allowed.)
1. Non-con
When setting your non-con preferences to 'Yes' or 'Yes - (Position)', you are allowed to be interacted with erotically without your prior permission, physically fighting back, calling for help and fleeing is not allowed (unless all involved parties are okay with it). This does not mean they can violate your preferences or OOC notes, if this does happen make sure to speak up in L/OOC.
Getting security or bystanders involved in a non-con scene is forbidden, unless all parties involved including the security/bystander consent to it as well, in which case keep it amongst yourselves and make sure everyone agrees before acting out punishments, etc...
There are plenty of standards that you are expected to follow, whilst most should be handled in-character (IC), there are times when blatant failure to follow even the most basic of standards or procedures will be met with staff intervention.
The round cannot succeed if those in charge and those who hold important jobs are not held to some level of responsibility, therefore fulfilling your jobs basic tasks are important, this does mean that abusing your job is punishable.
Examples and exceptions.
Examples:
1. Using jaws of life to break into places outside of an emergency, this is an emergency tool, unless you are an antagonist, usage for the sole reason of access and not to rescue someone is not a valid reason.
Important pages
Below you will find the link to pages that lead you to various standards and procedures, these are important to read up on generally so you can confidently play without the risk of IC or staff intervention.
OpFor standards: These are a great resource for learning how to make an OpFor and what is generally acceptable per chaos level.
Space law: Plan on playing security or maybe even want to know how to avoid breaking the law, here is what you need to know.
