General FAQs

[Eden Parker]

Below please find a table of contents of all questions answered in this thread. You can click on any question to jump right to the answer!

Getting Started
What is free-form roleplay?
What is the setting?
Do I have to apply or have my character approved?
Do I have to reserve or get approval for my face-claim or played-by?
Are there any rules?
How do I join?
Where do people write?
Can I join in any story?
What is dueling?
What if I don't want to duel?

Discord
Why Discord?
How can I see who is roleplaying?
Can I add a channel to the server?
How do I use the bot?
How can I see another user's profile?
Can I post in player announcements?
Can I post in server announcements?
How can I view/download logs from Discord?
What other features does the bot offer?
Can I be a host/staff member?
What do I do if someone is bothering me?
Help! I broke something in Discord!

Forum Tips & Tricks
Where should I post my story/event?
How can I get my own folder?
How do I post and resize a photo?
How do I include an in-line link?
How do I turn on/off email notifications?
Where can I set up my profile?
How can I see unread or recent posts?
Can I share a setting with the community?
Help! I broke something on the forums!
New! I've uploaded a new Portrait image, but it's not updating!

Dueling
How do I get started in dueling?
Can someone help me learn to duel?

[Eden Parker]

What is free-form roleplay?

Free-form roleplay is a type of text-based collaborative storytelling that allows characters from any time or place to come together and interact in a shared setting. Collaborative writing takes place in our public chatrooms (also known as channels) on Discord where characters interact in a variety of settings, or here on our forums in longer story-form posts on individual or shared story boards.

To learn more about the basics of roleplay here at Rhydin.org, check out our Getting Started section.

[Eden Parker]

What is the setting?

Roleplay on our forums and on our Discord server takes place in a setting known as RhyDin - a convergence of all times and all places where you can be who, or what, you want without restriction.

To learn more about the realm and city of RhyDin, and about the eight live play settings available on our Discord server, check out our Settings section.

[Eden Parker]

Do I have to apply or have my character approved?

Absolutely not! There is no application or character sheet required. All character types are welcome on Rhydin.org whether they are a favorite canon character or your original creation!

You can get started by registering your character here and beginning to build their profile! There is no limit to the number of characters you can create. Let your imagination be your guide.

[Eden Parker]

Do I have to reserve or get approval for my face-claim or played-by?

Nope! The guiding principle on Rhydin.org is freedom---as few rules as possible for maximum creativity! So we do not control or limit any player’s choice of face-claim or played-by. This means that sometimes two players might have the same model for their face-claim or played-by, and that is okay! This is a text-based medium, and two characters are never identical, even if they look very similar. Your character will be 100% unique because no one else writes just like you!

[Eden Parker]

Are there any rules?

We trust our members to follow three guiding principles: be respectful, be patient, and be kind. Beyond that, there are only a small handful of rules. Please take a moment to review our Community Guidelines!

[Eden Parker]

How do I join?

You can get started today by joining our Discord server here and registering your first character profile here. Last, you can link your Discord name to your character profile by following a few easy steps outlined here.

[Eden Parker]

Where do people write?

People share their stories in two ways on Rhydin.org --- in live roleplay that takes place in our Discord chat, or on the storyboards on our forums. You can read more about joining in the fun in our Getting Started section!

[Eden Parker]

Can I join in any story?

Any roleplay unfolding in the live Discord channels is open to your participation. However, you should still be respectful of the story in-progress. If you’re uncertain about joining a scene, you can always message the players. Communication is the key to successful free-form roleplay.

Stories posted to the forums, whether in a private folder or in the shared folder The Streets of Rhy’Din, are typically in the control of the individual who posted it unless expressly stated otherwise. You may still be able to join in, but before you post anything, message the writer and ask if they’re open to it first.

Community events posted in the Community Events shared folder are open to anyone who is interested in participating. Make sure to read the complete event information before jumping in to make sure you catch any special instructions with respect to the setting or storyline.

[Eden Parker]

What is dueling?

Dueling is the game within a game on Rhydin.org! It’s a matrix-based game that gives players an out-of-character game for their in-character fights. You can find an excellent introduction to the duels here!

[Eden Parker]

What if I don’t want to duel?

If you don’t want to duel, you don’t have to! Dueling is entirely optional and many of our community members do not participate. Rhydin.org has plenty to offer outside of dueling, including community storylines, special events, writing prompts, and great characters ready for you to join their story!

[Eden Parker]

Why Discord?

After more than a decade using a Flash-based chat program, we recently switched to Discord. We are grateful for how long and how well that program served us and also for the hard work that went into developing and maintaining it. However, Flash-based programs are no longer secure, nor supported by our server.

Discord offers our community a great solution. It is free to our users and professionally maintained and updated. While it is not a perfect replacement for what we had before, it’s a very good one. Using Discord allows us to focus our resources on providing the best website and forums we can. It is also the home of a growing number of roleplay communities allowing us to more easily reach new members.

We are constantly striving to adapt and enhance Discord for the roleplay experience wherever we can. We think you’ll find our Discord experience different from many others. But, as always we are open to suggestions. If there is something you would like to see, let us know here!

[Eden Parker]

How can I see who is roleplaying?

There are two ways to see who is currently roleplaying:

The first is to look for members listed in the Discord member list as being present in an IC channel. You can see the list on the right-side of your Discord client. Members actively playing in a particular channel will appear above the list of those “Online.” If no one is listed, then most likely no one is currently playing.

The second way is to check-out Rhydin.org’s status menu, located here. This tool has a lot of handy features in addition to showing you who is in-play! This menu can also specify the specific channel where someone is roleplaying. Clicking on individual characters in this menu also provides quick access to their profiles, or hover over a character name to see their dueling stats. Additionally, you have the option to pop out the window for easy viewing. This site-based status menu updates every five minutes.

[Eden Parker]

Can I add a channel to the server?

Here on Rhydin.org, only admins can add channels to the server. We’re focused on providing a curated list of public environments where characters can engage with each other in open-form storytelling. Our channels include local businesses and seasonally cycled environs, indoor and outdoor settings, urban and landscape. You can find complete descriptions of our settings here, or pinned in each channel.

We’re also regularly testing and swapping our settings to keep ideas fresh. If there is a setting you want to see let us know here.

[Eden Parker]

How do I use the bot?

The bot, the Nexus Guide, is a tool that serves a lot of different functions on Discord. It can provide you a summary and link to a character’s profile, give you the current weather conditions in RhyDin, and act as a referee in your duel, just to name a few.

You can use the bot by directly messaging the Nexus Guide with a command. The Nexus Guide is always located at the top of the member list on the right side of your Discord client. All commands begin with ?. For a full list of commands you can send ?help to the bot, or please see our bot tutorial here!