These rules are disclosed to clarify the various responsibilities of all community members here on Panthos. They shall be adhered to by everyone to ensure that our board runs smoothly and provides a fun and productive experience for all of our community members and visitors.

1. Core rules

   1. All members must be 18+, but under-18 characters are allowed. #
   2. This forum is 3/3/3 rated, but explicit content is opt-in—see Mature and Mature+ sections for details. #
   3. No violence involving excessive gore, torture, or prolonged suffering is to be posted outside of the Mature or Mature+ areas. Violence up to TV-14 is allowed in regular threads. TV-14 allows for blood, injuries, and combat but avoids gratuitous gore. #
   4. No sexual content exceeding mild romance such as hand-holding, kissing, and hugging is allowed outside of the Mature+ sub-forum. If it exceeds PG-13 and would normally trigger a fade-to-black, it needs to go in the Mature+ sub-forum. #
   5. No OOC drama—just don’t write with people you don’t get along with. Causing OOC drama may result in a strike against your account(s). #
   6. No harassment. Conduct yourself in a mature manner. #
   7. No spamming or off-topic content in IC areas. #
   8. No discussion of real-world politics or religion. #
   9. No enticement of or engaging in illegal activities. #
   10. No god-moding, metagaming, or power-playing. #
   11. No plagiarism. AI-assisted writing is allowed for grammar, spelling, or research, but AI-generated posts are not allowed. #

2. IC (in-character) rules

   1. Your IC actions should reflect your character's aptitudes. You cannot claim to smash down a door with your bare hands if your character has only 1 Physique Aptitude. See the Aptitudes section in the lorebook for more information. #
   2. All IC threads must include an in-universe date. #
   3. You may only write in the current season or backdate threads to a previous season—threads taking place in the future are not allowed. #

3. Character creation rules

   1. You may have 3 active Player Character accounts at any time. If you wish to create a 4th, one must be retired.. #
   2. Child characters must be 10+ years old. Younger children must be NPCs until they turn 10. #
   3. You must have the right to use any images for your faceclaim or avatar. If you wish to avoid rights issues, AI tools like Generated.photo or Artbreeder.com are recommended. #
   4. No NSFW images in avatars, signatures, or anywhere else. Lewd or suggestive imagery is restricted to the Mature+ sub-forum. #
   5. Faceclaims must be digital art, painterly style art, or a realistic photo. You are allowed to use AI tools to make your avatar or alter an existing image. We do not allow anime/manga, comicbook, cartoon or pixar style 3D images as avatars. #
   6. Avoid using special characters (ä, ö, ü, é, ê, etc.) in character names. These make searches and spelling harder. We prefer names without them, but it's not a strict rule. #

4. Moderation & bannable offenses

   1. Posting any illegal content is strictly prohibited and may result in an immediate and permanent ban, foregoing the strike system depending on the severity of the offence. This includes but is not limited to:
      
      • Materials that exploit minors
      • Instructions for illegal activities
      • Gross violation of privacy laws
      • Materials that constitute harassment or threats
      • Obscene materials such as extreme gore or other extreme NSFW materials
      This forum operates in compliance with all applicable laws. No exceptions will be made to this policy. Moderators reserve the right to report illegal content to appropriate authorities. #

5. Strikes

   1. Panthos works on a three-strikes-out system. With the exception of breaches of our rules that can lead directly to a permanent ban, the breaking of rules will result in a strike on your account. These strikes work as follows:
      
      • A first strike will result in a temporary ban of 24 hours.
      • A secondary strike will result in a temporary ban of 3 days.
      • A third strike will result in a temporary ban of a week.
      • Any breaches of the rules after the third strike will result in an immediate and irreversible permanent ban.
      If you have multiple characters and receive a strike, the strike will be placed on all your accounts, IC and OOC. This means that after 3 strikes against any of your characters, you will be permanently banned across all accounts. #

6. Mature threads

   1. Mature threads are threads where your characters engage in explicit violence, substance abuse, psychological abuse or torture. You must put threads containing such content in the Mature sub-forum. For sexual content see the Mature+ rules section. Failure to put Mature threads in the Mature sub-forum may result in a strike against your account. Your thread must be in the Mature sub-forum if one or more of the conditions below is met:
      
      • If your thread contains explicit violence or gore beyond the pale of PG13, such as decapitation, disembowelment, lynching, prolonged description of wounds, etc.
      • If your thread contains substance abuse such as alcoholism or drug abuse. Threads were your character gets tipsy or drunk do not apply here. It's only when their drunkenness passes over into violence, sickness (vomiting), or serious emotional distress that you need to post the thread in the Mature sub-forum. When in doubt, err on the side of caution and post the thread in the Mature sub-forum regardless.
      • If your thread features topics of a sensitive nature (death, serious illness, addiction).
      • If your thread contains (elements of) torture.
      As a general courtesy, please always check with your writing partners if they have any trigger or contentwarnings before engaging in a Mature thread. #
   2. Mature threads, meaning violent and potentially abusive threads involving underage characters are allowed under the following strict conditions:
      
      • All involved writing parties must expressly consent, with a disclaimer in their first in-character post for example, to the participation and involvement of an underaged character in the mature thread. For example, you could write: "I consent to Joe Smith participating in this mature thread."
      • The underaged character must be 13+ or their race equivalent.
      Please note, the mature rules do not cover sexual content. As such, these rules have no bearing on sexual content involving underage characters. Furthermore, these rules exist as a courtesy so that writers can explore the full range of their characters if they so desire. However, you are expected to do so in moderation. If half your writing or more is Mature threads involving minors, you're abusing these rules and may receive a strike. This is a tool, not a carte blanche. Use common sense. #
   3. Access to Mature threads is granted on per-account basis and may be revoked if misused. This is done so that only members who opt-in to mature threads are ever able to read and reply to them. You can apply here to request access to the Mature section of the site. #
   4. Sharing Mature content outside of the Mature section, whether IC or OOC, is prohibited and will result in immediate revocation of your Mature access across all your accounts. Additionally, you will get a strike also across all accounts. #

7. Mature+ threads

   1. Mature+ rules govern all sexual content between characters. Anything beyond PG13 intimacy (kissing, hugging, hand-holding) falls under sexual content and therefore under the Mature+ rules. For violent content, refer to the Mature ruleset. The distinction between violent and sexual content is purposefully made as some members may be OK with reading and engaging in violent content, but would prefer not to engage with sexual content.If your content is both sexually explicit and violent, it falls under the Mature+ ruleset described here. #
   2. Posting sexual content that exceeds PG13 outside of the Mature+ sub-forum will invoke a strike against your character accounts and the offending content will be permanently removed. #
   3. All parties involved in a Mature+ threads must expressly consent to participating in the Mature+ threads. Consent is given by putting a disclaimer on your first in-character post within the Mature+ thread. #
   4. Characters younger than 18 in human age or their race equivalent may not, under any circumstances, participate in a Mature+ thread. #
   5. You request access here in order to be able to view and reply to Mature+ content. You need to make 2 separate requests, using the appropriate forms, to gain access to Mature and Mature+ content. #

8. Chat rules

   1. We do not have a Discord server because we want to foster a relaxed, low-pressure environment without the expectation of being constantly available. Instead, we encourage interaction through on-site options like the shoutbox/mChat, OOC forum sections, and on-site direct messaging. You are free to exchange Discord details privately, but off-site interactions are beyond our responsibility. We hope this approach keeps the community cozy, drama-free, and enjoyable for everyone. #
   2. All chat and chat areas are to be SFW. Do not post NSFW material there and do not discuss Mature or Mature+ content there. If you have to discuss Mature or Mature+ content with another member, use the on-site direct messaging system to start a private conversation. #
   3. Keep your real-life political and religious beliefs out of chat at all times. There are plenty other places to chat about such things, this is not one of them. #
   4. Do not badmouth or gossip about other members in chat or chat areas. #
   5. Leave your emotional baggage at the door. Chat is not your personal shrink. #
   6. Stay safe! Do not share personal details or pictures of yourself with strangers. Since chat is publicly viewable on our website, anyone with the link to this site can view it. #