Non Player Characters

NPCs (Non Player Characters) are the millions of people in the world not played by a player. They can be played by GMs or other players.
NPCs created by players can not be capable of magic. Only the GameMasters can create magic-enabled NPCs.
VINs (Very Important NPCs) or GMCs (Game Master Characters) are creatures of the GM, usually created in order to provide a challenge or as part of the background world. They can only be played by a GM.
NPCs can be freely created and played by any player. There is no such thing as a monopoly on an NPC. Once you made him up, he is free for the taking.
However, all the rules from above still hold true, especially continuity. Your peace-loving monk won't suddenly turn into a blood thirsty soldier, but he does have a life apart from your vision of him and it just may show at the most inconvenient moment.

NPCs can only be played by one player at a time, to avoid conflicting versions of what he is currently doing. So NPCs that are actively being used are "safe" from interference. Anything else is free for the taking.

Your NPCs should not be used as replacements or remote hands for player characters. Not only would it violate the realism rule that a totally unrelated NPC suddenly gets the idea of doing exactly what your character would want him to do, it is also a kind of cheating.
Therefore, if an NPC roleplay fails any of the five checks, you will lose control of the NPC and someone else can take him from there.

Use NPCs to flesh out a story, to provide background and make things more interesting. They should not be used to accomplish things you can not do with your own character. That would be cheap.

Travel

In order to move around the game world, players will have to travel. Travel means adventure, meeting people and visiting places. It can easily be the most intense time.

On the other hand, most players travel with a goal in mind and dislike any delays and troubles. Which robs them of many a good story opportunity, but if they insist, then so be it.

The point is that travel is the easiest way to find new stories, new things to do, and new adventures, together with the appropriate gains. It is also unavoidable. In our modern real world we are used to planes, trains and cars, all of which let you zoom by (or over) a landscape with minimal interaction. In a medieval world, you can not go from point A to point B without actual travel. You will interact with your environment because there is no other way to make progress. While you can sit back in your coach and ignore most of the countryside, at the evening you will be in an inn or a town and you will hear the latest gossip, or learn first hand what "water scarcity" means when the hot bath you were looking forward to is not available for any gold. Not to mention that only the large cities offer anything besides local food.

In game terms, the general rule is that you are not getting anywhere unless you travel, and travel means a little more than just saying "I go there". Hopping into a train, sleeping 6 hours and having crossed the country is at least a thousand years in the future in SpellMaster.

Complaints

If there is a problem with roleplays or anything else in the game, complaints should be made to the following persons, in private messages and in this order:

• The offending player him-/herself
  Try to sort out any trouble with the troublemaker first. In many cases, the problem you are having may not have been intended.
  
  
• A GM
  If you can't sort things out with the other player, talk to a GM and ask for a decision.
  

That's it. Tempting as it may be, you should abstain from complaining in public on the forum boards, sparking a huge OOC discussion and burdening down the game. If you feel it is necessary, you can post that you have a problem and are sorting things out with the other party, but please do not discuss the actual problem on the lists. If a public discussion is necessary, a GM will start it.

One important rule about complaints is that they do not affect the in-game action unless a GM says so. Complaining is not an adequate replacement for continuing with the roleplays, and the GM will base his final decision on the continued action. If, for example, someone posted an unrealistic roleplay, and you complain while a third player takes the roleplay, continues the story and finds a solution that puts the unrealistic part back into perspective, the GM will almost certainly give the third player a thumbs up and reject your complaint.

If you have a serious problem, you can launch a formal complaint against a player or his actions. This is the SpellMaster equivalent of starting a lawsuit, so don't do it unless necessary. A formal complaint will always have consequences, either for the offending player or, if the complaint was bogus, for the one launching it.
To launch a formal complaint, write a private e-mail to the main GM (tom-at-lemuria-dot-org). State that you wish to make a formal complaint, against whom, why and what actions your recommend.