Member Resources
Roleplaying: Rules and Requirements
Now that you've got your character accepted You are ready to actually play with your character in the Anomalous realm! By roleplaying your character, you can level up your character's skills, bond with fellow members, earn Salamanders for being an active member, and - more importantly - bring the world of Anomalous to life.
Roleplay Requirements
We don't have many restrictions when it comes to roleplay within Anomalous. However, there are a few rules that of course that need to be followed to make sure everything stays gravy.
1. All Anomalous rules must be followed in roleplay!
First off, please make sure you have read the General Rules and Regulations of Anomalous. You should have already read them but it goes without saying that these rules should be followed as you continue through the game. Respect other members, no god-moding, no power-moding, etc. If you RP with another member and their character, please do not have your character cause any harm or perform any action to that member's character without permission!
2. Anomalous RPs should, obviously, only contain Anomalous characters!
Roleplays may either be art pieces, literature pieces, and even collaborative pieces between yourself and other Anomalous members but should only pertain to Anomalous characters! We do allow Miscellaneous Art pieces to be submitted to the group even if it contains a non-Anomalous character but in order to be accepted into the Anomalous group, your art/literature pieces should always feature an Anomalous character!
3. All RPs must have a link to your character's accepted reference & a Time Stamp!
In order to roleplay within Anomalous, you must first have an accepted character! Remember, we do not encourage RPing with your character before it has been accepted in the event that various aspects of its personality have to be changed. In addition, you must also include the Time Stamp of where/when the roleplay occurred. Visit the Herd Territories and Locations journal for potential locations and their descriptions as well as the Seasons and Aging journal for more information. Remember, the time stamp should always make sense! If your character has just had an RP set in a certain territory, they should not show up in another RP clear across Anomalous! Please copy-paste the below form in either the text of the literature RP or the artist's comments section of all RPs you submit to Anomalous.
Featuring *Insert link to accepted character reference*
Season, Year xxxx | Location, Territory
For example, if I were to submit a RP for my former Saraph slave, Blue, while he was still in Saraph territory, the time stamp and reference link would look something like this:
Featuring Blue:
Summer, Year 1992 | The Sultan's Palace, Saraph Territory
4. All RPs list the Skill Points earned!
This allows staff members to double check your math skillz and make sure your Skill Point earnings are being reviewed upfront! Not only does this make Skill Point earnings more clear but it will also allow for Master Skill checks easier/quicker for mods. All RPs will now be commented on upon acceptance by a staff member with the verified point earnings. You can review the Skill Leveling System journal for more information but, thanks to Tyeth's coding prowess, we actually have some ready-to-go calculators for you! Don't forget to keep track of the Skill Points earned from the RP on your character's profile in the Skill Points section, as staff will not go searching around or be keeping track of your character's RPs for you.
for example...
Example Rp
+3 Magic - Headshot/Partial-body + Detailed BG [Skill Shown]
+3 Magic - 400-999 Word Lit [Skill Shown]
5. Colourless Submissions
This doesn't happen too often (y'all are seriously amazing at putting forth so many wonderful, fully colored images!) but, as a reminder, we do allow sketchy art-pieces to be submitted to the group and used as a breeding proof, RP piece, etc. However, sketches do NOT earn ANY Skill Points - not even as gift art if you receive the sketch as a gift!
In order to receive any actual Skill Point advantages, your image must meet the minimum requirements for Headshot or a Full-Body piece with some sort of color attributed to it. Grayscale coloring will be accepted on a case-by-case basis but, if you go this route, we will be looking for some shading/definition (in comparison to the rest of your gallery) on the colored sketch in order for it to be considered -dramatic voice- legal.
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6. If you plan on posting literature in the artist's comments section of an art piece, please include the literature RP at the time of submission. Otherwise, please submit art and literature pieces separately.
Please do not submit an art piece with a 'story to come' or 'story WIP' in the artist's comments section! While you are welcome to write a literature piece for your wonderful artwork, we have come across some issues with people submitting art and then, after the art has been accepted, adding a literature piece after! This isn't necessarily a major issue but it does allow literature pieces to be 'accepted' into the group before they've even been reviewed for accuracy. Please make sure to include your artwork's story in the artist's comments at the time of submission or, if you just can't wait to show off your art, submit the literature piece separately.
7. Last but not least, have fun!
World lore and maps are great but roleplays are what really breathes life into Anomalous. Don't forget to check out the Anomalous | Event Timeline if you want some ideas for RP prompts or want to get a general idea of what happened in a certain time within a herd. Have fun!
Art/Literature Point Breakdown
Note that in order to earn Skill Shown bonus points, the appropriate skill must be shown in the RP! For example, to earn Skill Shown Points for Agility, your art/RP must portray your character running or moving!
Collaboration Breakdown:
+2 Skill Points - Collaborative Art [Does not have to show skill being used.]
+2 Skill Points - Collaborative Literature [Does not have to show skill being used.]
Miscellaneous Art Breakdown:
+ 1 Skill Point - Mini-Event Response
+ 1 Skill Point - Fan Art/Gift Art/Commissioned Art (Note that this is the only point that Fan/Gift/Comm art can earn!)
Pixel Art Breakdown
+ 1 Skill Points - Pixel Art.
Headshot Art Earning Breakdown (Includes Partial Body - 50% or less):
+ 1 Skill Points - Headshot + No/Simple BG [Skill Shown Optional.]
+ 2 Skill Point - Headshot + Detailed BG [No Skill Shown]
+ 3 Skill Points - Headshot + Detailed BG [Skill Shown]
Fullbody Art Breakdown (75% or more of body visible):
+ 2 Skill Point - Fullbody + No/Simple BG [Skill Shown Optional.]
+ 3 Skill Points - Fullbody + Detailed BG [No Skill Shown.]
+ 4 Skill Points - Fullbody + Detailed BG [Skill Shown].
Literature Breakdown [No Skill Shown]
+ 1 Skill Points - 150-400 word lit [No Skill Shown.]
+ 2 Skill Point - 401-999 word lit [No Skill Shown.]
+ 3 Skill Points - 1000-1499 word lit [No Skill Shown.]
+ 4 Skill Points - 1500-1999 word lit [No Skill Shown.]
+ 5 Skill Points - 2000+ word lit [No Skill Shown.]
Literature Breakdown [Skill Shown]
+ 2 Skill Point - 150-400 word lit [Skill Shown.]
+ 3 Skill Points - 401-999 word lit [Skill Shown.]
+ 4 Skill Points - 1000-1499 word lit [Skill Shown.]
+ 5 Skill Points - 1500-1999 word lit [Skill Shown.]
+ 6 Skill Points - 2000+ word lit [Skill Shown.]
Sparring/Training Breakdown [Skill Shown]
+ 1 Skill Point - Sparring/Training (PC) with lower skill level.
+ 2 Skill Points - Sparring/Training (PC) with same skill level.
+ 3 Skill Points - Sparring/Training (PC) with higher skill level.
+ 1 Skill Point - Sparring/Training (NPC) with any skill level.
Hostile Fight Breakdown
+ 2 Experience - Hostile Fight (PC) with lower skill level [Win]
+ 3 Experience - Hostile Fight (PC) with same skill level [Win]
+ 4 Experience - Hostile Fight (PC) with higher skill level [Win/Tie]
+ 1 Experience - Hostile Fight (PC) with lower skill level [Lose/Tie]
+ 2 Experience - Hostile Fight (PC) with same skill level [Lose/Tie]
+ 3 Experience - Hostile Fight (PC) with higher skill level [Lose/Tie]
+ 0 Experience - Hostile Fight (NPC) with any skill level [Win/Lose]
Dungeon Quest
+ 1 Experience Point per dungeon completed [Dungeon End RPs only]
Skill Earnings Examples + FAQ Guide
Ever stumped on what might count as a detailed background versus a simple background? Unsure of what to consider your art as for skill earnings? Maybe you just want to be extra sure before counting your character's stats? Well, look no further than our handy, dandy guide here! Below you will find a more detailed explanation of what we consider headshots, partial bodies, full bodies, etc.. as well as some examples showing what we mean!
Note - we are currently working on putting together a pixel-art example guide as well as an animation example guide- so stay tuned for that!
Headshots and Partial-Bodies
In simple terms, we classify a headshot or partial-body as anything showing LESS than 75% (or 3/4) of the character, while ALSO showing at LEAST 10% of the character! So, for pictures showing one body-part of the character (such as an eye, a hoof, an ear, etc...) these, unfortunately, would not count! (You may write out skill earnings for these pieces as +0 skill points.) Partial Bodies and Headshots should also have enough coloring and detail to clearly identify them as said character.
Additionally, we might also classify full-bodies with little/no detail to markings/characteristics shown (i.e, silhouettes), as partial-bodies as well - but this varies on a case by case basis. Below are some examples of works we consider to be in this category:
Full Bodies
Full-Bodies are defined as when there is at LEAST 75% (3/4) of a character shown, or at least the majority of a character shown (if not the whole character!). There should also be clear detail shown to identify the character as said character, including their markings, mutations, etc... as well, otherwise, we would consider that to be a partial-body (see "headshots and partial-bodies above). Here are some examples of what we consider a full-body:
Simple Backgrounds
Don't let the name fool you- simple backgrounds are just as nice and lovely as detailed backgrounds, but for point-purposes, we gotta define them! So, what we consider to be a simple background here in anom is a piece where there is minimal detail shown (or not detail at all!). We consider details to be things like shading/lighting (or attempts to 'set' the character in a scene), items drawn into the background, depth to the area in the background, etc... So generally, if we a see a piece and the background contains none of those things, we will ask that it be counted as a 'simple background'.
Additionally, the use of textures and gradients is perfectly fine- but by themselves, they are not considered 'detail'! For example, if you have a hihiri swimming in the water and use a water effect on a blue background, that would be considered simple. However, if you wanted to add more onto it (like fish swimming in the background, rock formations in the distance, or lighting bouncing off the character, etc...) then that would be considered detailed!
Here are some examples of backgrounds the group considers "simple":
Detailed Backgrounds
Detailed Backgrounds are Backgrounds where there is clear attention to detail (hence the name). As briefly touched upon in the information for Simple Backgrounds (see above), we consider "Details" to be things such as shading/lighting (attempts to set the character(s) in the scene), shading on parts of the BG (such as trees and rocks), etc... Textures and gradients may also be used, but they shouldn't make up the entirety of the background (like, the hihiri example - you can use a water effect on a blue background - but that cannot be the only thing going on with the water for that to count!). Obviously, we go by a case-by-case basis depending on your artistic ability- so if something appears detailed enough compared to the rest of your work, no worries- we'd consider it to be detailed! For some examples:
Confirming Master, Legendary, or Divine Skills
Eventually, you may come to find that your character has reached Master, Legendary, or Divine in a skill. First of all, congratulations, that is no easy feat! However, staff will want to confirm this - especially prior to any breeding or rolled fights - so please use the form below to submit your character for a skill level confirmation.
Please be sure to double-check your skill tracker for all RPs, tokens (should be listed by token #), Salamander Rewards, etc have been properly noted on the character's skill tracker!
These skill checks take some time (it is a lot to go through!) so please be patient with staff after you submit your character. However, it is NOT a bad idea to send a note directly to the ground to let us know that you have submitted a character to be checked. Please use the form below.
Note Title = "Character's Name - Master/Legendary/Divine Skill Check"
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Character's Name: Name of the character.
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Link to Character's Ref: Include a link to the character's accepted reference.
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Have you submitted your character to the Google Form?: If not, please do so prior to sending in the note!
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Have you double-checked your character's points?: Should be yes! If not, please do so before submitting the character for the skill check!
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Skill Being Checked: What skill are we checking? For magic, be sure to list WHAT magic strain in the case of multiple strains.
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What Level: Master, Legendary, or Divine?