Character submission rules and guidelines

Character submissions should follow this format:

Full Name:
Age:
Class(es):
Race:
Subrace:
Alignment:
Deity:
Domains (if cleric):
Biography and Description:

Full Name

• Your name may be just about anything you like. However, Layonara is a fantasy world and character names should reflect that. Arral Farwalk is a better name for a mysterious ranger than Leet d00d. Also famous or copyrighted names will not be approved (i.e. Gandalf, Legolas, Drizzt). The pages for each race and subrace gives examples of common names for inspiration.

Age

• Your age can be almost anything you want, so long as it as old or older than the age of adulthood for your race.
• Children PCs are not allowed.

Class

• The class field should indicate all of the levels you plan on taking through level 20. You may choose any classes from the ones available up to the maximum of 3 classes. You must have at least 5 levels in each class by level 20. For example: 15/5 or 11/9 is alright, but 19/1 or 17/2/1 will not be approved. What you put in this field is not set in stone and you may resubmit changes in class at a later date.
• Prestige classes will not be approved on the original submission and must be submitted as the character develops toward a Prestige Class.
• Multiclassing Druids, Monks and Paladins is restricted. If you are planning to submit a Druid, Monk or Paladin see Restricted Multiclassing for more information.

Race

• A character's race is a very important part of the character. They all have their stereotypical personalities and different ways of acting in situations. Please see the individual race pages for details.
• Please check the stickied posts in the Character Submission forums for temporary locks on certain races.
• All “half” races, half-orcs, half-elves, etc, must have been born before 1420, due to in-game events. Due to the minimum age requirements, this should not currently be an issue for any new characters, but may affect siblings or other character background elements. In addition, all half races are unable bear children of their own.

Subrace

• A subrace is not required. Applying for a subrace will require a more detailed biography in your character submission, and substantially more thought and effort for subraces that are rare, exotic, or difficult to play.
• Please note that many subraces have an Effective Stat Adjustment (ESA) that reflects differences between the subrace and the main race (e.g., Dark Elf and Elf). The description for each subrace that has an ESA will describe the effects in the Notes section at the end of the page. It is very important that you be familiar with the ESA and its impact on your character if you choose to play a particular subrace.

Alignment

• The alignment of your character must be chosen from the nine basic D&D alignments. Evil and Chaotic Neutral alignments are restricted. See Alignment Rules for specifics. Those wishing to play the Chaotic Neutral alignment must be a server member for at least 2 months and have on character over level 10. Those wishing to play a character with a Lawful Evil or Neutral Evil alignment must have been a server member for at least 9 months and have a character over the level 14. Chaotic Evil is not allowed for PCs on Layonara.
• Some races, subraces, and classes have limitations on allowed alignments. Please see the pages for your class and race for details.

Deity

• Characters are not required to have a deity, with the exception of Clerics, Paladins, and certain prestige classes.
• If your character does follow a deity, it must be from the Layonara pantheon (see Deities of Layonara.)
  • If you are planning to submit a Cleric, Paladin or Champion see Cleric Paladin and Champion Submissions.

Biography and Description

• This is your place to be creative. Physical appearance, literal biography, a story that shows who your character is, any and all of these things can go in this section. This section should show why the character has his or her alignment, class(es) and deity choice, however that character interprets them. As a general rule, the more complex the race/class combination, the more complex and detailed the biography should be. A human fighter would require only a brief biography, where a Wemic Druid would require substantially more.
• For examples of character submissions that have been approved see the Approved Characters or Recent Approvals categories on the forums.
• In addition, Cleric and Paladin submissions, and Druid submissions must have special statements added to their submission.

Other rules and information

• Characters may not have more than one ability stat below an 8 and no more than two ability stats that are 8. No ability may be lower than 6. This includes subrace adjustments so keep that in mind when creating your character.
• Racial and other default language ears will be automatically granted to characters (eg., an elf will automatically be able to speak elven, and rogues will receive the Thieves' Cant ear), and do not count against the total number of languages your character can speak. With a detailed submission, a character may be granted the ability to speak additional languages, up to a maximum of their intelligence bonus or five, whichever is less. For example, a character with an intelligence score of 14 could speak no more than two bonus languages. Some of these will not be granted on submission but must be learned in-game due to their rarity (Draconic, Florane, extra-planar languages, animal ear if not automatically received as class ability), and other uncommon ones need an extensive explanation of how the character came to learn the language. Languages may also be learned in game from other players. They cannot be leaned from familiars or NPCs, and after creation, your character journal must reflect the learning of the language to have it approved. Approval after initial creation involves submitting a request and a link to your character journal as well as the support testimony of your tutors.
• Characters may not have anything in their background that could give them an advantage over other characters, for instance, powerful family ties or magic items. If your character does not know his or her parents, please include an out of character statement letting the approvers know that your character does not have rich or powerful parents.
• While characters may believe they have had a divine experience, they may not have had direct interaction with a deity.