Commonly asked questions have been listed here to put to rest any initial fears members may have coming into Aeipathy. If you have a suggestion for additional questions that you would like to see answered here, please send them to our OOC Admin. If you cannot find the answer to your concerns on this page, please join our Discord and connect with a mentor, who can help you further. OOC Questions Is Aeipathy Welcoming to Newcomers?
We work hard at Aeipathy to ensure that all members feel welcome. To us, new members means more stories, diversity and fun! We work hard to encourage dynamic character creation, establish plots right from the start and help newcomers with future ideas for where their character might want to go in terms of relationships, development and defining events. We also have a mentor team, who specifically focus on bringing new members into the fold. Every newcomer who joins our Discord server is assigned a one-on-one mentor to help them out, if they need it.
Aeipathy is so Big - Will I Get Lost in the Crowd?
When it comes to the OOC community, we have a super friendly member base who are genuinely friends before they are writers. Ergo, we are interested in all of our members - new and old. You will not feel left out of OOC chatter. With regards to IC chat, most plotting discussion happens on site, or in a dedicated plotting channel on Discord, hidden from newcomers so that they aren't bombarded with names and places they don't yet understand. We also have a 'translation' bot to help with the terms that do slip through the net and might be confusing. This way, all members can keep up with the conversation, even when they're brand new! On a character level, we have an advanced Character System that allows you to identify just how involved (or not) you want your character to become in global plotlines and our staff respect that. We also provide full guides on each Event in our bi-weekly broadcasts, listing ideas on how you can either partake or realistically avoid these key global plot-points. Provided you meet the activity level for your style of character, you'll never be nagged to be more involved or left out in the cold.
Aeipathy Has a Large Member Base - Do You Have Cliques?
Honestly, we're not entirely sure how we've managed to avoid distinctive friendship circles but everyone is truly friends with everyone here on Aeipathy. All we have are theories on why. Firstly, our staff team are a hugely inclusive force on our Discord and site. Across our staff team, we roleplay with every single member on our forum. By including them in stories, translating situations for newcomers and basically setting an example of inclusivity, our community has followed suit. Secondly, the way our forum is structured makes it hard to form exclusive cliques. Your character might be involved in a House, a Guild, a Faction, a big global plot and a few personal ones. All of these groupings and stories are told with different people. All of whom have their own Houses, Guilds etc... The web of players your storylines create means you're already connected to a far larger number of writers than you may normally be on a roleplay site. By making so many connections so quickly, its near impossible to fall into a private group. Also, because we tell a singular story here at Aeipathy; each character forming a small but significant part in it, it doesn't pay to alienate or ignore other members and characters; its impossible to sit back in a small group and only roleplay with them. Cliques just could not survive on Aeipathy.
Do I Need Historical Knowledge to Write Here?
We'd be lying if we said that a familiarity with historical books or tv shows/movies isn't advantageous to certain elements of your writing (language, manners and world view etc.) but in terms of actual historical knowledge about the year 972 BC - you don't need to know a thing! Our world is based on this general era but the world we write is fictional. At the end of the day we are an alternative / fictional version of the empires that existed back then. All such fictional lore is in our Encyclopaedia for your convenience. It is only this that you need to become familiar with. And, to that end, we have multiple lists and helpful guides to see you through only the relevant content to you and your character.
Is There a Lot of Lore to Learn?
Surprising, no. Despite appearances (yes, we know what our world looks like at first) there's not as much reading to be done as you might think. Each kingdom and land of our world has its own culture, language, mannerisms etc. As such, all of that information needs to be stored in one place, creating a large and dense information vault. However, your character is only going to be the product of one of these kingdoms (maybe two), which means the information we recommend you read is a very limited part of our Encyclopaedia. You get to decide just exactly how 'clued up' on our world your character may need to be. On the main Encyclopaedia page, you can use the Helpful Highlighter on the left to reveal the pages that are necessary reading. You'll be surprised how small a section of the pages it includes!
Does Aeipathy Have a Diverse Member Group?
Yes we do! Our member base ranges from late teen years to people into their sixties. We have members of different sexes, gender, age, race, religion, culture and those with mental or physical differences. We also have members on our forum for whom English is a second or third language. From our perspective, so long as you can adhere to the type of writing we encourage here at Aeipathy, we have zero fucks to give (pardon the French) on your background, label or 'classification'. Everyone on Aeipathy is treated with equal respect, excitement and friendliness. IC Questions Is Aeipathy Welcoming to Original Characters?
Aeipathy has a lot of canons and wanteds available but we are just as encouraging of original characters. The more canons and wanteds we have in play, the more established families we collect. The more originals we have in play, the more our God accounts can mess with our world. It's a win-win for all! At Aeipathy, it's more important to us that you choose a character that fits with your roleplay hopes. We will often direct newcomers down the canon/wanted path, just to see if their original idea coincides with something already being advertised (two birds, one stone). But if they don't, we're always 100% happy to meet and greet new, original characters!
Are Global Plots Only for Established Members?
We work on an honour system here at Aeipathy: we assume all of our members and characters will be around for a long time to come. From the second you walk in the door you can get involved with big and global plots should you wish to. Our event pages list ways for characters of all backgrounds to get involved and we have multiple plotting aides available to help get a character more involved in an organic way.
Do I Have to Be Involved in Global Plots?
If you're someone who likes to tell their own story or personal narratives in your character's own little corner of the world, you can 100% do that! Whilst our larger stories are always going on, ensuring you have an ever-changing and developing world for your character to exist within, you do not have to be an active part of them - you can do your own thing, no problem!
Does Aeipathy Have a Diverse Character Roster?
Yes! - our canons and played characters range in age from 10 years old to into their 80s. We have a balanced number of each biological sex and we have differing genders and sexualities in play. We have characters with physical and mental disorders / disabilities. We have over forty POC canons, 30 of Jewish descent and tonnes of other races and cultural backgrounds for our characters. You can find our up-to-date statistics on our homepage (go to our member section and click the golden icon of two little figures holding hands). As far as character traits go, our characters are varied and diverse, from narcissistic playboys to quaint seamstresses; from ambitious young women of the court to stoic warriors. We have slaves, gladiators and pirates; we have kings, nobles and senators. We aim to make Aeipathy as immersive and realistic in feel as we can and encourage characters from all walks of life.
How Are Disabilities Approached in this Setting?
Our golden rule / line to be drawn here at Aeipathy is that roleplaying and writing should be fun. Our members are here because they want to immerse themselves in this particular historical era: with its good and bad elements open for exploration. Wanting to write and understand previous mindsets in our development as a species (even if we now know them to be immoral) is part of the learning experience that writing is. But, writing should also be fun. As such, our kingdoms have been written semi-true to history but with a little flexibility here and there. Each kingdom has their own mindset and levels of discrimination, or lack thereof, on all topics: from gender inequality to mental or physical disorders. These trials and difficulties are meant to add an element of drama and obstacle to character's stories; not to be insulting or restrictive. They protect the immersive and realistic world in which we all enjoy playing but also allow members the opportunity to explore other world views and create minority-identifying or diverse characters. If you wish to create a character that belongs to a minority but do not wish to roleplay stories of discrimination, there are areas of our world where this is possible. If you'd like to become involved in the drama of prejudice, there are also lands where this is more common-place. Whatever you wish to roleplay here on Aeipathy, we have a setting in which you can. This being said, please check our fundamental rule guide for clarification of member discrimination and sensitive communication. Whilst we encourage learning and exploring in our IC world, this is not a place for writing content designed and intended to be harmful to others. If you are unsure of how to approach any topic, including disabilities, please contact our staff team.
Can I Play a Character from Outside Aeipathy's Lands?
Whilst our staff team recommend the creation of a character from one of our in-play kingdoms to begin with (it can help you get more involved with plots right from the start) you are in no way restricted from creating a character from beyond our world (such characters are listed as 'from Lands Afar'). We only ask that players are considerate of travel times and culture / language barriers. As for face claims, if you wish to use a face with an ethnicity from beyond our world but don't want your character to be a newcomer to the land, there's nothing that says your character cannot be a second / third generation immigrant to the area. Just check each land's social pages for their general levels of xenophobia or acceptance. Everything is workable, here on Aeipathy.