RULES THREAD: Read this before starting!

The characters of Epidemic Johto consist of various species of Pokémon, and the roleplay itself consists of the stories that tell of their survival (or demise) as they travel around their now-apocalyptic world. Making a character that is truly your own is encouraged, but there are some guidelines that must be followed.

• All Pokémon species are allowed, except for legendaries.
• Fakemon/Pokémon-alterations past recognition of the original species are not allowed, though some may be accepted in the future if they are special infected or if it is an accepted Fakemon and you have a Fakemon ticket.
• As of 11.8.13 Pokémon are allowed to have their Dream World Abilites at the use of a Mutator Ticket.
• Shiny and oddly-colored Pokémon will only be accepted with a shiny character ticket, which is rewarded when some badges are earned.
  
  • A shiny ticket is required for shiny Pokémon or Pokémon that have different coloration on more than 25% of their bodies.



• Characters should not be overpowered.
  Make sure you balance your character's abilities. If they are capable of some great feat, they should have a weakness that balances it; even if they have been trained they should not know all the most powerful TM moves.

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Pokémon Character Level Caps:

• No badges: Level 45 and under
• 2 badges: Level 55 and under
• 4 badges: Level 70 and under

NOTE: A level cap indicates the maximum level any character you create can be upon creation. However, these caps only affect your characters when they are first introduced/created. You character can still level up during rp.

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NEW RULE: As of 16.6.12, pokémon/human emotion portraits can be added to character profiles. Note that emotion portraits are completely voluntary, and by no means are required in the RP.

These portraits should be similar to those from Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, and be a minimum of 40x40 pixels but no more than 100x100 px.

• You must have a minimum of five portraits.

You are free to create your own or commission for a set at the Market Street thread.

If you choose to incorporate a set of emotion portraits into your RP, they should be put into the character's profile, under its main image in a spoiler tag. Include the entire set of images you intend to use.

NOTE: As an alternative, full profile images that reflect each emotion/situation are also allowed. Like the emotion portraits, they should be arranged in a spoiler tag under the main profile image.

On this forum, members have the ability to possess multiple characters in the roleplay. The amount of characters they can possess is represented by what are called "character tickets". If a character ticket is filled out, then it represents an active character, while a character ticket that is blank represents an opening for a new character to be created.

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How Character Tickets Work:

• Every member receives two character tickets when they first join; one Living ticket, and one Undead ticket. These tickets are given to you blank when you first begin. When a character is submitted by the member to the Profile Computer, it may be approved by an admin, and a character ticket will be filled out with your character's name.
• These tickets can be found on your profile page, so you can keep track of how many tickets you own.
• Every member can gain additional character tickets as they progress.




• Tickets can be traded between members and purchased by going to the Department Store.


• Though character tickets are given out often, it is discouraged to make too many characters if you do not have the time to manage them. Only create what you can handle.

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Killing Characters Off:

• You are permitted to kill off your characters in order to be refunded a character ticket. However, please note that if you character is killed by a Harbinger, no ticket will be refunded.
• You must post on your team character sheet if you kill one of your characters so we can refund your ticket and take you off the team roster.
• You cannot kill another member's character unless both parties explicitly agree. Conversations dealing with killing off another member's character should be dealt with through private messages.
• No bullying other members to kill their characters if they decline. Such behavior is not acceptable, and if you are found down such the consequences will consist of your character tickets getting stripped and/or a potential banning.

As of July 1st, 2013, all new members are automatically placed in the Novice rank until they can prove themselves.


Epidemic Johto is an elite roleplay forum, therefore we expect high quality from our members. To ensure the best quality possible, we have three distinct ranks: Elite, Ace, and Novice.
Elites are the best of the best, and have proved themselves time and time again that they have spectacular skills in both writing and leadership. Aces are users who have proved themselves capable of writing up to the quality we expect, and are allowed to try to become an Elite. Novices are new members that have yet to prove their skill.

Novices can take the test to become an Ace in the Ranking forum, where you may take a Writing Prompt to be evaluated for the Ace rank. If you pass, you will receive your Ace Badge and be eligible to lead Ace Teams.

Those who do not pass their test will stay a Novice rank, and can retry for their Ace Badge after making 10 posts in roleplay.

Users struggling with certain aspects of roleplaying can find lessons written by the admins in the lessons forum for help. The lessons are there to help you, so make sure you make use of them!

Epidemic Johto is a 'turn-based' roleplay, meaning that everyone in each thread must post in an established cycle to ensure no one gets left behind. In addition this this key rule, there are some other guidelines that should be followed while roleplaying on the forum.

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The Basics:

• The characters/players are listed in the order they should post in in the team character sheet of the team that particular character is a member of.


• Characters are only to follow the character preceding them, and are not to post out of turn unless the character they normally follow has been listed as Away or Idle.


• It is recommended that each player posts the day of their turn to keep the team's RP flowing at a steady pace, but they should wait no longer than three days to respond. Waiting more than three days to post on your team could result in death by a Harbinger. More information about Harbingers can be found below under the Character Absence tab.


• Posts must consist of at least one well-written paragraph.


• Make sure you use proper grammar!
  A punctuation/grammar reference is available if it is needed. All new members will be screened for grammatical/writing skill. If your writing is not at the level needed to effectively tell a story, you will not be allowed to post in the official RP.


• Use out of character (OoC) notes where applicable.
  This goes for if you need to make an out of character comment about the roleplay. Also, all members must add an OoC note to the bottom of their posts whenever:
  1. They are granted permission to harm or kill another member's character.
  2. When they give permission for another member to harm or kill their character.


Every official RP thread is member-moderated concerning content.


If a member sees violations of forum rules (be it godmodding, one-sentence posts, or otherwise), they are to notify the member. If the violations persist, it will be reported to one of the admins.

All Teams will be read and carefully monitored by the admins. This is to maintain the quality expected of the site. If a member is under performing, a warning will be Private Messaged to them by an admin along with reasons for the warning. If the user in question fails to improve they will be booted from the team. Admins will always vote a consensus before booting a user from a team.

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RP Formatting:

When posting in any roleplay threads, you should format the top of your post like this:

The content of your post can then follow.

• At the top of each post, provide a centered image of your character. You can do this by using the bbcode [*center][*img][*/img][*/center] (be sure to leave out the * or the coding will not work.) Custom character art is being offered by our site artists in exchange for points if you do not have an image readily available.
• Post a post count number after the time of day in your header if you wish to participate in the EJ League (example: your first post should be labeled as post 1.) Details are given in the linked thread.
• Do not change the font or font size size of your post text.

In Epidemic Johto, a "team" is made up of the other characters your character will be interacting with. The team you choose to place your character in will essentially become your roleplaying "group," and any and all canon roleplaying will take place in the team thread.

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• Each member's character will be assigned to a single team.
• A full team consists of six individual members. It will start with at least three members and will grow until it reaches its limit.
• Teams that are open and available to join can be found in the team character sheets.



• The team leader will determine where the team's journey will start.
• The leader's only responsibility is to monitor the length of each of their team members' posts. Posts must be at least 1 paragraph and not excessively long. Leaders are to warn members if they do not follow this rule.
• Other members of the team can report posts that are too short to the designated admin of the region.
• Teams with two members or less will have the users consolidated to another team. A team needs a minimum of three members to begin RP.

NEW RULE: Lately, there have been a couple of incidents of all members in a team except one being unable to post. This leaves one member to post alone until the team is either put on hold, or someone else is able to post in the team again. As of 30.7.12, the maximum number of solo posts that the remaining member in a team is allowed to make is three. Any violations of this rule seen in a team should be reported to the appropriate thread.

Please note that there are strict activity rules on Epidemic Johto to ensure that threads do not become stagnant.

Posting Time Limit and Harbringer Attacks:
- A character/member is given three days to post, starting at the moment the team member before them posts, which begins their turn.-
- A warning will be posted in the Omen warning thread in the Nexus for members who haven't posted by the third day. On the fourth day, if the member hasn't posted by 1200hrs (approx. US Mountain time), the character will be killed by an Omen!


What if my timezone is not set to US Mountain Time?

Please note that the times are based off of Epidemic Johto's forum time, which everyone's should be set to Mountain Time, also listed as Denver, Edmonton UTC 07:00 in Preferences.

If your timezone is not set to the correct timezone, go to your Profile > Preferences Tab. At the bottom, there should be a drop down menu of the timezones. Simply find Denver, Edmonton UTC 07:00 and click on it, save, and your time will match the rest of the forum's.

The reason that the timezone should be set to US Mountain Time is to keep things simple and organized. All of the warnings will be synchronized to be posted at that timezone, including the time you must post by.

You can find the forum time at the bottom right of the forum, in the gray bar. You also have the option to change the format of your clock, so you don't have to read in military time. The option to change clock format is also in the Preferences tab.

This will minimize confusion and make sure nobody gets killed before their time.

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Posting after a death warrant has been issued is strictly forbidden.

Approximately ten minutes are allotted after the death warrant has been reached (due to time differences), but no longer than within that timeframe are you allowed to post. Do not chance going over the forum time, as your characters' lives may be at stake.

If they are posted any later than that, the post will be deleted, and the member will be punished with a harbinger attack that cannot be stricken from their record, if not a general warning issued.

This is to ensure that there are NO confusions regarding time zones, so that will no longer be an excuse for not keeping up with posting.


NOTE: This ONLY applies to the individual who hasn't posted on time, and not the rest of the team.

Kindly note that:

• If your character(s) do(es) get killed by harbingers, your character ticket is forfeited. You will not get it refunded.
• If two of your characters are killed by harbingers, you will be barred from playing in the official RP. You CAN, however, still participate in the unofficial RP thread and everything else around EJ.
• Harbinger attacks can be taken off your profile after two months have passed without any further attacks on your characters if you post in the harbinger death recall thread. This is true even if you are barred from the official roleplay.

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The Safehouse:
The harbingers devour any slacking posters, therefore it is essential that you protect yourself from them by posting when it is your turn. If you are not going to be able to log on in order to do so, however, there are ways to avoid a Harbinger attack.

• If you plan on taking a leave of absence, notify the safehouse managers (See safehouse rules).

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The Inactivity Rule:

In the event a leave of absence, hiatus, or a team going on hold due to character absence reaches the point of one year the Users character(s) are subject to being pulled from their respective team(s) and placed into the Inactivity thread in the Profile Computer. A notice will be sent via email with seven days advanced notice that the rule is about to go into effect, if no response is received after the seven days the following will occur:

Any/All active character(s) will be pulled from their team(s) and placed in Inactive

Any/All character ticket(s) will be refunded

Any/All Canon character(s) will be put back into the Canon Claim pool for others to claim

Any/All used Canon Claim(s) will be refunded

Any/All Team(s) without enough users to continue will be placed in the Graveyard and new teams will be allowed to start in those areas. New teams are not restricted to the past teams activities or events.

Any/All Team(s) that wish to continue with enough members will be allowed to pick up where they left off after the User’s characters have been removed

This will allow us to keep teams open and running as much as possible. This rule is only a moderation of the forum and not a punishment for voluntary leave of absence. Any Users affected are free to return at any time they choose and their characters will be waiting for them in Inactivity.

Please note:

Any Canons claimed by new users after the Inactivity Rule returns them to the pool are subject to change by the new user. Any previous posts or profile will be considered non-canon for the new profile unless that character is part of Plot. Admins will be responsible for distributing or withholding any Plot Canons after an Inactivity Rule cleanup.

Personal OCs by the User will not be allowed to be claimed in any form.

Floater Characters
Both living and infected can "float" from team to team, but they are restricted by region and must stay in each team for at least three turns. Once they choose to leave the team, they must state that they are leaving with their last post. After that, the post sequence will return to normal. This does not mean a character needs to float, it is just an option that is available if you do not wish to stalk the same characters across the region.

• There will be a max of one floater per team.
• Floaters will always take their turn after the entire regular team sequence.
• There is a floater character sheet for all regions, which shows which character is where. This will be updated with each team when a floater joins.
• All approved floater characters must announce in the team sheet of the location they want that they will be joining that team before they start posting. They will take their turn as the last in the team sequence.
• As of June 18th, 2013, both living and infected are allowed to float to teams.

If you want to be a floater, include your request in your character profile.

Dual Character Profiles
Dual character profiles provide an opportunity to roleplay two of your own characters together on the same team (and in one post). Atticus and Maudie (by Anathema) are an example of a dual profile, and you can see that they are roleplayed in the same post. Note that different text colors are used for the different characters, which is a practice that is encouraged for clarity.

• To create a dual profile, you must have two available tickets as the characters are treated as two separate characters even though they are roleplayed together. If both are shiny characters, you must also have two shiny tickets.
• Even though dual characters count as two characters and take up two character tickets, they only count for one character slot in team placement.
• For those who are challenging the EJ league, information on dual badges can be found in the league rules.

Team Spot Reservations
Team spot reservations basically serve to reserve a spot for a member's character should a team open up again, or if they wish to hold a spot for a team that has recently been created. These reservations are handled in the reservation thread, which has its own set of rules.