Racial requirements & conflicts (MWE/Sylvanborn edition)

[PirateFox]

It's that time again, where plot has asked that I go into far more detail about racial requirements than most people care about. Don't play a Mystic Wood Elf (MWE)? This one probably won't apply to you.

I've got a lot packed into this post. Let me know privately if I got anything wrong, misquoted the rules, or overlooked additional requirements, and I'll update the post.

Please see my previous post for a few tidbits I'm about to go into more detail about:
https://alliancelarp.com/forum/threads/alliance-racial-requirements-and-updates.36816/

At times, plot or dumb luck will result in you being in a situation where your character must decide between what the player wants, what the character believes, and sometimes between two things that the character loves/hates. It's not easy, but you do need to keep all rules/requirements in mind. There are rarely any "outs" where you can dismiss a racial requirement. There's a couple, which I'll note in the list below.

Obviously, given that I'm posting this, we ran into some issues with players not adhering to all the rules, likely by accident in a confusing situation. Please read this over and double-check your RP to make sure you aren't missing some key elements of your MWE roleplay.

Rules (from ARB p45ish, unless noted otherwise):

1. MWEs must hate controlling effects/magic. (NOTE: Consensual use is not a problem, as it's not reeeeally controlling someone else)
2. MWEs must hate slavery, which they see as a controlling effect.
3. MWEs are free spirits and want others to be free...see #1 and #2.
4. MWEs should not have a preoccupation with money and generally do not understand it in others.
5. MWEs are not required to see control over non-sentient creatures as violating #1/#2 [ARB implies this, but national packet expounds slightly]
6. MWEs must purchase a crafting skill per level, up to 5. After this, it becomes optional.

Examples:

• "I'm the one and only MWE who likes command magic and slavery!" - Nope, you sure aren't. That would be a rules violation. Keep that up and you're in for a forcible racechange to human. We don't have a lot of RP rules in this game, but that violates one of them.
• "MWEs hate control magic, but I'm using it to free someone from the control of a 'bad person'" - Per the rulebook, that's ok! This is one of those few out-clauses. Not all MWEs will agree, so be ready for an argument IG, but using a Charm to break a Charm is allowed, so long as your Charm isn't used to abuse the person.
• "I hate using command magic...but it's a mindless insect! It doesn't really have a mind, so...I think I'm okay with it just this once." - Again, this is okay! Non-sentients are not protected by the rule.
• "MWEs hate slavery, but they're enslaving other slavers, so I'll let it happen" - Nope, sorry. The hatred of slavery doesn't make it okay because it happens to bad people. This is a wonderful RP moral quandary, but the Alliance racial rules do not allow for it.
• "My character goals are getting sidelined by these racial requirements. It's not fair that I can't [be a slaver, be a charm-o-mancer, sell orphans for gold, etc], so I'm going to ignore the rules" - Uh uh. That's not okay. This would be a thing we like to refer to as "cheating." You know the racial rules and requirements. Abide by them, seek a racial transformation, or start a new character. Those are your options.
• "I found a loophole that lets me do XYZ, despite the rulebook/packet saying I can't" or "I found something in the rulebook/packet that conflicts with the packet/rulebook, so I'll take the most favorable result."
  • Please reread ARB p34, "Spirit of the Rules." The very fact that you're looking to loophole something means you're running afoul of this rule.
  • The order of rule priority is: ARB > National Race Packet > Denver Local Race Packet. If you find a conflict, this ordering helps determine the actual game rule. Let's say you find a clause in the ARB that says command magic is bad, but someone snuck "all MWEs love command magic" into the local race packet. That's not an out for you. The ARB wins...and we're back to Spirit of the Rules.
  • If in doubt, ask the race marshal! That's kind of our job, to sort out conflicts and weird rulings.
• "They're using slavery/command-magic, so it's ok if I or my friends use it right back on them!" - Negative. Ever heard that phrase, "two wrongs don't make a right"? Same idea here. Yes, MWEs hate slavery and control...but using it is still "bad." This is right up there with, "Murder is bad, so I'm going to go murder people to prove that." We're back into moral quandary territory. If you genuinely believe your only option is to use control magic or you're helping slavers, I wanna see MWEs in the fetal position, wrestling with their moral demons! (slight exaggeration)
• "My local plot team from [some chapter] gave me an exception that allows me to do XYZ" - Unfortunately, Denver cannot allow violation of the ARB/packet rules based on what works elsewhere. When in Denver, you will need to abide by the ARB/packet rules.