Tal all and welcome to the world of AOL Norman Gor (ANG). Here are the guidelines for our role-play. These rules are firmly based on the Gorean novels. Please read these rules very carefully. These rules are very different from the rules of AOL Gor. We feel that our rules are much more realistic and truer to the novels.

1. Purpose Of AOL Norman Gor: Much of AOL Gor does not reflect the Gor of the novels. The rules for AOL Gor are often unrealistic and not based on the books. The PR cities usually have much better rule systems and play closer to the books but they are often empty and this leads to frustrated players. Thus, PR cities commonly have high turnover rates of players. What is needed is something to combine the best aspects of all elements of online Gor. ANG is an attempt to create such a world. It will not be perfect but it will always strive for perfection. Unfortunately, the medium does not permit perfection.

ANG is not for everyone. It is not meant to be. It is intended only for those who wish to role-play in a world that is as close to Gor as possible. Some may feel this is too restrictive but it actually provides plenty of room for creativity. With 25 Gorean novels, consisting of over 10,000 pages, there is plenty of information to use in your role-play.

First and foremost, ANG is intended to only be a GAME. As a game, the world must have rules to make the play of the game run smoothly. This world has been created in an attempt to emulate the world of Gor as most accurately as possible in this medium. This objective also requires certain rules to maintain. As this is a world that hopes to grow and evolve, these rules are subject to change. Hopefully, any changes made will only serve to enhance play in this world. Each set of rules will state the version number at the very bottom. Make sure you keep up with the current version.

2. Gorean Education: ANG will also be an educational world. It will be a learning experience, clarifying misconceptions about Gor that many have learned from AOL or the Internet. You will find that this world will do a lot to teach players about the Gor of the novels. We welcome everyone, new or old to Gor, who truly desires to learn.

It would be helpful if you have read at least some of the Gor books to join this world but it is not a necessity. Unfortunately, only the first ten books are in print and they are not easily available to everyone. Used bookstores are a good way to find the books and they can usually be bought very cheap. You can also buy some of the books online at places like Barnes & Nobles. Information on the Internet may be a start for basic information on Gor, but beware that there is some misinformation out there too. I strongly advise trying to obtain the novels if you are able.

ANG will endeavor to teach its citizens much about the Gor of the novels. We have numerous ways to help educate our players. The Ubar of Delphius has presently written twenty-six educational scrolls on Gor, covering a variety of topics from Tavern Service to the Warrior Code. These scrolls consist of over 115 pages of information and more scrolls will be forthcoming. The players in this world will all receive copies of these scrolls. Educational seminars are also held at various times, for free people and slaves. These seminars deal with a variety of topics. If you cannot attend a particular seminar, the log of the seminar is usually sent to all the players. There will also be well-read players who can answer Gorean questions from the other players.

3. Entrance To AOL Norman Gor: Any established city that wishes to join this world must first be approved by the Administrative Council. Essentially, all entrants must agree to abide by the guidelines of this world. The City Leader must ensure that his players abide by those rules as well. Players who do not belong to a city may also petition to join this world. They too must be willing to agree to abide by all the rules of this world. The rules are very specific and will definitely be enforced in this world. The only reason a city will be denied entrance is by an unwillingness to abide by the rules of ANG.

Any City Leader who has a city with a population of 25 or more players will also be given a spot on the Administrative Council. Any City Leader with less than 25 players or anyone who is not part of an established ANG city, will not be able to get a spot on the Council. All members of ANG must place that acronym "ANG" in their profile. This will serve to show others that you belong to the same world.

Any players who refuse to RP by the books will be permanently exiled from ANG. A list of such SNs will be compiled and all ANG members will be asked to click and ignore those individuals. We do not wish a few bad apples to spoil the fun for the rest of us.

4. Rules/City Decisions: The City Leader of each city shall be the single authority on rules questions, clarifications and adjudications in their own city provided such matters do not conflict with the basic guidelines of ANG. The Administrative Council shall be the authority over what is considered Gorean within this world. A list of Gorean and non-Gorean matters shall be created and continually updated. This list will go out to all within this world. All decisions made concerning Gorean matters will be based upon the books.

5. WARNING: ANG attempts to accurately portray Gor and its rules are directed toward that goal. But certain rules, such as those dealing with "Mun Consent," "Reserved Discipline," and "Reserved Silks" may be of concern to certain players. These rules may be potentially abused by unscrupulous players. That is not the intent of those rules. Abuse will not be tolerated. Any player who is determined to be abusive will be permanently exiled from ANG. If you believe that someone is being abusive, please log the matter and send it to your City Leader.

Gor is not a fair world. Slaves may be harshly disciplined and some people may even be killed. Those are legitimate actions in ANG. But, there is a line where role-playing crosses over to abuse. We are supposed to be mature adults and we should know where that line is drawn. Again I repeat, abuse will not be tolerated. But, also remember that false accusations of abuse are not legitimate grounds to avoid proper role-play actions. If you are killed in proper role-play, do not try to overturn the results by false accusations of abuse.

The Administrative Council reserves the right to nullify or overturn any role-play action that is deemed abusive or illegal. Abusive and illegal role-play will not be considered legitimate role-play. Such bad role-play will not be permitted to ruin the fun of the other players. Hopefully, this right will only be rarely exercised, if at all.

6. Mun Consent: All players who agree to play in ANG consent to certain matters concerning their characters. First, they consent that their character may die during the game. Assassination attempts, Death matches and such are a part of this world. It is difficult to lose a cherished character but the possibility of that loss will lead to more realistic role-play. Second, players who choose slaves as characters must be prepared to act as a Gorean slave as depicted in the novels. This means that slaves may be sold or even destroyed by their Master at anytime. In addition, punishment may be doled out by any Master. Reserved discipline does not exist in this world. Choose your character wisely knowing your limitations. Third, anyone is susceptible to being enslaved. This includes all free persons, male or female. Slavery is a threat to all though women are the primary targets. If men go to the northern forests, they have the potential to be captured and enslaved by panther girls. Certain city laws may also lead to the enslavement of men.

As this is only a game, mun consent should be largely irrelevant. But, if you are uncomfortable with such play, then do not enter this world. Gor is not a fair world. There is one area though where mun consent is involved. No player in this game is under any obligation to reveal any personal information about the mun to anyone else in the game. No Master may force any slave to give out personal mun information. In addition, no Master can make a slave do something in real time such as phone that Master. If any Master tries to do any of this, please log this matter and contact the leader of your city as soon as possible.

7. Poor Role-Playing and Cheating: Punting, signing off and similar methods of trying to avoid an unpleasant role-play situation, like your character's death or collaring, are prohibited. You cannot sign off and avoid a death match. An "accidental" punt will not save your character from a proper collaring. If you do happen to go offline during a role-play scene that is not finished, when you return online, the scene will be continued from the point that you left. And in that situation, the scene will progress without outside interference. This scene will be continued as soon as possible after the original incident. If this happens to you, please log the incident and contact your City Leader.

The only time that punting will be considered valid is when you are leaving an abusive scene. Sometimes this is a clear situation and sometimes it is a gray area. You must log all such situations and submit them to the Administrative Council. We will not tolerate abuse but we will also not let players make false accusations to avoid legitimate RP.

Leaving a room quickly to avoid an unpleasant role-play situation is also considered poor role-play. If you wish to leave a private room, you should declare that action and then give everyone else in the room adequate time to react to your intention. Someone may want to try to prevent you from leaving. Realistically, it does take time for someone to leave a room. It is not just as easy as typing that you are leaving and then instantly leaving the room. You must allow others in the room to react.

Cheating in any form will not be tolerated in ANG. Unfortunately, some forms of cheating are difficult to detect. Dice strings are one such form. But, there are ways to detect cheating and the City Leader will be paying attention. Please be on notice that if you are discovered cheating, you will be exiled from the city. We are all adults and there is no real reason for cheating in our role-play. Cheating only robs you of your complete role-playing experience.

8. Slave Capture: These rules deal with the theft of slaves and the enslavement of free women. These rules rely heavily on the information in the Assumptions section of these rules. When slaves are stolen, most often they are immediately transported out of the city to avoid the wrath of the owner. Slaves are very rarely stolen and kept in the same city. There is too much danger for the thief if the girl remains in the same city. In the case of free women, this is also very common. Captured free women are also usually taken by people from outside the city. Men protect the women that share their Home Stone. Though there are certain city laws that will also place a free woman in automatic slavery.

Slaves are rarely taken from heavily populated areas like taverns and marketplaces. Slaves are normally taken in isolated areas or when they go off in private with strange men. Free women are also normally captured in isolated areas. No thief would brazenly grab a free woman in the marketplace and try to abduct her with hundreds of other people around. City guards patrol these areas well and will react to such public thefts. If you wish to conduct such a public theft, consult the City Leader to role-play a situation but be warned that the chances of success are very low.

The primary means to steal another's slave is to get that slave into a private, isolated area. Most men can easily overpower any female slave and such theft is automatic. Female slaves would rarely resist as they could be severely disciplined for daring to raise a hand to a free man. The pleasure alcoves of a tavern do not count as a legitimate private area for slave theft. In addition, you must somehow get that slave to move from one of the established rooms of a city into an isolated area. You cannot lure a slave who is not in any room into a private, isolated area. Such a theft is not valid. In addition, the City Leader of the city you are stealing from must be sent a log of the theft which starts in an established room and which proceeds to an isolated area.

The thief must also send that City Leader a detailed plan about what he intends to do with the slave after the theft. It will be extremely difficult to keep that slave in the city. If you truly wish another's slave and wish to keep that slave with you in the city, there are better alternatives than theft. You can always try to buy the slave or challenge the owner in a non-lethal duel.

If you wish to conduct a tarn raid on another city to steal kajirae or free women, you must speak with the City Leader of the city you wish to raid. You must then explain your plans and the City Leader will help adjudicate and role-play the raid. Most cities have defenses against raiders and the raiders might not know those defenses. Any information you gather on the city you wish to raid will help your chances of success on such a raid. Log all the instances when you gather information and submit it to the City Leader with your plan.

The enslavement of free women is similar in many respects to slave theft. If you can get a free woman to follow you, without her bodyguards, to an isolated area then she can be enslaved. Her only chance to resist will be if she can surprise her captor and stab him with a dagger or poisoned needle. If the captor is not surprised, then a free woman, even with a weapon, is still defenseless. She could then be collared easily. All the same restrictions on getting to an isolated area, as discussed above, apply here as well. Free women should be very careful where they travel and should normally be accompanied by guards. Logs must be saved of all such incidents for the capture to be recognized.

Automatic enslavement or judicial enslavement are also dangers faced by free women. Essentially, if they perform certain public behavior, that is more appropriate for a slave, they risk enslavement. Free women must not act like slaves. The Laws of ANG more fully explain what types of behavior are prohibited. If any free women is suspected of such behavior, please log the event and submit it to the City Leader. Only the courts of the city can decide such an issue. The names of all witnesses should also be submitted to the City Leader.

9. Abandonment of Kajirae: There are times when the owners of kajirae either vanish, lose interest or are otherwise not around for some length of time. We all wish to be able to role-play and it is difficult for a kajira to role-play if her owner is never around. If an owner fails to maintain contact with a kajira for 14 days, then that kajira has been considered abandoned. If that happens, the state automatically takes ownership of the kajira. After the first week of non-contact, the kajira must email their owner for an explanation. The kajira should also send a copy to the City Leader. If an owner is to be gone for a lengthy period of time, he should contact his kajira and inform her of the situation. After the 14 days and if the kajira becomes a state slave, her original owner will have to purchase her from the state if he wishes to own her again. Such purchase is not automatic though and she may be sold to another.

As a practical matter, if you are a slave owner and you do not have sufficient time to spend with your kajirae, you should consider selling them. Being a "collector" is an immature action. As there are real people behind these characters, and all wish to role-play, it is not fair to the player to limit their role-play due to the fact that you cannot be online very much. This is not a Gorean issue but a role-play issue. Please be considerate of each other. Keep only those kajirae that you can spend adequate time role-playing.

10. Skill Ratings: Some matters can not be adequately resolved through role-playing. Some times, the players involved cannot agree on a method to resolve a situation. In such cases, an independent means needs to be available to resolve such matters. Thus a simple manner of dice rolling has been devised. But, if you can resolve your matter through role-playing, then you do not have to make dice rolls. It is up to the players involved how they wish to handle a situation.

Each Warrior, Assassin, Craftsmen, Musician, Player and many other characters possess certain skills and abilities and are assigned a rating by your City Leader. This should be not become a power game so do not think you must possess the highest ratings in your skills. The highest ratings must be earned through role-playing and experience. To promote fairness between the cities, ratings are assigned in a similar way in every city. Ratings are assigned differently for Weapon/Combat skills and Non-Combat skills.

For Weapon/Combat skills, each city may assign only two Master ratings. These ratings will commonly go to the Ubar or Administrator of the city and his Captain of the Guard. All other players in the city must start at Expert rating or below. For every Expert rating you assign, you must also assign one Proficient rating and one Skilled rating to other players. These restrictions apply to all characters, not just Warriors and Assassins. If someone leaves your city, their rating will then go to the next new player into your city.

For example, say you have an Ubar, six warriors, a peasant and a slaver to rate in their skills. You can assign the skills thusly: Ubar=Master, Warrior #1=Master, Warrior #2=Expert, Warrior #3=Proficient, Peasant=Skilled, Warrior #4=Expert, Slaver=Proficient, Warrior #5=Skilled, Warrior #6=Expert. If another character needed a skill level, he would have to then be given a Skilled or Proficient rating.

For Non-Combat skills, there should be a single Master rating per skill in your city. All other players in the city with that skill must start at Expert rating or below. For every Expert rating you assign, you must also assign one Proficient rating and one Skilled rating to other players. For example, there may be a single Master Builder in your city. All other Builders must be Experts or less and you must evenly distribute the ratings as you do with weapon/combat skills. Kaissa and Hunting are also the types of skills where you can only have one Master in your city and all others must possess lesser ratings, evenly distributed.

For characters not aligned to one of the ANG cities, they will be rated by the Administrative Council. The Council will assign Expert, Skilled and Proficient Ratings in equal distribution. Unaligned characters will not be able to start with Master ratings.

Characters may have multiple special skills and abilities. But, Warriors and Assassins may only possess up to three weapon/combat skills at their highest level. All their other skills should be at lesser Ratings. Non-Warrior/Assassin characters may only have a single weapon/combat skill at their highest level. All of these other such ratings must be at lower levels. All of these ratings must be put into a character's profile.

This rating will correlate to a percentage success score. To succeed at your ability, you must make a die roll equal to or under your ability score. To roll the dice, you must type "//roll-sides100-dice1". You can also use the ratings as a basis to role-play a resolution. You may decide that a Master can always beat an Average person. Everything depends on how the players involved in the situation wish to resolve the matter.

For example, a Warrior may be an Expert Swordsman, Proficient Kaissa player and Average Flutist. His scores respectively would thus be 75%, 51% and 30%. To succeed at any of those skills, he would have to make a d100 die roll that is less than or equal to his rating score. To play the flute well, he would need to roll less than or equal to 30%. To hit with a sword though, his score is much higher, at 75%.

Some of the allowable skills include: Scribe, Builder, Physician, Kaissa, Musical Instrument, Poet, Singer, Actor, Tharlarion Rider, Hunting, Fishing, Animal Training, Tarn Racing, various Lore skills. Combat and weapon skills are listed in the Combat Rules. Other skills exist and may eventually be added to this list. If you wish any other skill, just ask your City Leader about it.

Sometimes you wish to use a skill that you do not possess. Some characters will possess a Default Skill Rating in some skills they do not have. Warriors and Assassins have a Default rating in all weapon and combat skills of Average. All free people have a Default Rating of Average with a dagger or knife. All Tarnsmen have a Default Rating in Tarn Racing that is one level lower than their Tarnsman Rating. All free men have a Default Rating of Average in Kaissa.

11. Combat Rules: The following combat rules are made to be more realistic than the AOL combat system. But, they are also more complex though you will find they are actually easy to use after you fight a few battles. These rules are still not made to be fully realistic. They only add further options to enhance the reality. These rules are a basic version and there is a more advanced version available in the ANG Rules Companion. The advanced version is only used with the consent of all combatants in a combat.

Combat may either be a death match or a non-death match. Non-death matches include honor duels, sparring and some tournaments. The only difference between these two types of matches is that in non-death matches, no actual damage is ever done. It is all temporary damage that goes away once the match is over. In death matches, all the damage is real. That damage must then be healed after a match is over, unless your character is dead.

Your rating will correlate to a percentage success score. To succeed at your ability, you must make a die roll under your ability score. To roll the die against your ability score, you must type "//roll-sides100-dice1". Your rating level also gives you other abilities as outlined on the chart below. If you do not possess any weapon/combat skills, then you are unable to engage in combat. In such a case, you will automatically lose any combat.

Combat Sequence: All combat is performed in rounds. In each round, you must undergo certain steps, in order.
1. Each combatant rolls for Initiative.
2. The winner of the initiative roll makes an attack roll. Damage is assigned if the strike is successful.
3. The loser of the initiative roll makes an attack roll. Damage is assigned if the strike is successful.
4. A new round of combat begins.

Initiative System: Each Rating Level has an initiative die roll. Prior to each combat round, each combatant rolls their own initiative die. The highest roll attacks first in that round. In case of a tie, combat is simultaneous. For each successive round of combat, new initiative rolls are made.

Hit Points/Damage: Each weapon or combat skill Rating Level has a set number of hit points that reflect how easy it is to kill that person. Each successful strike in combat causes a random amount of damage, determined by a die related to the character's Rating Level. The different Hit Points help to reflect the defensive abilities of each Rating Level. You receive the Hit Points for whatever skill or weapon you are using in a specific combat. For example, a Master Swordsman, Expert Axe, will have 15 Hit Points while using his sword but only 13 Hit Points when using the axe.

Healing: Each character heals 1 Hit Point per actual day. If you receive medical attention from a member of the Physician's Caste, you heal 5 hit Points automatically and then will regain 2 Hit Points each day. If you receive medical attention from a trained person who is not an actual Physician, you automatically heal 2 Hit Points and will regain 2 Hit Points each day. You may only receive treatment from one person for your wounds gained in a single combat. If you have less than full Hit Points at any time, please notify the Ubar by email and note it in your profile by "#HP" where the "#" is the points remaining. (Note: This only applies to death matches. In non-death matches, all your Hit Points return after the battle is concluded.)

Death Matches: As long as one person involved in a combat wishes a battle to be a death-match, that combat will be a death-match. You cannot refuse a death match. If someone wishes to try to kill you, then you must flee or try to defend yourself. Once you lose all your Hit Points, you are irrevocably dead. Your SN must then be permanently deleted. In death matches, when you are rolling to hit, and you roll exactly your ability score, you instantly kill your opponent. Thus, all people have a 1% chance to automatically kill their opponent, reflecting the fickle hand of fate. Death matches can be deadly so enter one with caution.

Non-Death Matches: Non-death matches include honor duels, sparring and some tournaments. Both parties must agree for a battle to be a non-death match. In these battles, you should use your Hit Points as a point system to see who wins. No one is actually wounded or killed in these matches. Each successive strike does a random amount of damage based on a character's Rating Level. When an opponent loses all of his points, he loses the battle. In non-death matches, if you roll exactly your ability score, you automatically win the battle.

Shields: If your opponent is using a shield in melee combat, then you must subtract 10% off your ability score. This reflects the defensive ability of the shield. If someone is throwing a weapon or firing a missile at you, and you are aware of it, then your shield adjusts their ability score by -25%.

Multiple Opponents: For practical purposes, only four people can attack one person at a time. Each person needs a certain amount of space to successfully attack and any more than four people will only get in each other's way. Each Rating Level allows you to be able to battle a certain number of multiple foes without penalty. This means that you may attack each multiple foe as normal and your shield bonus would reduce each foe's attack score. The penalty for extra opponents that your Rating Level cannot handle is that your shield bonus does not apply to the extra foes. The outnumbered person chooses at the start of each round, which foes he will not defend against.

12. Experience: Your rating levels can increase over time. The date when your character is first rated will be noted. That date is very important as it will determine when your skills are raised. To raise a skill from Average to Proficient takes two real time months. To raise a skill from Proficient to Skilled takes three months. To raise a skill from Skilled to Expert takes six months. To raise a skill from Expert to Master takes nine months. You are permitted to try to raise only two skills at a time. When you have completed the necessary time, consult your City Leader to gain your new rating. City Leaders must notify the Administrative Council when someone is raising their rating. Master level is difficult to attain and it has been made that way. It gives people a goal to try to attain. There should be very few Masters in a city.

You may also attempt to learn new skills. To do so, you normally require someone to teach you the new skill. You may try to learn from another player or from a non-player character in the city. It takes three months of real time to learn a new skill at the Average Rating.

13. Non-Player Characters & Enemies: As we are making the assumption that an entire city exists around us, there is a need at times to create certain Non-Player Characters (NPCs) to role-play certain situations. For example, free woman will usually be accompanied by bodyguards when they are walking around the city. NPC bodyguards are used to simulate this as there are not enough players to create actual Screen Names for the bodyguards. Each such NPC will be given a generic Rating to identify their skill level. They will have this rating in any necessary skill. For example, a NPC bodyguard rated as Skilled, would have the ratings of a Skilled warrior in his primary weapons. Free women should note the skill of their bodyguard in their profiles.

Almost no bodyguard may possess a Rating higher than Skilled. Only the wealthiest of free women would possess any bodyguards that are Expert. If you wish a bodyguard with an Expert rating, please contact your City Leader. They should allow such bodyguards only for Ubaras, Free Companions of Administrators, Caste Leaders or very wealthy merchants.

Enemies can also be rated in this manner. If you need a warrior to be a villain, just assign him a Rating and then consult the Ratings chart in the combat section. There are certain other enemies though that will receive more specific ratings, such as the Kurii. As the game grows, other enemies will be added. Here is a list of some foes.

14. Storylines: Each city will have many of their own storylines that will not involve other cities. There shall also be storylines that include other cities. The Ruling Council y will sometimes jointly work out some cross-city storylines. The players of different cities can also agree on certain storylines as well, as long as those storylines will not affect the city in general. If there is any chance a player storyline might conflict with the city, please contact your city leader to discuss it. Not everyone can be included in each storyline so do not worry if you are not part of one story-line as there will be plenty of further opportunities.

15. Scheduled Role-Play Nights: In order to promote role-play in ANG, we want to set up a schedule of specified nights for role-play in each member city of ANG. This will allow players to know there is a place to RP in almost every night. We want each city to host a different night so that we do not end up with four cities hosting Monday RP nights. The idea is to try to fill up the entire week with scheduled RP. On these scheduled nights, the host city will specify a place for that night's RP, like a tavern or marketplace. That city should also try to get some type of SL in place for the night. This will help to minimize the empty room syndrome and attract new players.

16. Links: Each member city will provide several links for their city that can be distributed to all within ANG. This may commonly be a tavern, marketplace and arena. These may be public or private rooms. Please remember though that these links, especially the PR ones, are meant for member of ANG only.

17. Assumptions: ANG is meant to simulate the world of Gor from the novels. Each city is meant to simulate a true Gorean city. Such cities would have very large populations. Yet, we do not have enough players to fill an actual city and never would. This does not mean though that we can not role-play as if we were part of an actual city. To role-play effectively though requires that we rely upon certain assumptions. This will not harm our role-playing. It is only a tool to enhance our experience.

Assumptions are where we suspend our disbelief and accept certain matters as a given. For example, the players are not considered the only citizens of their city. There are hundreds of thousands of unnamed others who populate the city. If you are in paga tavern, you must assume that there are a number of others there too. Just because there are only two players in the room does not mean you can assume that you are the only two people present. When you are in the Marketplace, you must assume that there are hundreds of other people wandering around the area too. We must act as if our city is a living city, exclusive of the number of players present.

These assumptions will have some practical effects on your role-play. For instance, any actions performed in a paga tavern or marketplace will likely be viewed by other people. If you kill someone in the main room of the paga tavern, it will be seen by other customers and kajirae. I would ask that any major event that occurs in any open place like the paga tavern or marketplace be logged and sent to the City Leader. You are not the only people in this city though the others may not have technical Screen-names. This is where true role-playing comes into play, acting as if an entire city exists around you.

The rules for slave capture and theft are based on the assumption of an entire city existing. Thus, it is very unlikely that anyone will be able to steal a kajira from a paga tavern. Even if you are alone with a kajira in the tavern, there is the assumption that there are other customers present and they would not normally permit such a theft. If you wish to try such a theft, contact the City Leader and he will role-play the other patrons. If you are in the Marketplace, the same applies. There will be lots of people around so theft will be very difficult. Thefts will rarely, if ever, occur out in the open.

Finally, there is the assumption that ANG is on a Gorean world that does not include the cities of AOL Gor. On our Gorean world, there are alternate versions of the cities as they are depicted in the novels. Any non-ANG city is not considered to exist in our Gorean world.

18. Logs: It is a wise idea to log your role-playing in ANG. Many of these rules require logs for certain actions to be valid. Logs are also the only way your character can earn experience for their skills. Everyone involved in a role-playing incident should log the matter on their own. Logs may be altered so it is very important to have multiple logs from different people involved. This will help prevent any dishonesty. Logs are also needed if you have any complaints about a matter. Without a log, it may be difficult to adequately address the complaint. Powertools for AOL is a worthy purchase as it automatically logs everything for you.

19. Player Questions/Complaints: If you ever have a questions or complaints concerning the rules of the city, Gorean matters or anything else, please either IM or email your City Leader or the Administrative Council as soon as possible. Both will try to respond as soon as possible to your inquiries. If you do not get a reply in a couple days, please resend your email. The City Leaders and Council receive a lot of email and sometimes they may miss one. If your question or complaint concerns a role-playing incident, please log the incident and submit it with your inquiry. You must contact the City Leader or Adminstrative Council as soon as possible concerning any complaints. If you wait more than a couple days, it may be difficult at that point to rectify the situation. Timeliness is very important.

20. Administrative Council of ANG: The Administrative Council will be the OOC governing body of ANG. The Administrative Council has no IC effect on role-play. It is not considered to exist IC. Its purpose is only to help the world run smoothly and to make the general rules that bind the world together. They will also help decide which matters are considered Gorean and thus permitted within this world.

The leader of each eligible city in ANG shall be the Council representative for their city. The Council shall meet at least once a month to discuss the status of ANG, any proposed new rules or rule changes, the addition of new cities, inter-city story-lines, resolution of disputes, etc. This monthly meeting will be a fixed date each month. They shall also meet whenever it is necessary to do so. The primary objective of ANG is to maintain a world of book Gor and all rules and such must be geared toward that goal. The Council shall consider all matters and then have a vote. A majority is needed to pass any action. Abstentions are not permitted on any vote. Any tie vote must be done again until there is a majority.

Each City Leader may appoint an Assistant who can stand in their place at Council Meetings if they can not be present. That Assistant will be able to speak for his or her city and vote as a member.

The Administrative Council will also be responsible for administrative work such as keeping track of all players and their skill ratings in ANG. They will keep a Master list of such matters. Each member of the Council will have a copy of all such lists. All cities must send weekly updates to the Council concerning their player lists. The Council will ensure that the Skill Ratings have been validly distributed and that they are validly raised. All emails sent out by the Council will generally go to the City Leaders who then must mail them to their players.

At all Council meetings, there will be a Moderator to ensure the meeting proceeds efficiently and addresses all relevant matters. The members of the Council will take turns being Moderator for a month. If any member wishes to pass on this duty, they may do so. Almost all Council meetings will be open to the public. Only meetings concerning very specific player complaints will be addressed in a closed setting.

Most player problems should be addressed to their City Leader. The Council will act as an appeal process if the Council feels the matter is within their scope. The Council shall accept appeals only on disagreements over what is considered Gorean, allegations of abuse or infractions of the ANG guidelines. If you wish an appeal, you must submit an email of your grievance with all supporting logs to the Council. They will consider if the matter is within their jurisdiction. If so, they will hold a full hearing on the matter. If not, they will refer you back to the City Leader.

CHARACTER CREATION

The following are the basic guidelines for creating a SN in the world of AOL Norman Gor. Please read this carefully as all characters must comply with these rules. The objective of these guidelines is to ensure that all characters are in compliance with the books.

1. Character Choice: Players have a myriad of choices of characters to play in this world. You may play a Free Person or a Slave. Each choice has different options. All characters that enter a city though must first be approved by the City Leader to ensure that those characters obey all city and Gorean rules. If you do not belong to a city, then the Administrative Council must approve your SN and profile. You cannot play an established character from one of the books. You must create your own character. Players may have multiple screen-names but each one must be approved by the City Leader or Council. You may not role-play in ANG with a new screen-name until it has been approved.

Be creative in your choice of character. Creativity and imagination can make for more interesting role-play. Do not make carbon-copy warriors. Play some of the Low Castes. If you choose a caste, consider choosing one of its subcastes. For example, the subcastes of the Scribes Caste include lawyers, scholars, record keepers, teachers, clerks, historians, accountants, geographers, and cartographers. Make your character stand out and be memorable.

2. Free Persons: Players who choose to be Free Men have many available options. They may choose to be from any High or Low Caste. You may also choose to role-play someone from a different Gorean culture that does not have castes such as the Wagon Peoples, the Torvaldslanders and the tribesmen of the Tahari. If you choose to do this though, you should be familiar with their cultures so that you can properly role-play that character.

Free women have some limitations on their character options but still have lots of options available. They may choose to be from almost any Caste with a few exceptions. They may not be members of the Initiate or Assassin castes. In addition, Free Women who belong to the Warrior Caste are never trained to be warriors. Sword wielding women are not permitted in this world. Women of many castes often did not engage in caste work. For example, women commonly did not work as smiths or metal workers. Free women may also choose to role-play someone from a different Gorean culture that does not have castes such as the Wagon Peoples, the Torvaldslanders and the tribesmen of the Tahari. If you choose to do this though, you should be familiar with their cultures so that you can properly role-play that character.

Most Free women should wear Robes of Concealment and veils as the books dictate. Though it is not a mandatory law in most cities, custom often dictates that free women should wear them. Much will depend on the area of origin of your character. Free Women must also remember that if they act as a slave in any manner, they risk being collared as a slave. There are laws that dictate automatic slavery for certain behavior. Free Women normally are accompanied by bodyguards when they walk a city or they risk being captured by slavers. Free women though do have some flexibility. They are not all demure and shy. They are permitted to freely speak their minds. Some can be very overbearing. Free women of High Caste command respect. Merchant daughters are known for being haughty and proud. There are even female slavers.

3. Caste System: Gorean society has a firmly established Caste System. Almost all Free Persons in the cities belong to a Caste. Each caste has its own Code to govern the conduct of its members. Caste is primarily governed by birth and free companionship. Children take the caste of their father. A woman who joins in Free Companionship can keep her own caste or take her partner's. Caste is relatively immobile but not frozen. A show or lack of ability can raise or lower your caste. To change caste, the High Council of the city must approve the change, based on your qualifications for the new caste and the willingness of the new caste to accept you. To most Goreans though, it is unthinkable to alter their caste. Most Goreans are proud of their caste, even peasants and laborers. Their skills are appreciated by others and not looked down on. Caste members proudly wear their caste colors. Belonging to a Caste also gives you certain privileges such as receiving charity when needed and Caste Sanctuary, the protection of caste members in times of need. Caste is vitally important to Goreans.

There are three basic categories outside of the caste system: Priest-Kings, slaves and outlaws. This is not fully accurate as there are some occupations that are not traditionally associated with caste, such as gardening, domestic service and herding. But, as few people will choose to role-play characters who engage in this work, this should be irrelevant.

Priest-Kings are the "gods" of Gor and live hidden away in the Sardar Mountains. Few people on Gor know the true nature of the Priest-Kings. Even most Initiates know little about them. Players in ANG may not be Priest-Kings.

Outlaws belong to no city and usually live hidden in the forests or mountains. Panther girls are considered outlaws. Most cities will impale outlaws if they try to access the city gates. Outlaw characters are not permitted in the cities. Outlaws and Panther Girls are permitted in ANG provided they remain in their proper areas.

There are also certain cultures that do not follow a caste system. If you belong to one of these cultures, such as the Torvaldslanders, Wagon Peoples, Red Hunters, Red Savages, and the Tahari tribesmen, you will not have a caste.

Castes are divided into High Castes and Low Castes. There are only five High Castes and include initiates, scribes, builders, physicians and warriors. Each has its own color, respectively white, blue, yellow, green, red, which is also their ranking of order of importance. The High Castes elect the Administrator and Council of a city for stated terms. There are subcastes of some of these castes. For example, cartographers and lawyers belong to the Caste of Scribes.

The Lower Castes includes all the other established castes. These includes such castes as assassins, bakers, bleachers, carriers of wood (woodsmen), charcoal makers, cloth worker, cosmeticians, dyers, goat-keepers, growers of rence, leather workers, metal workers, musicians, peasants, potters, saddle makers, singers (poets), smiths, tarn keepers, vintners, and weavers. There are many more castes and some subcastes.

There is no official Caste registration in ANG. Your SN only needs to be approved and rated by your City Leader.

4. Home Stone: The Home Stone is a valuable symbol of sovereignty and territory. In most cities it is placed, though well guarded, freely in the top of the highest tower. These stones are of various shapes, sizes, and colors and some are intricately carved. Some large cities have small stones of great antiquity. The Home Stone is the center of various rituals. Stealing a Home Stone is a heinous sacrilege and punishable by the most painful of deaths. It is also the greatest of glories to steal one from another city. Each city has a citizenship ceremony, where children, who reach intellectual majority, swear an oath of allegiance to their city while touching the Home Stone. Nonperformance of this ceremony can be cause for expulsion from the city.

Goreans view cities as almost living things. A city is an entity with history, tradition, heritage, customs, practices, character, intentions, and hopes. To be "of" a city gives a person a sense of immortality though Goreans know that even a city can be destroyed. This love is invested in the Home Stone. A Home Stone has deep meaning to a Gorean. There is a Gorean saying that "One who speaks of Home Stones, should stand for matters of honor are involved." Goreans rarely change their Home Stones. Warriors proudly bear the symbol of their city on their shields.

When you are personally defending your Home Stone, you will wield whatever weapon you are using at Master level. This only applies when your Home Stone is directly endangered and it is close to you. This does not apply when you are just defending your city.

5. Character Knowledge: You should try to role-play your character as realistically as possible. One area where this is important is in the level of knowledge your character would possess. Your character may not know everything that you as a player knows. Try to act as your character and not as the player.

Literacy is rare among the lower castes and many warriors are also illiterate. Illiteracy though is not considered a mark of stupidity. Many poets and singers are also illiterate but this does not hamper their careers. If your character is illiterate, role-play that. Do not be ashamed of your illiteracy.

The Low and High Castes are also divided by the Double Knowledge, what common people believe and what intellectuals know. The Lower Castes have the First Knowledge, which includes some falsehoods taught by the Higher Castes. They believe that the world is flat and know nothing about Earth. The Higher Castes have the Second Knowledge which contains most of the truths about Gor and Earth. Yet there are a few things that they do not know. Thus, there might be a Third Knowledge of the Priest Kings. For instance, few Goreans know the true nature of the Priest-Kings or the Kurii. Try to role-play the type of knowledge that your character would possess.

6. Slavery: Both male and female slaves exist on Gor. A male slave is a kajirus and a female slave is a kajira. Male slaves are commonly work slaves. Male slaves may also be fighting slaves who fight in arenas for entertainment or act as bodyguards. They may also be silk slaves, men trained to please free women. Female slaves come in many more varieties from work slaves to passion slaves. You may choose to be any type of slave you desire, as long as you are willing to role-play that type of slave accurately. All slaves in ANG are collared slaves. All slaves must be either attached to a Free Person, owned by a Slaver, or as a State Slave owned by a city.

Slaves are either White Silk, virgins, or Red Silk, non-virgins. "Reserved Silks" basically do not exist in ANG. In the novels, some masters wished to reserve the use of their girls. But, such reservation was only for that master's house. It did not apply to masters outside that house. Iron belts are the solution to protect your slaves outside your house. White Silk slaves, if walking around the city without a guard, are recommended to wear iron belts, chastity belts, if they wish to preserve their virginity. If you do not wish your Red Silks available to any others, they too should wear an iron belt. If a kajira is wearing an iron belt, their profile should reflect that fact. Any slave wearing an iron belt is not subject to unauthorized slave rape.

Gorean slaves, by law, are property. They are on the same level as animals. Slaves do not even own their own name. A slave's master has absolute power over the slave and may even kill that slave without repercussion. The primary duty of a slave is absolute obedience. Disobedience will be punished, sometimes severely. Slaves must be deferential and generally obedient to all Free Persons. "Reserved Discipline" does not exist in ANG. Any Free Person has the right to discipline any insolent slave. Free Persons though should not permanently injure another's slave. If you do so, you must pay compensation to the slaves' owner.

State slaves are an answer to the uncollared kajirae who do not have a Master. As all slaves need to be owned, the city acts as the owner. Essentially, the city waits until someone wishes to purchase a state slave and then may or may not sell the slave. State slaves may have minor duties or specific responsibilities in the city but usually have a lot of free time as well. State slaves are normally not for the use of just anyone. Like any owned slave, use without the permission of the state is considered unauthorized slave rape.

6. Profiles: Your character's profile should include certain items. These items include your character's name, city, Home Stone, and caste. You must also note all Ability Ratings. You should also list any Free Companions and slaves. Free women should note in their profiles when they are accompanied by bodyguards. Slaves should note whether they are red or white silk, the identity of their owner, descriptions of their collar and brand, and if they are wearing an iron belt. When you meet another player in the game, please take the time to read their profile so you are aware of all relevant information concerning their character. All initial profiles and subsequent profile changes must be approved by the City Leader.

7. Pets: There has been a growth spurt on AOL Gor and elsewhere for characters to own pet sleens, panthers and even larls. On Gor, pets are largely uncommon. A few people do own miniature sleens or urt people as pets. But, those miniature sleen are not dangerous creatures. Most animals are owned for specific purposes. Trained sleens are commonly used for herding, tracking, hunting, guarding and such. Larls though are never trained. They cannot be tamed by anyone. You may not own panthers, sleens, larls, or similar animals, as pets. You may own such animals though if it conforms to your Caste or character but only for specific purposes. These animals do not normally walk around with a person throughout the city. The City Leader should ensure that their ownership is not abused. Slavers are the primary people who will own trained animals. City Leaders should limit the amount of players in their city who own such animals to three.

8. Children: Children are a part of Gor as they are a part of all life. But, there is no place in ANG for the players as child characters. As Gor is an adult world, adding child characters can create some uncomfortable scenes. We do not wish to condone child abuse in any context. You may list children in your profiles and you may discuss about them. But, no player may create a child SN.

If you wish to randomly determine if a female character is pregnant, then there is a 25% chance each week of any month that she might become pregnant. This is provided that she is not using contraception. There is only a 1% chance that a pregnant woman will have a multiple birth. There is a 50% chance of having a boy or a girl. If you do have a multiple birth, there is a 75% chance of twins, 20% of triplets and 5% chance of quadruplets. All of these decisions require a d100 roll. AOL's birth charts permit a disproportionate number of multiple births. This chart is meant to be more realistic.

9. Character Generation: To create an SN, you should consider several questions about the character you wish to play. There are two preliminary questions to consider. First, will it be male or female. Second, will it be free or slave. After that, simply follow the suggestions below.