Thar Shaddin is a free message board for online play-by-post (PbP) roleplaying. It's an interactive story in which writers collaborate to use their own characters in a unique medieval fantasy environment which is continually being developed by the players.
This board focuses on writing quality and plot as well as creativity and having fun. That means you must be willing to take the time to read about the setting, history, magic, and anything else that's relevant so that you know what you're writing about. If you're lazy and don't take time reading things you should consider someplace else. See the Getting Started section on this page to find out what you need to know.
This site is NOT intended for children and may contain writing of a violent or sexually explicit nature. It IS intended for anyone who is mature and wants to read, write, and otherwise contribute to a small but honest community.
Rules are few and simple, but cooperation is a must. The rules exist to keep the world consistent and to prevent new players from power-gaming and god-modding.
The philosophy of this board is to promote online diceless roleplaying and separate writers who have an appreciation for literature from hack-and-slash, combat oriented roleplaying. Please feel free to check out our links section, as it represents the kind of communities being promoted.
There is a philosophy at Thar Shaddin of letting players have the freedom to develop the world and setting as long as what they do builds on the foundations that already exist. Anyone who sticks around long enough gets a lot of freedom and is encouraged to help develop the world by adding descriptions of areas, new regions, new races and even historical details. It is a collaborative project from beginning to end, and belongs to nobody. The setting is NOT copyrighted, so you can use it as you please, but the characters within belong to their writers.
Thar does not have a huge membership and it is likely to remain small. Better to have a few good players who get along than a whole bunch of arguing. Since we're small, though, we're always looking for new people and trust me, we will do our best to accommodate you if you can RP decently. We're specifically in need of anyone who wants to contribute to the development of the setting and wants to really get involved.
Playing in Thar Shaddin is freeform - done without dice and with few strict rules about character interaction. The players write as though they are working cooperatively to create a novel, and write only the parts that pertain to their character. Things players are allowed to write include their own character's actions as well as descriptions of the setting and any sub-characters (known as NPCs or non-player-characters) that are needed. Players are NOT allowed to write actions for, assume any actions for, or kill other players unless they have permission.
The moderators do not interfere unless requested or unless a dispute arises. There is no storyteller (or dungeon master) but the characters themselves provide their own plots, goals, and competition. Many players do organize their own plots, but we all have our own ways of doing so.
Because of the flexible nature of the rules, Thar Shaddin must be a cooperative endeavour to work properly. If you are here to compete, show off your character's powers or prove your superior roleplaying fighting ability you will not fit in. Potential players will avoid or ignore you, and a moderator may talk to you. This is the single most important aspect of playing in Thar Shaddin. Characters can and do fight, but the writers must have a mutual understanding about what should be accomplished by the fight or it will get very lame very quickly.
There may appear to be a daunting amount of information on the rules and setting contained on this website. As the world develops, pieces are added to ensure consistency between the characters and the environment. Much of it's there for reference, and so it's not necessary to read everything.
The essentials of the setting and rules have been compiled into two pages to give new players enough to get started. You should read over those pages once and decide if you like what you see. If so, you can proceed to create a forum account, design your character and then post him or her on the forums in the appropriate place.
Once your character is created and approved by a staff member, you should introduce yourself in the Player Communication forum and ask or look for someone to begin writing with. Posting somewhere in the hope that another person will randomly join you does not generally work.
Staff members in Thar Shaddin are chosen from members of the community who show a dedication to the roleplaying as well as an understanding of the setting. There is no reason to ask to become a staff member because when things go well the staff doesn't do much other than approve character applications and answer questions.
You should know that we aren't entirely serious all the time. We are allowed to swear, make mistakes, joke around, and we might even argue sometimes. Some of us share a morbid sense of humor. Please don't take that the wrong way. Not everything is serious business you know. The game is serious, but our banter is not.
We're not here to judge you or play power games. If ever you feel like a staff member has personal issues with you that go beyond what's good for the game you should report it to another staff member.
We have been around for longer than this board, although previously under a different name and different server (ezboards). I don't know when that board was created, but it was around late 2004. Prior to being renamed Thar Shaddin it was called Terre Haute, although due to the kinds of political stuff that plagues so many forums it was moved and renamed. A few players have been writing together since before that on various Ezboards. The founder's (that's me) roots go back to the early days of Yahoo! Chat (long ago, and never again).
This board was created out of necessity rather than for the sake of creating yet another forum. We needed a place where the rules were loose and sane, not obsessive and stifling, and where the staff was capable of keeping IC and OOC stuff separate. It was designed to let people bring in characters from other RPs if they wanted to, which is why Pal Tahrenor closely resembles Earth and why the magic system is set up the way it is.