1.1: Persona - A fictional character created for interactive story writing in a Play by Email setting. Every member needs to have at least one active persona or Playing Character (PC) to participate in Islands of Pern. All club personas must be original characters. For ideas and guidelines on persona creation, please see our Persona Guide

1.2: There are three types of personas in Islands of Pern: Playing Characters (PCs), Reserved Characters (RCs), and Non-Playing Characters (NPCs).

Playing Characters (PCs) -- All characters with their own persona charts are considered PCs. New members may create up to three (3) PCs. After release from mentoring, more PCs may be created until the persona chart limit is reached. A maximum of 25 persona charts is allocated to each member. All PCs must be listed at one of the club's PC locations.

Reserved Characters (RCs) -- Personas connected to an existing PC (e.g. family members, weyrmates, close friends) may be entered on the PC's persona chart as RCs. There is no limit to the number of RCs per PC or in total. Per member, one (1) RC persona related to a PC may be a Limited Persona.

Non-Playing Characters (NPCs) -- Members may create their own NPCs without persona chart entry to use as support or backdrop characters in posts. There is no limit to the number of NPCs created. NPC/free personas listed on the rosters are NPCs currently not owned by a club member and may be used in posts by any member until adopted. NPC/free personas are available for adoption as PCs by any member at any time.

1.3: Out of courtesy to other club members, we ask that you do not use names currently reserved by another member. Please check your names against the list of Reserved AM Names and Reserved Club Names to avoid conflicts. Also be sure to check and see if any name that you choose also satisfies the rules listed on the Anne McCaffrey's Rules page. All names mentioned on persona charts may be entered into the Reserved Names List. There is no limit on the number of names that can be reserved.

1.4: Each character may have up to three (3) non-human companions. More can be petitioned from the Conclave. Because of the time constraints of caring for a dragon or watch-wher, dragonriders may not also be wher-handlers. Neither dragonriders nor wher-handlers may be partnered with a dolphin.

1.5: Ranking Personas - Ranking Personas have to be PCs. A member can hold up to three (3) Ranking Personas in one location and up to six (6) Ranking Personas in total. However, no member may have any two of the following characters in the same location: Weyrleader, Weyrwoman, Head(wo)man, Lord/Lady Holder, Steward, or Hallmaster. Also, no member may hold more than one active or retired Weyrlingmaster position. If a Weyrlingmaster returns to active Threadfighting duty, they are considered to no longer be an active or retired Weyrlingmaster. Ranking positions within Islands of Pern are as follows:

*Weyrleader
*Weyrwoman
*Goldrider
*Wingleader
*Weyrlingmaster/mistress
*Lord/Lady Holder
*Lord/Lady Warder
*Steward
*Hallmaster
*Master Crafter
*Head(wo)man
*Wher-Master (owner of gold watch-wher)

1.6: Limited Personas - A member can hold up to twelve (12) Limited Personas. Limited positions within Islands of Pern are as follows:

*Bronzeriders
*Wingseconds
*Watchriders permanently stationed at a non-Weyr location
*Wher-Handlers
*Owners of bronze or gold firelizards

1.7: Dragons must be matched with the following gender of rider:

3.1: Islands of Pern is an international club with a more lenient "suitable for teenagers" definition for its writing content than the US movie rating board and book industry. Therefore, we require that members joining the club be at least 15 years old. Islands of Pern has two posting mailing lists: A general "PG-15" club mailing list (Warning: Posts to this list will be less restricted than the US PG-13 rating), and an optional "Adult" mailing list for more mature content. To subscribe to the adult list you must first provide legal evidence to the Conclave that you are age eighteen (18) or older.

3.2: Announcements for AFKs (Away from Keyboard) and LOAs (Leave of Absence) should always be sent to the iopcc (Islands of Pern Chit Chat) club mailing list. For more detailed guidelines on which list to use for which types of posts, please see the Posting Guide.

3.3: If a member becomes too busy to keep up with the posting requirements for his or her personas, that member may request an LOA. The following guidelines apply to members who take LOAs:

*An LOA lasts for one Quarter. It is recommended that a member try to begin an LOA at the beginning of a Quarter and end at the end of a Quarter. If a member begins an LOA in the middle of a Quarter then that LOA will end when that Quarter ends. (Example: You begin an LOA in the middle of February. This will only exempt you from posting in Quarter 1 (Jan.-Mar.) and the LOA will end at the end of March.)

* A member may take up to two LOAs in a row, at most taking six (6) months, or two (2) Quarters off. No member may take more than two LOAs in a row. A member must meet the posting requirements for at least one (1) Quarter before they may request another LOA.

* No punishment is dealt to a member who asks for a third LOA in a row. The request will simply be denied and that is all. If a member is not able to keep up with his or her posting requirements after taking two LOAs then they will be forced to either drop the status of one of their PCs to an RC or NPC. If the PC in question is a ranker or limited then the member will be forced to drop that PC entirely. If a member only has one PC and cannot keep up with his or her posting requirements, he or she will have to be dropped from the club.

* If a member owns Ranking PCs, he or she must provide a backup contact so that other members who need to copost with said Ranker may still do so.

3.4: You may not use another member's persona (PC, RC or NPC) nor assign actions/characteristics to a persona without permission of the owner.

3.5: Owners of Ranking Personas are expected to be available for co- posting at their locations. Turning down a co-posting request must have a very good explanation. In the case of the death or transfer of a Ranking PC, a club-wide notification should be sent to allow for reaction posts, and to alert other members of the opening of the position so that they may apply.

3.6: No minor private disputes should be taken to Conclave unless the dispute leads to flaming on the public lists.

3.7: If the Conclave notifies a member that their post contains errors in canon or is breaking a rule, it is recommended that the person resend the corrected version. The Conclave will only retract a post if either A) a member refuses to edit and do a resend, or B) the post is so far out there that it needs a complete rework.

3.8: Islands of Pern acknowledges that members own the persona descriptions, pictures, and posts they create for the club. However, a member who submits text or graphics automatically grants  permission for the submission to be modified and displayed by Islands of Pern on their web pages. By submitting such text or graphics, the member agrees that, with the exception of persona sheets or artwork in the members only section, permission is given for the document to be displayed as long as Islands of Pern is in existence. The Conclave does retain the right to remove the contribution at its discretion.  Persona sheets and artwork in the members only area will be removed from the web pages at the member's request or upon their departure from the club. Members submitting material for the website or posting material to the Islands of Pern mailing lists indicates that such material is owned by the member or used with permission of the copyright holder.