| Introduction |
| intro |
|
Welcome! You've happened upon our rather extensive Guidebook. If at first you feel overwhelmed, we recommend starting with our Joining Novus guide. Many of the contents in our Guidebook are for reference as you delve deeper into our world, so don't fret if you can't remember everything at once!
 If you're a little overwhelmed at where to start and how to bring your first character into the world of Novus, we've created this handy little guide for you to use! Feel free to reference this whenever needed, glance at the FAQ in the section below this, and ask anyone if you have lingering questions.
 I'm Inkbone, the owner administrator here on Novus! I live in not-so-sunny Florida with my long term boyfriend, working a full time job in the IT industry. I spend the majority of my free time on the computer - mostly on Novus, playing video games like ARK, or dreaming up ideas for (too many) characters. Pre-pandemic, when I was not on the computer I would often attending local dog park meet-ups with my corgi Odin and my senior dachshund Mango. One day I'll have my own miniature zoo, chock full of ferrets, reptiles, rats, and more. I enjoy meeting new people, so don't hesitate to approach me! I'm always happy to talk and help!Time Zone: Eastern Standard Time Typical Activity: Active basically anytime, but most active during evenings and weekends (I'm a night owl!) Contact: PM: click // Discord: inkbone#9064 // DeviantArt: inkbone  I'm Lullivy, but more often known as Lull or Lully. You're also welcome to call me Martha! I live and go to school in eastern Canada. I'm currently studying for a biology degree with a minor in anthropology, and I hope to pursue a masters degree once I graduate! I also work at a doggy daycare, and between all the hard work, I get to snuggle with lots of puppies. I spend a lot of time drawing, painting, playing video games and I'm trying to get back into reading! I live with my roommate and her cat Leo, who is our resident gremlin (make no mistake, we adore him).Time Zone: Atlantic Standard Time Typical Activity: All day on the weekends, and at least half of each day during weekdays Contact: PM: click // Discord: PoisonIvy#6558 // DeviantArt: lullivy  I'm Sparrow, AKA THE Sprowtato. Ink has to write something here cause Sprow hasn't given her a blurb yet! Oh well. Guess magical ponies and chicken noodle soup will have to do.Time Zone: Mountain Standard Time Typical Activity: Active on weekends, varies during weekdays, always on discord Contact: PM: click // Discord: Sparrow#2870 // DeviantArt: Sprowtato Have a different question? Please post in the Questions & Concerns thread! We'll answer as soon as possible, and add it below for future reference.
Elkayell (also known as Northgull or Katie), although she's since stepped down and is no longer involved in the online community, is the imaginative soul who breathed life into Novus! She's a twenty-something who lives in Minnesota, USA. She has a fiancé, a chihuahua-pug (fondly referred to as a chug), a corgi, and a cat. She has been role-playing since she was ten years old, and she has ample amounts of previous experience as both a site owner and a staff member. We are forever grateful to continue Novus in her stead, although we miss her presence in the online community greatly!
Because of our challenge system (and how it's possible for a Sovereign to be overthrown once every two weeks), the mates and children of Sovereigns do not receive any special ranks innately. The first Sovereign can choose to elect one of their family members as a Second Sovereign to rule alongside them, but this is a wholly optional position and would require the Court to vote in favor of the election. However, even without the Sovereign's family having a special rank... it is safe to assume that most characters would treat them with more respect if their relationship with the Sovereign is known... if only for fear of how the Sovereign would react!
Great question! While most characters do indeed join one of the four main Courts, there are a select few rogues who have decided to branch out upon their own... They are formally called "Vagabonds," and are technically recognized as the Fifth Court. However, they call no specific area their home, worship no one god (or none at all), and don't always necessarily group together. While many Vagabonds consider their "herd-mates" brethren, this is not a specific requirement that states they must do so.
But the path of the Vagabond is not free... it requires a special item to be purchased in order to become one. In The Agora, the "Vagabond" item will unlock this option, and costs 200 signos.
Definitely! Just because your character has to be a member of a Court doesn't mean that they can't travel beyond that Court's boundaries. We would suggest paying attention to the rules that each Sovereign posts, though - some of them may not take too kindly to unannounced visitors!
Armor is an outfit that gives your character any sort of advantage (including outside of battles). If it provides extra protection against attacks, or has any offensive additions to it (such as blades on knee straps or spikes on headgear), then it will be considered Armor. SMALL pieces of armor (like horn caps or a small faceplate that isn't a full helmet) do not require an Armor purchase. Each piece can be classified as one of the character's three small accessories. Once you begin to pair a faceplate with, say, shoulder or haunch guards - then you MUST purchase Armor. If it is purely for aesthetics (such as cloaks or jewelry), then it will be considered an Outfit.
Yes, but all weapons must be purchased through the Agora! You can choose to purchase just a weapon, or an Armor set - which can come with one weapon, if you desire! The only caveat for any weapons is that you must have a reasonable way to utilize them. They either have to be small enough to be held between your character's teeth, or your character must have advanced magic that can help them wield the larger weapons, like immensely improved telekinesis. The standard gift of telekinesis given to all Novus inhabitants is not enough to wield weapons bigger than a large dagger.
The Stealth System is only in place for stealing other characters. You are not able to steal any purchased items whatsoever. If you'd like to steal an IC item (for instance, if a character collects herbs for healing), you are more than welcome to plot it out with that character's RPer!
"Active" and "passive" are just simple ways of describing what types of magic that you can have. A magic that can be wielded or leveled is considered active magic. For instance: being able to summon fire and shoot fireballs.
A magic that cannot be innately "wielded", controlled, summoned or leveled but encompasses design elements that may be harmful or beneficial to another character is considered passive magic. For instance: Venomous fangs, toxic skin secretions, fiery mane/tale that can burn others.
We want to be as transparent as possible when it comes to things that can be misconstrued as "favoritism." When first joining our staff team, staff members are given one free restricted item of their choice. In addition, administration and full staff receive a monthly stipend of 150 signos, and moderators receive a monthly stipend of 75 signos. We feel that these are very small rewards for putting so much time and effort into making sure that Novus runs efficiently and smoothly. Staff are often not able to respond to threads as often as other members due to their responsibilities on-site, so the monthly stipend is a form of compensation so that they can still get those items they really want over time. If a mod doesn't make any IC posts, it would take them over 26 real-life months in order to earn active magic! But please, don't be afraid to approach any of the Administrators if you have any questions or concerns about these rewards.
We knew you'd be wondering about that! All inhabitants on Novus automatically receive the gift of lesser telekinesis. This allows them to utilize weapons and accessories, dress themselves in outfits and armor, and lift things in character. This is widely accepted as a gift from Tempus himself. Be aware that this gift is very limited: characters cannot manipulate items more than 5 feet away from them or that weigh more than 5 pounds. See the Guidebook section on Lesser Telekinesis.
For official Court events, characters are allowed small, temporary accessories that fit the theme of the event. For example, characters can take on one-time masquerade masks to wear to a ball! Characters can not, however, be written in full outfits unless the item has been purchased from the Agora and redeemed.
Tagging can be done for many reasons. The most common is to alert another user in an IC thread that you have completed your reply and it's their turn to post. It can also be done in OOC posts if you want to bring something to a particular user's attention. All you have to do is post "@NAME" (with or without quotations for single-word usernames) substituing the account username where NAME is - for example, @"inkbone" or @inkbone - then a notification will be sent to the tagged user!
You would simply put @"FULL NAME" and substitute the account's username between the quotations. Make sure to keep the quotations, because that's the only way it will work! For example, @"Random Event"
It's common practice to disallow CSS from being directly posted onto a website because it conflicts with the load times of the server. Second, because CSS3 is more robust, there are security concerns. Most sites do not allow css to be directly posted. Therefore, we do not allow < style> tags to be used on Novus. However! You may use HTML and div tags, or may link to offloaded style sheets so long as said CSS does not affect the rest of Novus. Please be aware, we also bans hover tables, so you may not use offloaded CSS to code one.
To make sure it fits ALL screens, not just a larger one! Novus scales depending on the screen size, therefore a 750px table may look fine on your screen but may run off the page on someone else's. You can always make them appear larger by using 100% width instead of a set amount of pixels! With a percentage instead of a set number, it will resize to all screens and not break the site. Example: < div style="width:95%" >
Yes! If you join them, they'll be able to shift between their land and sea/water forms with no special items or requirements necessary.
Depending on what you would like to bring over, sure! We understand that things happen and sites close, etc, and Novus would hate to see you need to say goodbye to your characters or start from scratch. Therefore, we are able to accommodate a number of things, such as pregnancies. More information may be found in this thread!
|
