THE IRON GUARD

"We go where we are needed! We do what must be done! Gods have mercy on their souls, as we'll be having none!"
~ Warcry of the Iron Guard

ABOUT THE GUILD: The Iron Guard is a Heavy-RP guild built from the ground up to give players a unified, immersive, and lore-based framework with which to create roleplay throughout the Forgotten Realms. Although outwardly structured as a military order, the Guard is designed to provide opportunities for a wide variety of character types and RP styles; including military actions against the enemies of the Lords' Alliance, political scheming between Houses and Clans, expeditions to explore the vast realms of the Northdark, and many more besides. We plan to make heavy use of not only our Stronghold and the Foundry system (when it becomes available once more), but also Dungeons, Skirmishes, and of course Adventure Zones, in order to provide the best experience possible for our members.

A WORTHY GUARDSMAN: Embodying the virtues of Honor, Duty and Piety, a worthy Guardsman is a loyal soul who outwardly supports the Lords' Alliance, and is bold enough to put their lives on the line in defense of Underdark and those who depend upon it. A Guardsman must uphold and enforce common law, but also must never forget their sense of honor and their understanding of mercy in all regards. Whether it be against forces beyond the Sword Coast's borders, criminals and heretics within, or the abominations of the Nine Hells, the Iron Guard stands strong.

CHARACTER GUIDELINES: The type of character who will do well in the Guard is one who, at least outwardly, is devoutly committed to the guild's mission, humble enough to follow orders, and ready to do whatever is necessary both at home and abroad. Being cool under pressure is also a must. There are no class or level restrictions, though martial weapons are preferred on duty and some RP zones will require certain levels in order for you to gain entrance to them. Due to the Guard's religious roots the Iron Guard will not admit any sort of vampire, lycanthrope, or other such abominations.

THE RIGHT PLAYER: The guild is looking for players mature enough to respect the established in-character chain of command, not only in the Guard but within Dwarven culture (the culture that defined much of the Iron Guard) itself. The perfect fit for the Guard will be a dedicated role-player who doesn't always need to be the center of attention and enjoys being a part of something larger than themselves. We accept players with any level of lore-knowledge and role-play experience, and we are willing to teach both as best we can, rather than shun those who might be lacking in one area or the other. That being said, we are here to play within the Forgotten Realms, so too much willful bending of the lore will not be tolerated.

ROLE-PLAY UNIFORMS: When on-duty, members of the Guard will be held to a semi-strict "uniform" standard. While the Guard has no official uniform, all Guardsmen are expected to follow a certain dress code stemming from Dwarven traditions. A Guardsman's combat garb is expected to be somewhat subdued, not flashy, so that on the battlefield they may blend in as a unified fighting force, rather than a hodge-podge of brightly colored individuals; easily targetable by the enemy. Guardsmen are also expected to dye their armor in the colors of the garb, wearing the dark silver and grey tones of the Iron Guard's heraldry. In addition, the Iron Guard prohibits rank-and-file Guardsmen from wearing cloaks or capes, reserving their wear for officers and other honored brothers-in-arms. Off-duty, (and in direct PvP or PvE situations) characters may wear their best or preferred gear.

ORDERS OF OPERATION

OUT-OF-CHARACTER RULES
As a Player, I pledge to:
- Always be courteous to other players both in-game and on public forums.
- Check the guild's Message-Of-The-Day when logging in to be up-to-date on what's going on with the guild.
- Do my best to participate in any and all guild events, with the understanding that real life ALWAYS comes first.
- Never violate the TOS or EULA of "Neverwinter Online.
- Affirm that I am 18 years or older.
- Have a firm grasp of the English language, both spoken and written.
- Be willing to join a VOIP server (Teamspeak) when needed for events and coordination (microphone not required, listening is enough).

ROLE-PLAY RULES
As a Roleplayer, I pledge to:
- Always retain RP decorum to outsiders, staying in character, while in-game in both the /say and /emote channels. All other channels including guild and tells should be considered OOC unless otherwise stated for a specific purpose.
- Utilize RP racism and prejudice only when justified by lore or in-character reasoning.
- Curse in RP as long as it is done in a tasteful, RP sense, using RP language and lore-based cultural slang.
- Never do any meta-gaming. Essentially this means not allowing out-of-character knowledge or actions to affect you in-character.
- Only gender-bend if I feel I can maturely and thoughtfully role-play as the opposite gender . It is recommended however that if you do not have previous experience with this, that you make sure your character's gender matches your own.
- Roleplay what my character IS, not what I want my character to be. If one goes around claiming to be the best swordsman in the land, or a powerful magic-user, one had better have the justifiable capabilities to back it up. Members of the Iron Guard must be honest about their capabilities, preventing any god-moding.
- Never create a Mary-Sue or Gary-Stu aka power-RP character. No one is "the greatest at everything" and one should not role-play as such.
- Give my character a lore-friendly name.
- Never create OOC Drama for Role-Play actions. If Character A does something bad to Character B and [i]Player[/i] B reacts emotionally to Character A, taking the RP into OOC, that is not permitted. It fosters an environment where players will be afraid to express their character's wishes for fear of hurting someone in real life.
- Never identify an aberrant character by sight alone. An RPer must actively reveal themselves ICly either with an IC ability or simple admittance before I can react to them as an abomination, no matter what they look like or if they are masked or not.
- Keep thought emotes to a minimum as they serve no actual purpose in group role-play and only clog up the chat with meaningless non-interactable words. An exception can be made if the thought emote is particularly funny.

If interested in what the Iron Guard has to offer, be you an RP veteran of many long years or a beginner interested in this most delightful form of insanity, feel free to contact myself (Arbrek Ironstar@zac20169) in-game or visit our (far superior) recruitment threads on The Neverwinter Adventurer's Post or the Iron Guard's Forums for more information!