•HOW MANY POWERS CAN A WITCH HAVE?
Technically? It depends on the witch. For all intents and purposes, magic in this game is genetic. If you have two magical parents, you'll be more likely to have more magic. However, higher concentrations of too many types of magic have been known to have ill effects on witches. The families in this game have kept their lines strong by reproducing with humans or unaffiliated witches (in the case of 'purist' families), and kept their magic strong through the practice of witchcraft. This means that each person can perform as many spells, create as many potions, and perform as many rituals as they'd like, but they are only endowed with one specific talent.

•AT WHAT AGE DO POWERS BECOME ACTIVE?
Each person works differently. Their powers can turn on anywhere between a couple weeks after birth, all the way up to puberty. No one has ever heard of a witches' powers activating after they've turned 18.

•CAN YOU STOP A CHARACTER FROM HAVING POWERS?
Technically you can bind a witch, essentially rendering them powerless. This is hard to do without the witch's knowledge or consent, but is mainly done voluntarily or on children. Binding a witch's magic long term is the same thing as binding a muscle, it will eventually weaken and wither.

•WHO ARE THE UNAFFILIATED WITCHES?
The current six original families are the magical stronghold in Salem, but magic still exists in other parts of the world. Since so many powerful witches have lived and died in Salem, the town itself has become a source of great power. Other members of the magical community have naturally been drawn there over the years. As a result, there are now a number of magically inclined families that are unrelated and unaffiliated with the six original families.

•HOW POWERFUL ARE THE UNAFFILIATED WITCHES?
The unaffiliated witches have all the abilities you would expect a witch to have. They can cast spells, hex people, brew potions, etc. However, unlike the members of the six families, they do not have a personal power specific to them. Their magic, while still able to be strong in its own right, is also naturally weaker than that of Salem's six families. An original family member's spell would always override that of an unaffiliated witch.

•HOW DO FAMILIARS WORK?
Again to reference a TV show, they're the guardian equivalent to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. When the first witch came into power, she endowed some of that magic on her companion, allowing him heightened senses, strength and speed, so that he might be able to watch out for her. He was made more durable, able to survive things a normal human might otherwise not. She also gave him the power to take the form of one animal of his choosing, and the ability to sense when she was in trouble, so that he might better protect her. And so familiars were born. The system works the same today. Every family has one guardian that can take on one animal form of his/her choosing. These guardians are superhuman and empathically connected to the families they serve. Their lines remain strong, and there will always be multiple potentials for the next familiar. When the current familiar dies, or is unable to perform their duties, their powers transfer to another member in that familiar's family line who is best suited to the role. It is a purely supernatural force that decides this, and it is beyond anyone's control who is chosen. It can be anyone related (sibling, child, parent, cousin, uncle, aunt, etc) to the previous familiar, and above the age of 16.

•WHAT IS THE FAMILY/FAMILIAR DYNAMIC?
The position of familiar is revered among the witch families. The familiar becomes a part of the family, and is virtually adopted as one of their own. This does not mean a familiar has to like the position they are in. Not all familiars love their job, although it can be a fulfilling and rewarding experience to be so loved and embraced by a group of people you are naturally drawn to.

•WHO KNOWS ABOUT MAGIC?
The fact that magic is real is not commonly known. The witches and their familiars know, and those whom they trust with their secrets know, but that's it. It's general knowledge that the majority of the human race is not ready to be told that magic is real, no matter how much they've embraced Harry Potter.

•IS THERE A CHARACTER LIMIT?
No, but please only take on what you can handle, and keep all characters equally active.

•HOW SHOULD I PLOT OUT MY CHARACTER'S HISTORY IF THEY BELONG TO ONE OF THE MAIN SIX FAMILIES?
Keep in mind that when you join the game as a member of the six families, you entering the game with instant connections. For that reason, you must reach out to the players currently in the families you will be joining for any and all family histories. There is no formal information at this time because we want to encourage players to plot amongst themselves, and this seems to be the most effective way of creating interesting storylines. Please keep in mind that you are joining preexisting storylines when you bring in a member of the Adams, Alexander, Hamilton, McDowell, Rochester or Thayer families. Most families have complex backgrounds in place, and touching base with the players you will be interacting with most helps avoid any potential snags for incoming characters, and promotes a sense of community amongst the players. Links to family customs have been provided on the holds page to make plotting with family members easier. Any character who attempts to join one of the families without plotting with it's current members risks rejection. PLEASE DON'T BE AFRAID TO REACH OUT, everyone is very friendly, we promise!

•WHAT IF I DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO FIT MY CHARACTER INTO PREEXISTING LINES?
If you would prefer not to have to plot within preexisting SLs please feel free to bring in an unaffiliated witch. Although not endowed with a personal power of their own, they are still capable of wielding powerful magics. If you'd rather have a character with a personal power, the six families also have open cousin spots with families that would be more or less up to those joining them. And as long as current members are okay with doing so, we have no problem adding more cousins/extended family to the families for people who wish to join with minimal plotting.

•WHAT PBs ARE ALLOWED?
At this time we are limiting PBs to actors, actresses, models, and musicians. No myspace/facebook/youtube celebs or other 'original' PBs will be accepted. Also, please refrain from the use of deceased celebrities, or those who have vocally objected to the use of their image without consent, such as the suicide girls. When choosing your PB, please keep the "five year rule" in mind. There are exceptions with mod approval, but only in the case of using older PBs for younger characters where pictures from earlier works are available.

•WHAT GOES WHERE?
alakazams is for all IC introductions, community and random posts. spellcrafting is for all threads and AIM or e-mail logs. crucibles is for all OOC introductions, discussions and if you need to announce a hiatus to the group. salemsl is for plotting. If you have any questions or need to get in touch with the mod for any reason, please leave a comment in the dropbox. Everything else goes in your character's journal.

•HOW DOES ACTIVITY WORK?
Here at we strive to be a writing community. That is what roleplay is all about, right? We want to encourage plot and character development through threading and/or AIM scenes. Therefore we require at least one scene per month for activity. A second form of activity is also required, and is up to the player. It can be a journal entry, narrative or a second scene. While journal entries can be used as activity, we want to discourage people from throwing up some insignificant ramble a couple of days before the checks. The check in date is the same for everyone: the 30th of every month. All players are responsible for posting their two forms of activity to the check-in post by the 30th to avoid removal. Removals for those who did not meet the requirements will be done the following day. While we have no problem with IC chatter through spam and AIM conversations, these things will not be counted as activity. Again, we are a writing game. Those things are fun, but are not what roleplay is all about.

•WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS ON THREADS/SCENES FOR ACTIVITY CHECKS?
In order to count toward activity checks, a thread must be active or completed. An active thread will count so long as it consists of a starter and two or more replies, or three or more replies if you are responding to a thread starter. If your scene partner fails to respond before you've been able to reply the required number of times you may still use the thread toward activity. As long as you were the last person to respond to the thread you will not be penalized for your partner's inactivity. Logs compiled on AIM, GoogleDocs or via e-mail are more than welcome, and should simply be posted in spellcrafting or your character's journal. Custom filtered scenes that are filtered to the mod journal will be allowed for activity checks, but it is strongly encouraged that all scenes be posted in spellcrafting or made friends only (as opposed to custom filtered) in your character's journal. It is our experience that most players enjoy reading about the lives/growth of the characters in their game, and making the scenes viewable to the group helps promote a sense of community and inclusiveness.
Running the friends button, no matter how small and insignificant it may seem, is very important. New members cannot see friend-locked posts if this button isn't run by everyone! Therefore, running the friends button is a form of activity here at salemed. Anyone who has not run the friends button in over three weeks will be removed from the game for inactivity.

•CAN I ASK FOR A HIATUS OR EXTENSION?
Yes, you can! We like to think of ourselves as fair and understanding mods. Sometimes life happens and we completely understand. We are more then happy to grant extensions on activity checks or give hiatus' to people who need a little break. All we ask is that YOU ask. Let us know what is going on and we will be more then happy to work with you. Extensions will be given on a case-by-case basis for those who need them. "Case-by-case" simply means that we look at a characters activity since they came into the game before granting said extension. If this is the persons third extension in a row and they are scrambling the day before to get a thread done, we may be less inclined to grant a fourth extension.

•CAN I COME BACK AFTER BEING REMOVED FROM THE GAME FOR INACTIVITY?
Yes, you may. However, you will still need to show us that you are active. Players returning to the game after being removed for inactivity will have one week to get active threads going. Narratives or journal entries will NOT work as examples for characters still needing to check in after removal. Here at salemed we have a three strike policy for characters removed for inactivity. If you are kicked out a second time for inactivity, you are allowed a final chance at staying in the game. If you're booted for a third time, you will not be allowed back with that character. Period.