In the past, we have tried many approaches to dealing with this
issue. Here's what it has evolved into:

1. Please limit your characters to mainstream Dragonlance races.
These definitely include, but are not limited to, humans, dwarves,
elves, kender, gnomes, draconians, goblins, trolls, ogres,
minotaurs, griffons... What else am I missing?

Dragons. For a reason.

2. No dragon characters. While fun to play in the right hands, they
are far and above more powerful for everybody to be flaunting. We've
had dragon catastrophies in the past, and in other clubs as well.
Usually, the role of a dragon (if present) is handled by the
moderators only.

3. Other blacklisted races or beings:
Drow - while very cool, these beings are native to the Forgotten
Realms setting. Yes, they have appeared in Dragonlance fiction
before. Not here, though.
Death knights - Lord Soth is the one and only, forever and ever,
amen.
Half-animal types - excluding lycanthropes (werewolves and the
like), there are no half-animal humans or elves in Dragonlance. Take
it to an anime club =)
God characters - We'll be weeding out god characters left, right,
and center. They have a habit of meeting with very intimely demises.
A lot can be said for a character with some flaws.
'Emo' characters - On the other hand, a character with too many
flaws is just annoying and usually meets with an untimely and
humorous demise (to lighten the mood!).

4. We're always open to suggestions on other character races. We're
more likely to accept your character if they have a well-developed
background - for example, if they are a half-animal or half-dragon
with an unusually convincing life story, we'll let you play it even
though it goes against our basic rules.

5. Play fair and with humility.

6. Don't be afraid to take a stab at the villain role, either. This
is usually handled between the moderators but we're always happy to
have other members try it. If nothing else, it could make for an
interesting sub-plot.

7. Remember - the plot is the most important part of the story. Sub-
plots make for some interesting reading, but please don't develop
sub-plots to the point where you overwhelm the main storyline. I
recall a member once leaving on their own side quest... that never
ended. The plot we employ is always very dynamic - often it changes
as we progress in the story. Like any good author will tell you, the
best stories will write themselves. As such, the plot unfolds before
us in most cases, so be prepared with a flexible character and a
flexible mind! Just go with the flow and develop your character as
you go.

8. Relationships are optional; please don't harrass other players
and again, keep it G-rated. Some things are best left behind closed
doors.

9. For those of you who are familiar with D&D, I'll say this: we're
aiming for characters up to about 12th level. Above that, people
start to get power-hungry and skew the storyline. Which isn't always
a bad thing, but be wary if you try it.

10. We encourage cooperation to solve problems. Different people
think about problems in different ways, so it's always an
interesting part of the role-playing experience to see how our
players resolve issues and puzzles. As moderators, we will interject
situations or challenges from time to time to keep things
interesting and to see how you will react.

11. And no player-killing. This is always banned unless the two
characters in question have agreed upon it beforehand. I suggest
working out subplots like this via email so it takes the rest of us
by surprise.

12. Have fun!

You can submit your characters here as a post or to me by email
(awb374@...) either as an overview (telling me about the
character) or as an introductory post (showing where they are at the
time the story is beginning). Be aware that I may, from time to
time, offer suggestions to improve on your characters or plotlines.
These are always never more than suggestions though; they are YOUR
characters after all!

Cheers,
Raist