Diagon Alley Rules

[Con_Stripes]

Welcome to Diagon Alley!

How do I join DA?
You simply start playing! Take your character to any of our public areas and strike up a conversation with any character around. You're in!

My character? Which one!?
You can RP any character you like, as long as they are yours and current to the timeline. This means you can't RP any of the canon characters and you need to remember that it is 2096 right now in our RP. You no longer need to be sorted in the School or Placed in the Ministry to play. This means members can come and get their feet wet with us here in DA, and anyone can figure out a new character simply by playing them on the streets of Diagon Alley.

Ministry characters are welcome at all times, but Hogwarts characters are only permitted in Diagon Alley during the term break, as the rest of the year they will be at the school.

Please, if you are RPing more than just your school or ministry characters, enter their names in the provided field in your profile. It won't be visible on your post bit, but it allows anyone who is nosey to take a look. If you are going to RP more than one character in the same post (such as a family member, etc), please try to differentiate the text by changing the font or the colour, just to make things easier to read.

How will I know when I'm not allowed to post my student character anymore?
As soon as the Hogwarts Express threads are posted in the School RPG forum, posting your student characters in Diagon Alley should cease; however, you will still be allowed to post your Ministry character in Diagon Alley after this point and your student character in the School RPG forum. Likewise, when the Hogwarts Express threads close at the end of term, feel free to begin posting your student characters once more in Diagon Alley!

But my student character doesn't go to Hogwarts yet! What if I have a character that I'm starting at Hogwarts in a future term?
As long as they don't CURRENTLY attend Hogwarts, or any other magical school for that matter, you can RP children in Diagon Alley. Think of it this way; if they should be at school, they shouldn't be wandering around skipping school. Keep in mind that it is unlikely a child under the age of 11 (the age you start Hogwarts) would be wandering around the streets on their own. We ask that if you are playing a future school character, you ensure that you have not added their name to the Hogwarts RPG Name section of your post bit. Any character who is listed there will not be allowed in Diagon Alley during the school term except in special circumstances where explicit instructions are provided.

What do I do here?
Chat with your friends, buy your school supplies for your student characters, purchase household goods for your Ministry character, RP to your heart's content. As always, SS forum rules apply. Don't spam, swear, post inappropriate content, or harass your peers. You CAN be banned from this forum.

Can I RP for the Shopkeepers?
It is generally frowned upon universally through the world of RolePlaying to "play for another a character." So, in short, no.

How can I become a Shopkeeper?
At the moment you need to be asked by the DA moderator to be a shopkeeper. The people who are asked have proven themselves as active members of the Snitchseeker RPGs, are reliable and have a proven track record, are helpful to new people, have been around at least two terms and have no warnings or infractions. What this means is that you'll need to RP, get involved in the school and/or the ministry and learn about how the SSRPG works and then if any spots come up, you'd be considered (along with others) for a shopkeeper role in Diagon Alley.

What does it mean when threads are marked with the image?
These are threads that require a Shopkeeper response. If you post in a thread that is marked with the handshake icon, the Shopkeeper WILL respond to you. Do not RP for them, but please be patient and wait for their reply. If you don't want to wait, then do not post in these threads. If you want to interact, then please DO post and meet and greet with the locals of Diagon Alley.

What are these Private threads? Am I going to be in trouble for posting in them??
These threads are private only in the IC (or In-Character) fashion. When you go into a shop, are you allowed to just waltz into the backroom? No way. So your character shouldn't either. That's not to say that these rooms are totally off-limits... You will not get in trouble in any OOC way for posting in these threads, as long as all Board rules are followed. IC though, your characters may be in hot water.

What do I do if I have a problem with another character?
If you have a problem with another character, please don’t argue or fight with them in the threads. PM a Shopkeeper, the DA mod, or Admin about your problem and allow them to deal with it. Arguments and the like are cause for possible detaining, and/or warnings.

What do I do if I have a problem with a shopkeeper?
PM grangerfan8.

Why aren't we RPing our student characters in the school right now?
The school closes between terms to get ready for the next term. Soon enough, the Diagon Alley will close to student characters and you'll be headed off on the Hogwarts Express.

Is there a list of supplies I need to get for the Hogwarts RPG? What if I don't get everything?
At this time, there IS a supply list. School staff have listed all the books and supplies you will need. Never fear... even if you are playing a first year, you may buy supplies for any class. You don't have to 'purchase' anything to attend the school. Just play it like you have the supplies you need.

How much money can I spend?
Because it is canon not to physically be able to carry more than 1000 galleons at one time, here in Diagon Alley the shops have a floor limit of this amount. A floor limit helps to ensure the shop does not run out of change and protects against fraud. In Diagon Alley, this means that you can't spend more than 1000 galleons (which should be very very rare, but we're giving some leeway here) at one time. You can have your character make larger purchases but it must be arranged IC with the shopkeeper in advance. A delivery and a direct funds transfer at Gringotts will be arranged in these cases. If any store has a higher or lower limit than this, it will generally be listed in its welcome thread.

Keep in mind that 1000 galleons is about 10 thousand US dollars, so we don't think we're being too unreasonable here.

I haven't got my results back for the wand quiz or had a vault assigned to me at Gringotts yet and I've been waiting X amount of days! What do I do?
First of all, make sure you take the appropriate quiz or application. If you've done that then keep in mind that there are a lot of RPers and each questionnaire is hand sorted. The shopkeepers stationed in Ollivanders and Gringotts work hard and do their best to personalize the results to fit your character. If it has been longer than a week, then by all means PM the appropriate shopkeeper, but if it has only been a few days, please be patient.

The Hogwarts Express is here and I didn't get my wand results in time, can I still find out what my wand is even if I can't post in Ollivanders?
Yes you can. If you still wish to know the result of your wand quiz after Diagon Alley is closed to your student character, PM the Ollivanders shopkeeper or assistant. They will let you know what your characters wand is. Alternatively, you could make up a wand yourself, there is plenty of information about Harry Potter style wands available on Google!

There is also a lot of information about the School RP, in general, in the Hogwarts School FAQ that you might want to take a look at.

If you have any other questions, please ask. All important dates are posted on the front page of the site.


These rules are subject to change and may be edited at any time.