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Among the Fairytail universe, it is common knowledge that mages/wizards are separated by Ranks. D > C > B > A > S > X in lowest to highest, with different strength levels that are a determining factor of these ranks. So there are certain questions surrounding this concept, such as, "what determines a wizards rank?", or "how do I rank up?" so to say. Well I will be going over the answers to these questions, and more.

All characters keep a rank as a reflection of how far down the road their character is in their story, and as a reward for achievements in storytelling. Characters begin play with a base rank of D upon a completed application, and then simply request a rank up when the time comes.
Consider your character's life as a book or a TV show, where you have 'chapters' or 'seasons'. Parts where one of these chapters reaches its climax and resolution is a great spot to bring together a rank up and capitalize on the hard work you've done.

Within a rank up request, players should be looking to establish three, key elements. One, identifying and establishing the themes of their character that are changing. Two, the threads and actual content that displays how this change happened and how significant it was. And three, framing what your character will be like 'going forward', or in other words, what will be happening in your next arc as it relates to the work you've done in this one.

You can visit our rank up workshop located in the 'shops' forum to request additional help, or approach any number of our veteran staff and writers for advice on putting one together. For a more theoretical look at storytelling, we suggest examining concepts like 'The Monomyth' or 'The Hero's Journey'.
Requests are graded by staff in a similar fashion to your starting character application which will give you advice on your characters actions as well as a good outside look of their progress... even a rank!

Outside of putting together a strong concept for your character to move forward, you have to meet a few minimum requirements before the request can be made. These requirements are a number of IC posts (which is why thread trackers are extremely helpful) and/or have participated in numerous site events which happen frequently.

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If you’re going to be involved in combat threads (and believe me, most of you will), it is important that you follow the combat rules below, as well as take into account any additional instructions the thread narrator (if any) may set in place. In addition, though not specific to combat, it is important to try and keep up with posting in threads to avoid them “dying”. Most sites run 48-72 hours to post in group threads if a post order is established, but on here it is solely up to the players to decide out of character unless otherwise stated by the thread narrator.

Combat on the site follows; there are a few very general guidelines that may be applied to any role playing scenario, but should be taken into account when writing your posts:

• If you’re starting the thread, make sure you indicate what items your character has on their person - weapons, armor, all of that. This is important information to have and prevents people from “spawning” items out of thin air. Remember that just because it’s in the post that doesn’t mean it’s knowledge the entire world shares. Your opponent must do the same. This can be easily accomplished in IC introductory posts.
  In addition to the above, if you are starting the thread, be sure to give a clear indication of the area and what the weather is like. It’s nice to leave some details to the imagination, but having a general idea of the battlefield layout is important to both the players and the readers.
• Don’t say anything about your opponent, their location, what they’re doing, etc in your opening post. This falls in line with god-modding, a habit that is both against the rules on this site and very annoying to other players. Unless otherwise agreed upon OOC, you are only allowed to narrate the actions of your own character - not your opponent.
• Realism within the realms of the universe and the role play is important. A character of a higher skill level is more than likely to come out the victor of a battle, even if the writers are on completely different levels of writing ability. This is because, at the end of the day, the goal is not to out-write your opponent, but instead to give the feeling that your character realistically and believably defeated theirs in combat. So to say, it is common that higher ranked mages come out on top unless it is a predetermined victory, or the win is earned through rp means. It is not always guaranteed that a higher rank is the winner, just argumentally made so.
• If it’s not in your character’s application or otherwise stated in your introductory post, you may not use it later on in the fight. The forgotten, in this case, are to be left forgotten. Should unspecified items be used in the heat of battle, they will be immediate grounds for disqualification and your character will lose the battle.
• No god-modding. This should seem a no brainer to some role players, but it nevertheless occurs from time to time. In most non-fantasy combat scenarios it would stand to reason that the first person hit is the loser of a battle, however, things are much different in the world of this site. We have magic and weapons, all of which can and occasionally do buff our otherwise fleshy exterior. Still, one should consider the power of the character they are fighting when they are hit and respond appropriately.
  Ex: Say my character, Raven, is struck by a heavy attack from Retros’ character, Anna. The latter is a much more powerful character, and though our writing levels sit relatively on par, I have to consider that point and the fact that Raven has no combat training. Such a blow would be definitely or near-decisive in combat.
• No automatic hits. Unless otherwise determined OOC, all attacks are written as attempt and you are not allowed to make any attack without giving your opponent the opportunity to counter, block, dodge, avoid, deflect, etc. It may seem like an annoyance to some role players with heavy AoE attacks or just better writing capabilities all together, but the feeling of not having the ability to defend yourself is a pet peeve shared by almost every role player out there - be they new or highly experienced.
  
• Grammar and spelling are key in combat! The quality of your posts will make or break you in the heat of battle. Clear, concise descriptions of what is happening keep battles moving better and more fluidly, and also makes them read a lot better to spectators! However, run-on sentences with poor spelling and grammar will result in you being asked to re-do your post to make it more in line with the rules. Failure to bring about a cohesive post to the combat thread may lead to disqualification.
  
• Interrupts! An interrupt occurs when one player reacts before the end of the other player’s move. For example, a Knight might draw his weapon and sprint towards the Criminal before leaping up into the air to deliver a powerful downward strike. During the Criminal’s post, however, they may run at the Knight and engage them prior to the jump. This would cause an interrupt, and the portion of the Knight’s post that led to their jump attack would have never happened. THESE NEED TO BE KEPT TO A MINIMUM. Realistically, everyone moves just as fast as another of rank, unless specified through other means. BE REALISTIC!!
• Follow-ups! A follow-up is a move dictated within your post that is to happen if certain conditions are met in your opponent’s next move. Such moves imply forethought, and can be considered planning in-character. An example of a follow-up could be directing an attack meant for the opponents chest to their head should said opponent duck down. These are key to winning battles IC because they limit how an opponent character can react, however realistically you can only have ONE FOLLOW UP MOVEMENT in a post.
• Remember that you are not your character. Just because you know something doesn’t mean your character does. It also doesn’t mean your character can figure it out. If he/she can, great. But if you bull shit your way through it just for your own advantage or personal gain you’re just going to piss everybody else and make the thread less enjoyable. This is called meta gaming. I'll get into that later.
  
• All players naturally start with 100% Health. As players take damage in combat, they will lose a certain amount of health, Though this damage is not labeled with numbers, more so less rping descriptions. Reducing a player’s Health to will either kill or knock them unconscious depending on if the player wants to enable death. Generally speaking, spars and friendly competitions end when the player goes below 25% Health.
• This role play is based off of an anime/manga. Your punch can send people through walls and flying into the sky and into the next town. You can fight your way through broken legs and walk on them. However if your legs are broken, you're not moving nearly as fast as you normally could. Even if you can’t feel the pain the effects remain. You just don’t notice them. It’s more of a hindrance to not feel pain than to feel pain, honestly. If there’s no possible way for you to do something, don’t do it. Yes it's an anime but no that doesn't mean you can do anything and everything.
  
  Basically you can’t weasel your way out of the following:
  
  -getting your head chopped off.
  
  -multiple broken bones
  
  -severed limbs, etc.
  
  If you do you’re doing it wrong.
  
• I understand that nobody wants to lose a fight. Who does? But make sure you understand this. If you’ve won every fight you’ve ever fought via role play and took maybe two hits in all those fights put together, you’ve either fought mostly people vastly below your character's level of power, or you're doing it wrong.
  
  You’re going to get hit and you’re going to lose fights. It’s not a big deal.

When an player faces the dangers of the world and the world of Earthland, they go with the knowledge that a single misstep could mean their life. Mages enter the world all the time and frequently never return, whether due to their carelessness, weakness or plain bad luck. However, in the site you have full control over your character's destiny. Death is never the decided outcome for our protagonists, even when facing insurmountable odds. This is not to say that your characters cannot die, but that it is up to you to say when, where and how your story will end.

That being said, losing all of your Health in a fight isn't consequence free. Once a character's health hits 0, or below, they are rendered unable to continue the fight in one form or another. What happens then is up to you, and your thread partners, to decide.

Keep in mind that all death scenarios will be reviewed by the staff before it is set in stone (unless you pre-plan said death). The reason we do this is to help players connect to their characters and to care about what happens with them. We are not a site that draws off the slice-of-life genre, we are a site that strives to create an immersive world while emphasizing the importance of combat.