Welcome!
You've found the Time of Madness (ToM) Role-Playing Community.  For in-depth information about ToM including rules and our character creation handbook, make sure to look over our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section of our website.

What is ToM?
This site (known affectionately as ToM) is a website for fantasy fans to come together and role-play in a forum-based role-playing game (RPG) style often referred to as playing-by-post. While our site is primarily focused upon role-playing it also caters to our members desires to have an over-all community experience and thusly, we encourage players to take the time to get to know one another outside of the game on our Out of Character (OoC) forums and through our many fun and exciting online discussions & activities.

Is ToM based on some particular fantasy series?
All our Staff members are fans of Robert Jordan's Best-Selling book series, The Wheel of Time (WoT), and originally we drew quite heavily from that source and based our site on the period known in Jordan's books as the Breaking or the Time of Madness.  However, since that we have deviated quite far away from WoT and used prominently also other influences, such as Star Wars, Earthdawn Roleplaying game, Exalted Roleplaying game and White Wolf Storytelling system.  So we are not a pure WoT fan site anymore, but hopefully still hold an appeal for that audience too.  We try to cater to low-fantasy fans, who like a bit grittier and more realistic feel of roleplaying despite the fantastical elements, such as magic (called in our site, the One Power)..

Do I need to be familiar with the Wheel of Time Books or other sources to play?
In short... no.  This site will rarely contain spoilers of the books and almost never require that you have information that we don't already provide to our members.  In fact, fans of the Wheel of Time books may find it harder to adjust to the changes of ToM's setting than those who have never read them because of the numerous differences in our paradigm compared to Jordan's books.  Both fans and those who have never experienced the Wheel of Time book series and aren't familiar with our other sources will want to read through our Player's Handbook under the FAQ to learn more.

Why didn't you just stick to Jordan's world/setting?
First off, we wanted to build our own special place among the hundreds (perhaps thousands) of Wheel of Time role-playing sites & communities on the internet.  Obviously there are a great deal which focus on the time period which Jordan's books focus on, and some others which focus on the Age of Legends, but it was agreed by the site creators that none could be found that focused upon the period known as "The Breaking" or "The Time of Madness."  This seemed very odd to us as this was most definitely a period FULL of stories of great tragedy, drama, heroics, etc.

Secondly, in looking for more ways to stand out in a vast sea of internet Wheel of Time (WOT) sites the creators discussed what they would change about the world of Jordan's books and one major point was that Saidin and Saidar, the halves of the One Power, could be used only based on what sex you were born.  This seemed an interesting but frustrating choice of the Author and one that we thought we could creatively work with and produce an interesting theory which fans might enjoy playing with.  Thusly was one of the corner stones of the site's premises made and the floodgate for other changes opened.

So, how does someone play in a forum-style RPG?
At it's heart, playing in a forum-style RPG is as simple as writing the story of a character (a person who lives in the fictional world of ToM) and their early life up to the point at which he or she begins interacting with other characters here on our site.  Statistics are put together to track the growth of the character in various areas over his/her life span.  Once those two things are done, then you will begin to play by posting your first post where your character meets and interacts with other characters.  From there on, his/her stories are only limited by your imagination.  Like characters in movies and books, you're the director/writer of this particular identities trials, tribulations, and triumphs... and perhaps even failures.

Here at ToM we have sets of guidelines regarding how people can begin making a character, which should be reviewed before submitting a biography and statistics ...even by experienced forum-style Role-Players (RP'ers). 

You can find those in our FAQ section.  There you will find details on how to write up a character biography and statistics (you will be given the option of starting to fill those in once you register, but don't worry you don't have to do it right away... and you can always edit it before submitting it) and how to present it to the site administrators for approval.  Also, you'll find other great advice on how to get started in the world of ToM so that even the newest RP'er will be able to hop right into the fun!

Why do you have so many rules/guidelines?
It is the site creators' firm belief that rules are suppose to be use NOT to prevent players from being able to play interesting/unique/fun concepts but to ensure those things stay interesting/unique/fun.  If everyone in the world could write like Tolkien, his stories wouldn't be so impressive, would they?  Or if everyone in the world could play like Mozart, would we really think he was so special?  The same can be said for characters and their abilities & skills.

We want everyone to have a fair shake at playing characters who are special, strong, and shine in their own ways.  To that end we've created guidelines to help create a fair starting environment that encourages both character growth through story and experiences.  It rewards players who not only have time to role-play frequently and those who have time to give back to the site & it's members... but also, for simply having spent time as a member of ToM as well.  We do this so that no one has to feel completely left out when it comes to 'realistic' character growth. 

Our rules aren't perfect, in fact they will likely evolve as time goes on and we hope you'll bear with us as they do, presenting your ideas and suggestions along they way to help us create the world's BEST FANTASY Role-Play (RP) site on the internet.

So, how do I get started?
First off, sign up for an account here at our site... it's FREE.  Of course we love members to become supporters (those who donate to our site to off-set costs for the site creators/owners) but that's not necessary to play.  You can learn more about that by checking out our supporters page. 

Once you've gotten an account, go on over and post in our "Clubhouse" forum and say hello.  Let us know who you are and where you come from... tell us how you found us on the net too.  We'd love to know more about you!  Then, begin reading through our FAQ.  There is a lot of information but I promise you, there is a LOT of useful stuff there for new players and old alike!

If you absolutely can't wait to get started playing, and NEED to make a character right away, skip ahead to the behavior rules and then character creation sections and read up on both those things.  Then, be sure to go back and read up on all the other important and interesting information provided to you.  The good people of our site want you to enjoy your experience here and with this information you'll really get the most out of your ToM experience.

Once your biography and stats are approved, you can begin role-playing... that's it!  It's that simple. 

Welcome to ToM... we're glad to have you with us! 

Reetta & Dee
(aka Arette & Telcia)
Time of Madness Creators