The Gorean World

If you haven't read any of the books of Gor, you should know that Gor is based on a fantasy world where laws are made and broken with the sword, honor is held higher than one's own life and when a man desires a woman, he claims her, and quite usually enslaves her as his property.  Let is suffice to say that if you are a man, and playing a Free Man of Gor, you are expected to act like a Gorean Man, confident and strong.   Unafraid to take a woman by the hair, strip her clothes off, a collar on her neck and call her your slave.  If you are a woman starting your role-play as a Free Woman or a slave, you can expect that if you aren't careful a Man will do exactly that to you in the scope of his role-play, and then you are expected to behave as his slave in every way while in the chat room.  

That said, it should be blazingly clear by now that Gorean Role-play is not for minors.  This is an adult theme and adult role-play in every aspect.   It is not uncommon to see graphic language and actions within a Gorean role-play room.   If you are offended by explicit scenes of violent or sexual nature, then this isn't the kind of chat room you should be in.   Some of the safe rooms are relatively free of explicit role-play, and some of the regular rooms tend to keep it to a minimum, but others not only allow it, they encourage it. 

The slaves of Gor were not permitted modesty or to hide their lustful desire to be used by men, so acting as such is also very acceptable, just as men in Gor felt no need to hide their desire to enjoy the pleasures of women.  

In Gorean chat rooms sexual relations between men and women is called 'furring'.   As mentioned before, furring can be done publicly in some rooms and in private in most rooms. If you aren't sure what the take on open scening(public furring) is, don't be afraid to ask someone in the room privately.  It is quite common and a natural part of Gor, but respect is the word of the day.  Don't assume anything from another in the room, till you know that the typist behind the keyboard is consenting to the role-play transpiring. 

Role-playing in Gor gives both men and women a chance to explore deeper fantasies in a more primal way, that the books have inspired.   Those that don't share these fantasies, don't come to Gor, they have an abundance of other role-play rooms to fill their time with, those that do however may want to share these fantasies with others, but are still living breathing people at the other end of a keyboard somewhere in the world.   Never forget this fact.  RESPECT your fellow role-players and you will find someone who shares your desires from your role-playing experience.   Disrespect your fellow role-players and you are destined to find a traumatic and hurtful experience ahead.

Gorean role-play rooms are about taking on a persona and role-playing out the life of that character you've taken on.  You could loosely compare this to the way some of you may have one taking on a persona in Dungeons and Dragons as one example.   When you take a character into a chat room you become that character and type out what your character would say and do in the environment of the room. 

It is important however that you know and understand the nature of the room you've entered when you do give it your first try.   For instance, some rooms are considered safe for all and no harm can come to your character by entering the room.  This is the best type of room to enter initially as there are many subtle mistakes a person can make.  What determines these? Zones. We will speak on those in another one of the pages below.

Should you enter a room that is considered a Kill/Capture Zone, you are accepting that you may be attacked, captured, enslaved or killed by another character once you enter.

As a Free Man, you face the possibility that another Man may challenge you and want to fight you.   Once in the room you must abide by the rules of the room so you are fair game in such rooms and if you don't know how to defend yourself it can get tricky fast. 

As a Free Woman you could find yourself captured or enslaved if the room is not safe for Free Women to travel to alone.   Life is very dangerous for Free Women on Gor and the slightest wrong behavior can cause unwanted situations to develop.

As a slave, you can pretty much count on someone capturing and collaring you and making you their property or the property of the camp, city or individual community represented in the room.   Slave's seldom enter a room uncollared and leave it the same way unless its a safe zone where they are not to be force collared.

Add realism to your posts, the more you think out your actions, the more it lends to realistic role-play.

Be descriptive - again, the more detail offered the better others can respond to you and your actions.

Become the Gorean you are playing.   Don't be limited by the rules that govern our society, you're in Gor once you enter the chat room.  Be a Gorean.

Respect other people in the room.  Many have been playing the character you see for years and value both their character and the role-play/storyline they are in.  Don't treat your time in the chat room like you are playing an arcade game.  Once a character is killed or lost to an unwanted fate, it is done.  No do overs!

Don't Rush into role-play till you are ready to take part.  Many rooms will let you use an -o- or observer tag to watch and learn.

Don't disrespect the room you are visiting.  Read the rules before entering and be prepared to follow them.

Don't Gender-bend - Meaning if you are a man, play a man, if you are a woman, play a woman. Gender bending will get you banned from a chat site.

Don't play more than one character at a time.  That is considered dueling and is strictly forbidden by all Gorean Chat realms.   Once you retire a character or it is killed, you may take on a new character, not before.

Don't treat others disrespectfully. Read about relations between Goreans.  Slaves were cherished and valued, Free Women were given respect as such, Free men were given respect or your faced their wrath.  Behind every Gorean is a real person from Earth, with feelings and emotions.

Don't use Gor as your place to vent your real life issues.  We are not here to be beat up cause you want vengence on the bully that beat you up.  We are not here to suffer for all the bad stuff that happens in your life in any way.   Nor can we be expected walk on egg shells cause you have issues, come for fun and fantasy, and leave the issues at home in your real life.

Observers - Observers must follow the rules of each room you will see a list of rules on each entrance page it is highly recommended you read this page as ignorance is no excuse. Breaking this rule will quite commonly result in you being booted from a room by the room or site moderator.  Repeated offenses may result in permanent banning from the site. By entering the rooms you agree to follow these rules and accept the consequences for breaking them.  See individual site rules for exact rules and penalties for violating them.

Gender Bending - Due to the intense nature of Gorean role play, cross gender role play is usually frowned upon in  mostGorean Role-Playing sites. Men shall role play male Goreans and women shall role play female Goreans. However there are some cases when with time have proven themselves capable of pulling the role off. Be aware that if you choose this avenue of roleplay it is best to make sure you can handle the criticism that will initially come with it.

Dualing - Dualing is NOT allowed in Gorean role-play, EVER! Dualing is where one person runs two different characters concurrently anywhere in Gorean online role play. Anyone caught dulling will have all their characters actions annulled and be banned from most all rooms

Retiring - Retiring a character is an option that many use when they either tire of the character they are role-playing or life in Gor has become so difficult for them as that character they simply want a fresh start. This is not a reversible decision per the rules of all Gorean role-play sites. Many take this further and say that you can only shelve a character if you are not actively involved in a role-play scenario.  For instance, if you have been captured and don't want to follow through on the role-play, shelving may be considered un-Gorean like and the site it occurred on may rule your character killed if you refuse to come back and complete the role-play.  It is considered dishonorable to simply abandon active role-play.  

Non-Consensual Rulings - Some sites have a clause however that states that if you were non-consensually forced into the role-play or the role-play has taken on a twist that makes it uncomfortable or non-consensual by one of the involved parties, that the offended party can invoke a Non-Consensual role-play clause and be freed of the role-play, the active role-play subsequently being ruled invalid and non-consensual.  This is not the case on many sites, but it does exist in some.

Ignoring Posts - Ignoring valid role-play posts directed to you by another is not considered acceptable behavior in the Gorean community. If you are in a r/p and someone forces themselves in to your r/p, and have used the proper steps to do so, you MUST honor their post and respond. In failing to do so without a legit real time reason you are going against the Gorean community's way of r/p. You must respond and work your way out of the situation if you don't want  to be in it.  Likewise, they must deal with what comes of their choices.  The only exception to this rule on some sites is if there is a legitimate Out of Character or Real-Time reason for disregarding their posts. These reasons include being underage, using roleplay to prey upon people in a sexual or financial manner, using roleplay to make real time threats, or those who continually disregard the rules of roleplay(such as dualling or refusal to do their time away upon retirement/character death). For instance, if you believe the person posting to you is a minor, you are not bound to role-play with a minor, since after all this is Adult Role-Play.  Use discretion with ignoring posts and don't get yourself into trouble simply cause you didn't want the person to engage in role-play with you. This is how Gor works....do your best to deal with it.

Respect the Home (Room) you are in - There is but one rule that should be universal on Gor, the sovereignty of a person's home. The rules of a person's home always take precedence in that home. No outsider can change, modify, ignore, or replace a person's rules in their home. But, as on Gor, the rules of one's home extend no further than the boundaries of that home. Once you leave your home, you must then follow the rules of whatever home you visit. If a person dislikes the rules of another's home, then they are free to not visit that home. That said, all room rules must reflect reasonable and realistic Gorean Role Play.

Judging - Most all sites will allow two parties with a dispute to pick unbiased judge(s) to evaluate the role-play scripts and determine a realistic outcome.  This is typically done as the result of combat or capture/enslavement that initial result of has been disputed by the losing party.

Realism - Homes rely on the assumption that they are living cities/camps/etc, with hundreds of people dwelling there as well as visitors. Thus, all role-play within Homes must take this assumption into consideration. Role-play that fails to consider this assumption may be declared invalid.

So you have found out about Gor. Obviously you have questions and hopefully at least some of them have been answered by the above writings. I bet you want to go into the rooms now and try your hand, but not yet. First you need to make two choices.

First, What kind of character will you play? There are many choices to choose from and each should be researched at least a little before you go ahead and go into chat with it. Torvaldslanders are much like vikings of earth, Taharians are much like the people of the middle east, tuchuks and other wagon peoples(which are the paravici, kassar, and kataii) are much like mongols of the east, the people of the ukungu are much like the tribes of the congo, there are also panther girls and taluna's who are more or less women who did not wish to be part of society whom fled to the northern forests(panther girls) or jungles(talunas), not to mention there are many castes to choose from for both men and women.

Once you have decided what culture/caste you will play it's time to research your role a little. Know some of the ins and outs, you won't be an expert overnight but you should have some semblance of knowledge as to your place in Gor.

Second, you need to pick a name for your character. This should be fairly easy.

Now it's time to go into the rooms.  The first thing you want to remember is that you are new and that isn't such a bad thing. Most Goreans are willing to help you out if you let them know you need some help, be it answering questions or telling you how things are done, where things are, etc etc etc. But once you have selected a room to go into you should start off by telling everyone you are new and asking if you can observe for a while. This is so you can get a feel about how things work, and get an idea about how to go about things yourself. When you feel comfortable enough, it's time to make an entry. A typical entry would look something like this:

"Wanders up toward the gates/edge of the city/camp/holding/village and looks around before raising my right hand and turning my palm inward to show I come in peace as I wait to be allowed entry"

Upon being allowed to enter, you would make your way inside and begin greeting people. The common Greeting on Gor is "Tal". Keep in mind while your greeting that in roleplay your character will not know the names of other characters unless they speak their name to you, so just make a post similar to "looks at (insert their name here as your not actually speaking to them yet) and says "Tal". Also, make sure you introduce yourself, in Gorean, the words for Stranger is the same word for Enemy.

From there feel free to interact some and don't take criticism the wrong way. When you go to leave, the common Gorean farewell is "I wish you well". Once you have made your farewells you would make a post much like your entry post but to the opposite effect. Something like "walks from the city/camp/lodge/holding and continues on my way".

Visit all kinds of rooms that you can, meet the people and maybe even make some friends. After a few rounds about the realm you have chosen it would be best to choose a home to pledge to and continue to learn in relative safety. Pick the Home that seems best for you and express an interest in joining after a few visits. If they agree to have you there will probably be a ceremony of some sort. Pledging to a home is not a light thing by any means. It means alot to Goreans and it is a serious concept so let that reflect in your actions and words about it.

If you have decided not to join a home at all you have that option but it is substantially more difficult to learn in a home.

Once you have chosen a home(or not) it's time to begin applying yourself in your roleplay. Begin heavily researching your culture/caste and practicing said Caste and or Culture.