The rules for playing The Auldmere Chronicles, and what you can expect from us.
Effective date: August 11, 2026
The Auldmere Chronicles is a product of Novara Consulting Group, LLC ("we," "us," "our"). These Terms govern the website at auldmere.com, the game itself however you connect to it, our apps for iPad and Apple Watch, and the store. By playing or using any of them, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use them.
You must be at least 13 years old, or the minimum age where you live if it is higher. If you are under 18, you should have a parent or guardian's permission. The game contains fantasy violence and unmoderated conversation between players; use your judgement about whether it is suitable for you.
Play the game; do not make it worse for other people. In particular: no harassment, threats, hate speech or sexual content involving minors; no impersonating staff; no exploiting bugs instead of reporting them; no attacking the servers or trying to reach parts of them that are not yours; no advertising or scams.
Some of this is a matter of judgement, and staff decide in practice. If you are not sure whether something is allowed, ask before doing it.
This one deserves its own section, because it is the rule most easily broken by accident and the one that matters most to everybody else's game.
The test is whether a command could have happened with nobody at the device. If it could, it is not allowed.
Fine: aliases and macros; triggers that react to something that happened to you; highlighting, hiding or rearranging what you are shown; reminders and one-shot timers you set yourself.
Not fine: anything issuing commands on a schedule or a loop with nobody present; playing more than one character at once through automation; leaving a character fighting, gathering, crafting or travelling while unattended; or distributing rule sets meant for any of that.
Writing your own client is fine. Using one to play unattended is not. Our own app deliberately has no repeating timers, no scripting and no counters, but that is a design choice, not the rule. The rule is this section, and it applies equally to a terminal client you wrote yourself.
Why it matters: an unattended client competes with people who are actually playing: for materials, for ground in timed events, for places in rankings. It changes what those things are worth for everyone else.
You keep ownership of what you write: messages, board posts, character descriptions and names. By posting it in the game you give us permission to store, display and transmit it so the game can work, and to keep it in backups.
Anything you send to another player or a channel is stored so it can be delivered and read, and staff can see it when investigating a report. Do not put anything in the game that you would mind staff reading.
We can remove content that breaks these Terms. We do not have to read everything, and we do not promise to catch everything.
Characters, items, gold, cards and everything else in the game are part of the game, not things you own. They have no real-money value, they cannot be sold for real money, and buying or selling them outside the game is not allowed.
This is not a technicality about who owns a sword. It is what keeps the economy worth playing.
The game is free to play and the app is free to download. There is an optional supporter subscription, and it is not tied to any client. It works the same over telnet, over SSH, or in the app.
Nothing you buy makes your character stronger. Not gear, not stats, not favour, not experience. What is sold is named and specific: cosmetics; account services such as character slots and name changes; convenience that does not touch power, such as vault space and garden plots; the supporter subscription; and our books and digital publications.
Nothing sold is randomised. No crates, no mystery bundles, no card packs. You always know exactly what you are buying before you pay.
Our apps are licensed, not sold, to you. Apps obtained through the App Store are licensed under Apple's Standard Licensed Application End User License Agreement (the "Apple EULA"), together with these Terms. If there is a conflict between these Terms and the Apple EULA regarding your licence to a licensed app on Apple platforms, the Apple EULA governs to the extent of that conflict. Apple is not responsible for the apps or their content.
Staff can warn, mute, suspend and ban, and can reverse anything gained by breaking these Terms. We aim to be proportionate and to explain ourselves, and you can appeal a decision by contacting support.
Closing your account does not clear an enforcement record. Otherwise deleting an account would be a way to shed a ban.
This is a living world: we will add things, change things, retune balance, and occasionally take things away. Characters, items and systems may change or be removed as part of that. We will give notice of significant changes where we reasonably can.
We may also suspend or stop the service. If we ever shut the game down for good, we will give as much notice as we reasonably can and stop selling anything that could not be used in the time remaining.
The game, the website, their content, and the Auldmere and Novara names and logos are owned by Novara Consulting Group, LLC or its licensors and are protected by law. We grant you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to use them for their intended purpose; all other rights are reserved.
The Auldmere Chronicles is built on Atlas MUD (1990s) and in the MordorMUD tradition, reforged.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, the website, the game and the apps are provided "as is" and "as available," without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or free from loss of in-game progress.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, Novara Consulting Group, LLC and its affiliates will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for any loss arising from your use of, or inability to use, the website, the game or the apps.
We may update these Terms. When we make material changes we will update the effective date above and give notice in the game where appropriate. Continuing to play after changes take effect means you accept them.
These Terms are governed by the laws of the United States and the state in which Novara Consulting Group, LLC is organized, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. Nothing here removes consumer rights you have under the law of the country you live in.
Questions about these Terms? Email support@novaracg.com, or use the support page.
The Auldmere Chronicles is a product of Novara Consulting Group, LLC.
