Great work Xaz and I believe you gave all the "credit" that was needed in your gracious post earlier on gorums.  Your rules are stated in the most simplified fashion I have seen to date and I hope you have success with them.  I have also included the rules for Imperial Ar for comparison which were not these 8 even if some similarity exists.  Tarnwald also had a great nine as well that I thought was the best set of rules I had seen until reading yours.  I think the collective wisdom of role-players in SL Gor are really the source of these rules but it takes an open minded sim owner to be willing to trust in the maturity of most of the players who participate in the genre.

Hermits Roost adheres ~very~ closely to the books with regards to roles and setting. That does not mean we are here to reenact them to the letter, instead original storylines that fit within John Norman's setting are more than welcome.


Allowed Avatars:

Hermits Roost only allows adult human avatars, no children, no animals.
As the setting is based on the books of Gor NO ARMED FEMALES OTHER THAN PANTHER GIRLS are allowed. The obvious exception to this being free women armed with daggers or hairpins.
No talunas nor mambas, neither would be this far north. Non-compliance with this rule will be treated as griefing.

Observers:

Both Gorean and non-Gorean observers are allowed when wearing the tag below. We only ask that you refrain from taking part in roleplay and direct any questions you have via IMs so as not to interrupt the immersion of those roleplayers present.


Roleplay Rules:

The most important rule with regards to roleplay is the following: Everyone here is an adult and everyone can choose who they do or do not play with or how they play. If there is a personal dispute, we ask that you take it up with the other party. If you cannot find common ground, ignore each other. If you cannot work things out like adults we will treat this as griefing.

It is our hope that you will find some players here with whom you can enjoy a scene or story but understand that this will not always be the case. This playground is to be shared, there is room enough for all if we simply choose to respect each others differences in roleplay style or philosophy. We expect you to walk away if you are not enjoying yourself. If you do enjoy yourself, in character alliances and deals that are mutually beneficial will probably develop, but that is considered roleplay, not management.

We accept no unGorean limits. It is your choice to FTB something you are not comfortable with, of course, but the consequences -will- be roleplayed and you -will- have to deal with the consequences of your actions.

Roleplay Etiquette:

- Take turns to post, respect the other player.

- Be patient, good ideas take time to create.

- Learn how to win and how to lose, equally. No one can be such a perfect character, not even in this realm.

- Learn by active role playing, not reading profiles, tags or using information you have of them OOCly.

- If you thought-emote, give us also something that we can observe and react to.

- Nothing is more fantastic than picking up on hints of your fellow player, be alert to their posts instead of only focussing on impressing them well.

- Know and celebrate the difference between in character behaviour and out of character.

- Make your character memorable by their actions and personality. Not by choosing the most outlandish role you can possibly think of.


Slaves:

There is no such thing as an 'unowned' slave. Slave roleplayers are more than welcome to visit the sim, feel free to come with an NPC or simply say your owner is on the boat. Both will be accepted. Also, any slave roleplayers wishing to join the sim who currently don't have an owner may use one of the NPCs detailed in the 'Hermits Roost Background and NPCs' notecard as their 'owner'.


Panther Girls:

Panther girls are more than welcome to come roleplay in the sim. However, there are a few caveats. Not every panther girl was Verna, just as not every free man was Marlenus. They were the exception rather than the rule. There is a wealth of roleplay open to you, trades, theft, etc. Though we ask that it is done with a sense of realism. There will be an extremely dim view taken of panther girls with 'boyfriends' in the village, or those that pepper every single sentence or emote with 'male'.


Free people's interaction with panther girls:

Be realistic. Do not make a beeline for their camp. Panther bands moved around in the forests, and although such a thing is impossible in Second Life due to the limitations of the sims, we would hope that players would respect this and adapt their roleplay accordingly.


Slave theft:

Please avoid this. It is implausible at best, especially in such a small community where everybody knows everyone else's face.


Meter:

Meters are optional in Hermits Roost, and both parties must agree upon their use. If one party prefers not to use the meter then roleplayed combat will ~always~ take precedence.
The only accepted meter is the GM meter. A dispenser can be found in the skybox arrival point. We ask that everyone be courteous and use weapons that are within specifications. This is roleplay, the idea here is to build stories. Everyone here can play and enjoy. There is no need to "win" as everyone has the ability to choose if they will go with their captor, or if they die, or even if they wear the meter.Therefore using obvious cheat weapons are pointless.


Griefers:

Griefers will face a permanent ban for the first offence. There will be no appeal nor presenting of their case. The players on the sim are here to enjoy roleplay. Not to moderate. Those that have been given the ability to ban are those who the sim owner trusts. Their decisions are as final as that of the sim owner.

Rules of Conduct:

In an effort to maintain the Gorean environment that this sim provides for its players, upon entry, you agree to abide by these brief and simple rules.

1. As this is an adult rated sim, all players will be at least 18 years of age. All avatars will be adult and human in appearance. Please dress your avatar appropriately for the setting. Female fighters are not recognized here, except as collar fodder. 

2. A strong separation and understanding of OOC (Out-of-Character) and IC (In-Character) is required at all times. Please reserve OOC comments for IMs, as appropriate.

3. Consent in death and permanent physical alteration of a character is required. However, please be advised that in-character actions will garner appropriate in-character consequences. Any injuries resulting in what would otherwise be considered severe enough to cause death will land a character in the infirmary for three days. Marked assassins are welcome to carry out kills via RP. However, the above rules of consent apply.

4. All matters of combat will be settled via turn-based RP, as the sim is not metered. RP dice are available for use, should both players agree on such. Players are required to take appropriate damage based upon hits issued.  OOC communication via IM for clarification of RP is encouraged, should a dispute arise. As a last resort, players directly involved in a disputed scene may request for an official RP Mediator to resolve the dispute. The RP Mediator's word is final. Only RP Mediators are permitted to invalidate RP.

5. Alts are permitted, provided they are used responsibly to enhance RP. NPCs (Non-player characters) are also permitted, within reason, provided they are used to enhance a scene. Any NPCs used in direct combat must be in a ratio of 1:1 against actual player characters. Combat NPCs must be explicitly present in RP from the beginning of a scene. 

6. OOC visitors are permitted, provided they do not disrupt RP, wear a visitor tag and dress appropriately for Gor. All comments and questions from visitors should be limited to IMs. 

Always remember that we are all here to create RP and have fun!

Sim administration reserves the right to remove anyone who is disruptive to RP or to members of the sim. This includes not only griefing, but excessive complaints, inflammatory behavior in group chat, and anything else that might disrupt the otherwise mature and immersive RP environment provided. 

[Best rule ever:
A strong separation and understanding of OOC (Out-of-Character) and IC (In-Character) is required at all times.

Second best rule:
Consent in death and permanent physical alteration of a character is required (I'm considering changing this to say physical or psychological alteration, though. However, please be advised that in-character actions will garner appropriate in-character consequences.

Third best:
OOC communication via IM for clarification of RP is encouraged, should a dispute arise. As a last resort, players directly involved in a disputed scene may request for an official RP Mediator to resolve the dispute. The RP Mediator's word is final. Only RP Mediators are permitted to invalidate RP.

And the supreme rule of the universe:
Sim administration reserves the right to remove anyone who is disruptive to RP or to members of the sim. This includes not only griefing, but excessive complaints, inflammatory behavior in group chat, and anything else that might disrupt the otherwise mature and immersive RP environment provided.

Basically, I prefer short rules. I prefer no meters and turn-based RP combat. I don't like micromanagement as I assume everyone is an adult and if someone is not, then it becomes obvious quickly and they are spoken to or simply asked to leave. I am extremely big on the same set of rules for anyone and anything that is more of an IC thing and not an OOC rule should not be included in the rules. Example: Slaves kneeling. I also don't like limits on 3 day capture and death. I'm all for perma stuff but players should always try to work together to end up with a storyline that is win-win.

I don't even like excessive moderation (you would have never guessed that would you?) as I think that so many people rely on others to sort out even the simplest RP misunderstandings that can be settled between the players themselves. I only ban as a last resort and I am willing to hear a person out if they are banned and they want to try again. I'm fair but if it happens more than once, it's a done deal.

Lol. Kait. You crack me up. If you read that forum post you will see they exact verbiage used is from my post. I don't mind anyone using them. I'm actually super happy that they are beig used. I just wanted to put it out there that they are derived directly from my rules of Syedra, which I based on what Mel and I wrote on Ar.

Let me go ahead and paste the Syedra rules.

Yes, I think its high time.  I used to subscribe to the ultra-nitpicky rules, but I've come to realize that you just need to boil it down.  The new Nidhogr Fjord has a very mature approach to their sim rules and they have even dispensed with the labels.  They are as by the book as any I believe, but it seems they have recognized the stigma that the titles "BtB" and "GE" have garnered and are, instead, allowing people to make up their own minds.  They are simply a Gorean RP sim.  Everyone should do themselves a favor and give them a try.

Oh, Xaz, I applaud you for being so bold with your simplification.  The only thing I think I might have included would be a clause that states "We reserve the right to eject/ban anyone for any reason, so don't give us a reason."

Aye we are still experimenting with it and gathering feedback. Had to make some minor adjustments here and there and reminders now and then that there are "limited bow"-rules in place.

Only had one occassion so far on which a group of visiting hostiles did not seem to have read the sim rules at all.

Besides that it's all positive feedback so far.

I must say that I -did- have to setup some things for it to work though. Such as scripting a bow-armory and archer indicators. Without these two things I would imagine things will become very disorganized and messy. That said though... the bow-limiting rules, to be described and understood in full detail, even if they are straight-forward, are more text than the 8 sim rules posted in the OP.