Never mod : moding is the term applied to anything that could be considered physically impossible. If you're a short athletic female Human security officer you're never going to be able to pick up an eight foot tall Klingon and hurl him across the room anymore than a six foot three 280lb male human security officer built like Sylvester Stallone is going to be able to outrun that same athletic female Security Officer. Moding also covers acts which could be considered impossible, e.g. you're trapped in a burning ship with no way to beam out and you step through an airlock into space to get back to your shuttle. These situations and others like them are the kind that will earn you death notices, which a GM issues when something impossible is attempted that would endanger the life of the Character in question. Three death notices result in the GM being granted the power to kill that Character and it is then the CO's prerogative to allow the player to return to the ship with another character or to remove them permanently from the roster.

Never Use A God Character : We all know it's fun to be superhuman, ultra powered and completely untouchable, but let's face it, if you create a character like that no one is going to want to play with you, least of all the GM. I've seen it a number of times in STF and it's caused most of us grief at some point or other. If you aren't aware of the canon rules concerning Starfleet Officers then you should always feel free to ask any of the hundred or so experts in the club. Playing a genetically engineered super soldier Security Officer will not earn you any respect and will likely get you a flood of emails informing you that your character is impractical because Canon established in Deep Space Nine specifically states that genetically engineered beings were not permitted to enter Starfleet in any capacity, the sole exception being Doctor Julian Bashir, and only then because his father took the fall for committing the crime, and yes, it is a crime within the Federation. That is just one example, but I have seen some more extreme cases, even going so far as to create X-Men characters, arguing that there was a crossover book that gave them the right to play a Wolverine character. If you want to play that sort of character and your CO permits is then there's nothing that any of us can do to stop you short of complaining to the FComm, but bear in mind that no one will want to play with you if you do.

Never Play Immortal Characters : It's fun and it gives you the satisfaction of knowing that you can walk the streets of an alien world and blast the species to hell, but again, no one will want to play with you. Remember that you must keep your characters reasonable and within canon rules otherwise you just sap the fun for others involved. Fortunately I've never actually seen an Immortal character in STF, and I fervently hope that I never do.

Never Auto-Action : This is the act of posting something and assigning a response to another character. This is one of *the* biggest no-no's in STF. You never *ever* play the actions of another Character unless they are under your direct control (i.e. NE's). If you do this in combat you will likely earn the wrath of your GM and several rather lengthy email complaints from the players involved. If you post an attack that involves you, for example firing your phaser, you do not post whether the phaser hits it's intended target, you merely *attempt* to hit it. It's up to the owner of the Character you are firing at that will determine whether or not the phaser hits. If it is considered unlikely that you would miss then nine times out of ten the beam will strike, though occasionally, if you are fighting a PC Character they will argue this and it becomes the purview of the GM to judge the posts based on detail, quality and realism. Try to think of it like this, how would you feel If you were in a fight and your opponent posted that he blew a hole in your chest, killing you instantly?