Godmoding and Powerplaying

Godmoding is when you post what another character besides yours says, does or thinks. Here are some examples:

Elkclaw wrote:Elkclaw, the ThunderClan deputy glanced around the camp. He needed another cat for his hunting patrol. He saw Brackenberry lying lazily in the sun. She didn't have anything to do. Perfect! Elkclaw thought. He walked over to Brackenberry. "Would you like to join my hunting patrol?" he asked.
Brackenberry jumped up. "Of course!" she replied. "I could really stretch my legs!"

Stop! This is godmoding. Elkclaw's role player controls what Brackenberry says, and also that she jumps up. It would also be godmoding if the fact the Brackenberry was lying in the sun wasn't determined earlier by Brackenberry's role player. Let's try this again:

Elkclaw wrote:Elkclaw, the ThunderClan deputy glanced around the camp. He needed another cat for his hunting patrol. He saw Brackenberry lying lazily in the sun. She didn't have anything to do. Perfect! Elkclaw thought. He walked over to Brackenberry. "Would you like to join my hunting patrol?" he asked.

Brackenberry wrote:"Sure," Brackenberry meowed back, slowly getting up to stretch her legs. Just then, her stomach rumbled. "I think I better eat first," she told Elkclaw. "Is that all right?"

Fixed! Elkclaw doesn't control what Brackenberry does, and Brackenberry doesn't control what Elkclaw does.

Here is another example, commonly found in Character Sheets:

Swanfeather wrote: Swanfeather is kind and caring. Everyone loves to be around her

Stop! This is godmoding because it says that everyone loves to be around Swanfeather and that they think she is kind and caring. This controls what all the cats think, and some cats might not like being around her or think she is caring. Let's fix it.

Swanfeather wrote:Swanfeather cares for every cat and tries to be kind to them, no matter what.

Fixed! This only says that Swanfeather cares for the cats and tries to be kind to them. It doesn't say that she is kind and caring, so it is possible that although she triesto be kind, some cats might think she isn't. When describing personalities, it is good to give examples of how that cat fits the personality trait, but not actually say that they have that type of personality. For example: goes on extra hunting patrols—hardworking, eager to help out—helpful, enjoys teasing others—mean).

Powerplaying is when your character is unrealistically stronger or more powerful and/or has an unfair advantage over the other character in a role play. This usually happens in a fight scene. For example:

Deerpaw wrote:Deerpaw let out a faint growl. Vultureclaw, the ShadowClan deputy was going down. He hadn't even scratched her, or if she had, she didn't notice it! She just kept scratching, clawing, and hitting Vultureclaw, blow-after-blow. He didn't have any time to respond with his own attacks.

Stop! This is powerplaying. It is unrealistic that an apprentice would beat a full-grown warrior in battle, especially a deputy. Deerpaw also doesn't give Vultureclaw any time to respond to her attacks. If he did indeed have a chance to scratch her, then it also appears that she was unaffected by his attacks.

Deerpaw wrote:Deerpaw let out a groan. Why did she ever attack Vultureclaw? He was the ShadowClan deputy? She felt the throbbing pain from his latest blow and swiped her paw at him in hopes to give him a deep scratch.

Fixed! This is more realistic. Deerpaw is affected by Vultureclaw's latest attack, and gives a realistic attack back to him. She also gives him time to respond.