>I read my shapeshifter should have a Scales of the Dragon
>spell. How do I obtain it?

It should be on your spell list, circa level 35.

>Is there a comprehensive list of shapeshifter forms somewhere,
>or is that all left to be discovered IC?

There probably is, but since you don't get to pick your forms I don't think it's that big a deal whether you have it or not. Other people probably will disagree with me.

>Is cross-character play allowed at all? Can I drop items in a
>donation pit for another of my characters?

Good question; no. If you have multiple characters, it's expected that they won't know about each other or affect each others' lives in any way.

>Does training Constitution reset the 3 death per Con loss
>counter?

I'm 90% sure it does not.

>How does the extra exp per level work? Elves is 500 if I
>remember, but when a character requires tens of thousands of
>exp to rank at higher levels, it seems minor. I'm sure there's
>more to it I don't understand...

Probably, someone helpful can dig up a link to a post somewhere with the math worked out, but here's the gist of it:

A 0 xp penalty character needs something like 1500 XP to reach level 2. Every level thereafter requires a higher multiple of that base number to level.

Assuming my numbers are right, an elf base-penalty class (e.g. elf warrior) would need 2000 XP for level 2.

When the 0 penalty character needs 9000 XP to get a level, maybe the 500 penalty needs 12000 XP.

The main, but not only, reason XP penalties are important is because your PK range is based on your XP total. A human base (0 penalty) character like a human necromancer will tend to have a PK range full of people several levels below him; A storm paladin (900 penalty) will tend to have a PK range full of people several levels above him.

>Think that's it for now, though new questions surface every
>time I login.

Keep on asking them as you have them.