Forum Rules & Guidelines

[ADMIN]

OOC Rules

1. Be respectful to others.
   
2. Prejudice in any form, including but not limited to (racism, sexism, homophobia, etc.), will not be tolerated.
3. Keep content, usernames, and profile pics SFW.
4. Constructive feedback and discussion on all aspects of the site are always welcome. Complaints should not be made unless accompanied by alternative proposals. All feedback and discussion should respect this Code of Conduct.
5. Abusive, threatening, discriminatory, or prejudicial behavior of any form is expressly forbidden and will be met with immediate expulsion from the site. Intentionally vexatious, obstructive, malicious, hostile, aggressive, or insulting behavior is not acceptable.
6. Only one account per person.
7. Activity checks will be held 4 times a year.
8. Staff reserve the right to change these rules at any time, within reason.

Character Rules

1. Characters must be realistic and follow the conventions of the Warrior Cats universe. No cats with wings, blue hair, or rainbow eyes. Normal coat and eye colors only.
2. Character names must also follow the convention of the warrior cats books (ex. Cloudtail). Kittypets, rogues, and loners can have human names.
3. Character histories must be realistic, and the characters' features/personality must reflect their history. Similarly, characters must have reasonable personality traits. No super villain Batman Jokers and no super-perfect Mary-Sues!
4. Characters with severe mental health conditions, ex. schizophrenia or characters with severe developmental delays (low-functioning autism) are not admissible. This is to prevent the misrepresentation of these conditions and avoid perpetuating harmful stereotypes.
5. You cannot join a clan as a queen or as a kit, except in the case of adopted kits. Litters will be randomly generated by staff unless the parents buy exceptions from the site store.
6. LGBTQ+ and Gender Queer characters are accepted and welcome on this site.
7. Characters are expected to age three moons every season. Characters are considered senior warriors after 50 moons and elderly after 80 moons. The average warrior character will pass away before their 100th moon, with leaders and medicine cats living until their 120th moon because of their connection to StarClan. Extra moons can be purchased with the max purchasable being 12 extra moons. 
8. Members are only permitted to create 1-2 NPC bios related to a single character at a time. Members are able to list more but those characters will not officially exist unless adopted.
9. NPC clan cats can not equal more than half the total cats that are active, in the event it occurs NPC characters will be used as fodder by staff
10. Characters are allowed and encouaged to have detailed histories, that fits their character's age, even if that includes them being written to possibly be a high ranking character. However it is not permitted for the characters to be written to only ever exist as Leaderstar or Medicineleaf. Creative characters opposed to cookie-cutter. 

RP Rules

1. 100 word minimum on all posts.
2. Please use proper grammar and spelling, no chatspeak or leetspeak.
3. No god-modding, power-playing, or meta-gaming.
4. All posts need to be kept PG-13. No overly graphic violence or gore or ‘mating’.
5. We have an ‘every thread counts’ system to encourage posting and provide some realism to the world.
6. It is strongly encouraged that members take advantage of the mini-profile plugin that allows for unique character pictures to be displayed on posts.

Time Rules 

1. Cascadian Stars works with a timeline meaning there will be specific events added to a site canon timeline. These events will have a canon date (ex: Leafbare, Year 1) and a real life date (January 3rd, 2022), when a specific event has been recorded on the timeline, threads taking place after the real life date can reference the event and the event can have an influence on the content of the roleplay. Threads that are added to the timeline are large site events such as fights, gatherings, medicine cat meetings, exiles, wars; events that have a lasting impact on the site. Outside of these events all time is fluid, within the confines of the active season. 
2. Season will run for about three months at a time, with characters aging up at the start of the next season. Players are responsible for aging up their characters. Seasonal updates will be provided at the start of the new season. 
3. Players may request that a personal event be added to the timeline through our discord staff request channel.

Event Rules

1. Gatherings are played on a 'Gathering Board' which has a single thread for leader players and allows for players of invited characters to interact before and after the leader's announcements in their own threads that is separate from the leader's thread. The gathering board will open and remain for thirty days or till the end of the season, which ever comes first. The posting order for the leader thread changes each season and in the event a leader player can not post, the deputy player is expected to take their place. Leader players are expected to pick players to join them in the gathering; about 8 invited cats per Clan. Active characters should be the first invited to the gathering with NPC character filling any gaps.  
2. Medicine Cat Meetings are a single thread that is started by the same Clan that started the Gathering. 
3. Large site events will be posted as they happen and may have specific rules that bypass other rules. 

[ADMIN]

High Ranking Guidelines

1. Each person can have two high ranks, but may not hold them in the same clan or same role.                                                                                                                                                  1A: Priority of high ranks will go to members who have not played a high rank character 
2. High-ranking members are not automatically staff members but may also be staff members. Becoming a leader will not make someone staff.
3. Auditions will close on the original deadline presented UNLESS there are no applicants, in which case the deadline may be extended.
4. Leaders will choose deputies through auditions.
5. MCs will choose MCAs through auditions.
6. High-rank characters must make 4 posts a month and the seasonal meeting for their rank type. Deputies will be expected to lead training sessions for that clan’s apprentices, and this serves as their seasonal post.
7. If you go over your monthly post requirement, you can choose to bank up to 2 posts for a later month.
8. In the event a high-rank player is unable to keep up the activity, it is up to the player and staff team to decide on a reasonable justification for why that character is no longer that high-rank. This does not automatically mean death for the character, other suggestions include; maiming, a StarClan quest, or a change in motivation.
   

Rank Specific Guidelines


Leader

A player may decide to have a leader give up a life to benefit the Clan, a type of sacrifice. StarClan will then use that spiritual energy to subvert an incoming threat or other disasters.

Deputy

Deputies are expected to aid mentors in training their apprentices and are strongly encouraged to hold seasonal training threads to ensure apprentices will gain the skills to be true warriors in their Clan. 

Medicine Cats

Are not permitted to have mates or kits. Medicine Cats are pious beings and are meant to put all their love, passion, and dedication to their craft and their faith. In the event a medicine cat does sway from this rule, it is up to the leader player (if they are found out) and StarClan’s influence is to determine what will happen to the medicine cat and their clan, within reason, this is a collaborative effort. Medicine cats function under the rule that StarClan sees and knows all. This is not meant to discourage relationships but to instead create interesting consequences.

Elders/Senior Warriors/Warriors/Queens/Kits

There are no rank-specific expectations for these roles, aside from canon expectations.

Mentors/Apprentices

Apprentices, with the help of their mentors and other warriors, are expected to finish two of the four possible thread types and have been active characters for two seasons. Apprentices typically become warriors around their 14th moon. Still, specific events can happen that would give an apprentice their warrior name early, which can be discussed with the Clan leader and apprentice player. The four thread types are: Diplomacy; character attended a gathering or medicine cat meeting, Battle and Hunting or Event specific; if an apprentice joins a site event and plays till the end can count it to their two thread requirement.

[ADMIN]

Official Relationships & Litters

To encourage character interactions, only official relationships are permitted to have litters. An official relationship is made after two characters (or more in the case of poly-ships) have had two threads reaching 5 posts or more. Those threads do not have to be a declaration of love or romantic in general; they can be implied through interactions in threads. When threads are finished, notify a staff member with proof of thread, staff will only verify that two different threads have taken place with the intended relationship. Staff will then add them to the list of official relationships, and they are permitted to have kits.

There will be shop items to skip this process and shop items for ‘one-night stand’ litters. Official relationships are only required for those wishing their characters to have offspring, relationships come and go, and it would be impossible to track them, thus making official relationships optional to those uninterested in offspring. It should be noted that half-clan relationships are permitted, but their relationship, if found out, is subject to the law of Clan leaders. The same rule applies to medicine cat relationships that result in offspring; they are subject to Clan leader and StarClan authority.

To determine if a relationship is half-clan, where the cat was born is taken into account. A SalmonClan-born cat who partners with a former SalmonClan cat turned loner is not considered a half-clan relationship because they share a birth clan. While in the context of writing, it would be less than ideal, they are not subjected to penalties applied to half-clan litters.

*This is personal squick of admin Hellion; apprentice rank characters are not permitted to have kits, regardless of the cats physical ability. If you wish for your character to be a young parent, please be respectful and wait till they are offical warriors.

Litter Process

Litters are randomly generated through dice rolls with specific season modifiers applied. This method is observed via the below tables. To add an element of realism, players may request a litter once every two weeks, with a simple even = yes and odd = no, to determine if the kit-baring character is expecting. Shop items are available to avoid this initial roll.

After a litter is born, a kit-bearer can not be pregnant again until two seasons have passed; this cooldown time can be sped up with shop-specific items.


Seasonal Modifiers are applied to the roll.
Newleaf = +1
Greenleaf = 0
Leaf-fall = -1
Leafbare = -2

Age Modifiers
Applied only to the kit-bearer’s health roll.
60+ moons -1

StarClan’s Punishment: Because StarClan values the Clans remaining separate, they apply a -1 to all half-clan litters to be added to seasonal modifiers.

StarClan’s Wrath: Because StarClan values the chaste and pious nature of their medicine cats, they apply a -2 to all medicine can litter to be added to seasonal modifiers.

Table 1 - Litters Size [modified roll]
D6 roll result
1 - One Kit
2 - Two Kits
3 - Three Kits
4 - Four Kits
5 - Five Kits *
6 - Six Kits *

* = if rolled, the kit-bearer’s health is decreased down one, and litter sizes exceeding 6 will decrease kit-bearer health by two and kit’s health by one

Assigned at birth [unmodified roll]
D6 roll
1 - Intersex, Male presenting character is sterile
2 - Female
3 - Male
4 - Female
5 - Male
6 - Intersex, female-presenting character is sterile


Kit Bearer’s Health [modified]
D6 roll
1 - Death’s Door, Kit-bearer is likely unable to recover fully and likely never have kits again, the final say is given to the player, but any future litters are given automatic -3 to all modified rolls
2 - Weak, Kit-bearer had a rough go; they will need extra support from medicine cat and their partner.
3 - Did alright. Not easy kitting or overly complicated; they may be extra tired and sleep heavily for the following few days.
4 - Spry; Kit-bearer had an easy kitting by most standards and is recovering well.
5 - Natural Kit Bearer; an easy kitting without any complication; they seem capable of anything.
6 - Re-roll


Kit Health [modified] rolled for each kit once litter size is determined
D6
1 - Stillborn, avoidable only with shop item, this kit did not survive the kitting.
2 - Weak, may have been born sickly, or had difficulty through the process. Needs supervision by a trained medicine cat
3 - They made it; not overly healthy or even sickly, neutral kit health, may have difficulty nursing
4 - Flying Colors; this kit was born healthy and with no difficulty nursing
5 - A Blessing; this kit was born under perfect condition and had no difficulty orientating to life in the real world
6- re-roll

Kit Appearance [unmoded] is ultimately up to the player; this is just a suggestion
Relative appearance can be that character’s parents, sibling, cousin, etc., a relative in their family, meant only to imply how natural genetics occur. Staff will write a short description based on each roll
D6
1 - similar to the kit-bearer appearance
2 - similar to sire's appearance
3 - a blend of both parents
4 - similar to kit-bearer’s relative
5 - similar to sire’s relative
6 - a blend of all genetic parties.

Apply for a litter here!