Secrets of the Clans

This is a helpful guide on how to make your first character, and how to unlock more characters over time! Please keep in mind that you are only allowed access to ONE CLAN during your time here at SOTC. During your first 2 weeks you have the option to change clans, but after that time is up, you are part of your assigned clan for good! 

 

If you are uncomfortable in your clan at any point after the 2 week period has expired please reach out to lead staff so we can discuss options. We want you to be happy and comfortable here in SOTC!

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Creating your Character

• Upon joining SOTC you start with two character slots, one of which can be used with an OC token!

  • All further characters must be adoptables from the allegiances, character raffles run by staff, or newborn kits approved by staff until you have gained another OC token.

• New OC tokens can be gained through becoming staff, donating to a charity we are supporting, or completing our monthly Activity checks!

• Designs must have realistic colors and semi-realistic patterns. We have a #genetics channel you can visit to ask for advice about a design you have in mind!

• Currently we have a few banned physical and personality traits; and a few case by case traits. Please take a look at this list before considering your character's traits.

  • Not allowed: Munchkin cats, hairless cats, Wildcats (currently closed until further notice), non-wildcats/purebreds/hybrids being above 14 inches tall at the shoulder / below 6 inches at the shoulder, sparkle cats [ex: neon green/pink/etc]. We also do not allow villain characters, nor the manipulative trait. Please be sure to check our content rating doc here to see what we do and do not allow for backstories!​

  • ​Case by case: ocular albinism (albinistic eyes on a non-albino cat), albino cats

  • Via Charity donations only: Purebreds/wildcat hybrids

• CURRENTLY NO APPRENTICES OR KITS ARE ALLOWED TO BE MADE AS AN OC OR ADOPT UNLESS STATED BY STAFF; the only exceptions may be donation slots for a pure bred cat. This is a case by case basis so please discuss with your staff and be respectful if it is not possible at the time of your request.

• When creating a new character, they cannot be older than 200 moons. (This does not apply for adopts!)

• Available Skills Based on Age when Created

  • ​Characters may have nerfed skill levels up to one 'level rank' lower. Example- An elder may have nerfed stats similar to that of a mid aged warrior. But nothing lower unless specifically discussed with your staff team.​

    • Young apprentices (6-17) can have 1 Beginner, 4 Rookie, & 2 Decent Skills

    • Young warriors (18 - 30) can have 3 Decent, 3 Average, & 1 Great Skills

    • Mid-aged Warriors (31 - 60) can have 4 Average, 2 Great, & 1 Excellent Skills

    • Senior warriors - Elders (61+) can have 3 Great, 3 Excellent, & 1 Mastered Skills

    • Kits (0 - 5) must have all beginner Skill except 1 based your Clan, and 1 randomly rolled by Staff. (You cannot make a kit OC. They have to be adopted.)

    • All characters are Beginner in Healing unless otherwise stated by Staff.
       

Available Character Backgrounds

Your character’s background is one of the most important pieces of starting to know who they are. When you’re opening up the character application, you’re listed with a multitude of different options. Allow me to go over those options in-depth! 

 

• Clanborn: This one’s pretty self-explanatory. Your character was born into one of the four clans! You do not need permission to make your character clanborn unless the clan you’d like them to be born from is different from the clan you’re currently in.

• Loner: Your character was born outside the clans without being in a specified group! 

• Streets: Your character was born in the bustle of a twoleg-populated area. The streets are known for being a tough upbringing for a cat. 

• Kittypet: Your character was born a pet to humans! Note: having a kittypet origin requires some extra attention to our history! In Leafbare Year 2 of the server, any surrounding twolegs abandoned the area due to natural disaster. You can check the history sheet to see if your cat is old enough to have belonged to one of those twolegs. If not, you may have to work around that! Ex: long-distance travel to the clans/abandoned. 

• Graveyard: Your character was born in the nearby twoleg graveyard! The Graveyard origins have unique lore to them! There’s a collection of graveyard-born cats in ThunderClan who have preserved their culture. (It’s highly recommended to either reach out to @topazolite or @legend0091 when making one of these characters so you can be involved with the rest of the Graveyard cats!) If you’d like your cat to be born in the graveyard but not follow the cultures above, that’s completely fine! 

• Farmland: Your character was born on a farm!

• Wildcat: Wildcats can only be created VIA our server rewards, you can see more information on this in our #server-boost-rewards channel.

• Foundling: Your character was found on the territory as a kitten/young cat and brought into the Clans. 

• Other: None of the specified origins fit with what you have in mind. 

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General Character Creation Rules

• It is okay for cats to have traits or symptoms of some disorders/neurodivergencies, but please do not label them with a diagnosis IRP, as the Healers would not know those words. We do not allow the medication of mentally ill cats by Healer or otherwise.
  While you may have representation of disorders that you personally do not have within your characters, it must be respectful. We suggest that you do research into the disorder you're thinking of before committing to it, and your clan's staff will check in with you upon submission to ask about how it will be portrayed. If it is found a player is playing their mentally ill/neurodivergent character in a disrespectful way staff will intervene, and may result in a warning depending on the situation.

• When making your character, please check the age guide in the Life Events Guide when determining the appropriate age range of your character.

• Cats can have physical disabilities if - and only if - the player is able to play the cat in a respectful way. Upon submission of a cat with a physical disability, your clan's staff will check in with you to ask how it will be portrayed. If it is found a player is playing their disabled character in a disrespectful way staff will intervene, and may result in a warning depending on the situation.

• Once your character has been approved please begin their character sheet, a staff member should open one for you shortly. But if they haven't within 24 hours please ping them in your staff request channel to request it being made or reopened.

• Please note our setting requires that cats names reflect their location- so names that would be feasible in a European setting would be required. 

  • Additionally, Twolegs have been gone for some time so recent kittypet or outsiders will have spent a lot of time on their own- or traveled very far to get to the clans. If you are looking to play an outsider keep this in mind! Outsider names are a bit more lax; depending on the clan something may be able to be worked out regarding more out there names an outsider might have. This is a case by case basis so please be sure to discuss with your clan staff if you are unsure!​

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Full Bios

• Full bios are required for each character. All of a players characters must be on the same sheet. To find links to a sheet template you can use please check your clans Full bios channel. This template includes some SOTC exclusive linearts to use to make your SOTC kitty!

• Upon making a new character, a member of your staff team will open a private thread with you, or unarchive your old one to discuss your characters information. The template will let you know what sections are required, and answer any questions you have about filling them out.

• You will have 2 weeks from the time your character is accepted to complete the required sections of your character sheet! You may make your own sheet design but 

• All of your SOTC cats must be on one sheet/document.

• Required sections include:

  • Name, Age, Gender/pronouns. Make sure this lines up with the information on the allegiances.

  • Clan and clan rank

  • An image, whether drawn or a photo of a real cat.

    • Please do not use drawn art you do not have permission to use; free to use photos are also preferred. 

    • Picrews are completely acceptable and if you need a link to any, we have many pinned in our #art-chat, as well as many links to free-to-use cat art bases to make your own designs.

  • An EXP tracker of some sort.​ Staff is not responsible for keeping up with player's EXP.

  • Personality as shown on the allegiances and a slightly more detailed explanation of how this personality will be written.​

  • Background, at least three sentences per age bracket they line up with. (Kit, Apprentices, Young warrior, Warrior, Senior warrior, Elder)

    • Please be sure to add all relevant information, and make sure it lines up with what we allow in server. ​

      • Your character may not: Be intended to become or be a villain, have committed crimes such as murder or domestic abuse of any kind, have been a previous council member of any clan unless adopting an irp character who has been. [More clarification may be added to this section as time goes on.]​

  • If the character is directly related to others be sure that any history is also discussed with the player of the connected characters.

  • Blessings if applicable. Most new characters will not have blessings unless they are an HR.

  • Height, please be sure to adhere to our height limitations per player.

• If you have not completed your sheet within the timeframe your staff member has given you at the start of the thread, you will not be able to RP as that character until their required information completed and approved by the staff member assisting you. Though you may still post in the daily channels of your group until they are completed.

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Character slots and OC tokens: What do they mean?

Character slots are the slots in which you can adopt a character from your clanmates. You start out with two character slots, and one OC token. OC tokens are a way for us to track how many original characters a player can make. Original characters can make 3 adoptables, and are a 'fresh slate' of sorts in the clan. While adoptables come into the clan with preestablished connections and can not make adoptables of their own.

To check your slot and OC token status is, please click here.

Character Slots: 
Character slots - maximum total character count. This counts how many of any type of character you can have.

• You will gain a new character slot every two competed ACs.
• ❗Before you add a new character to the RP (both OCs and adopts are included in this), you must have gotten all of your other characters' sheets completed and approved. This includes applying for a kitten from a new litter.

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OC Tokens

Oc tokens - how many characters maximum can be ocs at one time. For the time being once you hit 12 completed ACs then the amount of OC tokens you can get is at it's max. Unless gained through other means such as donating to a charity of our choice, or other methods that may come about in server.

• After completing 2 activity checks you will have a total of 2 OC tokens.

• After completing 6 activity checks you will have a total of 3 OC tokens.

• After that, you'll gain an additional OC token every 6 activity checks.​​

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Making Adoptables & Adopting Characters

• Each OC can have up to 3 adoptables made for them. These adoptables must be related in some way to the OC. Ex: Familial, a friend from outside the clans, or a previous mentor.

• You can not make an adopt in another clan!

• If you have any questions when creating an adoptable, ping your clan’s Staff in your clan staff requests channel.

• Fill out the character application as you did for your OC, adding ADOPT- before your username.

• To claim an Adoptable, chat with their creator in your clan ooc to learn about the character you want to adopt. Ask the person who made the character if you can adopt them!

• Once you have both confirmed you are adopting said character, go to the #staff-requests channel and ping your clan mods informing them of the cat you are adopting!

• You cannot adopt your own adoptable.

• If you plan on dropping an adoptable you must reach out to the adopt holder first and let them know!