In Paths Crossed, our litters have a step by step process done with the goal of giving parents the most control possible over their character's offspring while keeping new character opportunities fair and reasonable. Below is the outlined process for bringing a litter to life within the roleplay.
To apply for a litter, members should message a moderator detailing which character they want to have kits, who the other parent is, and any other specifications they have in terms of their litter, such as the number of kittens or timing of the litter itself. Litters can have one to four kittens, and the number of kittens can either be chosen or randomly rolled for, based on the preference of the parents.
Each clan is limited to one litter born a month, and months can be reserved for litters on a first come, first served basis. Approved litters can either request the soonest available month or request a specific month in advance if they have a preference for timing.
Once a litter is approved, all possible genetic combinations will be provided to the parents for their reference. Parents can either come to a moderator for personalized genetic results or they can refer to the Sparrow's Garden advanced coat calculator, if that is their preference. The latter option just needs a quick approval of the results from a moderator before being used for next steps.
Litters will be born within the first week of their assigned month. Once a litter is born, the parent(s)' roleplayers may post the kits for adoption in the adoption channel. It is up to the parents if they want to choose the names and designs for the kits, or leave them open ended for the adopters to choose based on the genetics provided and details given by the parents.
Members who have an available character spot and ability to apply within the clan (Members may have four characters total and join up to two clans) may apply for the kittens.
After a month of being available to apply, applications will be made anonymous and provided to the parents by the moderators, where the parents can choose the roleplayers for their character's kittens. Once these choices have been finalized, accepted members will be given character rights to their respective kits on the first moon of the kitten's life, where they may roleplay them going forward.
Due to the conflict of interest of the application process, we prefer members do not roleplay their own children. We also have this rule in place to encourage members to branch out with their character relations and engage with as many other members as possible.
While you must still apply for this litter as you would any other litter, please keep in mind that this will require more coordination with moderators and may be subject to other qualifiers that other litters may not be subjected to for the sake of the additional conflict that comes with a litter that results from a forbidden relationship. Please be understanding if delays, additional questions, or qualifiers for this litter are necessary.
That is totally fine. In the case of NPCs being surrogates or donors, it may be necessary to consult with members who have characters with close relations of that NPC before gaining moderator approval. If those close to the character are okay with that, NPC parents can be approved and moved forward in the litter process.
Off screen donors and surrogates are also fine. We would prefer there be a reasoning, even if just a throwaway line for how the litter came to be if just for motivation's sake, ("Examplepelt had a fling with a rogue"/"Exampleclaw wanted to be a single parent so they sought out a donor"/etc is suitable enough) but they will be treated as any other litter and go through the same litter application process as if there were two "on screen" parents.
Essentially, so long as your character will be responsible for a litter, it will need to be requested as a typical litter.
If your intention is to introduce a litter where you do not currently roleplay either of the parents, or an outsider must join the clan for the sake of the litter being roleplayed out, you must request it as a new character event rather than a litter.
In Paths Crossed, all NPCs that exist within a clan roster can be adopted by an interested player. If you, as a roleplayer, want to take control of an NPC all you need to do is speak to the members who roleplay characters that are closely related to that NPC (mate/direct family members) and gain their blessing. If that NPC, for any reason, does not have any close direct characters you can reach out to a moderator directly. If an NPC is slated to be used for an event for any reason, your request to take them over may be denied.
If you, a roleplayer of a closely related character to an NPC, would like to see that character be roleplayed, you can sponsor an adoption. This essentially means you will be able to write up a post for the adoptions channel that sells the character to other members to garner interest in their adoption. You can write up a blurb on their history/established personality, draw a reference for their design, and explain their relevance to your character. All applications received will have names removed, and you may pick blindly from them to choose their new roleplayer.
In the event a character does not receive any applications, you may choose the fate of that character (stay an NPC, slated to be killed, etc.)
We try to avoid too many NPCs existing within the server at once, sadly. NPCs are mainly reserved for characters that previously belonged to other roleplayers that now need to be retconned and handled, either by using them to our advantage in a future plot or finding them a new home.
This would be considered a new character event, a type two event.
That's totally fine! We don't always mesh with our characters. If you have had that character for less than 9 months, we ask you relinquish that character as an NPC to either be adopted out or used in a future event. The character can be retconned if you would like to remove personal touches from the character.
If you have had that character for more than 9 months, you may either kill that character as you would like or relinquish them as an NPC.
In either case, to fill that relinquished slot with another character, you must wait an additional three months.