◂ Warning, Strike, & Ban Policy ▸

Rise of the Clans’s moderation team uses a warning, strike, and ban system to regulate roleplayer conduct and behavior. All conduct-related reprimands by the moderator team once thoroughly discussed and explained are considered final, and non-negotiable.

A warning is a formal and official notification given by the mod team to a member to inform them that instances of rulebreaking have been occurring, an explanation of how the rules were broken, and repeated offenses will result in earning a strike. Warnings differ from strikes, in that they are not permanent records on a roleplayer’s conduct throughout their time in the roleplay. A member may receive multiple warnings across their time within Rise of the Clans: receiving a warning will not penalize their membership status within the group.

A strike is an official mark on a roleplayer’s record issued by the moderator team that permanently stays there the entire time the roleplayer is a part of Rise of the Clans. Once a member has three strikes, they will be banned from the group and subsequently removed. A strike can be given to a member at any time as deemed appropriate by the moderator team. Strikes are typically given after a roleplayer has repeatedly either ignored warnings given by the moderator team, or depending on the severity of the infraction, a strike can be given without prior warning issued. A strike is considered final when issued by the moderator team, and cannot be rescinded throughout the roleplayer’s time within the group.

A ban from the group results in immediate removal, and depending on the reasoning, may be permanent. You and your characters will be removed from the group entirely, and the moderator team will make plot decisions accordingly and as necessary to preserve the entire integrity of the roleplay as they see fit. Bans are a final decision by the moderator team, and cannot be renegotiated or rescinded. The moderator team may also ban a user as they deem necessary, regardless of strikes the user may have.

◂ Zero-Tolerance Policy ▸

We are a roleplay that welcomes any roleplayer of any background, as well as all lgbtq+ identities: as a result, we have a zero-tolerance policy on any discussion or participation in bigotry in any manner whatsoever. Anyone who purposefully engages in homophobia, transphobia, fetishization of lgbtq+ identities, racism, sexism, antisemitism, ableism, and all other forms of bigotry and harassment, either in character or out of character, will be removed and banned from the group immediately. You will not be permitted to join the group again. We thank you for understanding.

◂ General Behavior Rules ▸

1. Swearing is allowed in moderation, but excessive swearing is not allowed in or out of character. Please be mindful of your language and subject matter within a minor-friendly group!

2. While swearing is allowed, in accordance with our zero-tolerance policy, usage of all slurs is not allowed in any context, including reclaimed. Intentional usage of a slur may result in an immediate ban per our zero-tolerance policy.

3. Treat every member of Rise of the Clans with dignity, kindness, and respect: we’re all here to have a good time! While respectful disagreements in discussion are allowed, please try to keep aggressive arguments and rude remarks to one another to a minimum.

4. If a current topic occurring within Rise of the Clans is making you personally uncomfortable, please reach out to the moderator team and the mod team will immediately halt and change the subject. This can be requested at any time at any members’ discretion & privacy! Within the Discord, you may also send the emoji “:xclan:” three times in a row to change a conversation’s subject. If/when someone sends this, the conversation topic must immediately be changed, without question or complaint. Failure to do so will result in reprimand from the moderation team. Using this emoji as a joke will not be tolerated and will result in reprimand from the moderation team.

5. Blacklisted topics: due to members’ triggers at request, some words / topics can be blacklisted from the group in its entirety and censored accordingly with the Discord bot. Please reach out to the moderator team to further discuss accommodations! While the moderator team will never formally share this blacklist censorship list publicly due to the amount of slurs & overall content present, any questions regarding censorship by our bot or questions regarding which these topics are can be disclosed via ticket.

6. Purposefully making another member uncomfortable, bullying, and harassment will not be tolerated, and will result in immediate consequences from our conduct system.

7. Some members of Rise of the Clans are not native english speakers: please have patience with one another and ask each other to clarify intent to reach a mutual understanding, rather than assuming another roleplayer’s intentions and taking things personally.

8. No-Gossiping Policy: Rise of the Clans maintains a “No Gossiping” policy: current roleplayers are not allowed to speak about former/current members, former/current roleplay groups, or any other outside entity in any sort of negative context, including venting. Personal disputes and drama with other specific groups/individuals may not be brought into Rise of the Clans: rumors, insults, and other bad-mouthing will not be tolerated.

9. In accordance with our zero-tolerance policy, Rise of the Clans does not tolerate any sort of abuse or abusers whatsoever. Instances of this occurring within our outside of the roleplay will have you banned from the group immediately. If you’d like to reach out via ticket to have an abuser banned from the group privately and quietly, even before they are an official member, please reach out via ticket and the moderator team will discuss from there.

10. If you ever have any concerns, disputes, or issues with another roleplayer, please open a ticket through the official discord server directly with the moderator team to inform and discuss the situation. The moderator team cannot resolve disputes or issues publicly within ooc channels, nor through personal DMs: please open a ticket within the discord server, or note the dA page, ASAP to have us assist you!

11. DO NOT DM any specific member of the Moderator team, or message in any unrelated ooc channel within the Discord server, regarding any issues/concerns/requests/plot approval/questions you may have with Rise of the Clans: please utilize the official discord server bot’s ticket system and open a ticket, so the entire moderator team can have the full context simultaneously. Moderator DMs should never be considered as official group correspondence: only correspondence through tickets and within the discord servers will be treated and considered as official.

12. No political / real life topics / debate discussions: We are a roleplay group that welcomes marginalized individuals of all walks of life, and host spaces where all members are publicly present with one another to communicate and mingle both in character and out of character. With the inclusion of marginalized individuals comes the understanding that there are nuanced topics, aspects of life, and otherwise personal situations that can be heavily upsetting to discuss for all involved. We are a minor-friendly group that does not provide the space for the nuance and time necessary in these types of discussions and/or debates. As a result, topics related to debates, real life political events (i.e. laws recently passed, election results, etc.), government or politically related programs (i.e. voting, public disability programs, etc.), and discussions/debates of economic systems (i.e. capitalism, social welfare, socialism, etc.) will be kept entirely out of this roleplay. This is not because the moderator team does not believe that these topics should never be discussed ever, nor are they not important enough to recognize. Rather, these are incredibly important discussions that deserve the respect and time provided by a fair discussion platform that is highly moderated. We cannot provide this type of setting, because we unfortunately do not have the capacity as a private RP group and moderator team to host such a conversation. As a result, we please ask these conversations be taken elsewhere, entirely out of respect.

✸ ROLEPLAYING & CHARACTER PLOT RULES ✸

◂ General Roleplaying Rules ▸

1. Please review and refamiliarize yourself with this group’s content / trigger warnings and banned content before engaging in roleplaying/creating character canon. This section serves as a guideline for what is and is not permitted within roleplay / character canon.

2. All triggering / mature-themed content present in any canon made by you, the roleplayer, MUST be properly censored and properly labeled with warnings. Examples of this content are roleplay posts, character histories and bios, ooc headcanoning & character discussion, etc. There is no such thing as providing too many warnings or censors: we encourage doing so to help foster a supportive and minor-friendly environment. 

3. Characters will never be injured, severely punished in-character (i.e. exile, removal of rank), or killed without full consent from you, the roleplayer, prior. Your character will never be majorly harmed or killed without your explicit permission, nor may your character majorly harm or kill another character without the roleplayer’s explicit permission. This does not mean that characters will not face consequences for their actions, however: please see Rule 4 in General Roleplay Rules.

4. Your characters’ in-character actions will have consequences: if you choose to have your character break the rules, cause violence/harm, act horrible and mean to others, defy authority, etc. then you accept that your character may face in-character (IC) consequences, such as punishment from IC authority, retaliation from other characters, insults, injuries, illness, even death. Any actions/decisions/plots that will result in a major consequence such as an injury, severe IC authority punishment (i.e. exile from the Clans, imprisonment, etc.), death, etc. will be clarified by the moderator team as a potential for occurring to the roleplayer, as well as likelihood of this consequence occurring (i.e. “Your character has a chance to die from this action taken, if you choose” vs. “your character faces certain death, if you choose to partake in this action”). If you as the roleplayer are not comfortable with the potential IC consequences as decided by the moderator team, you are always more than welcome to choose to not have your character participate in the action or plot to result in the clarified consequences, and modify your decision accordingly. There will always be a chance given to back out!

5. Please do not “God-mode” your characters: your character winning every single battle they enter with no injuries whatsoever is impossible and will not happen, and your character cannot preemptively know information not yet made directly available to them. For example, a warrior in ValleyClan would not know that a skirmish broke out at the WoodClan / RockClan border among the two Clans, unless they were somehow directly informed by the related Clan or specific characters involved, such as at a Gathering, or encountering a Clan’s border patrol. Another example is a newborn kit would not be able to kill a full grown adult fox: that is simply impossible and not feasible given the age, size, and other related aspects of both animals involved. Plots must be realistic in feasibility and IC knowledge available to the character at the time, and will be subject to IC consequences based on scale, actions taken, etc.

6. We are considered an english-literate roleplay level: your roleplay posts in official roleplay channels or otherwise must contain at least four complete sentences, or have enough content to form a small paragraph. While there are exceptions to this post length rule, unless otherwise specified, any formal roleplaying that takes place must contain this minimum length.

7. Roleplays are not necessarily automatically considered canon when they occur. For a roleplay to be considered canon to the characters involved:

   1. The roleplay must take place in the official Rise of the Clans discord, in the appropriate designated RP channels

   2. If the roleplay occurred outside of the official server, it must be submitted as a compiled RP log (i.e. denoting which writers were involved, each post is distinct and the character for said post is defined, and a wordcount is provided for all RPers involved) and accepted into the group.

8. In Character =/= Out of Character: There will be times that your character will be insulted, slighted, or worse by another roleplayer’s character. Taking this as a personal attack or a personal slight towards you, the roleplayer, is not allowed: leave the IC drama inside the IC content. You also may not retaliate to OOC situations IC: instances of this occurring will result in reprimand from the moderator team. In addition to this, roleplayers cannot negatively comment/speak disparagingly OOC on another roleplayer’s IC decisions. While discussions, personal opinions, or even respectful and courteous disagreements may take place over IC events OOC, harassment/bullying/insulting/otherwise poor behavior over content that happens IC in OOC channels/spaces will not be tolerated. If you feel this has happened to you, please reach out to the moderator team immediately, and the moderator team will respond ASAP to stop the behavior. All types of self-insert characters (i.e. "fursona", "warrior au sona", "sona", etc.) are not allowed in this roleplay, to keep IC and OOC feelings separate.

9. All roleplayers involved within a plot must be both comfortable and actively consenting to the parameters, aspects, and consequences of a plot to continue participating in said plot. If a roleplayer learns new information regarding a plot they are currently participating in that was not directly clarified or communicated to them prior, and the new information makes them uncomfortable with the subject matter / plot direction involved, they may request the moderator team intervene to perform retcons, removals, or adjustments as necessary to make all roleplayers comfortable with the plot once more. If the moderator team cannot come to a resolution that works for all roleplayers involved, the roleplayer made uncomfortable will always be allowed to back out of participation within the plot, and the moderator team will perform retcons as necessary.

10. Only adult-aged characters are allowed to enter formal intimate relationships with one another, and the age gap between the two characters must be appropriate. This includes but is not necessarily limited to flings, dating, mateship, polyamory, accidental litters, etc. While apprentices are permitted to develop juvenile crushes on one another, this may not go any further than “butterflies in the stomach” feelings, and no official mateship or relationships otherwise can be written for any apprentice-aged characters. Kits under no circumstances may have crushes, interests, mates or anything else otherwise: they are far too young.

◂ Character Plot Rules ▸

1. Minor personal plots: Plots that only involve your character(s), and/or consenting roleplayers, that will not directly affect a large scale of the roleplay (i.e. a large group of unrelated cats, an entire Clan, multiple Clans, etc.), does not require a purchase to initiate (i.e. leaving and joining another Clan, a forbidden relationship, etc.), and/or will not result in major injuries or a character death, can be initiated at the discretion of the roleplayer(s) without any moderator notification or approval. Examples of these types of plots are including but not limited to:

   1. Within-Clan territory border/hunting patrols 

   2. Training sessions between a mentor and apprentice 

   3. Conversations at the border with cats from different Clans

   4. Dates/fun outings and activities for warriors throughout their Clan’s territory

   5. Apprentices traversing the Clan's territory, with or without an adult warrior to accompany.

   6. Kits leaving camp with high rank approval IC and adult supervision.

   7. Skirmishes/sparring between Clanmates that result in minor injuries (note: inter-Clan fighting can still result in IC punishment from high ranks in said Clan, at the high ranks’ discretion)

   8. Minor/major but non-life threatening injuries/illness in general

   9. Visiting the medicine den to address an illness/injury

   10. Having a litter with two Clanborn parents from the same Clan

   11. Traversing neutral territory shared between Clans

   12. Verbal disagreements/arguments/insults/non-physical confrontations between two different Clan cats at a Gathering, provided that the subject causing conflict does not affect a large scale of the roleplay. To put this in perspective, a cat from StreamClan could tell a ValleyClan warrior that they are a terrible hunter, and this would be considered a small scale. If a StreamClan warrior accused a ValleyClan cat of being a murderer completely unprompted and out of nowhere, this would be considered large scale, and would need prior moderator approval.

   13. Border crossing/skirmishes/battles that result in minor/major but non-life threatening injuries

   14. Leaving Clan territory briefly, to visit unclaimed territory

   15. A murder plot for your own submitted NPC. REQUIRES ALL NECESSARY PURCHASES ARE MADE PRIOR, DIRECT NOTIFICATION OF ANY AUTHORITY FIGURES FOR THE MURDERING CHARACTER, AND CONFIRMATION OF A CONSEQUENCE FROM THE HIGH RANK FOR THE MURDERER. For example, a Clan character's RPer would need to inform their character Clan's leader RPer OOC, that they wish for this plot to happen. When the high rank's RPer confirms the resulting consequence, the RPer may proceed accordingly, if there are no shop purchases necessary for the consequence. Some consequences, however, may result in needing shop purchases, such as if your character is exiled from the Clans. If this is the case, you will need to purchase all necessary character limitations prior, before initiating this plot. If you wish for a consequence to have an interactive RP event, please reach out to the mod team via ticket to request this! All requirements must be met, otherwise, your plot will be retconned.

2. Major personal plots: Plots that involve your character(s) that will directly affect a large scale of the roleplay (i.e. their entire Clan, multiple Clans, completely unrelated warriors, etc.), require a purchase from the official discord server’s shop, will result in major injuries/death, and majorly break IC codes/laws MUST be approved by the moderator team prior to initiating. Examples of these types of plots are:

   1. Border crossing/skirmishes/battles that result in life-threatening injuries/death

   2. Leaving one’s own territory to trespass in another’s territory, or leaving Clan territory for an extended period of time, resulting in major injury/death/grievous infractions of the warrior code

   3. Raids/attacks on other Clans

   4. An apprentice leaving their Clan’s camp and territory despite their mentor, or authority, directly and explicitely instructing them otherwise

   5. Kits leaving camp without permission from high ranks and accompaniment of an adult-aged cat

   6. Attacking a fellow Clanmate/another character that results in a life-threatening major injury/death

   7. Serious confrontations/arguments/skirmishes/physical fights between different Clan cats at a Gathering

   8. As a healer, having a litter

   9. Any plots that result in death of your own/another playable character

   10. ANYTHING to do with forbidden relationships and the resulting consequences

   11. Visiting the meteor pool or Minerva the Oracle as a non-high rank

   12. Creating a character that is the offspring of a forbidden relationship between two NPCs

   13. Leaving the Clans / Switching Clans

3. Minor injuries/illnesses are defined as any sort of injury/illness that will completely heal/recover within a maximum of several weeks IRL time, will not result in any major scarring, and/or result in permanent health conditions throughout the rest of the character’s life. Examples include shallow scratches, joint sprains, the common cold, etc.

4. Major injuries/illnesses are defined as any sort of injury/illness that will take over a month IRL time to heal/recover, completely incapacitates the character, have indications that can be life-threatening, results in major scarring, and/or resulting in permanent health conditions for the rest of the character’s life. Examples include critical point wounds (such as the neck or a major artery), permanent injury to a limb, losing an eye, sickness that will leave a character “bedridden” and requiring constant treatment, etc. Major injuries can have a range of severity, depending on the situation for how they are received.

✶ How to Gain Approval for a Personal Character Plot ✶

1. Open a ticket in the official discord server with the moderator team to submit your plot request.

2. Provide a summary of your request: are you looking to make a moderator-approved purchase? Do you wish to give your character a major injury? Please explain your request here, and provide the when, how, where, why, and who along with this.

3. From here, the moderator team will discuss feasibility of this plot occurring with overall roleplay plot, lore, characters, etc. The moderator team may reach out to ask clarifying questions at this stage.

4. Once every aspect of this plot has been given to the moderator team and discussed, the moderator team will:

   1. Approve this personal plot happening, to be initiated by the roleplayer 

   2. Approve the requested plot as a groupwide roleplay event to be moderated by the moderator team, allowing for outside character participation

   3. Ask for changes/tweaks to the requested plot, for feasibility / synthesis with the entire ongoing plot for the roleplay 

   4. Deny the plot requested 

When a plot is denied, or changes are requested, the moderator team will always provide specific reasoning and explanation to these decisions, for full transparency. 

5. If your personal plot is approved, you, the roleplayer, will generally be given a timeline to run the personal plot. Some personal plots may be approved as “timeline sensitive”, meaning they must be initiated within a specific time frame in order to occur within canon. Others may be given a more general range for initiation, at the roleplayer’s discretion: this is handled on a case by case basis.

✸ ARTWORK & MEDIA RULES ✸

1. Outside work is allowed within the group but only with proper credit. Any media that you have license to use may be used in this roleplay. That means commissioned work is okay, as well as using lineart with open usage rights as defined by the artist. Rise of the Clans also offers F2U bases to create your character. Any bases used must be given proper credit to the creator, which can be found in the file name and description. If using a F2U base, you may not remove the signature of the artist if one is present. These bases may not be used for profit or personal usage outside of Rise of the Clans, they must only be used for RotC content only.

2. No stealing or tracing artwork. Using another's work as your own is plagiarism, and illegal. Rise of the Clans does not tolerate such behavior, and will result in an immediate, permanent ban.

3. AI usage for art is not permitted. It is entirely unethical to use AI generation for your artwork, as AI algorithms use artists' works without their permission to "learn" how to generate images. As a result, the usage of AI in any form is banned.

4. Beginners are strongly encouraged to try drawing. While there is no pressure, the best way to learn something is to try, try, and try again! We feature spaces for beginners to receive feedback, tips, and advice from more experienced artists to learn how to draw. Don't be shy, we all started from somewhere!