character rules

Character Creation & Applications 

Every member of Sunset Plains' first character must be a kit between the ages of 0 and 4 moons old. We do this to give you time to get used to the stat system and have your character form relationships early on. Your first character can be brought into the group via new member openings or litter tryouts and you will not need to pay for your first character. First characters cannot come in with bans as they must be purchased in the shop. The exception is winning a litter kit whose ban has already been purchased by the parent(s). The only exception to having a first character who is not a kit would be to win a tryout for an older character.

Members are allowed to submit new characters once their most recent character has been in the group for at least 10 moons. This cooldown period decreases with your number of characters. Making a ticket to discuss when your character will be able to come in is crucial. You can be given a date in advance but your entry date can be taken if you are not paid in full at least a moon in advance. Below is a chart for how long you must wait between characters. There is no limit to the number of characters you may have in the group as long as they are paid for and used!
2nd character: 10 moons
3rd-5th characters: 8 moons
6th+ characters: 6 moons

Anyone can try out for litter kits at any time since they are time-sensitive! When you win a litter kit, you must purchase the Kit Slot before the next moon.

Kit Slots are required for characters ages 0-5 moons. Cat Slots are required for characters 6-79 moons. The Senior Slot is available for characters 80+ moons. The max age for cats is 120 moons. When your character reaches 120 moons, they will die of old age unless you planned another death for them. If your character dies of max age, your next kit slot is free.

The only characters that can live past 120 moons are non-cats and leaders. Leaders will be given additional moons equal to 10 times the number of lives they have left at 120. So, if a leader has 3 lives left at 120, they will receive 30 more moons to live for a total of 150. They will be forced to die then and if they lose lives in the meantime, it does not change the max age they can live to though they can die their final death before the max.
Non-cat characters are given their own special max ages. The current non-cat max ages are listed below.
Patas Monkey: 220 moons
Serval: 140 moons

Senior Slot characters come with more restrictions. They are exempt from having litters and if they are 100 moons or older, their INN, SPD, and STR stats max at 60.

Members are not allowed to make clan character NPCs. NPCs that exist within the confines of a backstory are allowed to be talked about but not roleplayed. Plots involving characters meeting these non-clan NPCs must be run by staff. Rogue kits will not be joining with their parent(s) unless someone is playing the parent(s). NPCs mentioned in character backstories of rogue-born cats should not have clan names as there are no other clans in the area. Refer to History for the reason.

A Toyhou.se account is required for membership. If you do not have one, we can find an invite code for you or someone can host your character on their account!  Staff is also happy to host your character on SpiderHorse, where we host the NPCs.
Characters that do not align with Toyhou.se's TOS will not be permitted regardless of them being uploaded to the website prior. This is for your protection in the event your character ends up removed from the site.

Joining steps can be found on the How to Join page!
Remember to credit when someone else did any part of your application (art, template, etc.). Credit is not required for a Sunset Plains-specific asset. You might be asked to change things and if so your application will not be accepted until the changes have been made.

Not all characters submitted at one time will be accepted due to limited spots. Aggression towards other members or staff post-selection will make us more hesitant to let you in and may even result in a ban based on severity.

Character Personalities

All personality types are valid for Sunset Plains but we ask that characters are kept realistic.

Kits act like toddlers to young children. Apprentices act like children to teenagers to even young adults if they take longer to rank up. Kits must identify with their assigned sex at birth, but can change it later on. However, characters may question their gender identity while still kits.

Keep darkness age-appropriate for the character. Plot lines of pain and suffering are common in this group but all characters deserve to have an arc.

Please refer to this chart from International Cat Care for the approximate human age of your character: chart here
We equate 15 moons with being an 18 year old human. Most cats in Sunset Plains will not live beyond 120 moons (10 years) as outlined in the above section therefore they can show signs of old age from ~80 moons or older.

When roleplaying with others, remember the culture of the clan and your character's place in the hierarchy. Kits should respect all cats older than them but are welcome to disobey on occasion or have moody days just like human children. Everyone should respect their leader and have a basic level of respect for their clanmates but it's natural for characters to dislike or even hate each other. 

If your character is planning on getting into an altercation, verbal or physical, with another character, please make a ticket so we can address the severity and pick an appropriate punishment if it gets that far! If your character does something against the rules such as sneaking out alone underage or misbehaving, expect some sort of in character punishment.

Character Designs

We allow leniency with genetics and do not require complete accuracy, but character designs are expected to be realistic enough. They cannot have unnatural coloration, but may have markings that are not found in nature. Check the design-related bans in the shop to be certain of what bans and accessories your character can have.

All bans must be paid for before the character enters the group, which means that new members cannot join with a ban on their first character (with the exception of litter tryouts where the parent(s) paid for the ban already). Some bans, like scars and accessories, can be added to a character after either being earned through an event or paid for in the shop. Height bans can be added onto a character until they reach adulthood (defined as 15 moons). Body paint, purchasable in the bone shop, must be approved by staff.

Chimera cats that have one or more of the following traits require a ban: different length fur in areas, a 50/50 spilt down the body of markings, large patches of vastly different fur taking up 40% or more of the body. If you want to ask if we think your character needs to ban, ask in #help or make a ticket!
We also limit the number of solid black cats in Sunset Plains due to the intense environment of the savannah they live in. The likelihood of a solid black cat having a good time in the Tanzanian sun is very slim.

You are able to redesign a character one time only. The redesign must be approved by staff and must be similar enough to the original design that it is recognizable as the same character. Additionally, a redesign may not introduce new birth bans and any injury bans added on must be paid for. Litter kits cannot be redesigned unless you have approval from the parent(s).

You may be asked to make changes regarding these rules. If you do not make these changes, your character will not be allowed into the group.

Naming Your Character

Sunset Plains is located in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. A cat from SunClan would not know what snow or dolphins are, and therefore a cat in SunClan or who hails from the area near SunClan's territory would not be named after either of these things. Characters who join as apprentice or adults may have non-clan names-- which is more likely for adults than apprentices-- but will have the option to take on a clan name.

Names must be age-appropriate for the group. Some will be denied due to cats not knowing the names of some items, species, places, etc.

Our name reserve is available to members and visitors alike. Members are allowed two names at a time with an additional space for an upcoming character that has already been paid for. Visitors are only allowed one name at a time. If a visitor was previously a member and has not left the server, they will be allowed two names as well. But, visitors will be messaged via thread every three months to confirm they would like to keep their name, at this time, any past members with two names in the reserve will have to choose one of the names to keep. Lack of response to the thread will result in the loss of the reserved name. Litters have a section on the reserve as well. This name reserve can be found in the #name-reserve channel, which is also where you can ask to reserve names. Names reserved for a litter do not contribute to the names any members have. These names are added on the reserve through the litter's ticket and do not need to be requested in the chat.
Additionally, check out the Name Index for a history of approved names!

OOC, IC, and IC Topics

You are expected to keep OOC and IC separate; do not use your characters to argue or antagonize another member. Roleplay and drama should be kept separate. If you do not like another member, simply do not interact with them. If there are any problems that break the rules, make a ticket instead of using your characters for conflict. Additionally, you are allowed to have opinions on a character and their actions, but vocally and publicly expressing hatred toward that character will earn you a warning and, if it continues, a ban. Remember that a player and the character they play are separate entities and a player may not condone their characters' actions, meaning you do not need to antagonize somebody over the actions of a character.

You are expected to handle the IC events within the group with maturity. Some topics IC may be upsetting. If you want to include a potentially upsetting topic or event in your plot, you must make a ticket to okay it with staff. If you are told no, you are expected not to argue and if you continue anyway, you will be banned.

If you are uncomfortable with anything that seems too dark for a 16+ setting, please report it in a ticket so we can properly address the situation.

Gossips Channel

Gossips are small, in-character posts you can make in the #gossips chat! This chat is not meant for major roleplay; it is for daily go-ons, events, reactions to meetings, in-character actions related to dice rolls, and small interactions between characters.

Gossips are often used by staff to help gauge how active a member and/or character is, but this does not mean you need to use gossips daily or even often if they do not suit you, as we can pay attention to activity through other means as well.

Gossips are limited to 3 sentences each. Small dialogue may be exempt to this, but large walls of text are not allowed. Watch out for pesky run-on sentences! You are allowed to post multiple gossips at the same time as long as they are deemed plot important and therefore have limited time to be completed. Plot importance can be asked in #help or in a relevant ticket. You may be asked to delete or edit a gossip by a staff member.

Bones

Bones may be earned by submitting art and literature into the bone counter. Events, raffles, lotteries, etc may also reward bones. Bones cannot be transferred between members, but you are allowed to buy an item for another member as long as it is explicitly stated in your original purchase. You are not, however, allowed to buy character slots for another member. The only exception to this is during our Secret Santa event in December.

Two people may buy an item together as long as the amount of bones each person pays is agreed upon prior to purchase and approved by staff.

Litters, Kits, & Kin

Families of rogues may join SunClan without a try-out. They must enter the group at the same time and must have a ticket made for them. Up to five cats at a time are allowed to join from the same family, but larger groups of characters may have to wait longer before they can join. All characters involved must be fully paid for before their entry date.

Rogue family members of characters may be permitted to join the clan at a later date. A ticket must be made and these characters must be played by players or yourself though. Please do not ask for NPC family members of your character to be added to the group, the answer will be no. However, in unique circumstances, staff may ask if you would like NPC family members added in which, of course, it would be allowed.

NPC mates can be requested and will be allowed in most cases. Though the wait time for them may be longer than preferable as we try to keep our NPC count to a reasonable number so it is always recommended to try to find a player character first!

Litters are done through try-outs. You must make a ticket for your litter and have the item purchased before your litter comes around. An admin will schedule your litter and provide you with a template to fill out for the try-outs, as well as approve the designs, names, and any related bans. A litter only requires one Leopard Orchid, which may be purchased independently or in a split payment between multiple members. A staff member will roll 1d5 for the amount of kits in the litter. You are allowed a single re-roll, but you are required to keep the second roll. All cats involved must be 20 moons or older and have their adult rank. It is preferred they are mates already as having kits outside of mateship is seen as being irresponsible. Of course, not all cats may think that way. Surrogates are also allowed, and must be included in the litter creation process. 

Certain bans, such as height bans, have a rate of passing to kits and the amount of kits with the bans will be rolled at the time the whole litter is rolled. If kits are rolled to have these bans passed by their parents, there is no need to purchase them for bones.

Your litter can only be scheduled after it is already paid for. After your litter is scheduled, you must have the try-out document finished by the week before the try-out is to start. Your litter will be rescheduled if the document is not done by this time.

Members may "auto-claim" a kit from a try-out. This means somebody is guaranteed to have that specific kit from the litter so long as all parties involved with the creation of the litter consent. The auto-claimed kit must be paid for and have their biography finished by the week before the try-out ends. Multiple kits from the same litter can be auto-claimed. If all kits are claimed, they are treated as rogue entries and given an entry date like a rogue character would be. 

Kits designed for a litter in Sunset Plains must stay in the group. If a litter kit winner leaves or gets banned, the character does not belong to them anymore unless provided permission by the designer and/or staff. This permission must be attained before the player's departure. Re-tryouts are permitted until the character reaches adulthood. Re-tryouts can happen if the previous try-out winner gives up the character, leaves, or is banned. These are treated as normal try-outs. Parents may also choose to turn the character into an NPC and/or allow them to die in a plot-related death.

Characters can adopt children provided the child character is at least 20 moons younger than the adult and the adult character has their full name. There is a small price to official adoption that will tie your family tree together. Characters that become stepparents through mateship do not need to buy adoptions for their stepchildren.