RULES

GENERAL

001. It is essential that OOC and IC be kept separate*. Your out-of-character posting (I.E., you speaking personally to other members, as yourself) should be reserved to the chat or in the designated out-of-character boards. In-character (your writing as one of your characters) posts will be formatted role-play posts, reflect the character you are portraying and should be kept to the designated IC boards.

* Of course, you are free to make OOC notes within an IC post.

002. Bullying or harassment of any kind WILL NOT be tolerated out-of-character (this includes all OOC boards as well as the chat). If you are found abusing this rule and harassing a fellow member, you will receive a warning from staff. Repeat offenders are subject to be banned if the behavior continues. If you are having a problem with another member, please let one of our staff members know as soon as possible! We want this to be a safe, friendly environment for everyone.

003. If your OOC thread (or IC) discusses trigger-sensitive topics, you are required to list them in the thread title. For IC, it is also optional to list the possible triggers at the beginning of your first post.

004. Staff reserves the right to delete a thread/post if it is deemed inappropriate or offensive. If you think something a fellow member has posted doesn’t sound right, please let staff know; we try to keep an eye on all the goings-on around the forum, but we aren’t omniscient and would very much appreciate a heads-up!

005. You are not under any circumstances to post pictures or links of pornographic photos or websites, viruses, drug use, spam, pyramid schemes, fraud, other illegal activities or the promotion of racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, or any other discriminatory hate. Once again, Warrior's Edge is a safe place for all. If anyone is found violating this rule, they will be banned without question.

006. In OOC, including the chat and other OOC boards, please keep your cursing to a minimum. It's not a bad thing in small doses, but it can be offensive to other members; please keep this in mind and be courteous!

007. We encourage everyone to interact with well… everyone! We’re all here under the same role-play umbrella, and we love to see you all mingling and plotting with each other. If you see a new member, say hello! Warrior's Edge is a welcoming environment, and we want to keep it that way. Be inclusive! Plot with someone you’ve never plotted with before! Break that ice! You don’t have to love each other, but respect, politeness and friendliness is essential.

IN-CHARACTER

001. As it stands, we have a 75-word count minimum rule. This is subject to change, if deemed necessary.

002. Time is liquid on Warrior's Edge! Your character can be in multiple places at the same time, as well as multiple points in their timeline (but only within their current ranking, I.E. if they're a warrior, you cannot post them in a thread as an apprentice, unless you're finishing up a thread post-name change). Try not to go absolutely wild with this as it can get difficult to pinpoint what happened and when.

003. We ask that you have a basic grasp of proper grammar usage. While Warrior's Edge is a place for all skill levels be them beginner to advanced, we still request that your writing be comprehensible. Typos and small errors are completely understandable, but it will be addressed if it is a persistent and reoccurring thing. Please do not hesitate to reach out for help if you think your writing is lacking! Staff and even your fellow members can be good sounding boards for advice.

004. There will be no power-play or god-modding. Staff will be watching carefully for any instances, but if a member is displaying acts of power-play or god-modding and has not been dealt with, please report it to any of our staff. Power-play/god-modding is any action that involves you taking control of the other member’s character without their permission

005. We ask that you write your character in third-person, first/second person is difficult to follow and can lead to a loss of immersion. Both past/present tense is acceptable!

006. Once you start an IC thread, and more than two characters are joining, there posting order should be maintained and balanced between players. We suggest that open threads be kept to three or less to prevent stagnation, however, this is but a suggestion and you're more than welcome to have threads with large groups of cats should your plots demand it. The exception to this is Gatherings and Clan meetings, which would be too difficult to maintain a certain order.

007. We maintain a strict PG-13 environment, please keep this in mind especially with any graphic depictions of violence. In addition, there will not be any explicit sexual themes role-played here.

008. When role-playing a character that has suffered any kinds of abuse (be them physical or emotional), we ask that you be realistic about what happened/what would happen*, and that you be respectful about how you handle such a character.

* If staff has any concerns about an event that has happened to a character, particularly within Clan settings, we'll PM you privately to discuss it.

009. We will attempt to hold a monthly Gathering (and medicine cat half-moon meeting), though we will also postpone it if deemed necessary due to activity or plot reasons. The dates for these will be announced a week in advance and will also go on for a week, to give time for everyone to respond.

010. After the Gathering occurs, everyone is to age their character up one moon. In the event that we do not reach a gathering, the age-up will still happen at the beginning of the following month.

011. You do not have to adopt out kin or mates. You may NPC them within your own post or create NPC accounts for them, however those accounts would also have to go through the biography process. While we certainly encourage adopting out these kinds of characters, we have no restrictions on RPing with yourself.

012. For apprentices to become warriors, we ask that you make at least 3 threads with your apprentice character, 1 of which must be with their mentor. These threads do not have to be completed, but they do need to be substantial enough for warranting a warrior ceremony. Once this requirement has been met, and if you are ready, you can talk to your leader about your apprentice's naming ceremony. You can PM your leader for a warrior ceremony as early as 10 moons** should your apprentice meet the requirements, we offer this option in the event it is not possible for a time skip (ex. you have adopted out family members and not all of them agree to the age-up) but you are not required to have a warrior ceremony at that age. We do not automatically have ceremonies for apprentices at 12 moons in the event you wish your character to have a longer than average apprenticeship-- you must PM your leader regardless of age for their naming ceremony.

013. If you wish for your warrior to become a queen and have kits, you must either have 2 threads that do not have to be complete but are substantial enough for a relationship, or 1 long, complete thread with the father of the kits. We do not control the number of kits or their looks here at Warrior's Edge, we simply ask that you be reasonable. After you have finished these requirements, please let one of the staff members and the medicine cat (plus possible mca) know via PM that your character is pregnant. After two weeks of alerting the proper members, your queen may give birth to kits, however you may wait longer if you choose to do so. You do not have to RP out the birth if you don't want to. Kits are automatically aged up to 2 moons post birth. We then highly suggest you adopt out the kits to other members, but we have no qualms if you wish to NPC them yourself.

**As a general aside, while this rarely happens in the books, it is good to remember that a Warriors RP cannot function the same way the novels do. In a RP it is far more normal for a mentor-apprenticeship pairing to be changed, and for high ranks to shift. This goes for the age at which apprentices become warriors as well so no one has to wait half of the year for their apprentice to become a warrior. We know there are those of you out there that enjoy being as canon as possible, but we please ask that you understand some of our choices are to make the RP experience better for everyone. Thank you!

CHARACTER CREATION

001. WE OPERATE ON A ONE-CHARACTER-PER-ACCOUNT SYSTEM. Your IC accounts are separate from your main account, which will function as your OOC account (this should be the one you join as).

002. All profile applications for new characters should be posted from your main/OOC account. Until your profile has been approved, you may not create their corresponding IC account. Only once it has been approved by staff may the account be created.

003. Currently, we feature no limit on the amount of characters you create. However, if the staff notices a decline in activity, and you have over 10 characters, we are at liberty to have you prove that you are willing to keep them active, or, alternatively, ask you to retire some of them permanently or at least until you have the muse/time for them.

004. Each member has the opportunity to have 2 high-ranking characters at a time, though they cannot be in the same Clan nor be of the same rank*.

* The only exception to this is if you have a position with the ability to succeed its superior. I.E., you have a deputy and a leader, but then your deputy, through role-play progression or due to an inactive leader, succeeds their leader OR you have a medicine cat and a medicine cat apprentice, and your apprentice succeeds its mentor. The only other way you may have two of the same rank is if you have a plot in motion to permanently remove one cat from the position, however this must be discussed with all moderators beforehand.

005. In the approval process for a position beneath a higher position (I.E. deputy or medicine cat apprentice), the position above them (I.E. leader or medicine cat) will also be looking at the profile to ensure that the two are suitably matched. Sometimes the medicine cat apprentice position will be closed in the event the medicine cat does not wish to have an apprentice at the time.

006. The naming of characters should be at least semi-realistic and reflect the canon naming system (excluding loners, rogues and kitty-pets), this being the prefix/suffix format. We do allow the usage of clan prefixes and Moon- for prefixes, however, you may not use a clan prefix if the cat is in the same clan (ex. No Amber[awin AmberClan, but you can have a Stormpaw in AmberClan.) We do not allow Star- as a prefix, because if your cat became leader somehow... Starstar is a rather silly name. The usage of Silverpelt is also banned for a name, as it refers to the sky StarClan resides in.

007. Cats come in many different shapes, sizes and shades. As long as you keep your cat realistic (no unnatural colors, including their eyes), we are fairly lenient on what breeds you use!

008. Queer and MOGAI characters are permitted. This includes but is not limited to gay, lesbian, transgender, non-binary, intersex, et cetera.

009. While you are permitted to play characters with mental illnesses, we will not tolerate any ableism/sanism on the site. This includes discrimination against disabled/neurodivergent individuals, voluntary or involuntary, and we do not tolerate words like 'insane, psychopath, sociopath' et cetera. Additionally, unless you yourself are neurodivergent, we ask that you do not make neurodivergent characters (I.E. autistic characters).

010. The Clan cats, being feral, have no notion of humans and anything inherently human, this includes terminology used by them. When role-playing Clan cat characters or cats who have never interacted with them, there are words that should be avoided in your writing, if at all possible. 

Also the Clans, having their own religious system (StarClan, the Dark Forest), would have no concept of God, Heaven or Hell, so these terms should be avoided IC. If you have a loner, rogue or kitty-pet, then you are allowed to deviate from the belief in StarClan/the Dark Forest.

012. Kits will automatically be aged up to 2 moons after birth. Both kits and apprentices will be permitted one timeskip of two months at any point during their current timeline.  If they have adopted out family members, they must also agree to the timeskip to keep things consistent.

013. While we prefer cats' prefixes to refer to their pelt and their suffix to refer to looks or skills, we do allow names for other reasons, so long as you justify it within your biography. The moderators do reserve the right to question how well a name has been justified.

014. We're a little more lenient on duplicate names than most sites. Since we encourage kits and apprentices' accounts to be the future warrior name you would like for them, as long as the duplicate names are not in the same clan, we will allow it, provided their warrior names will obviously be different. We do not allow two of the same warrior name. (So, ex. say there's a Tigerpaw in AmberClan and a Tigerpaw in StormClan, that would be allowed, provided their account names are not tigerpaw and tigerpaw1 but rather Tigerclaw and Tigerheart, since we anticipate their suffixes changing. Tigerpaw and Tigerpaw both being in StormClan would not be allowed even if they anticipate having different suffixes.) If you do not have a warrior name for your kit/apprentice, please register them as the name you've applied with them.