HIGH POSITION RANKS

• You may only have ONE HP at a time, this rule is subject to change in the future but as the site is new we want to allow more people the chance to have a HP more easily.
  • Please note this ONLY counts for Leader/Deputy/Medicine Cat & Medicine Cat Apprentice as Council ranks are considered Semi-HPs and thus you may have as many of those as you earn with the exception of one in a clan where you play an actual HP.
  • The other exception to this rule is playing a HP in any of the nonclan groups (such as WarriorClan, the Rustclaws etc...) this restriction applies to the core five groups only.
• You must be active, please see the below section on Activity expectations for more details. We do keep tabs on general activity on a monthly basis (based on the site activity as a whole).
• You must openly and willingly communicate with your team. Vanishing without a word, ignoring DMs, not adding your voice to discussion are all things that may have you removed. If you need time, have things going on, want to take a break, just communicate it with your team!
• You must engage with the community, roleplaying and talking only to your circle of friends or select members is fine as a regular player but a HP should be focusing on the community as a whole as well!
• Each HP has their own IC and OOC jobs related to their position that must be maintained! Such as deputy being in charge of patrols and medicine cats keeping their clan healthy! Make sure to read the rank guides below for more information!

LEADER

A leader is a cat granted nine lives from StarClan (or another darker force) and they take the suffix of 'star' in their name. A Leader is in charge of guiding their clan and keeping things running, they delegate tasks and patrols to their deputy, they oversee all clan activity and make decisions relating to their ranks and their responses to issues as well as in regards to other clans. Leader's automatically visit StarClan/The Dark Forest after every death without the use of an item. In addition they may commune with StarClan so long as they make the journey to Highstones to do so.

There is no posting quota for becoming leader but you must maintain a steady level of activity and keep up with your clan. During prolonged breaks you must allow and delegate your deputy to take up tasks and keep the clan going during any absence. Activity is gauged on a month by month basis based on overall site/clan activity and you will be asked to pick it up should things begin to fall off. Just keep communication with your clan and the site as a whole and ensure things run smoothly! At the end of the day this is a hobby, if you feel you can't keep up there is no shame in stepping down and trying for leader again later!

EXPECTATIONS

• As leader you will keep your clan active and engaged with plots and events! You may reach out to staff for help and guidance as needed!
• You will be expected to be more active than the average member, we will gauge activity on a monthly basis depending on the site's activity as a whole and will give you nudges as needed.
• Promote and Demote the HPs of your clan as necessary, it's not fun to demote someone but for the roleplay to run smoothly it must be done. Demotions can be through IC or OOC reasons but please make sure to be cordial and polite when forced to do so for OOC reasons.
• Keep your Census up to date! At least once a month give it a decent cleaning as necessary.
• Hold meetings regularly! Kits need to be made apprentices, apprentices need to be named warriors, news must be shared etc... Hold them as often as you like, as many times as you need. Some leader's do once a month meetings of everything at once, some do one every two weeks etc...Figure out what works for you!
• Assign mentors to newly made apprentices or help reassign for an apprentice who lost theirs for whatever reason.
• Attend the Bi-Monthly Gathering, you must pick cats in your clan to attend, a max of 10 may be chosen (this does not include apprentices who may only go if their mentor brings them.)

DEPUTY

The deputy is the leader's right hand (erm, paw) cat! The deputy acts as second-in-command and runs the patrols for the clan as well as assists in overseeing apprentice training is going well. They step up when the leader is unable to perform their tasks and assist in keeping things running smoothly. A deputy will succeed the leader when the leader dies, steps down or goes missing.

EXPECTATIONS

• Assign patrols for your clan, how you do these and how frequently is up to you, but in-canon the borders for a clan are checked daily (obviously we aren't expecting you to do it every day, but find a time frame that works)
• Help in figuring out appropriate pairings for mentors and apprentices, as apprentice training is one of the deputy's duties you will help guide the leader in making the proper pairs.
• Assist the leader in Census upkeep.

MEDICINE CAT & MEDICINE CAT APPRENTICE

Utilizing the MEDICINE CAT HERB GUIDE you will act as healer and helper to your clanmates for all their wounds and woes. The clan medicine cats are not expected to attend to patrols and other duties like a normal warrior and instead will manage their own duties such as keeping their stock up and ensuring any patient is resting and receiving all the care they need. In addition to simple aiding cats, Medicine Cats share a special relationship with StarClan and can actively converse and have dreams with them as well as see them as they visit the mortal world. Medicine cats see all spirits, StarClan or not, and can commune with them as easily as they commune with a living cat without the use of a power.

You will be asked to pick your alignment, a medicine cat is granted powers from either StarClan or the Dark Forest, however a cat who believes in neither would go without the spiritual abilities of both as Purrgatory (the middle ground) does not offer anything to a medicine cat.

You will be given a single STARBIT (a staff/event specific currency) with which to buy your POWER from the shop. These do not count to your power cap as they are rank specific.
A StarClan Medicine cat may not have a power that is Dark Forest aligned.
Equally, a Dark Forest medicine cat may not have a StarClan aligned power.
Powers are tagged with which afterlife bestows them. Cats who are not aligned either way may have either power type.

EXPECTATIONS

• Gather herbs and tend to your clans health, injuries and illness are up to you to help mend and the clan relies on you to keep them alive and in tip top shape.
• Keep track of your current patients and let them know how long their injuries will take to heal based on your own judgement calls.
• Train an apprentice and ensure your clan will not be without a healer in the event you yourself become a patient or when your time has come.
• For Apprentices they must study under their mentor and strive to learn all they can of herbs and wounds.
• Read signs sent be StarClan and interpret dreams you and your leader may have.

COUNCIL (GUARD RANKS)

This rank is considered a SEMI-HP.
The enforcers of the clan, these cats are chosen specifically by the leader to serve as both advisers and act as eyes for the leader and deputy as they can not both be everywhere at once. Each clan's council has a unique name and also additional duties given to them based on said clan's needs. For example, WindClan may utilize the Gale Guard to help oversee tunneling projects so the leader and deputy may attend to other things. Council Ranks are ways to reward members for their helpfulness and presence in the clan but also must make sense IC for the leader to promote.

• Storm Guard - ThunderClan Council Rank
• Night Guard - ShadowClan Council Rank
• Sun Guard - SkyClan Council Rank
• Life Guard - RiverClan Council Rank
• Gale Guard - WindClan Council Rank

EXPECTATIONS

• Maintaining a steady activity and helping the leader and deputy run events and handle plots is your primary and only real duty.

ACTIVITY EXPECTATIONS

HP ACTIVITY EXPECTATIONS

The following dropdown lists all of monthly expectations of a sHPs when it comes to posting! This is based on previous month averages and holidays!

MONTHLY QUOTA LIST

January - 5 posts
February - 5 posts
March - 10 posts
April - 10 posts
May - 5 posts
June - 10 posts
July - 10 posts
August - 5 posts
September - 10 posts
October - 10 posts
November - 5 posts
December - 5 posts

• While having multiple characters is standard here, you must always prioritize your characters with clan responsibilities over your non-HPs.
• The moderation team will then review your post count for that month manually, they should primarily be related to your character's socializing and engagement with the clan and not strictly your duties as a HP.
  • You must still attend to your duties, but you must be engaging with the clan outside of this. Your HPs duties are an obligation and don't count to your activity as a whole.
• Low activity months will not be punishable, if the site as a whole is not having enough activity (such as busier holiday months like in November/December etc...) you are not being held accountable for it.
• Three months in a row of missed quota (without reasonable inactivity notices and communication) will result in a demotion.
  • HPs/Semi-HPs demoted by staff this way are subject to the same HP/SHP cooldown as staff themselves and are unable to hold a HP/SHP position in roleplay until six months have passed. See the Graylist/Blacklist Information below for more details!
  • Specific circumstances outside player control will obviously be taken into account such as weather related, emergency etc and the cooldown can be removed or shortened in these situations when communicated.
• Previous marks against you will be removed three months from the day it was given. This is in order to not punish people for life circumstances and otherwise in the event they are actively making efforts.
• Inactivity Notices will now be put into consideration for first time offenses in the event effort is made to post and the margin of which you fail to meet quota is above half the expected. So if you post twice and the quota was ten, we won't waive it. But if you post six times and the quota was ten, you may have a freebie in an effort to be lenient with those who communicate with us and still actively try their best.

GRAYLIST & BLACKLIST INFORMATION

Having a high position comes with its own responsibilities and it is a privilege that can be taken away, as such we are very careful to monitor users who obtain one and we notice when someone abuses their power, can't handle the activity requirements or acts in a way counterproductive to what a HP is meant to (helping the clan be active, engaging with other players, encouraging plots etc...) in some circumstances staff may step in to remove a HP or a SHP from a user.

The

Graylist

is essentially the 6 month ban on holding a HP a user goes under if staff are forced to demote them [this is generally due to activity/see the HP EXPECTATIONS for those]. This does not include guard ranks which can still be held and earned on a gray list.

Once this 6 months passes they are allowed to be chosen as a HP and should not have this held against them under any circumstances. Staff will only step in to demote for activity/behavioral issues OOC - we do not handle in-character demotions and those should never be used as a means to graylist or blacklist someone.

Leaders may demote HPs for any reason in character, but for OOC circumstances that is something staff handles.

The

Blacklist

is a more severe variant of the graylist. The timeframe extension is a full year and used to restrict users from having a position of power who we believe do not fit the standards we have set for a high position more than just activity issues [though continued activity issues can result in someone being blacklisted it is very rare and only in severe cases such as frequent ghosting and lack of present back to back.]

Ghosting, being argumentative and rude, refusing to cooperate when discussions are had and general uncomfortable and disruptive behavior are not tolerated. Staff understand losing a HP you worked for can be upsetting, to avoid either list you should always step down on your own if you feel you can't keep up to give yourself the opportunity to fix things and improve your situation in a way that allows you to hold one more consistently.
We have had plots of characters stepping down just to be reinstated when their player was in a better place mentally and we allow these.
Please note that under a blacklist you are barred from even earning SHPs/guard ranks.

Staff would much prefer you regulating yourselves rather than us stepping in to remove a position from you. Though the graylist is not something you should ever feel ashamed of when it comes to activity, life happens and even staff themselves are held to the same 6 month restriction when they end a term playing a HP just to ensure members are given more opportunity to be chosen over them.

The blacklist, however, is something we would rather not have anyone on as it comes down to things such as having previous warnings/rulebreaks, acting in a way that does not encompass what we as a site want to encourage and general rudeness/passive aggression. As long as you manage your demotion notices with understanding and conduct yourself in a kind and mature manner this is not a list you ever need concern yourself with. Gray and Black lists are made available to leaders in their leader channels in the discord, leaders caught sharing the list outside these channels will be reprimanded.

You will always be informed you are on either list upon being staff demoted. The exception to this is those placed on a blacklist who we are unable to contact further due to having left or blocked our staff account.

NORMAL RANKS

WARRIORS

A warrior is the primary rank of a clan and it's most unique when it comes to naming, discarding the apprentice '-paw' in favor of a suffix that defines them to some degree whether it be a skill, their appearance, their personality or legacy name honoring something or someone specific.

Each clan has its own unique subgroup of warriors specializing in that clan's own niche skill set and abilities as well as what would most allow cats to contribute meaningfully. By default all cats are warriors and warriors are expected to fight and defend their clan, but a warrior can opt to instead take the title of one of the following instead.

Please keep in mind that any warrior of any specialty rank can train any apprentice regardless of the apprentices future specialty, these are specialties a cat can choose to incorporate into their duties during or after apprenticeship but it is fully optional. This helps assigning apprentices mentors more easy!

ThunderClan

• FORAGERS - are felines of great resourcefulness... they're thrifty with what resources are available to them, reinforcing dens, shifting rocks to create tactical defenses, utilizing berries to alter scent trails and as a bonus, are particularly skilled nest-makers. this makes them something of a romantic catch for those eyeing a comfy bed to sleep in for the rest of their moons!
• RANGERS - are cats who have proven skilled with the use of their paws. these cats are few amongst the forest who are expert survivalists. Their ability to track scents makes them fantastic ambushers and they're often sent out in groups to hunt larger prey as a group.

ShadowClan

• THIEF - are those trained in stealth and the ability to move almost undetected, a poacher that forgoes hunting to instead steal food from the neighboring junkyard and attached twolegplace instead. they'll often sneak in and grab anything sparkling and shining as well to add to a growing collection.
• TRAPPER - a group of hunters specializing in moving through the pocosin's peatlands, a silent watcher that uses these abilities to spy and utilize the element of surprise. with sharpened claws and glinting fangs, these cats are dangerous against an unsuspecting victim in battle. they may also hold special use for spywork, should the need ever arrive.

SkyClan

• DAYLIGHT WARRIOR: A kittypet who assists the clan during the day before returning home to their twoleg nest. They will often wear their twoleg collars and be expected to contribute as any other warrior would.
• SCOUT: The most skilled of SkyClan's climbers, capable of scaling massive trees with amazing balance and dexterity, they often perch high surveying the territory and keeping an eye on sky-born predators as well as trespassers creeping down below.

RiverClan

• FISHER: A RiverClanner who primarily hunts via the water, fishing and trawling for aquatic prey. A fisher is skilled in water based hunting and will often never hunt on the land.
• PEARLDIVER - Focusing on RiverClan's penchant for decorating and accessorizing using gifts from the river and other loose baubles and knickknacks they come across, pearldivers will often dive to the depths of the river to gather smooth river rocks used in denbuilding and fortification.

WindClan

• MOOR RUNNERS: The quick footed hunters of the clan, swift and able to dash across the moors at highspeeds.
• TUNNELERS: The cats in charge of digging the many tunnels under the moorland that WindClan use to traverse their large territory in secrecy and without risk of being in the open. They often reside in the tunnels, even sleeping within them like rabbits.

APPRENTICE

These are the trainees of the clan, ranging from 6-12 moons (sometimes more depending on if an apprentice is held back for not being ready) the clan's apprentices are the next generation of warriors and as such the clan as a whole is tasked with ensuring they understand everything they need to know although they will be assigned one specific warrior to be a mentor to just them. An apprentice will do as their mentor asks, they will spend their days learning to hunt, patrol, fight and anything else their clan may have need for them.

An apprentice must complete their training and visit the Highstones once before they can graduate. The trip to highstones is a right of passage for apprentices.

CAREGIVER, KITS & ELDERS

Caregiver (Originally called 'Queen' in canon)
A caregiver is the primary parent of a litter of kittens who nurses them and cares for them in the nursery until they are old enough to become apprentices. Queen is now used to refer to a femme identifying cat of this rank while Den Dad is used for a masc identifying cat.

A Caregiver will often be the one rearing the kittens entirely on their own, but their mate is allowed to take over duties to give them chances to stretch and leave camp for brief periods of time. It is encouraged that the parent capable of feeding the kits be the primary caregiver to ensure the kits are not left hungry even accidentally but often times other queens can step in to help.
A cat can choose to be a full-time Caregiver if they desire, the only requirement is they must have been parent to a litter at least once so they have the experience for it!
- This CAN be an adopted litter! They must be kit age to qualify!
Please read the Adoption Center Guides on litters and pregnancy for more information on how being a Caregiver and having litters in roleplay works!

Kits are the clans young, denoted by the suffix of '-kit' and will remain kits until they reach 6 moons old and become apprentices.

An elder is a cat who has reached 120 moons of age and has retired. They will move to the elder's den and their clan will care for them in their old age as thanks for their service to the clan.

Sometimes, but not often, a young cat will move to the Elders den due to being unable to continue their warrior duties. This is rarely encouraged as a cat can find a means to contribute with debilitating injuries/disabilities and other such things should not impact their growth. We want to avoid accidental ableism unless it falls in line with that leader's character.