Please read through these rules in full before submitting a character application. Any questions should be posted in the "Questions" thread of this topic.
Forum Basics and Etiquette:
1. Above all else: Respect your fellow players and staff! In-Character fighting, snark, and general tomfoolery are always acceptable, but be sure to keep it in the RP. PPT has zero tolerance for fighting and bullying, and any players found breaking this rule will be banned without warning. If you are ever uncertain about an OOC interaction, do not hesitate to check in with your Pride Moderator or Global Moderator.
2. If you have questions or concerns about PPT, please refer to this escalation chain when making the decision of who to contact: First, any time you have a question or concern, first turn to the site FAQ--it is very possible that your question has been addressed there! If not, then questions about Pride based tasks, activities, or interactions should be directed to your Pride Moderator/Pride Leader. Questions about character creation should be addressed to the Character Mod during application sessions, and your Pride Mod at all other times. Questions or concerns about non-RP forum issues should be directed to the Global Mod. If, and only if, you feel that your question has not been successfully answered should you message the Administrator. Messages sent to the Admin first will be ignored until the Admin sees that you have attempted all of these other points of contact before hand.
3. Realism is highly encouraged in this RP. As a result, all cats and story-lines should maintain a sense of realism (specifics to this rule can be found in the Character Rules in the Character Submission Thread).
4. While it is perfectly acceptable for you to use character creators, edited photos, or commissioned works for your character art, ALL art that is not a fully original work MUST be credited to the original source and have permission for use if possible. Failure to do so will be considered art theft and result in your character being rejected or banned. All written aspects of the RP, including character sheets, character stories, and RP interactions, MUST be your own original work. Players found to be using written works that are not their own original work will have their characters rejected or banned.
5. Characters should be an original creation, therefore you should not use fan-based characters or cat characters from preexisting works. Characters of your own creation from previous RPs can be used here, as long as they are your own ORIGINAL work, and you have taken the time to edit their profiles to fit with PPT requirements.
6. No magical abilities or other unnatural powers, and no unusual or over-the-top accessories. If a real cat cannot do it or would not have it in real life, your RP character should not either (more about this rule in the Character Rules of the Character Submission Thread).
Activity Requirements:
This RP has three levels of requirement: a monthly activity requirement, leveling RP requirements, and story RP requirements, all of which will be documented by Paw Points. Story RPs are any Pride specific RPs that are open to all Pride members and are intended to further the plot of the Pride. Story RPs must be signed up for ahead of time, and earn two Paw Points for every participating member. Leveling RPs are one person or small group RPs whose completion earns a Paw Point for each participating member and a level increase for each leveling character in the skill theme of the RP. Monthly Activity includes an story and leveling RPs a player participates in, along with any character, mentor, or location RPs (minimum 1000 words total), art pieces, and stories (minimum 750 words) participated in or created by a player, each worth one Paw Point.
Monthly Activity Requirements: This requirement refers to how active a player is in the forum. Every player must produce one approved monthly activity piece a month and earn at least one Paw Point PER CHARACTER to maintain their membership. Character's who do not meet this minimum requirement will be deleted, and their place opened up for a new applicant. Members who fail to meet the requirement will be deleted.
Leveling RP Requirements: Leveling RPs are mini-RPs in which a character interacts with one or more other members of their Pride for the sake of building a skill set. Leveling RPs can correspond to any of the eight skill sets, and are a requirement for moving up in age groups (from Kit to Yearling to apprentice, etc). Refer to your Pride's specific ranking structure to determine which leveling RPs you need to complete for your character's unique journey.
*A note on leveling. Skill levels can only be gained by completed leveling RPs, and most characters will need to complete around 35 leveling RPs to reach adulthood. Don't let this number scare you off! Leveling RPs can be as simple as reading a passage on Pride history and responding to it, or a brief RP between your character and one other character. In a few hours on a single evening you could easily gain five to ten levels!
Story RP Requirements: Story RPs are large RPs that are intended to encompass a larger story plot-line. These can be a Single Play, Multi-member RP when multiple members of a Pride RP their way through a journey or task, or an overarching plot-line, where a plot is established and characters produce individual or small scale RPs to explore it (a famine in the Pride, spreading illness, etc). The Single play, Multi-member RPs will be announced at least two weeks ahead of time, and will require players to sign up ahead of time.
Roleplaying Rules:
1. No godmodding. From
Urban Dictionary: "God Modding" is in essence when someone’s character has the ability to do practically anything without limits or boundaries. And example is when they simply cannot be harmed by any and all means other RP-ers try.
-It can be killing or injuring a character without the player's express permission.
-It can be when they simply can’t be hit and dodge all attacks or anything for this matter aimed at them.
-It can also be using other characters that other people RP with. In other words, if you do not RP as
Legolas, then you cannot have Legolas say anything, or do anything, without the player's express permission.
The absolute worst is when they make out another character to be what they’re not, just to make their own character seem superior. They make others seem weak, screaming for help, when [the original character] made it quite clear about their advantages and strengths. This is called power-play. It’s a strain of God-Modding, but instead of just being irritating, it’s offensive to boot."
For example:
Godmodding: "Player One: Greyfur pounces at Silvertail, pinning her to the ground and keeping her from moving." Here player one is dictating the actions of Silvertail's reaction without taking into consideration whether or not this character would be capable of dodging.
Better: "Player One: Greyfur pounces at Silvertail, trying to pin her down."
"Player Two: Silvertail scrambles to dodge, just barely avoiding Greyfur's claws" Here player one is still initiating an action, but player two is able to depict a reaction based on their character's abilities.
Honestly, the best way to avoid this problem and ensure that all players feel that their character is being respected, particularly in battles or other physical situations, is to discus a head of time how you feel the scene should play out, and begin play after you have agreed on the events of the RP.
2. While you do have the choice of writing stories, creating art, or both for your character more than you RP, keep in mind that this is first-and-foremost an RP forum, and RPing should be your primary mode of interacting with the PTP world.
3. Character's are limited to activity in their own territory with members of their own Pride for all mentor, leveling, and story RPs. Cannon inter-pride encounters outside of Pride Leader meetings must be approved by the Pride leaders of all involved Prides.
4. Characters are allowed to take mates once they reach adulthood and after paying the required Paw Point fee. The same holds to for pregnancy and raising litters of kittens. See your Pride's specific rules on mates and breeding for more information.
5. At this point all players are limited to up to three characters per player, all of which must pass through an approval process. Characters should all begin the RP at the Kit level so that they can progress through the same leveling as all other players, and may level to the highest available position in their task. That means that any cat can conceivably level up to Pride Leader, but that only one cat can be Pride Leader at any given time. While you can create AU art, individual RPs, and stories exploring your character in different tasks, level, and ages, all story and leveling RPs must be accurate to your character's current rank and standing in the Pride. The only exemption to this rule are Alley Cats and House Cats (see below).
6. A player does have the option, after a minimum three months of activity for a character, of retiring or killing off that particular character to create a new one. This requires a payment of 10 Paw Points to execute and your new character must go through the same approval process that they original one did. Removed characters CANNOT be reclaimed at a later date, so be sure you want to kill your character before executing a retirement/death.
7. Non-Pride cat characters cannot be your first character, and will not be able to level the same as other characters until they enter a Pride.
