Basic Character/Pack FAQ

[Snowstar]

Creek Pack
CHARACTER BASICS

YOUR CHARACTER'S PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
"What is allowed?"

-- BASE COAT ::
Unrealistic colors are NOT  allowed  on your wolf

Blue
Green
Purple
Yellow
Orange



-- MARKINGS ::
Markings do have to stay within the allowed color range, though, and cannot do anything fancy, such as move or glow.  Markings in a vivid or stark coloration, such as white/black face "masks," "socks," and underbelly coloration are not actually seen.

-- COLOR CHANGES ::
A canine's color may change depending on the season, when their fur is shorter or longer. You are most certainly allowed to have your wolf undergo a minor color change in between seasons and with age, but don’t switch from blue to green. Click the links below for examples of seasonal and age color changes.

Summer Coat vs. Winter Coat : coming soon
Young vs. Old : coming soon

-- EYE COLOR ::
In the wild, wolves' eye colors are generally a light gold to hazel or soft brown. As pups, their eyes change from a puppy-blue to one of the aforementioned colors during a transition period around eight to sixteen weeks of age.  That color and green are very rare in adults, but still possible in the wild; the possibility of green eyes may depend on the kind species or sub-species of wolf. If a wolf has "green" eyes, they are more likely to be this color, which is acceptable. You do not have to purchase the aforementioned colors UNLESS the green we speak of is emerald or the blue is this color.

Unacceptable colors include; purple, pink, bright orange, red, dark red. and the ones listed above
-- SIZE ::
Your wolf can be slightly smaller or larger than the normal heights for a wolf, but please keep it reasonable. No wolves that are six feet tall or house cats, please!  

From www.wolf.org;

Quote :
   As with weight, a wolf's length and height are variable in different areas of the world. The figures that follow are commonly used to describe the larger subspecies of wolves in North America, Europe and central Asia. They are not accurate for several of the smaller subspecies in the southern latitudes of the Middle East, for example. The average length (tip of nose to tip of tail) of an adult female gray wolf is 4.5 to 6 feet; adult males average 5 to 6.5 feet. The average height (at the shoulder) of a gray wolf is 26 to 32 inches.

   The average length (tip of nose to tip of tail) of an adult red wolf is 4.5 to 5.5 feet. The average height (at the shoulder) of an adult red wolf is about 26 inches.


ROLEPLAYING BASICS

-- REALISM & STYLE ::
Creek Pack's roleplay is semi-realistic, meaning while we try to stick to real wolf behavior and abilities, we can’t be perfect or RP would be mind-numbing.

Roleplay in is done in third-person. This means that you write all your posts as if someone has observed all your characters thoughts and feelings, as well as their actions, and is now telling a story about it. This only applies to your character though, thus making you unable to read the thoughts or feel the feelings of another character (godmodding and powerplaying), unless they give physical hints to these things that your wolf can plainly see. Third person also means past tense, meaning everything that you are writing about, you are writing about as if it happened in the past, not in the present or the future. i.e. walked, instead of walks.

-- LIQUID TIME ::
It's not allowed here. Liquid time is when you have your wolf in multiple threads at once. You don't have clones. Once you join a thread, don’t go joining a dozen others. Only one thread per character is allowed until it is closed and the close request has been met by a staff member.

If you or your roleplaying partner is/are going away/leaving for awhile, we encourage that you both reach a stopping point with whomever you are roleplaying with and find someone else to roleplay with to prevent the roleplay from being stalled.

-- CHARACTER CHANGES ::
Character changes can be bought in the general store. See this thread to learn about secondary characters and other things.

-- PLOTS ::
If there’s a plot going on and your character is involved, please stick to the plot for its duration.

-- MATES & MATING ::
While this should go without saying, anything related to the mating process is absolutely not tolerated, and will result in an immediate ban. This includes over PM's. We will not allow it here under any circumstance. Pups and mates are allowed of course (pups with permission of a Admin), but mature content related to mating or pup birth or anything of the sort is not.

Characters of any sexual orientation are allowed, but don’t bring in any of your personal, out-of-character opinions in on the matter.


HUNTING AND FIGHTING

-- FIGHTING & DISPUTES ::
Having a disagreement with another character in roleplay is perfectly fine, and you are even allowed to act upon it with a physical fight. This means characters can injure each other, but unless you have permission from the character's owner, you absolutely cannot fatally wound or cripple a character.

-- POWER PLAYING ::
Powerplaying is a roleplay term used to describe a situation where one person controls the actions of another person's character without permission. If your character is trying to do something to another character, any and all actions performed against a character that does not belong to you is always an attempt, even if they are innocent and playful. For example, if your character pushes another character down a hill, you cannot describe the other person's character rolling down that said hill.
You would set up the situation as this:

Aren stepped closer to his companion and gave a devious grin, suddenly launching himself forward in a motion that would send Matthew rolling down the hill behind him if the boy could meet his mark.

It is now the owner of Matthew's turn to describe whether or not Aren missed or successfully pushed him down the hill.

Powerplaying can be abused in any kind of situation and is most often seen in battle by causing harm to another person's character without asking permission. Attacks, just like Aren trying to push Matthew down the hill, are always attempts.

-- GODMODDING ::
Godmodding is most often used to describe a very powerful character. The definition is broad but basically is seen as someone who describes their character as unbeatable, powerful or being incredibly strong. In a role-play situation, godmodding is when you roleplay a character who is ignoring the limitations of reality or a character that isn't often hurt, slowed down or affected by injuries or attacks that other people throw at them. While we're not telling you to hack off your character's limb, it is expected that your character should at least bleed and succumb to their injuries in a battle situation.

Godmodding can also be seen as powerplaying in certain situations. When a character in an impossible scenario suddenly defeats all enemies. Having limitless powers, ignoring flaws and realities or instantly healing is godmodding. It's when you portray your character as an all-powerful, unbeatable, super strong, or unstoppable character.

-- HUNTING ::
Prey characters are not played by others, and so the rules applying to them are a tad bit different. With group hunts, if someone were to bite an elk's ankle and cause it to limp, you must act on this only somewhat. Your character cannot, nor will not in any situation, try to push down a limping elk. They have hooves, they WILL kick, and if it's a bull, it will charge you with it's antlers. Keep this in mind at all times. Even small hunts like a rabbit require skill. If your character is not fast and is bulky, built more for strength than speed, they will NOT catch up to a rabbit in their lifetime. Rabbit hunts are often unsuccessful in the wild, as a hare is faster than a wolf on average. A wolves maximum speed is 45 miles per hour, and most of them can never get that high because they are not built for it.


OTHER CREATURES/ISSUES OF WILDLIFE

-- BEARS & COUGARS ::
In the wild, wolves will avoid these at any cost, as bears and cougars do enjoy making snacks out of them. They are to only be brought into the roleplay by a council member for a small plot event. During major plots, they are not to be included unless the set plot specifically calls for them. Members are to not mention a bear or cougar or encounter them on their own accord.

-- RABIES ::
Once again to only be brought about by a council member, rabies is a real and often fatal disease, and is to be avoided any and all mention in the roleplay.

** In the real world, wolves will vacate (leave) their pack if they are infected to avoid mass contagion.

-- OTHER WOLVES ::
Without permission from the council, the only characters you should be using in roleplay are your characters. All other characters will have their own biography. Any characters that may affect the pack negatively or majorly can only be brought in for a plot.

-- HUMANS ::
Like with bears, cougars, and rabies, human encounters can only be instigated by a council member for a small event or plot.

-- NATURE ACCOUNT ::
As of recent, the nature account, managed by the staff, is the only account capable of bringing in minor non player characters, (NPCs) such as coyotes, prey, and other such creatures, including but not limited to lone wolves and weather patterns.