Kit Guide
So you’ve decided it’s time for your character to have kits, Congratulations! Here’s all you need to know!
Rules in having kits in The North Star
Having Kits // Your character can have kits when they are over 12moons old, but a 12-13 moon old parent is seen as a very young, inexperienced one. A pregnancy lasts one(1) irl month. Your character is limited to 4 litters or 10 kits, whichever they reach first. Stillborn kits don't count to this rule, but NPC and adopted kits do. This applies to both dmab and dfab. The characters involved ages, skills and their surrounding circumstances affect the litter size. There is a process in having either biological kits, adopted kits or kits through other means in roleplay that you have to follow. Your characters cannot have kits without going through this process.
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There are two ways of having biological kits in TNS. One is through the traditional way of a dmab and dfab having kits while the other is purely reserved for couples who cannot have kits in the traditional way. This way is through the Holy Trees found in the world of TNS, where they pray to the Gods for kits. These kits are not viewed as more special or unique as the kits born through traditional method. It is purely a game mechanic and plays on the trope of infertile couples praying for children only to find an abandoned baby at the shrine of their gods.
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Once you have asked for a litter size, the offer stands for one in real life month where within you must start either of the processes listed below.
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Same sex couple's kits through the holy trees are viewed just as biological as opposite sex couples kits are.
What affects litter sizes?
These are considered no matter if the kits come through traditional methods or through the Holy Trees
Skills // The Caretaking skill found here affects the litter size massively. If one partner has positive caretaking and one negative, it cancels each other out. Please see the skill page for more details.
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Character Age(s) // If any of the character(s) involved are under 3 years (36moons) old, they are limited to maximum of 3 kits per litter. If any of the characters involved have a positive caretaking skill, it makes this rule null.
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Circumstances // Clan, outsider group or general world cirmustances affect the number of kits in your litter. For example if weather has been terrible it means hunting has been hard which will lower the number of kits you can have.
Season // The litter size estimate is different based on the season. During Greenleaf / summer there is larger litters where as during Leaf Bares/winters the litter sizes are much smaller.
Average litter sizes per season:
Spring: 2-3
Summer: 3-4
Fall: 1-3
Winter: 1-2
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Where to start?
Start of by opening an assignment ticket, using the ticket system,tell us the cats involved, their ages and skills and ask for a litter size calculation. The number of kits is always talked with a staff member. You cannot make up a litter size on your own, however, you can choose not to have the maximum amount of kits offered.
An example for counting litter size:
two 6 year old cats want a litter in the middle of the winter. Neither of their skills are related to caretaking. Due to prey loss, sickness and lost land, they go from 2 kits to 1.
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Opposite sex couples / fling option
Finding out
When it is decided that you have kits and are ready to start the process on having them, the roleplayer should reach out to tell the staff of the pregnancy starting as well as the conditions around it. Is it a secret? How did they find out? Feel free to also roleplay your character finding out. A countdown of 1 month starts from this point forward to when the kits are born. The date will be their official birthday, no matter if they are not roleplayable or not.
Try outs
When you know the number of kits it's possible to have, it's time to choose who roleplays the kits! If you or your partners roleplayer don't want to claim any of the kits yourself, you need to host tryouts. These tryouts are open to everyone, new and old members alike. You get to choose if the tryouts include set designs, personalities and names for the kits, or none at all! Roleplayers for the characters have to be decided before the kits can be roleplayed. Tryouts are recommended to start as soon as possible in order to give people time. They can be started before the month countdown starts as long as the number of kits have been discussed with a staff member.
Assingments
You and/or your partner have to complete your assignments before the kits can be roleplayed. The assignments have to have both parents present (unless fling/single parent). Art assignments can be collabs but not commissions. Assignments can be finished before the kits are officially born. Use the same ticket you opened to ask about the number of kits.
Kits are here!
Now you have done your assignments, held your tryouts (and chosen the roleplayers) and waited patiently for the due date, the kits are finally here! Now you need to make sure the kit's roleplayers submit their character applications through the ticket system for staff review, so you can start roleplaying!
If you have not finished your assignments or tryouts by the end of the month wait, the kits are still born but cannot be roleplayed. You cannot interact with them or rp them until assignments and tryouts are done. If you host tryouts for 5 kits but only 2 apply, you can choose if the rest are born stillborn or never existed in the first place.
Same sex couples/poly relationships
Finding out
When it is decided that you are having kits and are ready to start the process on having them, the couple should pick one of the following: 1. Use the #rumors and hearsay channel to post about your cats visiting the holy tree of your land to make their sacrifice/offering or 2. Use the dailies channels to do the same. You must also reach out to the staff through your ticket to confirm the date as the start of the wait time. A countdown of 1 month starts from this point forward to when the kits are ''born''. The date will be their official birthday, no matter if they are not roleplayable or not.
Try outs
When you know the number of kits it's possible to have, it's time to choose who roleplays the kits! If you or your partners roleplayer don't want to claim any of the kits yourself, you need to host tryouts. These tryouts are open to everyone, new and old members alike. You get to choose if the tryouts include set designs, personalities and names for the kits, or none at all! Roleplayers for the characters have to be decided before the kits can be roleplayed. Tryouts are recommended to start as soon as possible in order to give people time. They can be started before the month countdown starts as long as the number of kits have been discussed with a staff member.
Assingments
You and/or your partner have to complete your assignments before the kits can be roleplayed. The assignments have to have both parents present (unless dead/single parent). Art assignments can be collabs but not commissions. .Assignments can be finished before the kits are officially born. Use the same ticket you opened to ask about the number of kits.
Kits are here!
Now you have done your assignments, held your tryouts (and chosen the roleplayers) and waited patiently for the due date, the kits are finally here! Now you need to make sure the kit's roleplayers submit their character applications through the ticket system for staff review, so you can start roleplaying!
If you have not finished your assignments or tryouts by the end of the month wait, the kits are still born but cannot be roleplayed. You cannot interact with them or rp them until assignments and tryouts are done. If you host tryouts for 5 kits but only 2 apply, you can choose if the rest are born stillborn or never existed in the first place.
