PREMISE:

• Kinship is a medium-sized planet on the far edge of the known universe. Once a barren battleground for divine disputes over mortal prayers, it soon became home to strange experiments and kidnapped populations forced to wage war against one another on behalf of their godly masters. Though the Primordial Ones eventually declared it a sanctuary, the scars left behind run deep, and life on Kinship - a planet thoroughly layered with divinity, magic, technology, and blood - remains anything but easy.
• Our game is currently focused on the island country of New Ognos, recently destroyed and remade after yet another outbreak of divine conflict - old habits die hard, apparently - and the resurrection of a meddlesome god named Valinor, who hadn't gotten the memo about the whole "sanctuary planet" thing due to a few-millennia long "nap."
• Much of the island's landscape is still a mystery we'll be working together to uncover; we currently have four areas unlocked, including the main town, a forest, a beach, and a mountain ring/savanna area. We also have relationships with five additional kingdoms, with the potential to expand the in-game world and playable areas further as we go along.

CURRENT EVENTS:
After a fairly laid-back version (our fourth since 2019) that ran from November 2023 to September 2024 and served as an entry point to the new island, allowing players the opportunity to have their characters start forming connections in a more peaceful environment, we really brought the chaos with version five!

• Introduced this version are the Shardfalls, violent natural phenomena where Essence Shards - coalesced pieces of magic, nanites, and divinity - rain down from the sky while geysers of pure energy burst from the ground, mutating any unfortunate souls caught in the crossfire.
• The obsidian walls of our main town can no longer keep out every threat, and the Flies - robotic sentries programmed by the gods - are malfunctioning, ignoring crimes they'd usually prevent and unleashing their sedative gasses on innocent residents with little provocation. The town no longer expands and contracts predictably with changes in our population, producing sudden shortages of supplies and leaving vacant buildings available for greedy landlords - or even darker forces - to set up shop.
• In the wake of such turmoil, several new factions - some more dangerous than others - have broken free from our town's fledgling leadership and ventured out into the wilds to set up their own encampments. Some may attempt to claim control of the island for themselves, while others are more focused on making life difficult for those who oppose their ideals.
• Throughout the month of October, the Nine Veils that separate the mortal realm from the Realms Beyond (Death, Time, Perception, Shadows, Realities, Dreams, Madness, Memories, and Silence) are "flickering," causing strange, reality-bending effects on the world. In addition to a number of details you can reference/play with in-character, this event also includes a daily prize drop with a 24-hour claim window and a daily writing challenge, which can be explored in an in-character post or answered with an OOC response of any length for secondary prizes.
• Beginning November 1st, we'll be hosting KinWriMo, our take on National Novel Writing Month! Players can set and track their own goals throughout the month and claim fun prizes as they hit milestones of all kinds.

FEATURES:

• We offer two core races - shapeshifting, magic-wielding Valka and their technology-adept human counterparts - and familiar-like secondary characters, magical beings that take the form of an animal and share a deep soul-bond with their partner. We also offer a number of additional races and Companion Creatures that can be unlocked using in-game currency (earned through events, mini-games, and standard posts) or by meeting certain requirements. There are even opportunities for players to create their own races/Companion species!
• We have custom coded, threaded message boards that accept both HTML and BBCode (neither are mandatory, plain-text posts are welcome too!), as well as a Discord for announcements, player interaction, mini-games, and more. Each player receives a private channel where they can communicate with our Support team to ask questions, receive advice or assistance, or provide feedback.
• We have prioritized player freedom and convenience in our coding as much as possible. For the most part, players can freely purchase equipment, pets, and Talents (magic or nanite-abilities) from our shops; join new characters or form new bonds with Companions; update profiles; or even sell their unwanted loot with no input needed from Support. Claims are also mostly automated or handled by Support, so there's very little for you to monitor aside from your threads/character development goals.
• Aside from our ad board, where visitors/players can share links to their own RPGs/resource sites, Kinship is 100% ad-free. There are also absolutely no real-life costs associated with joining or playing on the site (now or ever).

ABOUT US:

• As of this post, we are currently home to 8 players writing 30 characters and 11 Companion Creatures. As a site, we typically average about 16 posts a month and our posts have an average wordcount of around 528 words; we do not have a post or word count requirement, though, and we welcome posts longer or shorter than our average! In our last posting party (August) we wrote 14,404 words across 32 posts in four days, so there is some variation.
• Our site is semi-private, meaning that new players need to register for a player account, join our Discord, and create their first character before gaining access to our Members Database or Play boards. While we all use screennames/aliases on the site, this policy adds an additional layer of protection for players who have real-life safety concerns related to their jobs, families, or relationships in real life but enjoy writing and want to be part of a community. If there's anything we can do to assist you as you create your first character, before you have access to these areas, please let us know!
• We are proudly LGBTQIA+ and neurodivergent-friendly, and prioritize providing a safe and fun environment to all members. This includes offering reasonable accommodations, for example, providing new skins with adjusted colors, fonts, and/or text sizes to improve readability and accessibility. Just let us know how we can help!
• Our community is kind, patient, and supportive; we're all just here to have a good time and escape real life for a bit!

WHO WE'RE LOOKING FOR:

• Players: We are not by any means an "exclusive" or "cliquey" community - we just want to write together and have a good time - but here are some key details you should know about our community!
• Our activity as a site is pretty variable; while there's almost always someone around to post with, our players come from a wide variety of backgrounds and may be temporarily pulled away from the site due to real-life complications related to their mental or physical health, jobs, school, familial obligations, etc. There are a variety of options available to keep you entertained while you wait for replies, but patience is always appreciated! We might make a great secondary site for people who are already participating in another game, or can only post a few times a week/month due to other commitments!
• While we are a literary RPG and some of us are published authors, we don't take ourselves too seriously. We aren't expecting anyone to be perfect, and we don't judge if someone wants to explore "tried and true" tropes, practice new writing styles/formats/perspectives, or create a truly wild and "out there" character. We do also offer a non-canon Alternate Universe posting option too, so if you REALLY want to go wild/do some worldbuilding of your own while still collecting post rewards, that's an option!
• As mentioned above, we are a diverse bunch, and we expect our players to be kind, respectful, and tolerant towards one another. Misunderstandings, miscommunications, and mistakes happen, but we always focus on working together to understand what went wrong and how we can fix/prevent problems to move forward as a team.
• We welcome kind, constructive feedback - if there's something specific you'd like to see us expand, adjust, or add you can reach out through your private support channel at any time!
• Characters: We welcome any and all character types, but if it helps, here are some ideas that might fit in well with our current lot!
• Adventurers: Treasure hunters, explorers, and mercenaries seeking fame or fortune.
• Survivors: Refugees, crisis managers, and survivalists determined to carve out a future amidst the chaos.
• Crafters & Creators: Engineers, traders, artists, and entertainers looking to be inspired by the untamed land - and put some coin in their pockets, while they're at it.
• Opportunists: Power-hungry nobles, cunning thieves, or those looking to manipulate the island's uncertain future for their own gain.
• Warriors: Battle-hardened fighters, military vanguards, or protectors who want to help stabilize and secure the island.
• Transplants: Individuals from other worlds who have been pulled through to Kinship, and now must learn the ropes while trying to stay alive.