◈ Breeding FAQ

[Suhuba]

BREEDING FAQ

If you have any questions regarding breedings, please post them here and a staff member will respond as quickly as possible!

All of the information listed in this FAQ is the most current information and rules regarding breedings.
Breedings prior to 1/1/17 cannot be cited as examples for what is and isn't allowed for breedings.

Note: Your post will be answered on the front page of the FAQ in order to easily be tracked. The best way to utilize the FAQ is to look in the category the question would fall under and to use ctrl+f for key words. If you have trouble finding a question feel free to ask staff for help!

Requirements
Breeding Limits
Alk and Elaria Breeding
Surrogates and Donors
Art
Mechanics

 

[Suhuba]

BREEDING REQUIREMENTS

Can my RPs used to apply for breeding be used for growth as well?
Yes. The only RP that cannot be used for growth is the second RP/solo necessary to apply for adoption. This is posted in the baby adoption thread for reference, but all others can be used.

Can special RPs like metas, growth solos, or battles be used for breeding reqs?
Growth solos and battles will not count for breeding reqs. Metas may count for the establishing a relationship RP between two characters if they interacted enough within the meta chapter.

Can the RPs for breeding be spread out over stages or do they all need to be from one stage?
RPs for breeding can be spread out over stages since there are two required before applying now. Just remember that babies won't be dropped until the third RP is completed so hopefully that one won't be too spread out.

What counts as an establishing a relationship RP for the first breeding req?
The establishing relationship RP in the beginning doesn't have any set rules, since owners come up with some awesome plots we can't always account for but they basically have to have made it past the initial meet and greet RP. So if it's love at first sight on their very first rp together then that counts as the first one, if their plotline's more complicated they might have to have met more than once to establish a relationship. It's really open to interpretation for plotting purposes.

How does the establishing a relationship RP change for characters having their second breeding?
If characters are having a second breeding together they will still need the establishing a relationship RP, but this time it'll be more like an RP that shows what their relationship is like now after having kids. How they treat each other, or anything really that displays how they interact with each other.This is also quite open to interpretation.

Can the proof of relationship and talking about babies requirements be in the same RP?
No. The requirements are meant to be separate. The two characters must have a proof of relationship RP, and then a discussing babies RP.

Can characters adopt a baby that wasn't necessarily in an orphanage?
Yes. The requirements still have to be met, but the child doesn't necessarily have to come from an orphanage. The most common way of adoption would be an orphanage, but other plots can be worked out with staff if help is needed.
 

[Suhuba]

BREEDING LIMITS

Is there a breeding cool down?
There is not necessarily. An owner must have completely finished their last breeding before they can begin a new one. So the youngling art must be finished and dropped before that same owner can request a new breeding.

Do babies from a breeding count against the character limit?
The only limitations to younglings are you may only have three as an owner at any given time and you have to make up for their slot before you can get a new character. So yes, they count against your character limit, but you do not need an open slot to breed.

When does a bred baby officially take up one of my character slots?
After the breeding is initiated, the slot is already considered taken, so the character slots will be updated to reflect this. So once the owners post that first form, they will see that they have one more character slot full.

Slots cap out at 20; what happens if I have 20 characters and want to apply for a breeding?
Once the slot max has been reached you cannot go beyond that. So if you do happen to have 20 characters filling your slots, you will have to grow one to stage 4 before you can apply for a breeding since there is no longer a way for you to make up the slots for the new baby.

If I wanted to give my baby from a breeding to another owner to play, would they need an open character slot?
Yes. The rule that bred younglings do not need slots only applies if the owners of the pair breeding are planning on playing the resulting babies. If they want to gift the baby to another owner to play that owner will need an open slot since they were not the one who bred.

Can I have a contest to give away an extra baby?
No. The only way a baby can be given away is to an owner already decided by the people breeding before applying. Owners cannot randomly contest or give away their babies. If they don't have someone to receive it, they just do not get the extra youngling.

Can I ask the staff to put my extra baby into the adoptions thread?
No. Again, like the question above, the only way a baby can be given away is to an owner already chosen before applying for breeding.

Can one owner own both babies?
No, unfortunately one owner will only receive one baby. So if one side chooses not to accept a baby, the breeding will either result in one baby, or they can gift the other one to a different owner (see above). If one owner owns both sides of the breeding, they will also only be able to receive one baby, though they can also gift the second one away if they choose to.

Can a Legendary character apply for official adoption?
Adoption does not use breeding slots, so characters stage 2 and up can use adoption as long as the owner has an available character slot. Official adoptions must still be approved after posting in order to happen, as something to keep in mind.
 

[Suhuba]

ALK/ELARIA BREEDING

Does a lotus from Aisha have the ability to be taken back home with the mother or does it stay with Aisha until it blooms?
It would have to stay with Aisha, since Aisha would be feeding it nutrients until it was ready to bloom. So any parents would either have to stick around Aisha until it was ready, or if they were comfortable enough, they could leave it in Aisha's care and just come back when it was closer to ready. Expecting earthling mothers would be expected to stay around their respective areas as well, due to the strain of travel on the baby.

What are the circumstances for an Alkidike hybrid have been born without a lotus?
An Alkidike hybrid would only not be born from a lotus if it were the child of a male Alkidike hybrid. On rare occassions it could be a child from a female hybrid, if she were born with reproductive organs. Alkidikes don't have any, and as such wouldn't be able to ever reproduce without Aisha. There's always the chance that hybrid children, no matter what generation or gender, could be born sterile. Alkidike hybrids where there is less than 1/2 Alkidike have more of a chance to be able to become pregnant, even if they were directly born from a lotus.

Can Alkidike plead for children on behalf of earthlings?
Earthlings cannot go to Aisha for a lotus and an alkidike would not be able to plead for one for an earthling. Aisha has to be pleaded to in order to receive children, and she wouldn't grant that kind of request.

Is it possible for a lotus to be ripped/wilted/dying in some way to alter the baby inside?
No. Absolutely not. Aisha is sacred and is under constant watch, no one would dare to do anything to a lotus and Aisha purges anything that could be harmful to the lotus.

Can Alkidike/Elaria have NPC breeding?
No. Alkidike and Elaria have their own system to breed without another playable character, they cannot use the NPC breeding system. It is for earthling breeding systems only.
 

[Suhuba]

SURROGATES/DONORS

Do surrogates/donors have to be existing characters?
Using an already existing character is encouraged and something we would prefer to see, but if you can't find someone who would like to take on the role of surrogate/donor, we do allow RP based characters.

In the case of surrogacy/donating, who uses their breeding slots?
The limitations are supposed to stand for those intending to be parents. So while you may find a surrogate, that person will not use a breeding slot, because they won't be taking care of the child. So in short: the two parents use a breeding slot, not the donor/surrogate.

Is there a limit to how many times someone can be a surrogate/donor?
Yes, the limit is twice. That way a character at least has the ability to help a couple through both of their breedings if they choose to.

Can surrogates/donors be a different race than the parents?
Unfortunately not. While we understand wanting variety, the purpose of surrogates and donors is to create a child between same sex couples that would still resemble the parents' lineage. So any surrogate race would have to match as closely as possible the parent's race.

Do IC donors have to be stage 2 or above as well as the parents?
Yes. IC donors should also be in stage 2+ for age reasons. Prentices are still under their parents' wing so to speak and are too young to have or be responsible for children within Tendaji's rules. They would not be able to make these choices for themselves, so stage 2+ only.

For a same sex female couple, can they both get pregnant from one male in a single breeding?
This situation would not be possible. Any breeding would have to be between one female and one male character. If the other partner would like to be pregnant then they would have to be a part of the second breeding, there cannot be a threesome.

If a male character were to breed with a female NPC would they receive pregnant art of the NPC?
No. If the NPC is the female there will only be the youngling drop.

Can NPCs have abnormal traits/conditions that can be passed onto the baby?
No, all NPCs are only allowed to be of one race and they will have common traits for the race. You can customize what they look like as long as it's within the normal range of colors for that race chosen.

If two characters come together to make a baby but only one is parenting would it still count as a breeding, or as a donor/surrogate?
It would not be a donor situation. If there are two playable characters involved of opposite genders then it is a breeding so both characters would use a slot. Donor/surrogate situations occur when it is two characters of the same gender utilizing a third person to help them.

 

[Suhuba]

ART

What exactly constitutes a trait?
The breeding threads list all examples of what a trait is, so they can be referenced there. But a trait is one specific thing about the baby. So sex is a trait, hair color is a trait, crystal shape is a trait. But please make sure to note that traits cannot be generalized to be more than one. So saying "Aminah's crystals" is more than one trait. In order to have her crystals you would need to select three traits: Aminah's crystal placement, crystal shape, and crystal color, so it would not work per the breeding guidelines.

Do parents who have used Nectar of the Gods/Eye of the Goddess effect their breedings?
No this is a cosmetic change, like dying hair (but more permanent). So their children would only be able to get traits that their parents were born with.

Do abnormal traits like albinoism and vitiligo pass on through breeding?
No. Any abnormal trait has to be approved by staff before questing, so all abnormal traits are excluded from breeding. They would not be passed on from a parent to the child. This includes vitiligo, albinism, heterochromia, blindness, birth defects, and anything else that has to be approved by staff during questing.

Do both of the babies have to have the same traits?
Absolutely not! Each owner is allowed to choose their own traits for their own baby if they opt for traits, and they do not have to match.

Can my baby look more like one parent's race than the others?
When breeding artists are making roughly the proportions the breeding should have. So if one parent is full shifter, and the other is half shifter and half leaf for example, then the baby would look roughly 75% shifter and 25% leaf. The scale can tip a little bit one way or the other, but generally speaking there will not be a huge change from this.

Can my baby have a mixed colors from the parents?
Unfortunately not. When owners apply for a breeding the resulting babies' colors will come from either one parent or the other, they cannot have a mixed color trait (ex: blue ice hair and red fire hair will not equal a purple haired baby).

If one parent is shifter, does my baby need to have the same skin version as the parent?
If your baby ends up having shifter skin, it does not need to be the same version as their parent! If the parent's are is usually dark skin, the baby can still have either dark or light skin, so it does not need to reflect from the parent.

If one parent has markings and one parent has crystals, can the babies crystals show up where the markings are placed, or vice versa?
Unfortunately not. If the baby has crystals, they would show up in places where crystals are appropriate for their race, and the same applies to markings. They would not cross over since they are not genetically the same.

Can my alkidike (or water or Geian) hybrid have markings in the same color as an earthling's crystals?
Since crystals and markings are not genetically the same they cannot. The markings would be in normal marking colors, or in some cases they would match the earthling parent's skin colors.

If both parents have markings, like alkidike and water, can their markings combine?
Unfortunately not. Both markings cannot show up on the baby, either they will be one parent's or the other's.

Can a marking be in the style of one race, but the color of another?
Yes, to an extent. We've listed all of the possible combinations of colors for any particular hybrid below:
Alkidike - markings can only be in the alkidike blue color or a darker color relative to the skin (like a darker blue for matori, darker tan for wind, etc)
Geian - markings can be the geian sand color, a lighter color in relation to the skin, matori marking colors, or alkidike marking or fade color
Matori - markings can be the matori light blue color, a lighter color in relation to the skin, geian marking colors, or alkidike marking or fade color.

If a Geian breeds with another race with markings, will their markings still grow?
No, unfortunately Geian hybrids cannot grow their markings.

In the case of an adoption, are we able to adopt pure children with abnormal traits?
No. Adopted children are completely random excluding gender and race. Any other traits cannot be chosen by owners, and staff will not include abnormal traits in anything other than official quest characters with prior permission from staff.

Is it possible to ask that nearly identical twins have the same hairstyle?
Owners are not able to pick any of the traits for their breedings when choosing to have nearly identical twins, this includes hairstyles. So an owner may not request that they have the same hairstyle, everything is up to the artist and artists are required to give them varying hairstyles.
 

[Suhuba]

MECHANICS

Do you get the option of trying for an additional baby in single parent/NPC breedings?
No. It specifically states in the breeding threads that only one child will be produced from single parent breedings. There is no option to roll for additional.

How long does it take for my younglings to drop when I apply for breeding?
Because most breedings rely on needing to complete a second RP after starting the process, the time varies greatly between pairs. Art of the younglings will not drop any sooner than a week after the pregnant/flower art drops though. So if you're super speedy with your RPs you will still have to wait for the pregnant/flower art to be dropped and then at least an additional week for the younglings to be official. Besides this, it is limited to the constraints of the RPs and the artists.

What happens if my character's new stage art hasn't been finished but I apply for breeding?
If your character has grown but their art hasn't been completed yet, your character will be using her past stage as the appearance for her breeding pregnancy art.

Can I quest for a custom baby?
We really love our breeding system that helps to create unique kids from the traits from the parents. Unfortunately, any youngling wanting to be a blood-related offspring to a character needs to be bred through our system.

Do my babies from one breeding have to be twins?
No, definitely not! We want both owners to be able to enjoy a breeding so the standard is two children, but they do not need to be RPed as twins. IC they can be up to 4 years apart, depending on what works best with your own timelines.