Pregnancy & Childhood

Herald's & Aging

Heralds are spirits of the goddess of fertility and their job is to bring children to players who wish to have them, help with the process of aging children from babies to youthful teens and to protect children and guide them. You can see the Herald's residing in the night skies above as they take shape of animals. When a child is born from the heralds the night sky loses one of the animal constellations as it guides the child to its new families that have prayed long and hard for these children.

Those who have wished or divine interventioned may see the sky completely lose all the animal spirits for a duration of the night.

Pregnancy in Roleplay & Events

Characters who wish to start families may run into the issue of what to do when danger approaches or have concerns about their livelihood during the months of time you are pregnant. For the sake of not ruining someone's roleplay in general we leave the decision to take part in an event or not up to each individual player.

If your character would be cautious and avoid danger for their baby's sake, that's great roleplay. If you choose to join combat knowing you are pregnant no DM will force a miscarriage on your character. In other words you will not be forced to roleplay the death of your child or a miscarriage by a DM. Any player who chooses to do this roleplay does it at their own choice and will do so in an appropriate manner that is not insensitive or inconsiderate to those on the server who may wish to avoid such roleplay aka don't shove it down their throats or make a big show about it. We also want to state you can not blame the DM (if you went to an event prior to this decision as again no DM will force this upon you and it is your choice alone.)

Roleplaying live births on the server should not be happening. There are just some things that can be awkward for many people. Keep it appropriate please.

We ask anyone even thinking of doing any of this roleplay to be aware of those who play on this server and may have had to endure a similar situation IRL and ask that you Fade 2 Black for the roleplay and avoid anything graphic.

Children & Aging

Quick Aging is a perk for any characters or NPCs under the age of adventuring for their specific race (ex: Humans are 16 years old). By doing this you can quickly age until you hit the adventuring age or stop at any age beforehand at your choosing. Each age group has different “requirements” to age. This could be going to a friend's birthday party or get blessed by a priest. Completing these tasks in Roleplay will grant your npc/pc child an additional year more quickly. We call these quests: “Milestones” to earn a full year you must complete two milestone requirements. This is self monitored but you should keep screenshots of your participation in-case anyone asks.

Every year earned will create a 48 hour cooldown before a quest or another year can be earned. You do require a 24 hour cooldown in between your next milestone quest. For example: Day 1(Quest Y1) -> Day 2 (cooldown) -> Day 3 (Quest Y1) & Age Up -> Day 4 & 5 (cooldown) -> Day 6 (Quest Y2) -> etc. You may only complete the quests within your “age group” ; quests from previous or future age groups do not count.

These quests should ADD to roleplay not be some quick way to age up without giving some quality roleplay back. If you are hosting a birthday party, actually host one, don't just say you did.

What to do & how to play as your child character once they hit adventuring age:

People want to roleplay their children eventually but we have the rule for not allowing your characters to interact. Children characters are a weird case because you know they exist. Ideally you would find a dedicated player to take on the role of your child and have a grand old time roleplaying. But if you are determined to play your kid character then follow the below rules:
After playing as your NPC-child character through their growth (ages 8-adventuring age) you would need to choose which character you play, and store/snap or graduate (if the requirement is met) the other.
As these characters live alongside each other ( but not at the same time) you cannot give them gifts such as items and money as it will be carried through the 4th point (Trinkets that do not give your character a mechanical advantage over others are allowed to be gifted).
As the world of Aldspace grows, relations between these new regions and those currently lived in will need to be created. By sending envoys (stored character). Which would allow your stored character to still live within the world, but just be a little too far to interact physically with the children characters once they reach adulthood.
Interaction between these characters could be made via help paying their rent or a final gift from their parents as a 'congratulations' for becoming an adventurer (the value of the gift should not go above 500 gold pieces per parent and can only be 1 physical item not multiple that add up to that total.).
If the character that was stored is being brought back. the other will be stored in their place so as to not have two accounts of one player meet.

Some kind of Ceremony to celebrate their aging. Aka a Birthday party. This should be done after each milestone years are achieved to solidify the herald’s magic that is assisting in aging the child. Milestone years: Age 4, Age 7, Age 12, Age 16.

Races that age quicker than Humans will still gain 1 year per two tasks. Races that age slower than Humans will gain multiple years per two tasks. For example: Elf | 88 years to reach adventuring age divided by 16 = 5.5 years per 2 tasks.

NPC Ages [0-4]

These activities are just generalized for the age group. Some may be repeated as needed. These are just normal NPC type roleplay handled by the parents of the child. Once the child reaches 8 years old they can be roleplayed by a player.

Ages 0-2:

Sleep for long durations (16-18 hours a day).
Grasp reflex (holding onto objects placed in their hands).
Startle reflex in response to loud noises.
Begin to make cooing sounds
Roll over from front to back.
Sit with support.
Begin teething.
Babble and make repetitive consonant-vowel sounds.
Crawl or scoot.
Pull up to stand.
Explore objects through touch and mouthing.
Say simple words like "mama" or "dada."
Start to feed themselves with fingers.

Ages 2-4:

Walk independently.
Point to body parts when asked.
Begin to use a spoon.
Show interest in picture books.
Combine two words to form simple sentences.
Recognize themselves in the mirror.
Begin pretend play.
Identify familiar objects in pictures.
Run and climb.
Sort objects by shape and color.
Express a range of emotions verbally.
Begin to understand simple instructions.

Child Ages [4-7]

The young years of adolescents and troublemaking to be had. This is when a player could become the Roleplayer of the Child and have the NPC status removed.

Ages 4-6:

Use the toilet independently.
Engage in parallel play (playing alongside other children).
Follow simple instructions.
Draw basic shapes.
Ride a tricycle.
Use scissors with supervision.
Speak clearly and use more complex sentences.
Understand the concept of counting
Participate in group activities.
Dress and undress independently.
Show interest in storytelling and ask questions.
Develop basic social skills.

Ages 6-8:

Develop basic writing skills (draw recognizable shapes and letters).
Participate in cooperative play.
Understand concepts of time (morning, afternoon, night).
Begin to develop a sense of empathy.

Tie shoelaces.
Follow multi-step instructions.
Develop friendships and engage in more complex social interactions.
Express preferences and opinions.

Read simple words and sentences.
Engage in organized sports and activities.
Understand basic mathematical concepts (counting, simple addition).
Show increased independence in daily tasks.

Child Ages [8-12]

The young years of adolescents and troublemaking to be had. This is when a player could become the Roleplayer of the Child and have the NPC status removed.

Non-Repeatable:

have a parent vs child dispute about communication
have a moment where a child shares something with someone else

Repeatable:

Do a chore (or rebel from)
make or break a family rule
read together
cook together

Goal: Find an unexpected friend that your parents do not know or have never met. (non-npc) and help them with some type of task.

Teen Ages [13-16]

Young teenagers who know everything about everything. Once you hit 16 you can become an adventurer.