Getting Started

The below guide will help guide you through the character creation process; if you have any questions or concerns not covered in the guide, or need some assistance finding resources, please contact Signe (@signecinders) on Discord! This page was last updated September 13th, 2024 to coincide with the launch of Version 5: Shardfall.

Coming to Ognos

Determining your character's background and their motivations can help you decide the potential directions for their growth! We've provided a few ideas for how, when, and why a character may have come to Ognos. We are totally open to alternate ideas, however, we may need to help you adapt them to the site's lore if they are too far from the options outlined below.

Standard Route Details

• Most characters will be new arrivals in town, having come to New Ognos either at the tail-end of the Third Wave or early Fourth Wave of settlers; they will often be either:
  • Refugees returning to New Ognos after spending time in a Five Faction Kingdom OR
  • Former sea nomads coming ashore now that their home has been restored OR
  • Pioneers coming to New Ognos for the first time -- usually from one of the Five Faction Kingdoms OR
  • Characters returning home after spending time in Shaman
• The Primordial Gods were so powerful that their visit to Ognos caused a time dilation that spread across the world. As such, characters returning from certain areas will have only been away from home for a few months, while others have been gone for decades -- they might even be the children or grandchildren of Ognoshu refugees coming "home" for the first time!
• Members of the Third Wave will typically be focusing on remapping, rebuilding, and resettling the island. During the recruitment period for the Wave, individuals with experience as explorers, adventurers, treasure hunters, miners, farmers, and researchers were in highest demand. If your character is a member of the Third Wave, they will have arrived to the island slightly later than the rest of the newcomers (on the tail end of the wave).
• Recruitment for the Fourth Wave of settlers had just begun a few months before the first Shardfall struck the island, with the first few ships coming in to port almost right as the storm began. The initial focus was on finding experienced artists, entertainers, scholars, and luxury goods traders to bring comfort, culture, and conveniences to the island but after the disaster there was a quick pivot with the focus shifting to experienced survivalists, warriors, engineers, and crisis managers. The turmoil of the island also drew in opportunistic individuals of all kinds, including outlaws, pirates, mercenaries, and shard hunters who may have earned passage through various suspicious means.

Alternate Route Details

• Some characters may be transported to Kinship from other places or times, typically after stumbling across ancient traps or tools left behind by the gods on their homeworld. Upon arrival, individuals will always become one of our core races unless the appropriate purchases are made from the Marketplace.

• You can also create characters from the First or Second Waves, meaning they would be here longer and be more established than the new wave. At this time, there are no firm restrictions on how many First/Second Wave characters a player can join or adopt, and they do not require approval before joining, but we would prefer to keep these numbers lower at the start and may add a future cap if needed.
  • First Wave: Focused on establishing the town; primarily scout teams, resource assessors, military vanguards, terraformers, and architects.
  • Second Wave: Focused on expanding the infrastructure; primarily builders, merchants, craftsmen, bankers, and politicians.

Restricted Routes

• During Ognos' destruction and subsequent repair/evolution into New Ognos, the land was believed to be devoid of all humanoid life, however, we are open to at least considering that a (very, very small) population or collection of individuals was able to hang on while everything happened. At this time, there would need to be a strong plot/reasoning for why this background is key to your character and discussion of their experiences before you would be authorized to join one. If you would like to explore this option, please contact Signe via DM!
• Joining a character from elsewhere in Kinship (outside of the Five Faction Kingdoms) is currently not permitted. There are options to join characters from the Five Faction Kingdom races, though! This is explained in a section below.

Herald's Gift

• On their arrival in New Ognos, each character will be visited in a dream by one of The Heralds, who bestow a gift on them as a welcome to the island.
  • Which Herald visits your character will be randomized, however, you can make a request for a specific Herald in your private support channel and we'll see what we can make happen; we will typically be more likely to accept preferences if there is a specific reason for the request and/or if there is strong compatibility between the new character and the Herald!
• There are currently 50 possible Gifts, with around ~12 possible options per Herald.
  • The Harbinger focuses on deception, stealth, and cunning. Animal themes are foxes and snakes.
  • The Sentinel emphasizes protection, balance, and foresight. Animal themes are cervids and birds.
  • The Vanguard centers on raw power, aggression, and battlefield control. Animal themes are canines and felines.
  • The Warden embodies destruction, resilience, and finality. Animal themes are opossums and crocodilians.

Time / Seasons (optional)

• Time is quite flexible, allowing players control over their character's age and relationships. You can freely age up characters, fast-forward time periods, or refer to a character's past at any point.
• We also offer Seasonal Events for those interested in synchronized storytelling. By completing themed challenges and tagging posts, you opt-in to collective world progression and earning prizes.
  • Benefits of participating in Seasons:
    • Sitewide Unlocks - Drive community goals like new shop items, talents, landmarks, and events.
    • Personal Rewards - Each of your seasonal posts gives you a chance at themed prizes, site currency, sitewide progress, and more.
    • Coordinated Storytelling - Seasons let you align your character's experiences with other players for a shared timeline.
• Seasons are 100% optional! You can choose when to participate by tagging relevant posts -- you can switch back to fluid time for other threads whenever you need/want to.

Mayor Position (optional)

• The royal family acted very nobly during the fall of Ognos, staying on for as long as possible to try and save as many lives as possible. Their flagship was seen departing from the island just moments before utter destruction, however, no one seems to be entirely certain whether or not they were aboard or where they fled to. At this time, they have not returned to New Ognos.
• In the interim, Pyronmouth has a Mayor. Mayors may be from any race, sex, social status, and Guild. Their duties include, but are not limited to:
  • Overseeing the day-to-day operations and administration of the town government. This includes managing budgets, setting policies, hiring/firing of town employees, etc.
  • Enforcing town laws and ordinances. The Mayor would have authority over the town guard/law enforcement to maintain order.
  • Officiating town activities and ceremonies. The Mayor could host town halls, give speeches at events, ribbon cuttings, etc.
  • Meeting with citizens to hear grievances and settle disputes. Holding "office hours" where citizens can voice concerns.
  • Coordinating response in times of emergency or crisis. Being the point person to make important decisions for the safety of the town.
  • Making proclamations and executive orders. The Mayor can issue decrees and mandates for the town within certain limits.
  • Chairing town council meetings. The Mayor would set agenda and run the meetings of any town council or advisory boards.
  • Acting as diplomat on behalf of the town. Meeting with nobles, guilds, or other leaders to represent the town's interests.
  • Granting pardons, titles, and licenses. The Mayor has authority to bestow special privileges within reason.
  • Issuing taxes and fees. The Mayor can raise or lower taxes on goods, services, property, etc.
• Both in character and out of character, this duty will cycle between individuals. At the moment, we plan to have this duty cycle every 2 real-life months.
  • Players can opt to have their characters enter the Mayor Lotto; this can be a conscious decision the character made to volunteer for, or something that gets forced on them.
  • Both player characters and NPCs can hold the position, however, it will be weighted more towards player characters.
  • While there is an oversight board (a collection of anonymous citizens from various races and positions), Mayors will have a lot of power while they hold the position. This includes the ability to set laws, pardon or punish criminals, raise taxes, grant or remove titles, etc. There is some room for abuse, embezzlement, etc.
    • Characters may be randomly selected for the oversight board, you will be notified via DM in this case.
  • At the end of each Mayor's session, we can vote on any laws they passed to formalize them. If formalized, future Mayors will need to hold a vote to remove/undo the law; they can otherwise keep or scrap any laws made by predecessors.

Next up...

You can check out the other Essential Guides using the links below!

• Guidebook - a brief look in to game setting & mechanics
• Game Overview - a brief look in to game setting & mechanics

When you've read everything over, you can get going by joining your character here.

Don't forget to join our Discord!