[Forum Guardian]

Originally written by former moderator TheSlave. Revisions and additions by Cooper. Revisions by Corg. Revised and rewritten by Vana and Red Team. Revisions by Puffin.

HELLION GUIDELINES.

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When the world was new and air still fresh, there was the hellhound. Born beyond the Fringe and elsewhere along the world, they are a result of nature's ambition gone awry. The ultimate product of several different species, their lineage is both terrible in its ultimate result and grand in its complexity. Most are twisted beasts, having broken up from their pack-like nature to forge new bonds elsewhere, or simply unaware that their ancestry has made them incapable of socializing with others. Regardless of their individual plight, the Hellion is a fascinating creature with a diverse set of traits and mutations to which no two look alike.

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BANNED TRAITS.
Functional Wings | Sharp/Retractable Talons (on things that aren't cats) | Gigantism | Saber Fangs (on things that aren't cats) | Tail Spikes

BORDERLINE TRAITS.
recommended only in non-aggressive characters, or with a suitable explanation
Bone Spikes (Horns on body) | Quills | Venom (must be non-fatal)

ACCEPTABLE TRAITS.
Horns (all types) | Modified Tongues | Modified/Multiple Tails (within reason¹) | Multiple Limbs/Eyes (within reason²) | Modified Anatomy | Altered/Stiffened Fur or Furlessness | Bioluminescence (Glowing)³ | Scales/Scutes⁴ | Wings⁵

¹Multiple tails may not act independently of each other.
²Extra limbs and ornamental extra eyes must not be fully functional, and eyes must be placed within the vicinity of the usable eyes, and must decrease the vision of the working eyes.
³Bioluminescence must cover less than 50% of a hellion's body, and may not be controlable by the character.
⁴On mammal-based hellions, scales must cover less than 25% of the hellion's body.
⁵WINGS:

• Wings that form a third pair of limbs connected to a quadruped's shoulders may be made of bone, cartilage, or soft tissue and may have musculature allowing for a range of movement consistent with small gestures and general expressiveness. Wings may not allow the creature to fly, hover, glide, shove, or move another creature with any degree of force.
  
• The length of a character's wingspan may be at most 25% longer than the height of the character. For example, A 3' tall wolf may have a wingspan of 3'9" (36" x 1.25 = 45") resulting in each wing measuring 22".
  
• Wings may not have attached claws, spores, poison, or anything that might be used to harm another character.
  
• Wings formed from a membrane attached to a quadruped's forelegs like a bat's wings or a sugar glider's patagium may have limited movement, but at the expense of the character's overall ease of movement.
  

Typically, the moderators evaluate Hellion for approval based on two major factors: number of traits and personality. A Hellion with several hell-traits might be more readily accepted if it's personality is more neutral or passive, as opposed to one that constantly engages in fights. This is not to say that we will not allow a war-monger hound with 7 different traits, but we might be more skeptical about accepting it for roleplay if it has traits that are obviously an attempt at an advantage in fights. We encourage creativity, and as such, we do not have any guaranteed approved traits list, merely suggestions to give you ideas of traits to give your character. Those listed above are merely suggestions, and do not guarantee that a hellhound with those traits will be automatically accepted. However, drawbacks to more extreme traits must be kept realistic. If you want your hellhound to have giant deer antlers, include a drawback such as shedding yearly, sensitive skin, or that they're otherwise blunt and cannot be used as weapons.

More outlandish traits, or traits on the "borderline" list above, should have an adequate biological explanation for their appearance and evolution. The more plausible the reasoning, the more likely it is to be accepted.

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HEIGHT & LENGTH GUIDELINES.

Primarily wolf-type canines with hellion blood as well as their associated hybrids (canine-feline and canine-ursine cross species) can only reach a maximum height of 3'6". Other types of hellions and cross-species hybrids of naturally larger species such as felines, horses, deer, mammoths, etc. may reach larger heights and will be judged on a case-by-case basis by the moderators.

Average length for a timberwolf is 6'5" (including tail).

The length guidelines have been revised for Hellions that exhibit certain anatomical traits. Hellions that wish to be longer than average need to dock 0.5 inch off the height in order to add that to the length.

Example:
Decreased by 0.5 inch:
Height of 3'0" = 7'0" in length
Height of 2'5" = 7'5" in length
Height of 2'0" = 8'0" in length

However, exceptions can be made for length if the Hellion doesn't have many traits attached to the design. Every length will be assessed in a case by case approval. The length guideline is more lenient than the strict height rule. Length is applied to Hellions that have 'longer' anatomy such as reptilian or "eastern dragon" anatomy. It is now required that length be added to all Hellion profiles. 

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BREEDING & OFFSPRING.

If you have a Hellion that happens to crossbreed and the offspring have no visible Hellion traits or Standardized traits, it is no longer required that you submit the offspring for moderator approval.

What hellion unions may produce offspring is limited the same way as which cross species unions may produce offspring. A canine-based hellion may not breed with a crocodile-based hellion, just as a wolf could not breed with a crocodile. As the forum has embraced more closely related cross-species unions, such as canines and foxes, and canines and felines, hellions with those bases may also breed.

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ALTERNATE HELLION SPECIES.

Though Hellions are the most common, alternate hell-species are welcome. Please follow any height and length guidelines for the "base" species (a hell-rabbit should follow the same requirements for a mundane rabbit), as well as all other guidelines listed here, to submit an alternate hellion.

Please understand that the moderators may be more strict on approving alternate species known to be aggressive or otherwise designed for combat. Plan your traits accordingly!

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EXOTIC HYBRIDS.

With the rise of exotic hybrids such as fox wolves or cat dogs, these hybrids will now be classified as hellions and must follow the height rules and any other rules under the hellion guideline. Hellions that are the result of a cross-species union are considered 100% hellion and may have any of the standardized traits.
Acceptable Hybrids:  Fox/Wolf; Feline/Wolf or Dog; Bear/Wolf or Dog.

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HELL HUMANS.

Hell humans may have standard hellion traits (horns, elongated claws, elongated canines, etc.) and some typically "anthro" traits (animal ears and tails) but not more substantial body modifiable traits such as animal heads, hands, feet, or fur. It is extremely unlikely that non-mammalian traits such as wings or gills will be approved on hell humans.

[Forum Guardian]

So you want to play a hellhound...?

FIRST: Read the Hellion Guidelines

Yeah, those ones up there! Read them again. These guidelines outline the do's and don'ts in shaping your hellhound character. The guidelines are always under constant change as the forum grows. If you have any questions concerning the hellbeast guidelines, please make sure you PM a moderator.

SECOND: What to include in your application.

You are essentially making an application to play your hellbeast character. The application needs to be the structure of a normal profile that would be posted in the Character Directory with some alterations. Please read below for details:

Name: standard profile rule.
Height: standard profile rule.
Weight: standard profile rule.
Length: if a snake-like hellbeast; see the guidelines.
Species: percentage of hellbeast blood.
Personality: standard profile rule.
History: standard profile rule if your character has any accessories that need to be explained.

Hellhound Traits: Please explain your hellbeast traits in full detail. Explain how the traits help or hinder your character. Explain if they do anything or if they are useless to the character's overall structure; physically and mentally.

Reference: What does your character look like? Detailed description or detailed reference picture.

How many hellhounds do you have? Tell the moderators how many hellion you already have. There is no longer a cap, but it helps us keep track!

THIRD: Who to send your applications to.

Send your application as a Private Message to any online Forum Guardian.

FOURTH: Be open for questions.

The moderators will occasionally send questions concerning your application for your character if something seems unclear. We will do this to verify what you mean to speed the process of approval.

FIFTH: Be patient!

The approval process is overseen by several moderators and takes time. Unless you believe that your application was never received, please allow the moderation team ample time to review your message and get back to you.

FINALLY: Do not post your character...

Do not post your character UNTIL it has been approved by a moderator. Thank you.


Written by Cooper.

[Forum Guardian]

Standardized Hellhound Traits

It has been noted that there are many hellion traits which are usually always accepted; they don't change the base animal much, and are for the most part harmless. So a list has been made of these traits that will be allowed to be included onto a hellbeast profile without needing approval. The traits, as of now, are:

1. Large ears (without enhanced hearing)
2. Modified Pupils (without enhanced vision)
3. Modified Nose (without enhanced smell)
4. Lack of fur/Excessive Fur
5. Elongated Tails (no more than the length of the creature's actual body)
6. Small, nubby horns (that won't/can't be used defensively)
7. Splits Tails (as long as they don't move independently)
8. Bristle fur (in patches)
9. Horns at a really odd angle and can't be used for defense
10. Snaggle teeth that stick out (without enhanced biting power)

Note: Hellhounds with 25% or below hellhound blood can be auto-accepted, and should be void of strong traits.
**Bioluminescence: will be allowed, but has to be approved on a case-by-case basis.**

Also, if you're unsure about any of the traits you want to give your hellhound, feel free to PM a Moderator! Not for examination, but just for a quick "yeah that's fine" from one of us.

FOR ALL "STANDARDIZED" HELLHOUND PROFILES please PM the profile to Kay or Puffin so that it's kept on record, but otherwise feel free to post them in the Character Directory without needing to wait on a Moderator to respond!

Please also note that we are now introducing Hellhound Moderators. What is this? It's just redirecting the applications onto one or two Moderators in order to speed up the process of going through the applications. Right now our main Hellhound Moderators are Kay and Puffin, so redirect all profiles to them! Even ones including these standardized traits so that they can go on record.

Thank you!