Retiring Characters

Sometimes, users feel the need to retire their characters. Whether you wish to put their story on hold, bring in a fresh face quickly, or you simply don't click with the character in question, SA offers ways to both temporarily and permanently retire your characters. 
Starter characters / First time characters in Starborn Alignment are eligible for retirement after two months. 
== Temporary Retirement ==
Temp Retirement is when a character is put 'on hold' for an indefinite amount of time. Although 'alive' in-universe, they cannot be played or earn AP while retired. You may bring in a new character to fill the retired character's slot, but you may only generate two slots at one time in this way. If you retire any more than two characters, they cannot be immediately replaced.
To bring the retired character back, all active characters (excluding those bought by Sapphire Statues) must be at level five or higher.
A Temporary Retiree retains all AP they earned prior to the retirement; you cannot transfer their AP, familiar, or items to another character.
Characters that have an activity check rank have a 4 month cap on temporary retirement.
* (Character Name): Temporary Retirement
 Character's Reference: (link)
 Character's Astral Tracker: (link)
 Reason for Retirement:
== Permanent Retirement / Character Death ==
When you permanently retire your character, it is not reversible- hence the name! So please make sure this is something you really want to do. Because it is permanent, you can re-purpose the AP and CS put into the retired character, as we understand how much work went into earning that in the first place. CS refund includes all items, familiars and Blessings the character received, except for fertility necklaces.
You must have some proof of their retirement in game, be it through an RP, chapter plot, story, or image. This can be their death or simply a description of how they go off to live in the country-side, happily ever after. Retirement proof images (or writing) must earn at least 5 AP, and can be a mix of art and writing if you wish. Once the character’s retirement has been verified, please note that the open character slot resulting from the previous character’s death is incapable of unlocking a character if the deceased was over level 5, as that slot has already unlocked a new character and the AP earned is getting re-purposed.
You may permanently retire as many characters as you like! (Updated 03/27/2020)
Please make sure your notes are clear/easy to read and your AP distributions and character tracker well sorted when doing larger amounts of retirements!
* (Character Name): Permanent Retirement
 Character's Reference: (link)
 Character's Astral Tracker: (link)
 Reason for Retirement:
 Link to proof of Retirement: (image, literature, etc)
 How AP will be distributed: (please make note of this on AP tracker as well)
=== Some Reminders ===
* If the retired character was over lvl 5, the character slot they create is sterile and can't unlock a new slot. This means you can replace the retired character with a new character, but not earn a new slot after the new character reaches 100 AP.
* AP and CS transfer/refund MUST BE VERIFIED by an admin.
* AP can be given to one or multiple characters.
* AP distribution must be announced in the note and marked on the character’s tracker. Link to the retired character’s tracker on the recipient character's tracker for proof.
* Just as leveling your horse through art that isn’t of them can hinder your character’s ability to obtain a Holy Blessing, giving pre-existing AP to your character to level them can also hinder the process as there can be much less proof.
* After retirement is confirmed, remove your retired character's Tracker and Reference from the group. Resubmit the reference to their herd's Permanently Retired Characters folder.
== Character Reboots ==
Sometimes you like some parts of a character, but not others. While some edits are fine to do in-game without retiring the character in between, major changes will often require you to permanently retire the original version, and then bring the character back as a new and improved version.
Note that even if you do changes without retirement, you must resubmit the character for a check by the admin. Please write out in the correspondence why the character is in the queue!
=== So what can I change without retirement? ===
* Name - simply note the group! Please note that you immediately lose all rights to the previous name.
* Appearance - major changes with Appearance Change Potion from the Magic Shop; finetuning and slight alterations fine without potion. Always check with an admin if you're unsure whether or not you need one!
* Build/Height - Achieved by the Shapeshifting Amulet.
* Hairstyle - style away! Hair can grow/be cut freely. If you add excessive hair (such as: chest hair, beards etc) a Hair Growth Potion from Magic Shop may be needed
* Adding in-game events into the history
* Editing history to better correspond with current lore
* Altering personality in accordance to IC events
* Rewriting personality and history in a way that does not change the content, just updates the way the story is told or cleans up old writing - we've all been there!
* Changing herd/rank in-character
* Aging - either naturally (in SA time) or via an Aging Potion.
* Age tweaking - retconning the character to be a different age, as if they always were that age. Be mindful of your plotting partners when you do this! Age should only be edited within the same "general age group" ie making an adult into a slightly older/younger adult. If the age change requires major history/personality edits, you may be looking at a full reboot situation.
=== These changes always require a retirement: ===
* Changing history elements in a way that isn't explained by lore changes or IC events
* Giving the character an entirely new backstory, even if keeping the same personality/rank/name
* Changing the personality without an IC explanation or otherwise altering the personality in such a major way that the character essentially becomes a new character, even if still having the same name/rank/history
* Changing herd/rank without an IC explanation, as if the character had always been in that rank/herd
* Wanting different blessing(s) than what has already been applied
* Any such changes that make the character into a different character entirely in feel, story and behavior when the changes do not have an IC explanation. If you are unsure, we invite you to note the group with the current and new versions of the character, and we'll let you know!
Note that a rebooted character is treated like a new character when it comes to gameplay.
The "new" character is not guaranteed to receive the same blessings or rank as the original. They do not keep things such as familiars from their original iteration. If the original character held a limited rank, you will have to apply for it again. The character's name or previous rank is not reserved to you while you make changes. Other than this, the new character may reuse any parts of the original character, such as backstory or personality.
Note that if you did changes such as overhauling the whole history, rank, and herd, the rebooted character would be treated as an entirely new person - they would not retain any memories, relationships or knowledge of their "past life". If your War Forged Raider is retired to find a new life as a Talori Guardian, these are two different characters, and your Guardian can not remember what happened to the Raider in chapters.
On the other hand if the reboot is less drastic, it's sometimes possible to treat the character as the same person as the original. Please consult with the herd admin if you are unsure.
== Character Removal ==
The third and final option for letting go of a character - character removal is irreversible and absolutely permanent. You may opt to remove your character from the group and forgo the AP and CS that is attached to them. Accessories may be refunded through the general refund process, but things such as blessings and catalyst items may not. Removing a character this way does not open a new slot, and would instead require that all active characters (excluding those bought by Sapphire Statues) be at level five or higher. Once verified, the character(s) and their AP tracker(s) should be removed from the group.
* (Character Name): Character Removal
 Character's Reference: (link)
 Character's Astral Tracker: (link)
 Reason for Removal:
NOTE: Please keep in mind that any number of characters can be removed this way, but they will never open a slot .
Category:Gameplay