Base Coat Guide

Base Coat Colors

Color Categories and Hue Ranges

Crimson

Red or pink colored coat. Must have an obviously reddish hue that cannot be mistaken for greyscale. Can be any shade of red or pink, but cannot be considered orange, brown, or purple. Maroon hues are generally allowed, subject to admin rejection if the purple tone is too prominent.

Fruity

Orange or brown colored coat. Must have an obviously orange hue that cannot be mistaken for greyscale. Can be any shade of orange or brown, but cannot be considered red or yellow.

Golden

Yellow colored coat. Must have an obviously yellow hue that cannot be mistaken for greyscale. Can be any shade of yellow, but cannot be considered green or orange. Yellow-greens are permitted, subject to admin rejection if the green tone is too prominent.

Tainted

Green colored coat. Cannot be considered greyscale, but otherwise can be any shade of green. Cannot be considered yellow or blue. Yellow-green and turquoise are allowed, subject to admin rejection if they lean too heavily toward yellow or blue.

Waterlogged

Blue colored coat. Cannot be considered greyscale, but otherwise can be any shade of blue. Cannot be considered purple or green. Turquoise/teal and indigo are allowed, subject to admin rejection if they lean too heavily toward purple or green.

Raven

Purple colored coat. Cannot be considered greyscale, but otherwise can be any shade of purple. Cannot be considered blue, red, or pink. Maroon and indigo are allowed, subject to admin rejection if they lean too heavily toward blue or red.

Albino

White colored coat. Must be clearly greyscale and fall somewhere on the top third of the color picker. Cannot be considered a middling-value grey. Very subtle color tinting is allowed, subject to admin rejection if saturation is too high.

Nighted

Black colored coat. Must be clearly greyscale and fall somewhere on the bottom third of the color picker. Cannot be considered a middling-value grey. Very subtle color tinting is allowed, subject to admin rejection if saturation is too high.

Natural Marking Interactions by Base Color

Each base coat determines which colors are naturally available for markings on your design. Markings should complement the base coat and follow the established color rules unless modified by special traits like Calico or Technicolor.

When designing markings, consider how they interact with your base coat's hue range. Border colors between categories (like maroon between Crimson and Raven, or yellow-green between Golden and Tainted) require admin approval to ensure they fall within acceptable ranges.

Color-Specific Restrictions and Rules

Boundary Color Guidelines

Between Crimson and Fruity: Avoid colors that could be interpreted as both red-orange and orange-red. True orange belongs to Fruity.

Between Fruity and Golden: Brown shades belong to Fruity, while yellow shades belong to Golden. Orange-yellow boundaries require clear leaning toward one hue.

Between Golden and Tainted: Yellow-greens are permitted but subject to approval. The color must show clear yellow dominance for Golden or clear green dominance for Tainted.

Between Tainted and Waterlogged: Turquoise and teal shades are allowed for both but must lean appropriately toward green (Tainted) or blue (Waterlogged) upon admin review.

Between Waterlogged and Raven: Indigo shades are permitted for both but must show clear blue dominance (Waterlogged) or purple dominance (Raven).

Between Raven and Crimson: Maroon shades are allowed for both but must show clear purple dominance (Raven) or red dominance (Crimson).

Greyscale Saturation Limits

Both Albino and Nighted allow very subtle color tinting, but saturation must remain minimal. If color becomes noticeable enough to identify a specific hue, the design may be rejected or require modification.

Modifiers

Saturation Modifiers

Silver

Not a base coat by itself, but a modifier. The coat must be a desaturated shade, falling somewhere on the left half of the color chart(s). Silver can appear on Nighted and Albino designs but does not visually affect them since they're already greyscale. One or two markings may fall outside the Silver saturation range as long as they don't dominate the overall design.

Neon

Not a base coat by itself, but a modifier. The coat must be a saturated shade, falling somewhere on the right half of the color chart(s). Neon can appear on Nighted and Albino designs but does not visually affect them since they're already greyscale. One or two markings may fall outside the Neon saturation range as long as they don't dominate the overall design.

Value/Brightness Modifiers

Skinned

Not a base coat by itself, but a modifier. The coat must be a light shade, falling somewhere on the top half of the color chart(s), or the middle region for Nighted. Skinned on Nighted will make it appear grey rather than black. One or two markings may fall outside the Skinned value range as long as they don't dominate the overall design.

Bloodstained

Not a base coat by itself, but a modifier. The coat must be a dark shade, falling somewhere on the bottom half of the color chart(s), or the middle region for Albino. Bloodstained on Albino will make it appear grey rather than white. One or two markings may fall outside the Bloodstained value range as long as they don't dominate the overall design.

How Modifiers Affect Markings

All modifiers apply to the entire design, including markings. When a modifier is present:

  • Silver/Neon: All colors (base coat and markings) must follow the saturation restriction
  • Skinned/Bloodstained: All colors (base coat and markings) must follow the value/brightness restriction
  • Exception: Up to two markings may break these rules, but they cannot be the most prominent features of the design

When multiple modifiers are combined (e.g., Neon + Bloodstained), all restrictions apply simultaneously. The design must be both saturated AND dark in this example.

Additional Base Coats

Duplicate Color Categories

Mossy - Same rules as Tainted (green hues)

Abyssal - Same rules as Waterlogged (blue hues)

Regal - Same rules as Raven (purple hues)

Molten - Same rules as Crimson (red/pink hues)

Coppered - Same rules as Fruity (orange/brown hues)

Guilded - Same rules as Golden (yellow hues)

These legendary base coats follow identical color rules to their counterparts but are separate genetic traits for summoning and inheritance purposes. If on a base coat of the same color, it will not impact the design.

Special Multi-Color Bases

Calico

The design features two additional colors of your choice as modifiers. These additional colors must be the same rarity or lower than the base coat they accompany. All three colors must be visible somewhere on the design by affecting the markings or the base coat itself. Calico cannot make patches of color on the base coat!

  • Calico with a common base coat: Shows three common coat colors
  • Calico with Albino/Nighted: Show effects of Albino/Nighted plus two other colors of your choice from common/uncommon tier
  • Calico with a legendary base coat: Can show two additional colors of any rarity

If Skinned/Bloodstained is present, all three colors must be light/dark. If Silver/Neon is present, all three colors must be desaturated/saturated.

Technicolor

(Exclusive to April Fools 2024) A modifier that requires each marking on the design to be a different color. Markings can be similar hues but must be obvously different shades to make each marking clearly distinguishable from the others. Technicolor allows you to ignore the "lighter than/darker than" and color restriction rules for markings, giving complete freedom in color choice as long as each marking is visually distinct.

Frequently Misunderstood Rules

"Can I use [boundary color] for my base coat?" Colors like maroon, yellow-green, turquoise, and indigo fall between categories. They're allowed but subject to admin approval. The admin will determine if the hue leans enough toward one category or crosses into another.

"If my character has an additional base coat, which color do I use for the base?" You can use either for the base! You are not forced to use the base coat for the base itself, you can use the additional base as the base coat then the base coat itself for the markings, or you could have everything but one marking be the base coat too if you'd like.

"My design has Silver/Neon but the greyscale parts aren't affected. Is this wrong?" No, this is correct. Silver and Neon saturation modifiers don't visually change Albino or Nighted coats since greyscale colors have no saturation to modify. The modifier still exists genetically.

"Can I have one bright marking on a Bloodstained design?" Yes, up to two small markings can fall outside modifier ranges, but they cannot dominate the design. A small bright accent is acceptable; a large bright marking covering half the body is not.

"Does Calico let me use any colors I want?" Calico allows three colors total, but they must follow rarity restrictions. The two additional colors must be equal to or lower in rarity than your base coat. Modifiers like Skinned/Bloodstained and Silver/Neon still apply to all three colors.

"What do you mean when you say Calico affecting the Base?" Calico can affect the base and/or markings, meaning the base and markings can be ONE of the three chosen colors. This does NOT allow you to create patches of said chosen colors on the base itself unless it is a marking the geno has. For example, if you have a Calico Crimson Kiji, that means the base and markings have to be red, orange, and yellow. You aren't forced for the base being red, you can have the base be yellow, then the markings all but one being orange, and the last marking being red.

"What's the difference between legendary duplicates and common bases?" Functionally, Mossy works exactly like Tainted, Molten works exactly like Crimson, etc. The difference is purely genetic for summoning purposes and rarity tier.

Genetics and Inheritance

Base coats are inherited directly during summoning based on the summoners, while modifiers have a chance of popping up based on luck. For example, if all summoners have a Raven Base, the child will be guarenteed to be Raven, but could have a Modifier or Additional Base Coat appear. If all the summoners were Neon Skinned Tainted, the child would ALWAYS be Neon Skinned Tainted, but if one of the summoners were just Skinned Tainted there's a chance the child would be just Skinned Tainted, or even Silver Skinned Tainted.

Technical Reference

Modifier Interaction Chart

Base Coat + Skinned + Bloodstained + Silver + Neon
Crimson Light red/pink Dark red Desaturated red/pink Vibrant red/pink
Fruity Light orange/tan Dark brown Desaturated orange/brown Vibrant orange
Golden Light yellow/cream Dark yellow/gold Desaturated yellow Vibrant yellow
Tainted Light green/mint Dark green Desaturated green Vibrant green
Waterlogged Light blue/cyan Dark blue/navy Desaturated blue Vibrant blue
Raven Light purple/lavender Dark purple Desaturated purple Vibrant purple
Albino White (unchanged) Grey White (unchanged) White (unchanged)
Nighted Grey Black (unchanged) Black (unchanged) Black (unchanged)

 

Multiple Modifiers: Modifiers can stack (e.g., Neon + Bloodstained = Vibrant dark colors). All restrictions apply simultaneously.

Marking Exceptions: Up to 2 small markings per design can fall outside modifier ranges without dominating the design.

Visual Examples and Comparisons

Acceptable vs. Rejected Examples

Crimson Boundary Cases:

  • ✓ Acceptable: Deep red leaning slightly toward maroon
  • ✗ Rejected: Maroon with clear purple dominance (this would be Raven)
  • ✗ Rejected: Red-orange (this would be Fruity)

Tainted vs. Waterlogged:

  • ✓ Acceptable Tainted: Turquoise with green dominance
  • ✓ Acceptable Waterlogged: Turquoise with blue dominance
  • ✗ Rejected: Pure 50/50 turquoise (too ambiguous)

Albino with Subtle Tint:

  • ✓ Acceptable: Very pale cream with barely visible warm tone
  • ✗ Rejected: Noticeably yellow or pink-tinted white

Bloodstained Marking Exception:

  • ✓ Acceptable: Dark red design with small light pink accent marking
  • ✗ Rejected: Dark red design with large light pink marking covering 40% of body

Color Picker Reference Points

When using a standard HSV/HSB color picker:

  • Top third (Skinned range): Value/Brightness 55-100%
  • Bottom third (Bloodstained range): Value/Brightness 0-45%
  • Left half (Silver range): Saturation 0-45%
  • Right half (Neon range): Saturation 55-100%

Make sure lineart is still visible with the design. If the base coat is too close to the lines to the point we cannot see the lineart the design will be rejected.

These are approximate guides. Admin discretion applies to boundary cases.