We introduce a general framework to construct multi-emission kernels for parton branching algorithms at the amplitude level and across different soft and collinear limits. We highlight the connection of kinematic parameterizations and recoil schemes to the underlying power counting, and discuss in detail how soft radiation can be partitioned in between different collinear configurations beyond the single-emission picture underpinning the traditional dipole and angular ordering approaches. Our work is a vital cornerstone to build parton branching algorithms which include multiply-unresolved emissions in a fully differential way, and our construction can also be used to obtain splitting functions for probabilistic algorithms or other cross-section level objects such as subtraction terms.