1. Obtain stats here prior to battling. STATS THREAD. The stats are based on your character’s breed type that you have chosen when you create your character, and your descriptions are used to tailor them to your character’s specific build. Stats increase as you battle, gain items, magic, and companions. Winning battles earns VP (victory points). Finishing battles earns EXP (experience points). 5 EXP = 1 VP.

2. All fighting threads are posted in the Battleground board, but you can choose the setting. All fight posts must be under 800 words. After each battle post, an admin or JA will roll the damages.DICE GUIDE is located in the Battleground for your review. This guide will tell you how to properly battle.

• Put your opponent's name clearly in the title of your thread.
• Foals under 2 cannot battle.
• Pregnant mares who battle get their foal stats rerolled. Fatality is high. Pregnancy starts when foal stats are provided.
• Posts cannot be edited once they are posted.
• Amulets can provide one-time stat boosts. See details below.
• You can choose to do an OOC fight, wherein the events are not remembered by the characters/didn't actually happen. These can allow more variety of settings and realism, but cannot be judged or awarded normal VP/EXP.

3. If your character is taken to 0 hp during a fight they are considered dead. You can forfeit any fight at any time, but to avoid the risk of death, tapping out is advised at 15 hp or lower. If you tap out within that range you will still earn the EXP of a completed fight, any earlier and you will not.

4. Administrators will judge the fight carefully based on grammar, prose, style, realism and creativity using the RUBRIC. Fights are only judged if there is no clear victor.

• Fights with a 20HP gap or more are not judged.
• Fights where a character dies are not judged.
• If you end the fight passed out you automatically forfeit.
• You will receive a penalty in the rubric if you end the fight unable to continue fighting, including in your closing defense. ex. not standing, asking for it to stop, or in any way leaving the battle.
• You will receive a penalty each time you exceed the word limit.
• You will receive a penalty if you posted a spar/challenge before cool down is over (detailed within spars/challenges).

• Defeating someone (by rubric, hp gap, or your opponent died) = 1 VP.
• Default win (opponent didn't post in time) = 0.5 VP.
• Defeated by someone (by rubric or hp gap) = 1 EXP.
• Defaulting (didn't post in time) = nothing.
• Teaching spar = additional 1 EXP for 1 post, 2 EXP for 2 posts, 0.5 VP for 3+ posts/finished spar.
• Defeating a leader rank = additional 1 VP.
• Killing someone normal fight length (must be 1 vs 1, character must have 40+ posts) = additional 1 VP.
• Killing someone by bringing them to 0 HP (must be 1 v 1, character must have 40+ posts) = additional 2 VP.

5. About partial judging:
If a fight defaults and each character has 2 or more attack posts each (dice rolled), the character that did not default can request partial judging. This means a rubric will be posted.

• If the non-defaulting character wins, their default 0.5 VP becomes 1 VP.
• If the non-defaulting character loses, their default 0.5 VP becomes 1 EXP.
• The defaulting character earns no VP/EXP regardless of the rubric.

6. about teaching spars:
Teachers must be approved here. A teaching spar must be agreed upon and stated when the fight first starts. There can be only one teacher. The fighters will make their in character posts as normal, but the teacher will add an OOC section at the bottom of their post reviewing both fighter's posts and step by step detailing why an attack or dodge was good or bad, how it can be improved upon or changed, etc. The OOC post is made after each round of in character fighting posts. Generally this is very time consuming, but very beneficial.

• If a fight defaults because of the teacher, no teaching points will be awarded.
• OOC fights do not earn VP/EXP but are still awarded normal teaching benefits.

7. About spars:

• Must be 3+ posts each
• You are allowed, at most, three weeks between posts. There are no extensions allowed during spars.
• You can only make one spar every week. The cool down starts from the first dice roll per character.
• You and your opponent can decide if assets (items, amulets, magic, companions) are allowed to be used.

8. About challenges:

• Challenges are a formal battle to gain something from your opponent.
• You must clearly define what you are challenging for in an OOC post section. Only one thing can be challenged for at a time.
• Your thread title must include "Character Challenge" in which "character" is the name of who you are challenging.
• Must be 4 posts each within 72 hours of the dice roll.
• You cannot be challenged when absent and if you go on absent in the middle of the challenge you have two weeks total absence time during the entire battle.
• Your character may only participate in one challenge at a time. There is a one week cool down after the rubric where neither character can challenge or be challenged.
• Each character can utilize whatever assets they have (items, amulets, magic, companions).
• You can only accept a challenge on behalf of someone else in the same herd.
• Below is what you can and cannot challenge for.

i. Yes! Items – such as armor, trinkets, machines, but not ooc prizes.
ii. Yes! Lead ranks within your own herd
iii. Yes! Characters from any herd or outcasts
iv. Yes! Another character’s freedom
v. Yes! Your freedom
vi. No! Companions, unborn or born
vii. No! Ranks not within your same herd (if you are an outcast, you can only challenge for entry into a herd)
viii. No! An entire herd all by yourself
ix. No! More than one character or thing in a single fight
x. Maybe! Check the rules of the herd to make sure that the rank you want can be challenged for

9. Amulets are trinkets of god blood. You can have up to 5 at a time and they must be on your character records to be used.

• SUN AMULET :: Storing :: when a magical ability is purposely cast at the amulet, it will absorb that magic and store it to be used at a later time.
Battle Boost :: +2 Attack & +2 Damage (must have magic already stored inside the amulet to use)


• MOON AMULET :: Stealing :: when a magical ability is cast in the vicinity, the amulet is able to replicate the ability and store it to be used at a later time.
Battle Boost :: +2 Defense & +2 Attack


• EARTH AMULET :: Warding :: when a magical ability is cast at your character, the amulet will absorb it instead, shattering as it does so.
Battle Boost :: +4 Defense


• SPARK AMULET :: Deflection :: Able to cast the power of another character back onto that character, shattering as it does so.
Battle Boost :: +2 Defense & +2 Damage


• KAOS AMULET :: Healing :: Able to release the blood of the Kaos god to heal your wounds, causing pain and shattering as it does so.
Battle Boost :: +4 HP (can only use 1 per battle)

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1. There are no longer any “invasions” but conquer challenges which are a set of 3, equally weighted challenges that will determine the outcome of a herd defeat or win.
2. No allies of any kind are allowed in these challenges. Allies are any character not part of your herd.
3. Only OFFICIALLY RANKED characters may participate in challenges (these are the ones with icons next to the name!)
4. If a player is absent or stolen at the BEGINNING of the battle (prior to the challenges being posted), you may replace them with any herd member above 2 years old.
5. All rounds have 72 hour fight windows – failure to reply eliminates you from the rest of the challenge and reduces your score for that challenge. All challenges happen in tandem and you cannot participate in more than one challenge for the whole event.
6. The challenges are the same for herd vs. herd and outcast vs. herd conquer events.
7. The winner of the Conquer Event is the one who wins 2/3 of the challenges. No challenge can end in a draw ensuring there will be one winner.
8. The winning team will be transferred to the herd automatically and the losing team will be outcasted. Since both herds will be on cool down in the meantime, the winners can choose how to divide their two lands since you can only lead one herd at a time. The winning team can decide to give their old land back to the admin to decide new leaders based on application should the winning team want this.


THE FIGHT CHALLENGE
1. All CRAFTERS will give their list of offensive and defensive items created prior to battle. Each “large project” (ie wall) will count as 5 points. Each individual item (ie armor/weapon) will count as 1 point.
2. All WARRIOR ranks will fight in a single, 3 round chaos style battle. Between each round, dice will be rolled according to who attacked whom and tallies will be drawn before the next round. When you reach 10 HP, you are eliminated. Since 0 HP means death, we will not allow you to die without your consent; you will be eliminated before you die. When you reply, you must BOLD names of characters you attack. Each warrior will receive a rubric even though we assume most characters will be eliminated by the second round. HP will be added on either side in a total tally. The side with the highest HP will win “20” points.
3. All HEALERS can strategically heal characters between rounds by PMing the “Kaos” account. Healers will have 24 hours to choose a character to give HP to and PM the account before the next rounds starts. Each healer can give a maximum of “10 HP” for ALL ROUNDS.
4. The side with the most points at the end wins the “FIGHT” challenge.


THE SNEAK CHALLENGE
1. ALL SNEAKS write their best 3 riddles which are posted for sneaks of the other team. The riddles must be for Helovian characters (any character on the memberlist is free game except admin controlled accounts like the gods, random event, etc). Answers are PMed to the “Kaos” account.
2. The sneaks on the opposite side must PM their answers within 72 hours to the “Kaos” account. Each sneak has only 1 guess per riddle.
3. The team with the most “correct” answers win. In the event that an admin participates in this challenge in any way, the password to the “Kaos” account will be changed by the other admin.
4. In the event both teams tie, the win will go to the team with the most riddles and therefore most sneaks.


THE FUTURE CHALLENGE
1. All LEADERS and WISE ONES will post to a thread made by the god of the land being invaded. Their goal is to discuss what they have accomplished in their rule as well as their future plans if they win the conquer event. Good things to include in this speech are: active ranks, recruiting, herd size, herd champ wins (in an IC way), crafting accomplishments, sneak accomplishments, diplomacy, warriors who have high VP (elite fighting force), successful herd meetings, etc.
2. Each group will appeal to the god of the side being invaded (For example: if the Hidden Falls is being invaded, both teams will make their speeches to the Earth God). These speeches will be judged on creativity of plans, grammar, prose, political savvy, effectiveness of past accomplishments, organization, activity, and overall leadership.
3. The winner of this challenge is decided by a committee of 3 people, one of whom is an admin. No members of the committee can have ranked characters in either herd or participate in the challenge event. Though the committee members will remain anonymous, they will post their thoughts and outcome via “Random Event” by an admin.



HERD vs. HERD
1. In order to instigate a conquer event, you must speak to your patron god. The Wise One must summon your patron god and PM the “Official” account that you want to start a conquer event. This does not require the use of a pass and the challenges will begin immediately. (If you want the element of surprise, you may PM the “Official” account PRIOR to posting your official Wise One post).
2. The ranked characters for each herd will be taken the moment the PM to “Official” is received. You may substitute ranked characters or add them up until the moment the challenge is posted. Once the challenge is posted with the ranked characters listed on the post, those are the ones who MUST participate (or default).
3. Each herd has a 1 season “cool down” after being invaded. So if the Hidden Falls successfully invades the Dragon’s Throat, both herds have a 1 season cool down before either can invade or be invaded again.


OUTCAST vs. HERD
1. In order to instigate a conquer event, you must be in possession of the Dead Land. The Dead Land is a pseudo herd land which is under the watch of the “Kaos” god. This land has all the privileges and abilities of a normal herd except you can only live here for 1 IC year (8 months) before you are kicked out. You must invade another herd before this time frame. Once you either win or lose an event, you are ousted and another group will inhabit the Dead Land by admin choosing.
2. To acquire the Dead Land you must submit an application to the admin describing your ideas and plans. Include all the assets and members you have in your group. The admin will vote on who gets the land based on their thoughts on who is most equipped to succeed (we want you to win!).
3. Summon Kaos with your “wise one” to instigate a conquer event. The same rules apply as in Herd vs herd. You do not have to use a pass and there is a one season cool down on all challenges. If the herd you want to invade is on a cool down and you are nearing the end of your 8 months, you may qualify for a temporary extension IF you PM “Official” letting us know.