The Laws of the Land

The Laws of the Land Dec 28, 2011 1:01:51 GMT -5

Post by MOTHER NATURE on Dec 28, 2011 1:01:51 GMT -5

^{All updated rules will be listed in white!}

GENERAL AND OOC

[/font]^{FOLLOW THE RULES. First and foremost, we follow all of Proboards rules, so you must do the same. Please do not join unless you are 13 years or older and, if you aren't familiar with Proboards Terms, it is recommended that you give them a quick once-over just so that you may become acquainted. Breaking any of their rules will result in the shutting down of our forum and we certainly don't want that, now do we?
BE RESPECTFUL to our staff, members, and guests. No insulting, harassing, or belittling, please. You will receive a warning for such behavior and failure to improve after two warnings will get you banned!
While on the topic of banning, it should be mentioned that we use the three-strikes system. If you have been warned twice and commit a third offense, you will be banned!
Please keep the chatspeak to a minimum in the Cbox and OOC (Lmao, rofl, lol, and similar phrases are totally fine!).
NO DIRECT LINKING! You could endanger the site.
PLEASE BE PATIENT when waiting for a post! You may bump your thread once and, if it still isn't picked up, we recommend posting in the Plotting board.
Do not take any actions or words spoken while in character personally. Something harmful said in character does not mean the other player is addressing YOU.
While this is an all levels community, we do encourage you to use correct spelling and grammar to the best of your ability. If you are confused about something, just ask!
LIQUID TIME is acceptable here. What this means is that your character may be in two threads in two different places at once. However, try to keep them at least in the same general area. The only exception to this rule is the Islands, in which your character may only have threads on the islands themselves.
All forum images must be below 500 pixels in width and 800 pixels in height. Any larger than that and your image will automatically be re-sized. Please try to keep your signatures below 500 pixels in width and 500 pixels in height.}

SEASONS & WEATHER[/font]
^{One in-character year equals eights weeks real-life time.
Each season lasts two weeks. The current season may be found in the Updates box at the top left corner of the forum.
Weather updates may also be found in the Updates box. Keep an eye on this, as it may change half-way during the season!
Breeding may occur in any season; however, breeding in the winter poses a risk to the foal unless it is born in warmer areas like the Islands or the desert.
Characters must age with each passing year. Keep track of the ages of your characters!}

MUTATIONS[/font]
^{Mutations may only be created by breeding or by purchasing them prior to your character's creation at The Store. More information regarding mutations may be found in the breeding section of our rules.
Realism is key here folks. While mutations consist of the fantasy part of our forum, it has its boundaries. For example, just because your foal may have picked up the 'Fangs' mutation doesn't mean it's going to grow up to be a blood-thirsty cannibal. Horse are herbivorous creatures and cannot digest meat properly. Keep these sorts of things in mind when using your mutated character.
YOUR CHARACTER MAY HAVE AS MANY MUTATIONS AS YOU'D LIKE. When purchasing from the Store, there is no longer a limit to how many mutations your character may have.}[/color]
[/li][li]USE OF MAGIC IS NOT ALLOWED NOR IS IT TOLERATED. Just because your character might have red eyes does not mean he/she can light things on fire! Use of magic or other supernatural powers will result in a severe warning.[/li][/ul][/sup]

CHARACTERS^{When creating a character, use the form provided and fill it out completely. If you have any questions, ask a staff member!
All characters created from scratch MUST be completely normal. No mutations or odd colors. They should be normal horses. The only way to get mutations and colors is to breed characters on the site or to purchase Enhancers from the Store prior to their creation!
As a special note, if you'd like your horse to grey out you must list the base coat. For example, you may have a black-based grey.
You may create a horse at any age. However, foals below the age of three months will need a surrogate mother. It is also recommended that foals below a year of age have a caretaker.
Characters automatically die once they reach twenty. Nobody lives forever folks.
Keep the heights within reason. Not everyone is going to be a 22 hand giant. On that note, the horse height scaling system goes on a -.0, -.1, -.2, or -.3 basis. For example, you may have a mare that is 15.3 hands but a height of 15.4 hands will not be accepted.
You do NOT have to wait to be accepted. If there's a problem with your character, an admin will let you know so you can change it.
Absolutely NO god-moding or power-playing, unless it has been agreed upon between the roleplayers. If this is the case, please make a note so staff are aware of your arrangements.
BE CONSIDERATE of other players in a thread and, if there are more than two people involved, take turns when possible.
While this is an all-levels roleplay and we prefer quality over quantity, please try to match your replies equally. It isn't fair for someone who posts an 1,000 word post to receive a 100 word reply.}

CLAIMING, FIGHTING, AND CHALLENGES[/font]^{Only stallions at least three years of age are allowed to claim lands and they may only challenge for a land if they have at least one mare in their herd. When posting a claim, please link to his mare's profile in your OOC commentary.
In order to claim an unoccupied territory, all you have to do is create a claiming post. If multiple stallions have posted for the same territory at the same time, the players may either battle for the land OR, if neither want to fight, staff will go with the post that is more grammatically correct.
Upon claiming or taking over a land, the player of the new lead stallion must make a new thread with all the positions in the herd and current members. Staff will sticky the thread so that it stays at the top of your board. Be sure to stay on top of it and update it often!
Stallions may challenge for land, herds, mares, or for a better rank.
Mares may challenge for a better rank but may not challenge for a land.
Foals may not challenge for anything. They're babies!
When challenging for a land or a mare, stallions must create a challenge post in the board that they desire to take over or in the board in which the mare lives.
If the challenged stallion does not reply within a week (and has not posted an absence) the challenging stallion automatically wins.
Fights must occur in the Battlegrounds. Minor skirmishes or bachelor fights may happen wherever you'd like. However, unless you PM a staff member specifically asking their assistance, minor fights won't be judged.
Characters MAY die in battle but that will be part of your negotiating when challenged.
When the battle is finished, two staff members will be brought in to judge the fight and decide a winner. If a tie-breaker is needed, a third unbiased party will be brought in to break the tie.
After a fight, staff will also list the damage that has occurred to your characters. Nobody walks away from a fight uninjured (at the very least, they will have some bruises!).
Stallions may also try and steal mares. More information on stealing may be found here.}

BREEDING AND FOALS[/font]^{NO GRAPHIC BREEDING. You may roleplay the breeding if you'd like but please fade to black when things get going! When you're ready to breed your characters, just make a thread in the foal creation board and have both parents fill out our breeding template completely.
Using a dice roll, your foal's colors and genetics will be determined for you. Once Mother Nature has posted the stats, your foal will be filed according to its birth season.
The dice roll will be broken down for you and any additional mutation genetics will be noted.
The foal can be played by one of the parents or another player may come in to play him/her. It's up to the parents to decide.
Your horses may breed in ANY season. However, please note that foals born during the Winter have less of a chance of survival. Choose wisely!
Stallions may breed with as many mares as they can after they reach two years of age.
Mares may be bred once they reach three years of age. However, keep in mind that it is probably safer for the mother to wait until she is five years of age, when her body is more capable of carrying young. Mares may not be bred once they reach the age of 15.
Once in foal, mares will have a gestation period of two weeks. After that, they must wait another six weeks before they can breed again in order to properly raise their current foal.
After the gestation period is up, the player of the foal will have one week to post in-character with it. Failure to do so will result in the death of the foal.
If your breeding wasn't successful, you may try again in two days by posting a request for a retry in the original thread. If your mare experiences a miscarriage or a stillbirth, she will have to wait three weeks till she may be bred again.
You must have at least started one thread in order to breed your characters. Nobody would breed someone they don't know!

MORE INFO ON BREEDING CAN BE FOUND HERE!}

THE ISLANDS[/font]
^{Welcome to the Islands, mon! There are a few special rules regarding this unique area, so pay attention!
Characters that you create may automatically live on the Islands or on the Mainland. However, if you'd like to move from the Islands to the Mainland (or vice versa) you must create a crossing post in Ricochet Sound!
YOU MUST HAVE A CROSSING POST! Failure to create a crossing post will automatically result in drastic damage to your character.
After you have created a crossing post you must wait for a staff member to approve the crossing. As long as we can tell that you have put in some decent effort and have tried to make it as grammatically correct as you can, you'll be fine.
All horses who cross will experience some sort of physical depletion. The more accurate your post, the better off your character will be!
Use common sense folks. Swimming that long way is going to make your horse tired and, if you account for that in your post, we will take into account your realism. Other things to think about are tides, the time of day (sharks tend to feed at night), the season/weather, and your characters health are just a few aspects you might want to include in your post.}

Have fun here! This site was created for fun. Don't be shy and enjoy! ;D

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