Please note: These rules apply ONLY when combat mediation is incurred, and does not precede free-form combat. If both players can amicably agree on the outcome of a fight and determine a win/loss/draw on their own, then there is no need to use these rules. However, in order to maintain a high rank of lead position or upwards, your wolf must be open to combat challenges.

Combat Mediation
The new combat system allows members to put their character’s grit and guts to the test in an all new mode of role playing. Revamped to allow for more comprehensive mediation, this system judges in-character disputes of a highly combative nature, and fairly determines the victor, as well as the aftereffects of injuries sustained in a controlled setting - particularly when an outcome cannot be mutually agreed upon by the participating players.

In order to incur mediated combat, you must make sure that your wolf meets the minimum post count requirement for the type of challenge you are issuing:
Standard rank challenge – 30 posts
Supreme rank challenge – 70 posts
General challenge (i.e. retaliation, vengeance) – 20 posts
Punishment (for higher ranking wolves) – 50 posts
Conquest challenge - 60 posts for the wolf leading the conquest
The amount of maximum damage you are able to cause is also restricted by your post count:
Dominance-only challenge (non-hostile/limited damage) – no requirement
Moderate damage – 30 posts
Severe damage – 50 posts
Permanent/Maim – 100 posts

Application
When you are ready to issue your challenge, an application must be filled out, which outlines the cause and intentions of the dispute. The application must be in the following format:

Challenging wolf: The name of the character bidding the challenge, and the owner (you).
Challenged wolf: The name of the character being contested, and the owner.
Reason: What category does the dispute fit under i.e. rank challenge, punishment, discipline, maim, etc (see below for a full list), and remember to provide an explanation of the dispute to give some context.
Objective: What amount of damage your wolf is attempting to cause i.e. none (dominance dispute), moderate, severe, or permanent (only allowed for maims). Feel free to elaborate on the area of intended injuries, if you wish – it does not guarantee their outcome, as your wolf must win the challenge in order to deliver the specified injuries.


Any wolf can theoretically be challenged, as long as all criteria are met (see post count requirement), but it is up to the application to prove legitimacy in the reason and objective before it will be authorised, as mediation requires a great deal of effort from the supervising judge in order to be thorough in umpiring the winner. The following is a list of possible reasons, categorised by motive, that would merit a viable combat challenge:

Reasons
Standard Rank Challenge - for ranks up to and including lead warrior position.
Supreme Rank Challenge - for the alpha and beta positions only.
Combat Conquest - challenging another pack for ownership of their land.
Punishment – If your high-ranked wolf is threatened/insulted/betrayed by any lower-ranked wolf
Retaliation – General provocation of any means (violent or verbal) amongst wolves of any rank, including loners.
Discipline – educating another wolf via mutual sparring, without intention of causing injury i.e. a lead warrior giving combat training to a warrior.
Vengeance – exacting revenge for a previous misdeed, perhaps from a dispute long ago. Can be for the retribution of another wolf.
Invasion – against a wolf who is trespassing in territory that does not belong to them (unless they have intentions of joining, and have stipulated this out-of-character). They must be given one warning in-character before the challenge can be issued.
Maim – performed only by higher ranked wolves (i.e. alpha, beta, and lead positions) in response to a criminal act done to a member of their pack, or on their territory. Intends to cause severe and sometimes permanent damages. Only valid if the offending wolf has caused intentional harm or cruelly disobeyed pack law, whether consented by the injured player's wolf or not (this includes rape that was permitted out-of-character).


These are the main categories that you could include in your application – more may be added if additional scenarios appear that warrant a combat challenge. Once the application has outlined all characters involved, as well as the instigating reason, an objective must be described that gives the mediating judge an idea of what damage your wolf is intending to do (and could thus receive themselves if they are not victorious). As a general rule, the more heinous the crime, the greater the damage the mediator will allow when reviewing applications.


Objective
If you do not wish to cause any damage, then simply put ‘Dominance’ as the objective, and an overall winner will be determined, with a small chance of insignificant injuries being sustained in the process. If you wish to cause a ‘Moderate’ amount of damage, then both your wolf and the other wolf will be susceptible to medium-level injuries such as sprains, open wounds, scarring and infection, which will heal over a few OOC weeks. ‘Severe’ damage allows for brutal injuries, such as broken bones, substantial open wounds and resultant limps, and can take a number of OOC months to heal. ‘Permanent’ damage is the highest level of mutilation that can be delivered, and can only be specified alongside maiming – these are long-lasting impairments, such as blinding in one, or both, eyes, removing an ear, tail, or tongue, or permanently impairing any other body part (maims can only affect ONE part of the body, not multiple). For the maim to be successful, an obvious attempt to harm the limb in question must be observed before the final combat round is over.

Once the combat application is made by the challenger in a new thread in the combat board, the challenged wolf must respond with a post that will either:
1) accept the terms of the challenge and potential injury, instigating the first round of combat from the challenger in their specified thread
2) refuse the terms entirely (in which case a staff member will review the validity of the reason),
3) barter the terms to reduce sustained injuries (in which case a staff member will review the validity of the objective damage)
4) Surrender, if a refusal is overturned by the staff member. This will occur if the challenger’s reason is valid (i.e. the contested wolf did a bad, bad thing) but the challenged player does not wish to participate in the combat at all, and is essentially the equivalent of pleading ‘guilty’ to reduce the ‘sentence’. The challenged wolf will instantly receive the damage to a lessened extent than if they were to proceed with the battle and be defeated. Note: surrenders can never result in a permanent maim. The challenging wolf may post an in-character depiction of the damage being inflicted, with permission to power-play only to the extent of the confirmed injuries.

Combat Immunity
Can your wolf have immunity to combat challenges? Absolutely – it would be unfair to expect everyone to have to participate in the more violent aspects of the role play, especially when Anikira encourages variation in role playing background and writing experience. If you truly detest the idea of your character being challenged to battle, then simply ensure that your wolf does not infringe upon any of the above reasons that can merit a challenge. Whilst anyone can issue your character with a combat challenge, it will always be annulled by the staff if there is no viable in-character reason, and your wolf will remain unharmed. Breach any of these offenses and there is no guarantee that your wolf will remain unharmed – so anyone with a hostile or immoral character should be prepared to receive a challenge in response to their wolf’s actions, and deal with the consequences maturely in an engaging and exciting combat immersion. No character is exempt from reaping what they sow. This means that all in-character actions and decisions should be thought through in advance, as “I just don’t want my wolf to be hurt” even though they are prepared to hurt others will certainly not warrant a valid refusal. Disharmony and chaos in the role play must be balanced by the opportunity to resolve and amend these scenarios with fair combat and retribution to the offended party. Please note that if another player consented to your character harming their wolf in any way, this does not grant you immunity against a challenge from another wolf in response – though they permitted it OOC, other players whose wolves might be closely associated with that character did not, and they are fully justified in seeking revenge on their behalf.

Exception to the immunity rule: If your wolf is of a high rank i.e. lead warrior/hunter or above, then they are never immune to rank challenges, regardless of whether they have abided by the rules and committed no in-character offenses against another character. This is part and parcel of playing a high-ranked wolf.


How combat is judged
Combat must be one-on-one, and lasts for a maximum of 3 turns each (6 posts in total), starting with the challenging wolf (unless otherwise agreed upon). This can be shortened to 2 turns each when necessary, but if the participants desire additional turns then it must be approved by the mediating judge, as it increases the workload for judging.
Each post is graded from 0-10 in three categories: coherence, guard, and power play (for a total of 30 marks per post). ’Coherence’ judges the clarity and fluency of how you describe your wolf’s tactics – the strategy must be logical and make sense in your mind’s eye. Convoluted stratagems will make it harder for the judge to understand what your wolf is trying to do, whilst over-simplified approaches might not make any sense, either. Ensure that you reach a good balance. ’Guard’ judges your wolf’s defense, and the attention to detail you make in specifying HOW your wolf is defending themselves and thus not exposing the vital parts of their body. Neglect to mention these details by depending too heavily on offensive tactics and you will score very poorly. Judging ’Power play’ ensures that you are not attempting to control the other wolf in any way, whether by making immediate contact or simply making an assumption about the other wolf’s whereabouts and intended tactics. It also includes your wolf inexplicably dodging every attack the other character makes. A successful combat tactic is always about compromising and minimising damage, by judiciously allowing your wolf to sustain some degree of harm. You will not be penalized marks for receiving any damage - it only determines the location of the injuries sustained when the victor is decided. Once the combat is finished, and each wolf has made 3 posts (for a potential maximum of 90 points), a final mark out of 10 is given for ‘Originality’ – this judges your wolf’s overall style and outstanding tactics throughout the entire fight. How you receive points in originality is up to you – you could incorporate humour, monologue/dialogue, astonishing battle tactics or unique use of the environment. It’s entirely about creative freedom. Each participant can achieve a cumulative maximum of 100 points from 3 rounds of combat.



Height & Weight bonus:
In addition to Originality, there is one extra score given out after battle, known as the Height and Weight bonus (wolf length is inconsequential to this number). This means that the size of your wolf is no longer a mere arbitrary and aesthetic characteristic – it now offers a functional, practical use in battle as it would a wolf in real life. By spending points to purchase increased height for your character, you them a small combat edge, to incorporate a sense of realism in battle. i.e. a 25” wolf obviously has a disadvantage when pitted against a 35” wolf, and this is reflective in the bonus that is awarded after the points for the fight have been delegated.
The bonus is determined by finding the size difference of the two combatants and dividing it by 10, via the following formula:
(Larger wolf height + weight) - (smaller wolf height + weight) ÷ 10


e.g. If Wolf A is 25” and 100lbs, and Wolf B is 35” and 150lbs
then the formula would be:
(185 – 125) ÷ 10 = 6 bonus points to the larger wolf

This bonus is capped at 10 points – any more than this will be omitted in favour of fairness, and to avoid people infinitely buying height/weight in an attempt to make their wolf indestructible. Relying on this bonus to win is futile, and a smaller wolf is just as capable of winning if their player has the skill and confidence to execute the appropriate tactics and defenses against a larger foe.


Determining the winner:
When all marks have been allocated and tallied up, the highest scoring wolf wins the fight. From here, it is up to the participants to continue the thread as they wish, with the winner and loser clearly defined.

Winning by default
It is possible to win a combat challenge by default, given that the combat has entered round one – for this to happen, the challenged wolf must have accepted terms of the combat application, or a judge has amended the bartered application and commenced combat. If either participant fails to respond to their turn within 4 days, then they automatically forfeit the match, rendering the other wolf victorious. If any participant edits their submitted post without staff approval, this also creates grounds for automatic forfeit, as altering combat after your turn has been posted is prohibited.


Injuries & Probability of Infection
Though the severity of injuries is determined prior to the fight (moderate or severe), and the location of these injuries is determined during the fight, the length of time it takes for the loser’s wounds to heal is determined by the size of the gap between the winner’s score and the loser’s score (quantified as probability of infection). During this time, the defeated wolf enters a cool-down period that lasts until their injuries are healed, where they are unable to be challenged again (although they can still issue challenges if they desire). The probability of infection could be calculated as such: if the winner scored 73 and the loser scored 53, then there is a (73 – 53) 20% probability of infection where moderate wounds might take 2 OOC weeks to heal, and severe wounds might take 2 OOC months to heal. If the difference in score was greater, such as 40%, then the healing process would take 4 weeks, or 4 months, respectively (these durations are hypothetical, and it is up to the discretion of the judge to determine the healing duration depending on the nature of the injuries). Note that infection only occurs in moderate and severe injuries – non-violent challenges causes minor and negligible harm, whilst maiming challenges cause injuries that are absolute, and do not heal over time.


Point Incentives
Once mediation is complete and the outcome determined, the winning character will receive 25 points, and the defeated character and mediator will receive 15 points each. In the case of a win by default where the challenged wolf surrenders before the first turn of combat begins, no points will be distributed. In the case of a win by default where either participant reneges on the terms of battle after combat begins (e.g. by going inactive or breaking the rules), the winner will receive half of the full victor's prize (10 points), and neither the losing wolf nor the mediator receive any points.

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Rules

Below are the rules for roleplaying in Anikira. Please be sure to review them frequently, as the staff will make changes from time to time. We will usually note this in the announcements, but you are responsible for familiarizing yourself with them!

- Basic Rules -

Everything under this category is common knowledge and should be known well. Anyone breaking rules in this section is subject to disciplinary action by the staff.

1. When creating your wolf, please leave the form in its current format. We have set it up in such a way to keep all the biographies uniformed, and so that it is simple for others to find information about your character. The biography form is automatically inserted into the thread when you create it.

2. Please do not post in character until a staff member has reviewed and accepted your biography.

3. We require that all in character posts be seven detailed setences or longer. Posts under this amount may indicate that the role-play is too advanced for you.

4. Basic rules of realistic, advanced roleplays apply. No desperatism, no god-modding, and no power-playing without the permission of the character’s owner. You cannot be mates with your own character.

5. Literacy is required. This means proper grammar, writing out numbers, correct spelling, and good content. Please bold all speech and italicize thoughts.

6. To keep lone wolf character numbers down, and pack numbers up, Anikira has placed a restriction on the number of "Loner" characters a member may have. For every three characters you own, only one may have the title of "Loner". If you only have two characters, one must belong to a pack.

7. All pack joining is done in character, and this is at the discretion of the alpha wolves of the respective packs.

- Breeding Rules -

With the arrival of new life, there are certain things that need to be handled. Please consult this section if you are considering a litter of pups.

1. Pack wolves are at the mercy of their alphas. It is up to the individual alphas to decide whether their pack members are allowed to mate or not.

2. Forced breeding is allowed. However, it must be discussed out of character between the two users before hand. Do not expect any pity when the other wolf’s owner complains that you force-bred their character without permission.

3. Due to Lioden rules of role-play, graphic breeding or open discussion of it are not allowed. Please fade to Black.

4. The administrator will pick the number of pups born in a litter based on breed stats and other factors. There is only a 1/3 chance that pups will be conceived in any given litter. If either parent has reproductive problems, this chance goes to 1/6 or 1/9. The parents get to pick the genders and appearances. However, the pups can only inherit traits from their parents or relatives.

5. There are no set rules on assigning adopters to pups. The roleplayers of the parent wolves have sole discretion on how these pups are adopted and who adopts them.

6. Pups age at a rate of two months per month for the first six months. They then cease aging and remain at one year of age until they reach their second birthday. Pups will be playable one month after they are born, or at two months of age.

- Posting Rules -

There are a few simple guidelines for your posts. Please be sure to review this and ask questions if there is anything you do not understand.

1. All posts (and biographies) should be written in third person past tense. There should be no I, you, me, etc. involved in your writing.

2. Cursing is allowed but please do not be to graphic and cohere to all Lioden rules.

3. Anything sexual must fade to black if it gets outside of simple grooming or flirting.

- Activity Rules -

1. You should presumably make at least one post per character per week. Without away notification, staff members can place warnings on your accounts for lack of activity. If an account has not been logged into for over ten (10) days without a posted absence note, the staff reserve the right to add a warning level to the member's main account.

2. Members are required to respond to Activity Checks. Failing to do so will result in the deletion of all accounts. Characters can be recovered after an activity check for up to two (2) weeks. Once this period has passed, the character is considered deceased.

3. If you play an alpha character, ensure that you have delegated a member of your pack to handle business so that roleplaying can continue as usual. This includes accepting members to the pack.

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