Here's some helpful information you'll need to know before you start the roleplay. Ask me if you have any questions. I just have to finish allegiances, then I'll be ready to post the roleplay.

Chapters: A Chapter will be posted each Friday. Each chapter represents one month(or moon) of time, so your characters will age accordingly and possibly change rank.

Goal: The goal of the game is to keep your pack fed and to expand your territory, and fighting or neutralizing any threat that would stop you from doing so.

Powers: Powers are limited to Shaman, Augurs, Shaman apprentices and pups who will become any of these things. You must ask me for permission before getting a power, and if necessary I will suggest changes to make it more balanced or reject it.

Prophecies: Prophecies were one of the more disliked aspects of my other roleplay, so they will not appear this time. Instead, the packs will have omens, strange things that happen in nature that could point towards a possible future, danger, or prosperity. Only Shaman, Augurs and Shaman apprentices can find omens, and they can even fake omens for their own benefit. Ask me before you introduce an omen.

Events: Events are gatherings of wolves at The Summit that don't happen every moon. Every third moon, there will be a Howling and every fourth moon, a Divining. What happens at these events?

-Howlings: Wolves from all packs gather and get some time to socialize. The three alphas deliver a report about everything that has happened in their pack that past moon, then the High Alpha delivers a speech about his plans for the valley. After he's spoken, all packs join each other in a group howl to remind one another that they are all connected.

-Divinings: The Shamans of each pack gather with their apprentices. New apprentices and Shamans are inducted into their order as each Shaman goes over the health of their pack and any visions they might have had. Finally, the Augur shares any insight the gods have given her, and then leads the other Shamans in prayer to the gods before departing.

Territory: In order for your pack to be strong and have a wide pool of prey to hunt from, you need to have a wide territory. At the end of each moon, I'll check which pack controls disputed territory and the royal preserves. If a pack controls 2, its population is stable. If a pack controls 1, then one wolf in your pack dies next moon. If the pack controls none, then two wolves your pack die.

Territory can be won by battling other packs and marking the territory. You need at least 3 wolves to mark a territory. Royal preserves can leased for a moon in exchange for whatever price the High Alpha decides. As their territory is the best one, the Pack of Lightning does not have to bother expanding their territory. The Pack of Ice also does not have to worry about territory due to their unique pack structure.

Hunting: In order for your pack to survive, they will need to catch prey. If your pack catches 2 or more prey, then all pack members gain a +1 to hunting and battles for the next moon. If your pack catches 2 prey, then you will be stable. If your pack catches under 2 prey, they will get a -1 to all hunting and battles next moon.

But what kinds of prey are there? Wolves eat lots of different animals, but to simplify things, I've decided to focus on the five main ones they usually eat: bison, elk, deer, boar, rabbits, squirrels, salmon and beavers. Some of these bits of prey will feed your pack better, but will be harder to catch. I roll a six sided dice to see if you catch your prey.

Salmon/Squirrels: These prey only count for 0.25 of the 2 you need to catch to keep your pack from starving but are the easiest to catch. On a roll of 2 or higher, your wolves have caught them.

Beavers/Rabbits: These prey only count for 0.5 of the 2 you need to catch to keep your pack from starving, but are easy to catch. On a roll of 3 or higher, your wolves have caught them.

Deer/boar: These prey count for 1 of the 2 you need to catch to keep your pack from starving, and are medium difficulty to catch. On a roll of 4 or higher, your wolves have caught them.

Elk: These prey count for 2 of the 2 you need to catch to keep you pack from starving, but are difficult to catch. On a roll of 5 or higher, your wolves have caught them.

Bison: These prey count for an amazing 3 of the 2 you need to catch to keep your pack from starving, but are extremely hard to catch. On a roll of 6 or higher, your wolves have caught them.

What did I mean about a roll of 6 or higher though? A six sided die can only go up to 6, right? That's true, but there are also other bonuses to add. The more wolves you hunt with, the easier it will be. If you use good tactics such as targeting the sick and the young, or chasing down your prey until they are exhausted, you will also be likely to succeed. Here's what I'll add and subtract to my roles.

Hunting Modifiers:

+1 If you're hunting with more than 3 wolves

-1 if you're hunting with less than 3

+1 If you use good tactics

+1 If you're in the Pack of Earth

-1 If you're in the Pack of Lightning

If I roll a natural one, one of the hunting wolves gets injured at random. If the wolf that gets injured is already Injured, they become Severely Injured. If the injured wolf is already Severely Injured, they die. I hope this will help reduce powergaming and also make hunting more exciting than "Goes into woods, catches lots of prey, comes back."

Battles: I've created a new battle system in order to reduce powergaming and add an element of randomness and danger into fights. Fights will now take place in rounds. Each round, you describe specifically who your OC attacks and how. If you describe an attack that is strategically clever and/or well described, you will be more likely to hit your targets. A wolf can choose between 3 kinds of attacks to make and I'll roll a six sided dice to see if it hits. The attacks are:

Bite: The wolf tries to bite its enemy. On a roll of 4 or higher, this attack hits and the enemy is injured.

Vicious Bite: The wolf targets an enemy's neck or other vulnerable that's harder to get to. On a roll of 6 or higher, this attack hits and the enemy is severely injured.

Elemental Magic: (Shamans, Priestesses, the Spiritbinder and The White Wolf only unless you get my approval) The wolf uses elemental magic to bring down its enemy. On a roll of 5 or higher, this attack hits and the enemy is severely injured.

What did I mean about a roll of 6 or higher though? A six sided die can only go up to 6, right? That's true, but there are also other bonuses to add. Depending on the rank of your OC, what kind of wolf or creature they are, and other things, a wolf will get a + or - added to their role. Here's the table:

Ranks modifier:

+3 High Alpha/Chief

+2 Alpha/Thane

+1 Beta/Enforcer

-1 Epsilon

-2 Gamma/Omega

-3 Pups   

Breed modifier:

+3 Grizzly Bear

+2 Mountain Lion

+1 Ice/Lightning Pack

-1 Earth Pack/Coyote

-2 Foxes 

Other modifier:

+1 healthy(see hunting section)

+1 Good tactics

+1 Fighting at home camp

-1 Starving(see hunting section)

-1 Slightly Injured(See injuries section)

-2 Injured

-3 Severely Injured

Now, it is against the rules to kill an OC on the first round of combat. After the first round, you stay at your own risk. If your OC is severely injured and they get attacked, they die.

How can you avoid this, you ask? Simple, you can decide to retreat. At any time during the combat, your OC can choose to retreat instead of attacking. All attacks that would have hit you automatically miss. If you retreat during a Challenge, that counts as a surrender. Combat continues until the Challenge is over, or all characters on one side have retreated or died. @ me whenever you want to start a battle so I can roll for you.

Injuries: A wolf can get injured in battle, in the hunt, or at the wish of a player. There are three levels of injury, Slightly Injured, Injured and Severely Injured. Severely injured wolves can die if they are injured again, whereas Injured wolves become Severely Injured if they are injured again. It takes one moon to cure a level of injury. That means if your wolf is severely injured, it will take 2 moons for them to be all healed again.