June 2024 Updates Part 1

New Flee System! ✨
We've revamped our flee system to function like races, using three categories: speed, stamina, and balance. All race-specific items (Goldfish in a Bag, Go Fast Juice, Serious Steroids, Racing Shoe accessory) now work for fleeing attempts as well.

To flee, post your character's flee form alongside an in-character post (found under Character profile > Forms) and submit it to Judgement requests. You'll receive a success/failure message after it is rolled.

The item "50% Chance to Flee Pass" has been changed to "50% Bonus Score Flee Pass". Instead of providing a 50% chance to flee, it now adds a 50% score bonus to your total flee roll.

(Black cat's foot and lucky rabbit's foot aren't functional on these yet, but we will announce when they are.)

New Trespassing Mechanic ✨
We now have an official system for trespassing! This is mainly to be used as a raid mechanic, as a wolf who has successfully "trespassed' could gain some kind of intel on an enemy pack/band that they intend to attack. Be warned that if this feature is abused or being used to harass others, or to powerplay in any way, we reserve the right to remove the feature and/or balance it accordingly.

This is NOT a required thing to use, you are still free to trespass and get caught as usual if you desire!

To attempt a trespass, post a thread in the target land and submit the form to Judgement requests immediately. This alerts all parties to the trespass attempt.

As an alpha, if you notice a character trespassing, check if they have posted a trespass roll. Do not respond until the roll is judged and the result posted!

Trespasses are rolled using Ardybot at a low success rate. Successful trespassers can post again after the judge, though this is not required. These threads are not intended to be social or group interactions.

If a trespass roll is successful, that character's pack/band can claim a 5% total score bonus for all members in the next initiated raid against the pack they trespassed upon. This MUST be submitted on the Raid Initiation form or will not be valid.

Fight System Things (aka. the boring stuff)

• Rule addition, #2 on "Fight Rules" - Round 0's are only enforceable with the 3-day default timer in the case of T1 fights and raids. In all other scenarios, an official Round 1 must be posted before a fight is considered official.
  
• Multiple Participant Challenges / "Melee Fights" section on "Fight Rules" - Melee rules have been vastly simplified. Melees now take the highest score instead of the average; all wolves in a melee must start on the same round as well. Highest scorer gets the K.O. in the case of a raid.
  
• Rule addition, #12 on "Fight Rules" - Fight types cannot escalate or be changed mid-fight. This was never explicitly allowed anywhere, but has been laid out more clearly.
  
• "Maim Challenges" section in "Fight Types" on "Fight Rules" page - Full/partial tail docking is no longer considered a minor maim but a major one. Mutation removal/breaking is also not acceptable as a minor maim.
  

Specialty Balancing

• Berserker - Now gives a 40% attack bonus (up from 30% attack bonus) as well as a -10% penalty to defense.
  
• Speedy- Now is usable in flees as well as races.
  
• Infiltrator- Adds a 15% chance to go undetected when trespassing (up from 10% chance).
  
• Gambler- Now works in races as well.
  

New Specialties
These don't have specialty icons yet, but otherwise should be fully functional. Enjoy!

• Aggressor (Navigation skill) - Provides a 20% total score bonus for fights you initiate.
  
• Chaotic (Intellect skill) - Disregards all fight-related bonuses and rolls a random number for every category in a fight, including fight bonuses. The numbers are rolled from 1%-40% for each category, including total score bonus; the probability of certain numbers being rolled is subject to change!
  
• Pacifist (Healing skill) - Provides a 20% total score bonus for fights someone else initiates against you.
  

Ardybot Fixes

• Capitalization on some words won't confuse her as much now (!Plot, !Pick, !Location).
  
• Fixed a bug that wasn't announcing critical hits/critical fails properly.
  
• Added max pup text to !litter rolls.
  
• Added flee and trespass functionality.
  

Staff Things
We're thrilled to welcome a new Admin to our team for the first time in many, many years: Seadragoness. This well-deserved promotion recognizes Sea's continued passion for the site, which has only grown over time - I know everyone will be excited to see her continued contributions and leadership on Ardent! ?

On another (much overdue) note, the old Staff Applications form has been cleared. We are looking for new staff, especially Maintenance Staff and Judges, so if you're truly interested (and willing/able to devote time to learn), please submit a new application. The link can be found on the Staff page of the Guidebook.

Thank you all for your continued support and feel free to ask questions on anything if you're confused!