The "Grounded" Challenge Clan

The "Grounded" Challenge Clan
Posted 2020-09-25 06:28:36 (edited) #706 Welcome to the official thread for the Grounded Challenge! My name is Shapes, and I am the founder of the clan ^u^ The “Grounded” style of playing is something I came up with whilst trying to bridge the gap between realism, writing lore, and in-game mechanics. I wanted to avoid the stricter rules and penalties of similar challenges, whilst adding reasons for players to care about, and strategize carefully for, the individual wolves in their pack. If you like to come up with ideas for how different species would create societies, if you love canine behaviour, if you’ve come from LD and are already aware of the playstyles available there, or if you simply want a long lineage of leaders all related to your starting pair, this may be the clan for you! So What Does The Challenge Involve? This challenge is first and foremost about lore and creativity. There are added elements inspired by real-world wolf packs and other game challenges (i.e. pokemon nuzlockes), but the real driving force behind the clan is imagination. How far can we push the game mechanics to suit the natures of the worlds and stories we create for our packs? What natural behaviours would our sapient wolves keep for their societies, and what would they leave behind? How will the foundation of our packs be celebrated, or will they simply be forgotten over time? Semi-realism is preferred, but if you can find a reason for something in your lore, pretty much anything goes. Your pack history and wolf personalities can be anything from a few basic bullet-points, to pages upon pages of writing. There will be plenty of hints and tips to get you started below, but what you create is up to you. The Rules There are 3 difficulty levels to choose from, “Basic”, “Standard”, and “Advanced” as well as several optional rules that can be added to any challenge level. All players must at least follow the “Basic” portion of the rules. *Basic:* · All packs and adult wolves must have some simple lore. This can be where they live, who they are related to, how sociable/trusting they are, etc. Temporary pack members and puppies do not need a bio written up for them. · Wolves may not breed to their pups. Real wolves tend to avoid very close inbreeding, and hopefully this will introduce diversity to your pack. · Stories must be semi-realistic. i.e. if something unrealistic exists there must be an in-universe reason for it. · All pack leaders must be related to a starting pair (OGL)*. You may choose a different pair of foundation wolves (OGP)** at any time.* · No Alpha/Beta/Omega dynamics. Other methods of hierarchy are fine, so long as you’ve established it in your pack lore/history. · You must keep your foundation pair** in your dynasty. If you choose a new pair you may delete them, but that’s the only exception. *Standard:* (includes all the basic rules) · All gen 2 and above females, and non-breeding wolves, must be related to one of the founding pair. This can be done through your lore, or by only keeping their offspring. · Colours must be at least a little realistic. i.e. if it can be found on canines, you can have it, but no bright green, or blue, or purple wolves. · For every leader/generation, a new breeding male must be picked from outside the pack. There is an exception for if your lead wolf is male, but his mate must not be one of his siblings. · All temporary wolves must live in a separate cave. This is simply for organisation purposes. · All permanent gen 1 wolves must be named and have had at least one feature customised. This will help give players an additional reason to care about keeping them alive. *Advanced:* (includes all basic and standard rules) · Outside studs may not be used. There is an exception for breeding partners, and the number of ‘related’ packs is up to you. · Wolves within the pack can only breed to cousins and less related wolves (line-breeding). You may choose to do 100% NIB packs, or go by inbreeding coefficient if you prefer.* · You may not buy puppies from players outside the clan/your breeding partners. If there is a giving tree type feature implemented, then you may adopt puppies from there. · You may only keep up to half of any puppies produced by a single pair of wolves. The rest ‘disperse’ from your pack (must be sold or chased). · You must have a quarantine cave to prevent illnesses from spreading. Whether or not your individual wolves would be altruistic enough to use it, however, is up to you. You may even decide that some wolves would choose to leave or die for the sake of their pack members. · The breeding male must be kept in the pack after retirement. He may be assigned another useful role within the pack, but you may not chase him. This is because he is most likely you leader or leader’s mate, and therefore important for the lore of your pack. *Optional Extras:* 1. 1. There must be a lore-based reason for all puppies that are bought or swapped between clan members. 2. 2. Your breeding male is limited to a set number of litters (1-15) in his lifetime. 3. 3. You can synchronise your breeding females to only give birth during spring. (meaning they become pregnant in late winter/early spring) 4. 4. Befriended wolves must be sold or chased once you have gen 2 replacements for them. 4(a). Unless you write lore for them which makes them related to your foundation pair, and they have one feature customised with an item. 4(b). Their puppies may be kept if they are related to your founding pair (i.e. the father is your foundation male). 5. 5. Wolves do not breed until 2 years of age (for realism/maturity purposes). 5(a). Wolves do not breed until they reach level 10 (to give their puppies a boosted survival chance). 6. 6. Breeding male do not line-breed to wolves outside the pack OR public breeding requests are not accepted at all (you may still have breeding partners). What are the benefits of joining? · The clan can help you to develop your ideas and writing styles. · We will hold raffles and giveaways for useful items. · It provides an additional challenge for players to test their skills and planning. · It provides a welcome space to help you find breeding partners. · Occasionally I will be hosting creative contests in return for items, with the chance to get your wolf design, short story, artwork, etc. featured in a dedicated thread. · If there is enough demand for it, I will host an exclusive clan discord for members to chat off-site. · The clan will be very strict about not allowing sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, etc, to any member or group. I will do my best to make sure everyone feels safe and welcome. · All rule-breaking will be handled discreetly to allow members a chance to apologise and move on. I do not agree with bullying, gossiping, or spreading rumours. · I will set up dedicated “theme days” to answer questions/take suggestions about writing, drawing, the clan, my stories, playing the game, etc. How to Apply: Simply fill out this form and I will add you to our member list! Preferred Nickname: Foundation Pair: Pack Name: Challenge Level: Optional Rules: NIB / LIB / IB / OCR: (see definitions below)* Breeding Partners: Would you like some prompts to help you start your lore?: If yes, check out our hints and tips thread here. You can ask questions and discuss your ideas on the thread, as well as suggest more questions that may help other clan members ^^ * NIB is no inbreeding at all. LIB is line-breeding, or only breeding wolves who are not first degree relatives. IB is breeding any two wolves together, regardless of who they’re related to. OCR is also called out-crossing, which is using wolves who are line-bred (or inbred) further back in their pedigree, but not necessarily inbreeding within your own pack. You can choose multiple categories, (i.e. only keeping LIB and OCR wolves). The foundation pair is also known as the OGP (original pair) as per AshPaw's definition. OGL** (original line) is another term for having all wolves related to your starting pair. Affiliated Clans (other clans that members may be interested in, shared with permission from their owners) The Lineage/Heritage Breeders Clan: A clan dedicated to different types of breeding, including NIB, LIB, OCR, and even OGL, one of the core features of the Grounded Challenge!	VagueShapes #828

Posted 2020-09-25 06:28:36 (edited)

#706

Welcome to the official thread for the Grounded Challenge! My name is Shapes, and I am the founder of the clan ^u^

The “Grounded” style of playing is something I came up with whilst trying to bridge the gap between realism, writing lore, and in-game mechanics. I wanted to avoid the stricter rules and penalties of similar challenges, whilst adding reasons for players to care about, and strategize carefully for, the individual wolves in their pack.

If you like to come up with ideas for how different species would create societies, if you love canine behaviour, if you’ve come from LD and are already aware of the playstyles available there, or if you simply want a long lineage of leaders all related to your starting pair, this may be the clan for you!

So What Does The Challenge Involve?

This challenge is first and foremost about lore and creativity. There are added elements inspired by real-world wolf packs and other game challenges (i.e. pokemon nuzlockes), but the real driving force behind the clan is imagination. How far can we push the game mechanics to suit the natures of the worlds and stories we create for our packs? What natural behaviours would our sapient wolves keep for their societies, and what would they leave behind? How will the foundation of our packs be celebrated, or will they simply be forgotten over time?

Semi-realism is preferred, but if you can find a reason for something in your lore, pretty much anything goes. Your pack history and wolf personalities can be anything from a few basic bullet-points, to pages upon pages of writing. There will be plenty of hints and tips to get you started below, but what you create is up to you.

The Rules

There are 3 difficulty levels to choose from, “Basic”, “Standard”, and “Advanced” as well as several optional rules that can be added to any challenge level. All players must at least follow the “Basic” portion of the rules.

Basic:

· All packs and adult wolves must have some simple lore. This can be where they live, who they are related to, how sociable/trusting they are, etc. Temporary pack members and puppies do not need a bio written up for them.

· Wolves may not breed to their pups. Real wolves tend to avoid very close inbreeding, and hopefully this will introduce diversity to your pack.

· Stories must be semi-realistic. i.e. if something unrealistic exists there must be an in-universe reason for it.

· All pack leaders must be related to a starting pair (OGL)**. You may choose a different pair of foundation wolves (OGP)** at any time.

· No Alpha/Beta/Omega dynamics. Other methods of hierarchy are fine, so long as you’ve established it in your pack lore/history.

· You must keep your foundation pair** in your dynasty. If you choose a new pair you may delete them, but that’s the only exception.

Standard: (includes all the basic rules)

· All gen 2 and above females, and non-breeding wolves, must be related to one of the founding pair. This can be done through your lore, or by only keeping their offspring.

· Colours must be at least a little realistic. i.e. if it can be found on canines, you can have it, but no bright green, or blue, or purple wolves.

· For every leader/generation, a new breeding male must be picked from outside the pack. There is an exception for if your lead wolf is male, but his mate must not be one of his siblings.

· All temporary wolves must live in a separate cave. This is simply for organisation purposes.

· All permanent gen 1 wolves must be named and have had at least one feature customised. This will help give players an additional reason to care about keeping them alive.

Advanced: (includes all basic and standard rules)

· Outside studs may not be used. There is an exception for breeding partners, and the number of ‘related’ packs is up to you.

· Wolves within the pack can only breed to cousins and less related wolves (line-breeding). You may choose to do 100% NIB packs, or go by inbreeding coefficient if you prefer.*

· You may not buy puppies from players outside the clan/your breeding partners. If there is a giving tree type feature implemented, then you may adopt puppies from there.

· You may only keep up to half of any puppies produced by a single pair of wolves. The rest ‘disperse’ from your pack (must be sold or chased).

· You must have a quarantine cave to prevent illnesses from spreading. Whether or not your individual wolves would be altruistic enough to use it, however, is up to you. You may even decide that some wolves would choose to leave or die for the sake of their pack members.

· The breeding male must be kept in the pack after retirement. He may be assigned another useful role within the pack, but you may not chase him. This is because he is most likely you leader or leader’s mate, and therefore important for the lore of your pack.

Optional Extras:

1. 1. There must be a lore-based reason for all puppies that are bought or swapped between clan members.

2. 2. Your breeding male is limited to a set number of litters (1-15) in his lifetime.

3. 3. You can synchronise your breeding females to only give birth during spring. (meaning they become pregnant in late winter/early spring)

4. 4. Befriended wolves must be sold or chased once you have gen 2 replacements for them.

4(a). Unless you write lore for them which makes them related to your foundation pair, and they have one feature customised with an item.

4(b). Their puppies may be kept if they are related to your founding pair (i.e. the father is your foundation male).

5. 5. Wolves do not breed until 2 years of age (for realism/maturity purposes).

5(a). Wolves do not breed until they reach level 10 (to give their puppies a boosted survival chance).

6. 6. Breeding male do not line-breed to wolves outside the pack OR public breeding requests are not accepted at all (you may still have breeding partners).

What are the benefits of joining?

· The clan can help you to develop your ideas and writing styles.

· We will hold raffles and giveaways for useful items.

· It provides an additional challenge for players to test their skills and planning.

· It provides a welcome space to help you find breeding partners.

· Occasionally I will be hosting creative contests in return for items, with the chance to get your wolf design, short story, artwork, etc. featured in a dedicated thread.

· If there is enough demand for it, I will host an exclusive clan discord for members to chat off-site.

· The clan will be very strict about not allowing sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, etc, to any member or group. I will do my best to make sure everyone feels safe and welcome.

· All rule-breaking will be handled discreetly to allow members a chance to apologise and move on. I do not agree with bullying, gossiping, or spreading rumours.

· I will set up dedicated “theme days” to answer questions/take suggestions about writing, drawing, the clan, my stories, playing the game, etc.

How to Apply:

Simply fill out this form and I will add you to our member list!

Preferred Nickname:

Foundation Pair:

Pack Name:

Challenge Level:

Optional Rules:

NIB / LIB / IB / OCR: (see definitions below*)

Breeding Partners:

Would you like some prompts to help you start your lore?: If yes, check out our hints and tips thread here. You can ask questions and discuss your ideas on the thread, as well as suggest more questions that may help other clan members ^^

* NIB is no inbreeding at all. LIB is line-breeding, or only breeding wolves who are not first degree relatives. IB is breeding any two wolves together, regardless of who they’re related to. OCR is also called out-crossing, which is using wolves who are line-bred (or inbred) further back in their pedigree, but not necessarily inbreeding within your own pack. You can choose multiple categories, (i.e. only keeping LIB and OCR wolves).

** The foundation pair is also known as the OGP (original pair) as per AshPaw's definition. OGL (original line) is another term for having all wolves related to your starting pair.

Affiliated Clans (other clans that members may be interested in, shared with permission from their owners)

The Lineage/Heritage Breeders Clan: A clan dedicated to different types of breeding, including NIB, LIB, OCR, and even OGL, one of the core features of the Grounded Challenge!

VagueShapes
#828

Posted 2020-09-25 13:12:38 (edited)

#2080

List of members

Preferred Nickname: Shapes (#828)

Foundation Pair: Xaasa (f) and Ourkan (m)

Pack Name: Coal Valley

Challenge Level: Advanced

Optional Rules: 1, 4(a), and 5(a) so far

NIB / LIB / IB / OCR: Mostly NIB and OCR

Breeding Partners: Doods / #3294

Preferred Nickname: Wolves

Foundation Pair: Lavellan and Solas

Pack Name: The Emerald March Pack

Challenge Level: Basic

Optional Rules: 1, 4, 5

NIB / LIB / IB / OCR: NIB, OCR

Breeding Partners: None yet

Preferred Nickname: Running Wild, RW, or Running

Foundation Pair: Voyager and Dyani

Pack Name: The Banished Lands

Challenge Level: Advanced

Optional Rules: 1, 5

NIB / LIB / IB / OCR: NIB with potential for OCR

Breeding Partners: None Yet

Preferred Nickname: Doods

Foundation Pair: Yuukon and Alsec

Pack Name: Doods Lake

Challenge Level: Basic

Optional Rules: 5

NIB / LIB / IB / OCR: NIB and OCR

Breeding Partners: Shapes / #828

Preferred Nickname: Hylo or Hyloxalus

Foundation Pair: Hylo and Barley

Pack Name: Akar Pack

Challenge Level: Basic

Optional Rules: Standard Rules 4,5; Advanced Rules 5, 6; Optional Rule 6. (Possibly Advanced Rule 4 and Optional Rule 2)

NIB / LIB / IB / OCR: NIB

Breeding Partners: None Yet!

Preferred Nickname: sandshrew

Foundation Pair: Farley and Winter

Pack Name: the Snowstep

Challenge Level: standard

Optional Rules: 1, 3, 4a, 5

NIB / LIB / IB / OCR: NIB

Breeding Partners: n/a

Preferred Nickname: Ellie

Foundation Pair: Acadia and Vesper Balfur (not the breeding stud currently)

Pack Name: Imperial Forest Pack

Challenge Level: Standard

Optional Rules: 4b so far

NIB / LIB / IB / OCR: NIB, OGP, OGL

Breeding Partners: N/a

Preferred Nickname: Sen

Foundation Pair: Ceto & Pendragon

Pack Name: Wraithmarrow

Challenge Level: Basic

Optional Rules: 2

NIB / LIB / IB / OCR: NIB

Breeding Partners: Grumpy / #11934

Preferred Nickname: Aquarius or Blaze

Foundation Pair: Milk and Kaia (also Vinegar)

Pack Name: Argenti

Challenge Level: Basic (for now)

Optional Rules: N/A

NIB / LIB / IB / OCR: NIB, with OCR if the wolf is liked

Breeding Partners: N/A

Preferred Nickname: Akeliza / eliza / liza

Foundation Pair: Aytukiu & Stayiour

Pack Name: Sordaris Pack

Challenge Level: basic

Optional Rules: 1, 2, 3

NIB / LIB / IB / OCR: NIB & maybe OCR

Breeding Partners: N/A

Preferred Nickname: Honey

Foundation Pair: Terhi and Haran

Pack Name: Snowy Summit Pack

Challenge Level: Basic

Optional Rules: 1 & 2

NIB / LIB / IB / OCR: NIB

Breeding Partners: None Yet

Preferred Nickname: Wolfie

Foundation Pair: Merlin & Luca

Pack Name: Bright forest pack

Challenge Level: Basic

Optional Rules: 4, 4B & 5

NIB / LIB / IB / OCR: LIB

Breeding Partners: Chikara / #23881 and N-WPA Clan

Preferred Nickname: . Melo

Foundation Pair: Hölmes and Ilderime

Pack Name: . Palm of Marmor

Challenge Level: . Basic

Optional Rules: . 1

NIB / LIB / IB / OCR: . NIB

Breeding Partners: . N/A

Preferred Nickname: Stringbat

Foundation Pair: Berker and Cora

Pack Name: Peynirci

Challenge Level: Advanced

Optional Rules: 1 - 3

NIB / LIB / IB / OCR: NIB

Breeding Partners: N/A

Preferred Nickname: Runa

Foundation Pair: Maze and Trace

Pack Name: The Runic Pack

Challenge Level: Basic

Optional Rules: Standard Rules 1 and 3, Advanced Rules 5 and 6, Optional Rule 1

NIB / LIB / IB / OCR: OCR

Breeding Partners: N/A

Preferred Nickname: OddBard

Foundation Pair: Saga and Edda

Pack Name: Thunder Gorge Pack

Challenge Level: Basic+

Optional Rules: Standard: 2 and 3; Advanced: All; Optional: 1, 2, and 5 (with the only exception to 5 being Edda and Saga's first litter which happened due to the tutorial and will have Lore Reasons)

NIB / LIB / IB / OCR: Attempt at NIB - may end up being LIB later on, we'll see how it goes.

Breeding Partners: None yet

Preferred Nickname: Mushroom/Mushy/Mush or Mari

Foundation Pair: Eventide & Petrichor

Pack Name: Sangfroid

Challenge Level: A mix of Basic & Standard/Advanced (all Basic rules; Standard rules 2, 3 & 4; Advanced rule 4)

Optional Rules: 1 & 6

NIB / LIB / IB / OCR: NIB/OCR

Breeding Partners: None yet

Preferred Nickname: hawky

Foundation Pair: Binky and Tonka

Pack Name: Synth Rat Pack

Challenge Level: basic (will change)

Optional Rules: 1, 5, 6

NIB / LIB / IB / OCR: nib

Breeding Partners: n/a

Preferred Nickname: Ashen

Foundation Pair: Myr and Taake

Pack Name: Wildwater Pack

Challenge Level: Basic

Optional Rules: Standard rules 2, 3, Optional rules 4, 5

NIB / LIB / IB / OCR: NIB, at least as far as I'm able to

Breeding Partners: N/A

Preferred Nickname: hawky

Foundation Pair: Binky and Tonka

Pack Name: Synth Rat Pack

Challenge Level: basic (will change)

Optional Rules: 1, 5, 6

NIB / LIB / IB / OCR: nib

Preferred Nickname: Mushroom/Mushy/Mush or Mari

Foundation Pair: Eventide & Petrichor

Pack Name: Sangfroid

Challenge Level: A mix of Basic & Standard/Advanced (all Basic rules; Standard rules 2, 3 & 4; Advanced rule 4)

Optional Rules: 1 & 6

NIB / LIB / IB / OCR: NIB/OCR

Preferred Nickname: OddBard

Foundation Pair: Saga and Edda

Pack Name: Thunder Gorge Pack

Challenge Level: Basic+

Optional Rules: Standard: 2 and 3; Advanced: All; Optional: 1, 2, and 5

NIB / LIB / IB / OCR: Attempt at NIB - may end up being LIB later on

Preferred Nickname: Anything really! Shiba or T is what I go by most of the time.

Foundation Pair: Ryn and North (not the breeding male, there is lore to it)

Pack Name: Skyline Ridge (changing it soon)

Challenge Level: Basic with rules from other levels.

Optional Rules: Standard rule 4 (five too, but since I can't afford to put marks on them I'll be writing them bios instead) and Advanced rules 2, 5 and 6. Optional rules 1 and 5.

NIB / LIB / IB / OCR: NIB

Preferred Nickname: Ink

Foundation Pair: Freris and Durin I

Pack Name: Hildegarde Grotto

Challenge Level: Standard + (Quarantine Cave and lead male remains in pack post retirement)

Optional Rules: 4, 4a, 5, 5a

NIB / LIB / IB / OCR: LIB

Breeding Partners: None Yet!

Would you like some prompts to help you start your lore?: Yes

Preferred Nickname: quill or jag

Foundation Pair: Nerith (F) & Inferno (M)

Pack Name: Cursed

Challenge Level: Basic

Optional Rules: 1

NIB / LIB / IB / OCR: IB

Breeding Partners: None as of now

Preferred Nickname: .

Foundation Pair: .

Pack Name: .

Challenge Level: .

Optional Rules: .

NIB / LIB / IB / OCR: .

Breeding Partners: .

VagueShapes
#828

Posted 2020-09-26 22:16:39

#8533

This sounds really interesting! My own chosen playstyle is very similar to yours, and I'm interested to see where this goes. My playstyle rules are a little different, though, so I'll just lurk, if that's okay?

Hyloxalus
#2930

Posted 2020-09-27 07:36:48

#9405

@Hyloxalus- I'll be adding and removing rules depending on what's actually doable in the game, plus feedback from other players, so feel free to lurk and see if it suits you later on ^u^

VagueShapes
#828

Posted 2020-09-27 13:29:14

#10456

Marking for interest... though the only lore wolf right now is the lead female. I'm still moving things around and trying to make it optimal for breeding natural boofers.

Iceblink N-WPA
#3695

Posted 2020-09-27 13:33:39

#10482

Oh oh! I love this! But I have a few questions!

1: My pack currently has my 2 starters and their 2 pups.. but I had to fill in the spaces for hunting and the like with extra wolves from outside. I intend to replace those woofs with the puppies as they get older. Does that negate this challenge?

2: I currently don't have resources for a second cave - can I mark "Traveler" under their names?

Tabs
#2470

Posted 2020-09-27 14:23:51 (edited)

#10667

@Tabs-

1. Rule 7 let's you use newly befriended wolves to start off with, so that's fine, and rule 14 means you can customise any of your newly befriended wolves (or make a whole new one) and keep them until you replace your pack leader. I count customisation as basically anything you change about your wolf, so the cheapest option would be a random marking applicator. I just felt like customising would give people incentive to care about them more, haha

2. The traveller cave is mostly for organisation, so until you get a new cave that's a good compromise. I'll add it to the main post. The realism part of that rule is that real wolves are a little wary about sharing their sleeping space with strangers. Regardless, I'd recommend trying to get at least 2-3 caves so you can seperate off any sick wolves

VagueShapes
#828

Posted 2020-09-27 18:50:49

#11687

I'm also gonna be lurking on here. :) I also want to do a sort of "realistic" pack although I think I'll be doing things a little less extreme. Great ideas though!

🐑 Wolves 🐑
#1259

Posted 2020-09-28 16:39:29 (edited)

#15000

@Shapes - Wolf pairs are typically monogamous, yes?

Hyloxalus
#2930

Posted 2020-09-28 16:43:45

#15023

For me all my wolves have a lore. The leads kill off any weak pup using them as sacrifices. The ones found in explore will use to hunt or pup site once pup age and no more pups they are sold or chased.

Black market breeder
#3073

The "Grounded" Challenge Clan

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