Rules

[SpotLover]

everywhere -- rules that apply in every board in Horse Mountain.

• No badmouthing others. Just because you don't like someone does not give you any reason to tell them that, either privately or in front of the entire forum. Members, if you feel like you are being harassed, please contact one of the staff and they will take care of it.
  
  
• The staff's word is law.
  
  
• Do not advertise in any IC boards or in any OOC boards other than the advertising board.
  
  archiving
  
  
• When a thread that you started is finished, please modify the title of the first post so that staff members know this: putting something like "[finished]" in the title will suffice. The thread will be locked.
  
  
• Threads will be archived only when there is more than one page of threads per board. The oldest threads (those that appear on the second page) will be locked.
  
  
• Territory claiming posts will never be archived. Fights initiated with lead stallions of territories will never be archived.
  
  images
  
  
• Signatures may be no wider than 543 pixels so as not to stretch the board.
  
  
• We request that you only post (signature, character reference, etc.) your own images (photos that you have taken or paintings or drawings that you have done yourself) or images that the artist has given you permission to use.
  

character rules -- rules that apply specifically to characters.

• Characters may be posted with in character before their profiles are accepted, but if a staff member thinks the profile is problematic they will lock that in-character thread until the profile can be accepted.
  
  aging
  
• Four real-time weeks is equal to one in-character season. 16 real-time weeks (approximately four months) is equal to one in-character year.
  
  
• Characters live to be 20 years old (remember, these are wild horses and are not given the medical benefits of their domestic cousins; therefore, they are lucky to reach this ripe old age) unless they are killed by a predator, another horse, or some other fatal occurrence.
  
  
• Horses age on the first week of spring. A staff member will keep track of your character's age and will alert you when your character turns 19 years old. This gives you one more "year" (four weeks) to play that character; after that, your character's profile will be moved to the archives and any posts that you make with that character afterward will be deleted.
  

in-character rules -- rules that apply to ropleplaying in all of the in-character boards.

• No power-playing. This means that you cannot include in your post the actions of the other player's character that the other player has not written yet. If you power-play another member's character severely enough that they point it out, you must modify your post.
  
  
• No god-modding. This is usually applied to fights: it means that you cannot decide whether an attack is successful, or how badly a character that is not yours, is injured. That is up to either the other character's player or a moderator.
  
  
• No liquid time. This means that your character cannot participate in more than one in-character thread at any given time.
  
  
• One member, at any given time, may play any one of the following options:
  -one lead stallion;
  -one lead mare;
  -one lead stallion and one lead mare;
  -two lead mares.
  Nothing else.
  
  reproduction
  
  
• Breeding may take place in any board.
  
  
• Any character that is at least two years old may breed, although a pregnancy in a mare this young will likely have negative effects on her.
  
  
• No graphic breeding is allowed. This violates the Proboards Terms of Service.
  
  
• Force breeding may only take place in the appropriate board during any season. We'll say, for purposes of convenience, that the mare has a 50% chance of conceiving during the time when all mares are receptive (the last two weeks [real time] of spring and the first two weeks of summer). A staff member will roll a dice; 6, 5 or 4 gets the mare pregnant; 3, 2 or 1 will not. The mare's player will be notified whether or not their character conceives.
  
  
• Breeding may take place in any season but the mare will only conceive during the last two weeks (real time) of spring and the first two weeks of summer.
  
  
• Realistically, a foal would be born four real-time months after it is conceived, but we are kind and understand how much it would suck to have to wait that long for your foal. So the breeding and foaling process goes like this: The parents may (but don't have to) breed in-character (as in it is specified in the thread that the characters bred. Again, describing the actual process is against Proboards' Terms of Service). A foal application form is filled out and submitted (read here for more information). A staff member will reply to the new foal's thread with its color (based on the parents' colors) as soon as possible. When the color of the foal has been decided, the foal may be born and played in character.
  So it shouldn't take very long for you to get your foal.
  
  
• Parents must apply in the "Foal Applications" board in order to have a foal. See said board for more information.
  
  
• A member may apply for their character to have twins in the "Foal Applications" board. A dice roll of 2 will award the mare twins; anything else and she will have one foal.
  
  foals
  
• A foal must stay with its mother, or a different mare who will nurse it, until it is weaned at six months old (two "seasons" or 8 weeks). If it does not then it will die.
  
  
• After a foal is weaned it may leave the protection of its mother, but it is very likely that it will be killed by a predator or a stallion whose offspring it is not. The weanling may find an adult horse or herd to take care of it until it is able to defend itself.
  
  fighting
  
• Fighting may take place in any board.
  
  
• All fights will be moderated by a staff member to ensure no power playing or other cheating.
  
  
• The outcome of a fight may be decided by the players of both characters via PMs. If this is the case, PM a staff member to let them know that both members are okay with it. Fights that have been pre-planned may be time-skipped over.
  
  
• Fights that have not been pre-planned must be played out. The characters may post freely, but if the mod sees any foul play, purposeful or otherwise, the post in question must be rewritten.
  
  
• The winner of the fight will be decided by the roleplayers, not the mod, unless the two players cannot agree.
  

activity

[/u]

• Your account will be deleted if it is not logged into for one month, or it will be deleted if you have not posted for 3 months.
  

writing

• Correct grammar is a must. The staff reserve the right to correct any grievous errors in grammar, punctuation or spelling.
  
  
• There is no word minimum for in-character posts, but please keep it interesting. Use the five senses: what does your character see, hear, smell, taste, feel? What are they thinking? This should get you several decent-length sentences, and you should be able to double that length again with action.
  

hiatuses

• Please post in the "Hiatuses" board if you know you will be gone longer than a few days-- four days or more is probably a good rule for posting in this board.
  
  
• Please specify approximately how long you will be gone. You do not need to supply a reason for your absence
  

warnings and bans

• Some of these rules are important enough that if you will be given a warning. The measure of his warning depends on the importance of the rule.
  
  
• If the offences continue, the staff will decide when to ban the offender and for how long.
  

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