Hunting System
All Ballators possess a natural drive to hunt.
Whether it be prey or plants, a Ballator’s search for food is a refined skill that is rooted in survival. Each Ballator Type is well-designed to hunt and forage in the environment that they inhabit, and though they may lack the claws and appearance of traditional hunters, their teeth and horns aid them in both taking down prey as well as rooting through soil in search of roots.
Submit a Hunt Entry | Hunting Level Rank-Up | Prey/Item/Plant Drop List | Prey Lists
Table of Contents
Hunting Basics and Requirements
- While you may draw your Ballator hunting at any time, hunting any prey animal or plant you desire, only hunt images and literature that meet the requirements listed below and have a hunting tracker linked, will be rolled as a Hunt. When a hunt is rolled, the horses within the hunt have a chance to gather items, which are then added to their Owner’s banks.
A Hunting Tracker must be created by each user to keep track of their hunt rolls. A Hunt Admin will deny any hunt that does not have a Hunting Tracker linked; a link to a selection of Hunting Trackers located in EB Community can be found here. A hunting Tracker simply exists as a place for Admins to post the results of your horse’s hunts!
Requirements of a hunt, pertaining to prey or hunted objects, will depend on your horse’s Rank and their Type. This is covered more in depth below.
Pertaining to artwork and Literature, the following must be met for a hunt to count towards being rollable:
General Information
- Up to, but no more then three (3) Ballators may be pictured in a hunt.
- Each Ballator may bring back a total of 3 items, each rolled separately.
- Each Ballator can hunt a different item, but chances of finding separate items are lower than when all EB’s hunt the same item.
- A handler may be depicted if desired..
- You may use up to 3 total hunting items to aid your hunt.
- A Ballator must hunt in a region compatible with it’s type, unless an appropriate region item is used.
- You may hunt with Ballators owned by other people, if the owners give permission of course! You must link all horses and owner’s hunting tackers in different forms on the description.
- Images or Literature entries for hunts may be commissioned; all prizes go to the owner of the Ballators in the hunt.
- All hunts must contain the following form for each horse:
Ballator(s) Pictured:
Item(s), Companions, and/or Rank:
Region:
Object Being hunted:
Link to Hunting Tracker:
Number of Words (if applicable):
Stat Count:
Artwork Guidelines
- All artwork must be original; re-using artwork is not permitted.
- At least 80% of both your ballator and their prey must be shown; images may not be comprised solely of tracks, fur, or shadows/silhouettes
- The hunting entry must be centered around actively hunting or gathering, OR visualizing their success . This means images must depict, for example, a horse tracking prey or a horse feasting on a kill.
- If hunting plants, the plant, whether the entire bush/tree/stalk is shown OR a horse carrying sprig of berries, a cluster of fruit, etc.
- Backgrounds must be detailed to an extent; no solid/gradiented/transparent backgrounds will be accepted.
- Greyscale images must be shaded, including the background elements.
Literature Guidelines
- All literature must be original; re-using literature is not permitted.
- Stories must be coherent and relevant to the experience, and must be at least 1000 words.
- The animal you are hunting must be depicted appropriately, with at least 25% (1/4) of the wordcount of the animal being present.
- The hunting entry must be centered around actively hunting or gathering, OR visualizing their success . This means pieces must depict, for example, a horse tracking prey or a horse feasting on a kill.
- Each Ballator may bring back up to 3 items, each rolled separately.
- All Ballators must be depicted equally; Ballators who are only briefly mentioned will not be eligible for a roll
Ranks
Your Ballator’s Rank determines how well of a hunter they are and how likely it will be for them to find and catch prey as well as the likelihood of finding rare items during the hunt. Your Ballator’s Rank also accounts for what prey your Ballator may hunt; after all, a Rookie Hunter should be careful as to what prey they are chasing, and a seasoned hunter desires a challege! There are Four ranks in Hunting: Rookie, Medial, Elitist, and Venator.
The type of prey and plants your Ballator may hunt is dependent on their rank in combination with their Type. For example, a Rookie Arctic Ballator will have different prey available to them than a Rookie African. To view a full list of huntable prey categorized by Level and Type, continue down this page to the Prey Lists section!
Rookie
All Ballators will start out as a Rookie, regardless of if they have ever hunted or not. Rookie Ballators have no extra chance to find rare items, and start out at the basic level for catching or finding prey.
Medial
Ballators who reach Medial level have a small chance (around 5%) of finding rare items during a hunt.
This rank is reached by the Ballator having a minimum of 10 hunts fully completed and rolled, as well as turning in 10x of any type of pelt and 5x antlers/horns.
Elitist
Elite-Level Ballators have a medium (about 10%) chance at finding rare items during a hunt.
Venator
Ballators who reach this highest level have a high (around 15%) chance at finding rare items.
Venators have access to the Big Game Hunts.
This rank is reached by the Ballator having a minimum of 50 hunts fully completed and rolled by the Ballator (at least half of these must be created by the owner) as well as turning in a Piebald Pelt, an Albino Pelt, and a Melanistic Pelt.
Ranking Up your Ballator’s hunting level will be done at the Hunting Rankups Forum.
- Hunting Levels, unlike Stat Levels, cannot be jumped, rather, they must be completed in order.
- To rank up, make sure that you have read all the requirements for the level you are ranking to and that you have any/all needed items in your bank.
- When ranking up, all items required to rank up will be removed from your bank and exchanged for their equivalent worth in Denarii, which will be added to your bank account.
- Post your rank up thread in the Hunting Rankup Forum, following the directions there carefully, and wait patiently for your level to be confirmed.
Type-Specific Maps
Each Ballator Type is unique and special in it’s own way, and that gives each type a wonderful ability to hunt in an equally unique way. Below you will find Maps that will help you understand how each type will lean when it comes to hunting!
Reading the Maps
*The percentages of Skills in the Maps are purely for story-building and special hunt event purposes. You may use them as a baseline for creating stories/images, or use them for better understanding your Ballator’s Type. Each map details each types’ natural hunting area and it’s natural strengths and weaknesses. Strengths and weaknesses are a broad stroke for that particular type based on their physiological limits/natural strengths. While they are canon for the type, individual horses do not have to follow these graphs. They are there to add flavor and richness to the hunting experience!
- Each Geographical Map, that is, the area that is not greyed out on each land mass, shows the location in which the selected ballator type is found, and as such, where it can hunt.
- The Skills pie chart shows that particular type’s skill set and balance; some types, for example, are more adaptable (such as the wide-roaming Mountain Ballator in contrast to the seldom-wandering Asiatic) than others, while some Types are more dependent on Technique (such as the cunning of the Lilliput in contrast to the huge, brute strength of the Plains).
Adaptability: How adaptable is this type to both hunting in new areas as well as hunting for new prey? Are they a creature of habit, or a Type that will take on anything?
Ingenuity: How creative is this type when it comes to creating new ways to attain prey, or succumbing problems while hunting?
Determination: Does this Type prefer an easy hunt, expending less energy, or will it do anything for a meal?
Technique: How skilled is this type with a tried-and-true hunting technique? Are they a Type that teaches their foals a certain way to hunt, or are they a ‘do your own thing’ Type? - The Ballator’s Primary Diet will be listed below the pie chart. You will see an image of what your Type will eat the most of – an image of meat for more Carnivorous Ballators, Herbs for the more placid Herbivore, and both images together will mean that the particular type is mainly Omnivorous. Some types have Special Prey which is only huntable by that type in their Native Regions! All Ballator Types, if the situation presents itself, will be content with eating foods that are not shown on it’s Map.
- Strengths & Weaknesses will help you understand that certain Type’s main issues and victories when it comes to hunting. This may help you add realism to your hunts, if you desire!
- Hearing, Eyesight, Smell, & Stealth: All these are important aspects of a predatory or foraging Ballator, and these will help you get a grasp of the particular types’ strengths.
Hunting Items, Drops, & Season Passes
Items
While hunting, you can use up to three designated hunting items to help in your journey! The items, and sometimes, companions, will boost your chance at finding prey or rarer items while you hunt.
All Items that can be applied to a hunt can be found in the Equus Ballator Shop!
Item Drops
Hunting a prey animal will get you a chance at finding a wide variety of items such as pelts, meat, bones, antlers, tusks, and more! Each item drop can be sold for Denarii, kept for crafting, or offered to a Highlord, for example. Hunting plant life will also allow a wide variety of items to be dropped. Each Ballator that is hunting is able to bring back 3 items; sometimes, a random item will be rolled, such as the rare Ballator Pelt that will allow you to cash in a Random Import!
Regional Items
There are several Regional Items that, when crafted and applied to a Ballator, allow that Ballator to hunt in any region. They will not, however, be able to hunt for Special Prey that is available for only specific types.
When using a Regional Item, you are allowed to pick an animal or plant to hunt for from the specific region that that item covers; for example, the Bone Pendant above covers Africa. If it were to be applied to a Mountain Ballator, who does not hunt in Africa naturally, you would be able to choose an animal from any of the other Types’ hunting lists that can hunt in Africa, such as the Desert!
Season Passes
When a Ballator becomes a Venator, they are allowed to begin the next series of challenges called the Big Game Hunts. These hunts are explained in another section below!
When the Ballator completes the first of the Big Game hunts, they will receive a Season Pass, which allows them to go hunt in any region and any prey animal except for exclusive/special, type-specific prey (mice, truffles, grubs, prey marked with a ♦ on the prey list).