Cluck Fighters – hens that fight for honour

Shut a tame hen alone in a small coop, feed her meat, and after a day she is no hen any more: she comes out as a Cluck Fighter, bigger, broader in the chest, with a red comb and long sickle feathers. She follows you like a wolf, guards you, learns with every fight and wakes an ability of her own. Put two fighters in a pen or an arena and they fight it out the old way: a stare-off, a round of wing-flapping and crowing, then a fight to the death.

Nothing here is magic. A hen turns because she is shut in alone and fed meat. Fighters only clash where they cannot keep out of each other's way. A leash holds a fighter back however hard it pulls. Dye washes off in water.

	Where	Cost
Fighter's Leash	Workbench	4 Leather scraps, 2 Resin
Tether Post	Hammer → Misc, workbench	4 Wood, 1 Iron
Dyes (8 colours, 2 pots)	Workbench	berries, flowers, coal or bone (see below)
Stake Pit	Hammer → Misc, workbench	30 Wood, 6 Resin
Stone Ring	Hammer → Misc, stonecutter	40 Stone, 10 Wood
Marble Arena	Hammer → Misc, stonecutter	40 Black marble, 10 Yggdrasil wood
Grausten Arena	Hammer → Misc, stonecutter	40 Grausten, 10 Blackwood, 4 Charred bone
Gear (15 pieces)	Workbench, forge, black forge	see below

A hen turns

1. Build a small coop: walls on every side, at most 16 m² of floor (4 × 4 m). Fences with gaps a hen could slip through do not count.
2. Put one tame hen in it, alone: no other hen, chick or fighter inside the same walls.
3. Drop 2 pieces of meat in the coop. Shut in alone, a hen eats meat as well as seeds (any meat, raw or cooked). Like every tame animal she eats when she is hungry.
4. She sits there a whole day (30 minutes) and turns. Meat and day can come in either order.

• Point at her and she tells you how far she is:

  Broods alone, restless: 64 % of a day · meat 2/2

• A short break is forgiven. Open the door for up to 30 seconds to bring meat; a longer break starts the day again.
• She keeps her stars and her name, and wakes up with one of four natures.
• Out in the open or in company, hens never eat meat.

The fighter

A fighter follows you and stays on E, eats meat and seeds, and attacks whatever threatens you, like a tame wolf. It has no breeding: fighters are made, not born.

Levels 1 to 10. Each level gives +25 % health and +10 % damage. Experience comes from

• walking beside you: 1 point per 50 m,
• the last blow on a creature: 3 to 30 points by its health,
• a won ring fight: 15 to 90 points (more against a stronger rival), times the arena's bonus.

Level 2 needs 40 points, level 5 needs 400, level 10 needs 1800. A fighter grows a little with every level and every star.

Stars work like on any creature: each star multiplies health and adds half the damage again. A star is won in the ring, and rarely: 1.5 % per win for the first star, half that for the second. Arenas raise the chance.

	Health	Damage per peck
Level 1	40	6
Level 5	80	8.4
Level 10	130	11.4
Level 10, one star	260	17.1
Level 10, two stars	390	22.8

Before nature and gear. A two-star fighter at level 10 attacks every second or so and is no small thing to meet. A Wolfborn is still far stronger.

A fighter pecks, kicks with both feet in a jump, and beats with its wings (blunt, a push). Every blow can be a critical one for double damage. Hits on a fighter can be dodged (it hops aside) and are softened by its armour.

Four natures

Nature	Edge	Ability (level 5, stronger at 10)	Look
Stormbeak	fast, dodges most, a quarter of each peck is lightning	Thunder Peck: every 10 s (7 s) a peck with extra lightning that always staggers	slate blue, a crest of steel spikes with sparks, a steel beak cap
Runeclaw	toughest, a share of every hit never lands, spirit damage in the claws	Rune Ward: below half health the runes flare and soak up damage worth 25 % (40 %) of its health, every 40 s (30 s)	charcoal, glowing runes on both legs
Berserker Hans	hits hardest	Blood Frenzy: below 40 % health it hits 35 % (50 %) harder and faster, and heals 10 % (15 %) of what it deals	rust red, a great comb, red eyes in frenzy
Valhalla Striker	sturdy, the most critical blows	Valkyrie Dive: every 14 s (10 s) it leaps up and dives on its foe for double (2.5×) damage that staggers	golden, a gold plume and a gold torc

A star darkens the plumage and lengthens the sickle feathers; a two-star fighter grows a ruff of hackles and ember eyes.

Ring fights

Two free fighters fight when they cannot keep out of each other's way:

• in the same arena, always;
• in the same closed space (a pen, a coop, a room, up to 150 m²) where they see each other.

Out in the open they never fight. So you cannot keep two fighters in the same shelter.

1. Stare-off (3.5 s): they square up and fix each other.
2. Taunt (4 s): wing-flapping, hopping, crowing.
3. The fight: to the death. A fighter in the ring never runs and never stops. No hand can leash it now.

The winner gets experience, a little health back and its rare chance of a star. Gear stays unused in every ring fight: fighters settle it bare, for honour.

Arenas

Big rings with a sand floor, a wall no fighter hops over, a step round the outside to stand on and watch, and a red and a blue corner.

Arena	Floor across	Health	Damage	Experience	Star chance	Winner heals
Stake Pit	5.2 m	–	–	+30 %	×1	25 %
Stone Ring	6.6 m	+20 %	–	+50 %	×1.25	35 %
Marble Arena	8 m	+30 %	+10 %	+75 %	×2	50 %
Grausten Arena	9.2 m	+40 %	+15 %	+100 %	×3	100 %

• E on the arena with a fighter on your leash: it is lifted over the wall into the red corner, the next one into the blue corner. In an arena fight both start with full (and the extra) health.
• E on the arena with no fighter on your leash: the nearest fighter that is not fighting is lifted out onto your leash.
• Point at the arena to see its bonuses and the fight: names, natures, levels and health of both.
• Built on open ground, an arena levels the earth beneath it and clears the grass, like a hoe.

Leash and tether post

• Use the leash from your hotbar on your fighter. It walks at your side on a short lead.
• A fighter on the leash never fights. When it sees a rival, it pulls at the end of the lead with flapping wings and crows, like a dog that wants the other dog, and the lead holds it.
• You hold two leashes at most. E on a fighter you lead lets it go.
• E on a tether post with a fighter on your leash ties it there. E on the post (or on the fighter) takes it back onto your leash.
• A fighter tied to a post is no free rival either: several fighters can wait side by side before an event.

Dyes

Team colours for a fight: use a pot of dye on a fighter and its feathers take the colour.

Dye	Mixed from (2 pots)
Red	4 Raspberries
Blue	4 Blueberries
Yellow	4 Dandelions
Green	2 Dandelions, 2 Blueberries
Purple	3 Thistles
Orange	3 Cloudberries
Black	3 Coal
White	3 Bone fragments

• A dye lasts one day (30 minutes). A new dye paints over the old one.
• Water washes it off: the bird only has to go into water.
• Dye changes the colour, nothing else.

Gear

For the brawls outside the ring: wing blades, spurs and a breastplate. Use a piece on your fighter to strap it on; a new piece in the same place replaces the old one, which comes back to you. Hold E on the fighter to take all its gear off. Gear is never used in a ring fight or inside an arena.

Piece	Adds	Made at	Cost
Flint Wing Blades	slash +3	Workbench	4 Flint, 2 Leather scraps
Bronze Wing Blades	slash +6	Forge	3 Bronze, 2 Leather scraps
Iron Wing Blades	slash +9, critical +3 %	Forge 2	4 Iron, 2 Leather scraps
Black Metal Wing Blades	slash +13, critical +5 %	Forge 4	4 Black metal, 2 Linen thread
Flametal Wing Blades	slash +17, fire +6, critical +5 %	Black forge 2	4 Flametal, 1 Asksvin hide
Bone Spurs	pierce +3, dodge +3 %	Workbench	4 Bone fragments, 1 Leather scraps
Bronze Spurs	pierce +5	Forge	2 Bronze, 1 Leather scraps
Silver Spurs	pierce +7, spirit +6, frost +3	Forge 3	3 Silver, 1 Wolf claw
Black Metal Spurs	pierce +14	Forge 4	3 Black metal, 1 Linen thread
Flametal Spurs	pierce +18, fire +5	Black forge 2	3 Flametal, 2 Charred bone
Leather Breastplate	armour 4	Workbench 2	2 Deer hide, 3 Leather scraps
Bronze Breastplate	armour 8, speed −4 %	Forge	4 Bronze, 1 Deer hide
Iron Breastplate	armour 13, speed −7 %	Forge 2	6 Iron, 1 Deer hide
Carapace Breastplate	armour 18, speed −3 %, half poison	Black forge	6 Carapace, 1 Scale hide
Flametal Breastplate	armour 24, speed −5 %, half fire	Black forge 2	6 Flametal, 2 Asksvin hide

Damage from gear grows with the fighter's stars like its own.

The real thing

Cockfighting is an old and cruel sport, and this mod borrows its rules, not its cruelty to real birds. Fighting cocks were bred for it, kept apart because two cocks in one yard will fight, held back on short leads before a match, and set down in a ring (the cockpit) from opposite corners. A fight began with the birds squaring up and ended when one could not go on. Wing beats, jumping kicks with the spurs and pecks at the head are how chickens really fight; strapped blades on the legs were a human addition, and that is why they stay out of this mod's ring.

How the mod sees a closed space: a ring of 48 level rays from the bird at knee height. If every ray hits a wall within 12 m, the hit points outline the space, and its floor area is measured. 48 rays leave no gap wider than 0.8 m at 6 m, too narrow for a hen.

Configuration

BepInEx/config/zap.cluckfighters.cfg

Fighters, brooding, ring, dye, recipes (server-synced, admin only)

• BaseHealth (40), BaseDamage (6), HealthPerLevel (0.25), DamagePerLevel (0.10), MaxLevel (10), AbilityLevel (5), XpFactor (1), StarChance (0.015), ProtectOwner (on), WalkXpMeters (50).
• MeatNeeded (2), BroodDays (1), CoopMaxArea (16), MeatItems (the list of meats).
• PitMaxArea (150), RivalRange (14), FightsOutsideArenas (on: off means fights only in arenas).
• DyeDays (1), RainWashesDye (off).
• The cost of every item and piece, and where gear is made, as text such as Iron:4,LeatherScraps:2 and forge:2.

Client

• ShowNumbers (on): health, damage and experience on the fighter's hover text.

Multiplayer and compatibility

• Everything lives on the fighter and the hen (their ZDO): every player sees the same level, dye, gear, leash and fight. Each fighter thinks on the client that owns it; two fighters of different owners agree on the same fight clock.
• Everyone must have the mod (server and clients). Admin values are synced.
• Tested in single player with a self test of 64 checks (brooding, ring fights in pens and arenas, leash and post, dye and water, gear, guarding). Fighters of two different owners in one fight were not tested on a real server yet.
• The mod changes hens only in a coop (meat), and adds the fighter as a new creature. It works beside Wolfborn, WolfTack, FeedingTroughs and Starborn.

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Deutsch

Aus der Henne wird ein Kampfhuhn. Sperr eine zahme Henne allein in einen kleinen Verschlag (höchstens 16 m², ringsum Wände), gib ihr zwei Stück Fleisch (roh oder gebraten, nur eingesperrt frisst sie es) und lass sie einen ganzen Tag (30 Minuten) dort allein. Dann kommt ein Kampfhuhn heraus: größer, breitere Brust, roter Kamm, lange Sichelfedern. Es behält Sterne und Namen und erhält eines von vier Wesen. Fleisch und Tag gehen in beliebiger Reihenfolge; eine kurze Pause (bis 30 s) wird verziehen.

Das Kampfhuhn folgt dir auf E wie ein Wolf und verteidigt dich. Es steigt bis Stufe 10 (+25 % Leben, +10 % Schaden je Stufe) durch Mitlaufen, Todesstöße und Siege im Ring. Mit Stufe 5 erwacht seine Fähigkeit, mit Stufe 10 wird sie stärker. Sterne gibt es nur durch Siege im Ring, und selten: 1,5 % für den ersten, halb so oft für den zweiten. Ein Kampfhuhn auf Stufe 10 mit zwei Sternen hat rund 390 Leben und hackt mit 23 Schaden.

Die Wesen: Sturmschnabel (schnell, weicht aus, Blitz im Schnabel; Donnerhieb), Runenklaue (zäh, Geist in den Klauen; Runenwehr schluckt Schaden), Berserker Hans (schlägt am härtesten; Blutrausch unter 40 % Leben), Walhallstreiter (stämmig, die meisten kritischen Treffer; Walkürensturz aus der Luft). Jedes Wesen hat seine Farbe und sein Zeichen.

Ringkämpfe: Zwei freie Kampfhühner kämpfen immer in derselben Arena und in jedem geschlossenen Raum bis 150 m², in dem sie sich sehen. Im Freien nie. Erst starren sie sich an, dann drohen sie mit Flügelschlagen und Krähen, dann kämpfen sie bis zum Tod. Keines flieht, keines lässt sich jetzt anleinen. Ausrüstung bleibt im Ring ungenutzt: es geht um die Ehre.

Arenen: Pfahlgrube, Steinring, Marmorarena und Grausten-Arena, immer größer und mit mehr Bonus (Leben, Schaden, Erfahrung, Sternchance, Heilung des Siegers). E mit einem Huhn an der Leine setzt es über die Mauer in die rote, das nächste in die blaue Ecke. E ohne Leine hebt das nächste Huhn heraus an deine Leine. Von der Stufe rundum siehst du gut in den Ring.

Leine und Anbindepfahl: An der Leine kämpft kein Huhn. Sieht es einen Rivalen, zerrt es mit schlagenden Flügeln am Ende der Leine, und die Leine hält. Du hältst höchstens zwei Leinen; am Pfahl angebunden warten beliebig viele nebeneinander.

Farben: Acht Federfarben aus Beeren, Blumen, Kohle und Knochen, für Mannschaftsfarben. Sie halten einen Tag, lassen sich übermalen, Wasser wäscht sie ab. Keine Wirkung auf die Stärke.

Ausrüstung: Flügelklingen, Sporen und Brustpanzer, vom Feuerstein bis zum Flammenmetall, für Raufereien außerhalb des Rings. Ein Stück auf das Huhn anwenden schnallt es an; E halten nimmt alles wieder ab.