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Description
Registered Name: SP Bubblegum Ice Cream
Call Name: Candy, nicknamed Bub, Pink-Eyes
Sex: Female
Owner: Kid31
Breeding Certificate: Unexamined
Species: Barlak
Build: Classic (Clean Mane, Snaggleteeth, Feathered Tailtip, Round Pupils due to Varnish)
Class: Unexamined
Division: Unexamined
Weight: 70lbs
Phenotype: A female starry blanketed cream cyan with dark green feathers and light purple eyes. She has a black collar, black points, light purple stripes, light teal highlights, and a twotone black mask.
Genotype: C: [Rr/GG/BB] F: [rr/Gg/bb] E: [RR/Gg/BB]
XX n/Cr n/Chr n/V n/Bl n/Mf n/S-[RR/Gg/BB] n/Rs-[Rr/GG/bb] M/m-[rr/gg/bb] n/co-[rr/gg/bb] n/Pt-[RR/gg/Bb] n/h-[Rr/GG/BB] n/Cl-[Rr/GG/bb] n/Sd-[rr/gg/bb] n/Hd-[rr/gg/bb] n/St n/Rn n/Cv
Description: Tiny and cute, but So Loud. Has a Beagle-like howling bark that can be heard way before she can be seen. Good luck sleeping at all around this high-energy Barlak...

Qualities
Alertness I

It may or may not have perfect senses, but this critter makes great use of what it’s got. They notice everything happening around them. How they react depends on other Qualities and Flaws present. A Pointer may silently indicate. A riding strider might look directly at whatever it’s spotted. A Vocal barlak is likely to sound off at every little thing already - adding Alertness to the mix only makes it worse!

This trait is most important to barlaks working at guardian jobs, but is also useful for barlaks playing ball or other ‘toy’ sports, some hunters and fishers, all foragers, et cetera. Striders benefit from alertness in pretty much all contexts - tripping and falling is bad news for them and it helps them avoid doing that. Girzan, as prey animals, also rely a lot on heightened awareness. For moharks, it’s most common in hunting animals. Paranimals with Alertness get a bonus to relevant activities which increases with the level of the Quality. For example a guardian barlak with Alertness has a bonus to its chance of success when its owner submits an activity piece showing the barlak doing a guarding job.

Clear Voice I
This barlak has both perfect pitch and impressive volume. Its voice can be clearly heard for miles around when it wants. Gains a bonus, in accordance with the level of this trait, in any situation in which this trait would be beneficial. This is most commonly applied in hunting, as it helps the trainer locate their barlak if using only a single bar, but it also helps a pack of hunting barlaks coordinate and communicate with each other and their trainer. However, it can also be useful to - for example - Show barlaks who participate in freestyle musical dressage, which often involves training the barlaks to "sing" on cue.
Diurnal Vision
Mostly seen in barlaks and elain with Round Pupils, and is also found in some sighthunting and herding breeds - those which tend to work only during the day. This barlak’s vision is better adapted to daytime than that of most barlaks. They suffer a penalty when trying to perform or work at night or in dark places. However, their color vision is sharp and their depth perception is excellent. Hunting, fishing, foraging, and any other task that would benefit from superior vision get a bonus so long as they are done during the day or in well-lit conditions. These barlaks will tend to favor their vision over other senses, which is unusual for barlaks, and may require a different training approach due to this. +2% to the chance to fail to learn when trained due to this until the barlak has accumulated a total of 50 XP spread among their various Skills. By this point, the barlak and trainer have developed a training technique that works for the barlak. Levels are used only to determine odds of this trait passing to offspring.

High Energy

Gains a small bonus to competitions and events involving a lot of physical activity, and a slightly larger bonus when entered in their specialty. Suffers a penalty when sitting still and controlling themselves for long periods of time are required, such as most shows. Obedience scores are not penalized in active competitions/events, but any time the previous penalty is in effect, the random aspect of the judging is heightened for this barlak, to represent the increased chance that the barlak's discipline will fail and it will ignore a command or otherwise act out in some minor way as an expression of boredom.

Good Influence I
Good Influence is the opposite of, and mutually exclusive to, Bad Influence. Instead of increasing Flaw passdown, it increases Quality passdown, at the following rates:

Level 0: +10% Quality passdown, +5% Quality level passdown.
Level I: +15% Quality passdown, +10% Quality level passdown.
Level II: +20% Quality passdown, +15% Quality level passdown.
Level III: +25% Quality passdown, +20% Quality level passdown.
Good Influence is often associated with sires and studs, for some reason, but it is equally active in both sexes.
Independent I
A valuable trait in some contexts and a real pain in the butt in others. Independent barlaks are intelligent and have more advanced reasoning capabilities than average. While still animals, they are smart animals, and do not look to a person automatically for leadership or direction the way that a more thoroughly domesticated barlak will. Often found in wild-blooded and feral-born bars, and in certain purebreds and Working class grades whose job requires or benefits from an independent temperament and an ability to make solo decisions. They do not listen terribly well as a rule, though having the Obedience Quality and/or Obedience Skill training helps. That said, while an Independent bar can score highly in Obedience if the work is put in to achieve this in spite of their temperament, they require skilled, strong-minded trainers and handlers to make this kind of progress. And there is always a higher chance than average that they will purposefully ignore you or do what they think is correct. (Sometimes they're even right, but that doesn't help much.) Independence and Stubbornness are two distinct things - while they can overlap, they don’t co-occur as often as one might intuitively expect. (For one thing, Stubborn animals are not necessarily particularly intelligent and may in fact be quite dumb, whereas Independent animals are so because they are smart!)
Note that Independent is not mutually exclusive with Pack Instinct, but it is with the Pack Dependence Flaw. An Independent bar’s “I can do this myself, thank you” attitude is mostly relative to people rather than other bars, and it can get along fine in a pack of its own kind. However, it will never be psychologically reliant on its pack the way some bars are. As such, Independent bars cannot also be Pack Dependent, and inheriting Independent at any level prevents a bred barlak from inheriting Pack Dependence.
A barlak with both Obedience and Independent does not gain the usual benefits of the Obedience Quality if Independent is higher level; Obedience is, effectively, treated as carried, because the Independent trait is stronger. However, if Obedience is equal to or higher level than Independent, the barlak will obey as expected given its Obedience level, but it will not have a strong desire to please its handler/trainer/owner - it will obey the letter of the command only unless it happens to want to do whatever it’s being told to do. It will also retain its preference for operating alone, without two-legger interference. Still, if given a command, such a bar will obey. Note that this only applies to working with people. An Obedient Independent barlak gains the full benefit of its Obedience when it comes to commands issued by a more dominant barlak. (However, see Solitary.)

Long Mane II

This barlak's crest feathers are a little longer than average for its build and mane variation, and - except for the Equine Mane and other Weeping Mane variants - it exhibits slightly better control of its feathers' movement than usual, able to flatten its crest completely against its neck or stand it up to full height quickly. This makes the barlak a bit flashier and more eye-catching than it might have been otherwise. This barlak gains a small score bonus, proportionate to the levels it has in this Quality, when it participates in any activity, event, competition, et cetera, in which being flashy and eye-catching is directly helpful to the competing barlak, such as girzan herding as a flagger. If the barlak is rawboned, this Quality is considered carried and its mechanical effects do not occur. It can still be passed to offspring normally. If bred to Level III, Long Mane can produce the Long version of the various mane variations. (Long Wild Mane, Long Clean Mane, etc.) Not all mane variations have a Long version as such. “Long Rawbone” is an oxymoron, but Buzzed Mane could be seen as filling that role. “Long Buzzed Mane” is ordinary Short Mane, and “Long Short Mane” would be regular Wild or Clean Mane.

Natural Buncher II
The buncher is a type of herding barlak. They may be trained to work as part of a team or may work alone. Some bunchers are purely concerned with keeping the herd together and moving it from place to place, but they are also usually bred and/or trained to be livestock guardians as well. Bunchers are trained to move herd animals by vocalizing at them, flexing their feather-crest, waving their tail, running in circles around the herd to collect them into a bunch (hence the name), and then chasing the herd to get it to go wherever it needs to go. This barlak was born with an instinctive urge to act out buncher behaviors. It still requires training to do a good job, of course, but it understands the concepts involved intuitively and will learn quickly. It is treated as having 2 more XP than it does per level of Natural Buncher when it comes to any Bunching skill checks. This barlak is not required to become a herder, or even to be registered in the Working class. (It still needs Teamwork training to perform well on a team.) If given training in bunching as a skill, this Quality also reduces the likelihood that that the barlak fails to learn based on the level of Natural Buncher. (1% at level 0, 2% at level I, 4% at level II, 5% at level III.)

Natural Flagger III
The flagger is a type of herding barlak. Essentially, a flagger's job is to make the fangier's job easier. Flaggers may be cross-trained as bunchers, but not as fangiers - one barlak cannot do both the flagging and the fanging. Flaggers vocalize, jump and run around, flex their crest, lash their tail, stomp their feet, and generally do whatever they can to distract the livestock and get the animals' attention on them. Relatively aggressive animals like girzan and striders will advance on the flagger intending to try to drive it away, while more docile creatures will stand entranced. In either case, this makes it easier for the fangiers to dart in behind the livestock and nip at their heels and tails without being kicked or clawed or bitten or gored by horns, et cetera. By themselves, flaggers are not particularly effective in most cases, so they will always be either cross-trained as bunchers or trained in Teamwork and used with bunchers and/or fangiers. A Natural Flagger is born with the instinct to perform the flagger job. It still requires training to do a good job, of course, but it understands the concepts involved intuitively and will learn quickly. It does not have to become one, or even be a Working class barlak, but if it does, it gains a bonus to any activity, competition, et cetera, in which the barlak performs as a flagger. It is treated as having 2 more XP than it does per level of Natural Flagger when it comes to any Flagger skill checks. If the barlak is given general skill training as a flagger, this Quality also reduces the likelihood that that the barlak fails to learn based on the level of Natural Flagger. (1% at level 0, 2% at level I, 4% at level II, 5% at level III.)

Quick Learner II
This animal is smarter than the average bar. It picks up new ideas with relative ease. As such, it is easier to train. This barlak’s chance to fail to learn is reduced by 2% per level of this Quality (cannot drop to 0%.) Additionally, it gains 1 XP per successful training per level of this Quality; this is cumulative with other bonuses, but the total cannot exceed the maximum-XP-per-training cap.

Quick Reaction I

While all barlaks are relatively fast-reacting, some seem almost preternaturally swift. This animal may or may not be a fast runner, or particularly agile, but thanks to a combination of sharp wits and sensitive reflexes, it is very difficult to catch it off guard or get something past it. While this trait is by far the most prized in the Sporting world, especially in Agility and the various ball/frisbee sports, it is also valuable for herders, and those hunters that must close with their prey and do battle. Any barlak that spends a lot of time in the wilderness can benefit from this, too. Wild barlaks almost always have at least level 0 or I, and they are known to be quite capable, able to defend themselves in pack disputes against multiple rivals simultaneously. Barlaks with Quality get a bonus to their performance score when they do Agility or “toy-based” sports, such as Treibball or Barlak Ultimate Frisbee. The bonus is proportionate to the levels possessed in this Quality. They are also slightly less likely to be injured by hazards or accidents (but injury due to overworking or Flaws is not affected.) Mutually exclusive with Poor Reflexes.

Stock Sense I
This is a trait found in many herding-bred barlaks, but very rarely outside that type of lineage. Essentially, thanks to many generations of being bred for herding tasks (or even, in a few cases, just being kept by nomadic or rural herding people such that they were exposed to herds of livestock all the time, for generations on end), certain barlaks developed an instinctive awareness of herd animals, herd dynamics (as opposed to the very different pair and pack dynamics natural to a barlak), and, most critically, the right ways to act when around herd animals to control how they, in turn, react to you (the barlak). In brief, these barlaks know how to move so that they can slip among their herd without being seen as a threat, how to trigger the livestock's instincts to bunch up, keep moving, and so forth. This is an essential trait for herd guardians, who must spend hours or days alone with their charges with no people present to guide them or back them up. It is also very helpful for other herders - cutters, catchers, bunchers, fangiers, and flaggers, for example. These barlaks gain a small bonus to any herding activity, trial, or competition they participate in, and a larger bonus when the activity, trial, or competition is about or involves the herding barlak's specialty (herd guarding, flagging, fanging, bunching, livestock catching, or cutting, for example.) These barlaks also have a -2% reduction per level in this Quality to their chance to fail to learn when trained in any herding-related Skill, and a -5% chance per level in this Quality to fail to learn when trained in their herding specialty (minimum failure chance is 1% - failure chance cannot be completely removed.) Additionally, they can +1XP per level of this Quality when successfully trained in herding-related Skills. These animals excel at herding, in short, and this trait is highly sought after in herding barlaks (yet not nearly as common among them as livestock owners would prefer...)

Working Drive I

This animal is highly motivated to work. It needs to have some kind of job, in fact, to maintain it mental health. Animals with high levels of Working Drive tend to choose jobs for themselves if not trained to one, which can be very inconvenient for people. As such, working drive is usually not found outside Working Class breeds and actively working grade lines. Gains a small bonus when entered in any competition geared toward the Working Class and a slightly larger bonus when entered into a competition revolving around their specialty.

Flaws
Bad Influence II
Barlaks with this Flaw may have compensating traits, so they’re not always altered, but in general, most breeders try to eliminate this from their stock as soon as they become aware of it. Unfortunately, since it takes several breedings to discover this problem (no direct gene test exists for this ICly because it’s a polygenic trait), Bad Influence is not an uncommon Flaw. It arises easily by mutation, too, so even diligent breeders can’t entirely escape it. At level 0, Bad Influence increases the odds of the barlak’s Flaws passing to its offspring by 10%. At level I, the odds of the Flaws passing at a higher level increase by 5% in addition to that. At level II, the odds of the barlak’s Flaws passing to offspring increase to 15% and the roll to find out the level at which they pass gets a 10% increase. At level III, the odds of the barlak’s Flaws passing are doubled, or gain +15%, whichever is a larger number, and the Flaws will always pass at Level I or higher unless this is impossible in the given breeding. It may seem like worse Flaws exist, but this can make reducing the Flaw burden in a bloodline much harder if allowed to get out of control.

Inattentive
Often found in High-Energy barlaks. Inattentive barlaks don't necessarily intend to misbehave, but they're easily distracted and find it difficult to maintain their focus for long periods of time. The barlak suffers a +2% per level of this Flaw to the chance of failure to learn when trained. Additionally, it suffers a slight penalty to its Obedience scores in shows and competitions where obedience is scored, and the random element of its score in shows, competitions, and trials is higher, reflecting the barlak's greater chance to get distracted. This penalty increases with each level of Inattentive. Altering the barlak has a 50% chance to reduce its level of Inattentive by one. This Flaw is not mutually exclusive with Diligence or Obedience as it may seem - the barlak may -want- to be good and to struggle against its issues, which can help cancel out the penalties of this Flaw. In the same way, when the barlak is on point and its focus hasn't yet been interrupted, it may perform diligently; it's just that its high performance state is easily lost and its train of thought broken.

Stranger Anxiety
This is extremely common among wild and feral barlaks, and may arise in some domestic lines, such as guardians and highly Devoted animals. This barlak is fearful, or at least uncomfortable, around people or barlaks it doesn’t know. This Flaw comes in three forms - Barlak, People, and General/All. This will be denoted in parentheses, like this: Stranger Anxiety (People). Barlaks with Beginner Friendly cannot have Stranger Anxiety, nor can barlaks with Social Butterfly. At level 0, this is more of a quirk than a real problem; the barlak will be wary and watchful or uncomfortable around new people or barlaks until it has a chance to get to know them. At level I, this anxiety is more pronounced, and it will need to be addressed with training in the General Skill Socialization. At Level II, this is a serious issue, and fear biting becomes a problem. The barlak must be muzzled when it has to be around strangers to avoid the risk of incidents. At Level III the barlak is downright dangerous around strangers and never truly trusts anyone other than those it met before it turned two years old. It has a higher than average likelihood to produce pups with Barlak and/or Handler Aggression (depending on the focus of its Stranger Anxiety.) It must be muzzled and gloved to participate in any activities or competitions that involve the public or being approached by judges or being around other barlaks it doesn’t know (depending on the specific form of anxiety.) Even then there is a chance it will feel threatened and attack to ‘defend itself’. Altering the barlak will reduce this Flaw by one level, so the PFA often requires Level III animals to be altered before they can pas the CSAT.

Vocal II
Some degree of vocalization is useful for a barlak in many jobs and sports, but this one is a real noisemaker, always sounding off at this or that - up to and including things like the wind and its own shadow. The barlak suffers a penalty to any rolls or events/competitions where being silent at the right time is important, or where random barking would be disruptive. The random portion of Show scoring is increased to reflect the increased odds that this barlak will suddenly start barking, howling, or otherwise causing a ruckus. If it DOES go off during a Show, the staffer scoring the show will roll an Obedience skill check (with bonuses for any levels of Obedience or Discipline that the barlak may have), representing an attempt by the barlak's handler to get the animal under control. If the check succeeds, the barlak suffers a penalty to its score (proportionate to how well it rolled on Obedience - if it does really well, it's presumed to have been quieted quickly, while just barely passing indicates a serious outburst that the handler ends only with difficulty.) If the barlak blows the Obedience check, the handler cannot get it under control and the barlak is disqualified from the show. In most Working and Sport competitions and trials, the barlak will be too busy to do much problem barking, but in some disciplines, such as pointing, a poorly timed outburst can have similar consequences. On the other hand, this Flaw is very common among purebred herding bars, especially flaggers and bunchers. These animals are bred, in part, to vocalize at their charges, with the result that some of them can't stop vocalizing at everything! This can be reduced with training to some degree, but it will always be impulsive vocally and the penalties to stealth and overall vocal self-control cannot be completely eliminated.

Weird Eggs

This female barlak’s egg cells tend to be formed slightly incorrectly. In severe cases, this impairs her clutch sizes, but in more mild examples of the disorder, it leads to a rise in mutation rates and chimerism. Some breeders consider low levels of this Flaw to be a positive thing, but the vast majority of people try to select against this because of the potentially catastrophic nature of mutations. (However, players are welcome to select for Weird Eggs if they wish.) Only female barlaks can express this trait. Males inherit Weak Sperm instead.
At level zero, all mutation rates gain +1%.
At level I, all mutation rates gain +2%, and the chance for chimerism increases to 3%.
At level II, all mutation rates gain +5%, the chance for chimerism increases to 5%, and the clutch’s minimum size takes a -2 penalty (round up to 0 if the negative points are not partly or completely absorbed/displaced by buffs and bonuses; for example, if she would have otherwise had a minimum clutch size of 3, it’s now 1, but if her minimum clutch size was 1, it becomes 0, not -2.)
At level III, all mutation rates gain +10%, the chance for chimerism remains 5%, and the minimum clutch size is automatically 0 regardless of any buffs, bonuses, or items used.

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Design by Kid31 for Parafauna-ARPG . Barlaks are a closed species. They are not free to create. If you want one of your own, please check out Parafauna ARPG!

Description
Registered Name: SP Bubblegum Ice Cream
Call Name: Candy, nicknamed Bub, Pink-Eyes
Sex: Female
Owner: Kid31
Breeding Certificate: Unexamined
Species: Barlak
Build: Classic (Clean Mane, Snaggleteeth, Feathered Tailtip, Round Pupils due to Varnish)
Class: Unexamined
Division: Unexamined
Weight: 70lbs
Phenotype: A female starry blanketed cream cyan with dark green feathers and light purple eyes. She has a black collar, black points, light purple stripes, light teal highlights, and a twotone black mask.
Genotype: C: [Rr/GG/BB] F: [rr/Gg/bb] E: [RR/Gg/BB]
XX n/Cr n/Chr n/V n/Bl n/Mf n/S-[RR/Gg/BB] n/Rs-[Rr/GG/bb] M/m-[rr/gg/bb] n/co-[rr/gg/bb] n/Pt-[RR/gg/Bb] n/h-[Rr/GG/BB] n/Cl-[Rr/GG/bb] n/Sd-[rr/gg/bb] n/Hd-[rr/gg/bb] n/St n/Rn n/Cv
Description: Tiny and cute, but So Loud. Has a Beagle-like howling bark that can be heard way before she can be seen. Good luck sleeping at all around this high-energy Barlak...

Qualities
Alertness I

It may or may not have perfect senses, but this critter makes great use of what it’s got. They notice everything happening around them. How they react depends on other Qualities and Flaws present. A Pointer may silently indicate. A riding strider might look directly at whatever it’s spotted. A Vocal barlak is likely to sound off at every little thing already - adding Alertness to the mix only makes it worse!

This trait is most important to barlaks working at guardian jobs, but is also useful for barlaks playing ball or other ‘toy’ sports, some hunters and fishers, all foragers, et cetera. Striders benefit from alertness in pretty much all contexts - tripping and falling is bad news for them and it helps them avoid doing that. Girzan, as prey animals, also rely a lot on heightened awareness. For moharks, it’s most common in hunting animals. Paranimals with Alertness get a bonus to relevant activities which increases with the level of the Quality. For example a guardian barlak with Alertness has a bonus to its chance of success when its owner submits an activity piece showing the barlak doing a guarding job.

Clear Voice I
This barlak has both perfect pitch and impressive volume. Its voice can be clearly heard for miles around when it wants. Gains a bonus, in accordance with the level of this trait, in any situation in which this trait would be beneficial. This is most commonly applied in hunting, as it helps the trainer locate their barlak if using only a single bar, but it also helps a pack of hunting barlaks coordinate and communicate with each other and their trainer. However, it can also be useful to - for example - Show barlaks who participate in freestyle musical dressage, which often involves training the barlaks to "sing" on cue.
Diurnal Vision
Mostly seen in barlaks and elain with Round Pupils, and is also found in some sighthunting and herding breeds - those which tend to work only during the day. This barlak’s vision is better adapted to daytime than that of most barlaks. They suffer a penalty when trying to perform or work at night or in dark places. However, their color vision is sharp and their depth perception is excellent. Hunting, fishing, foraging, and any other task that would benefit from superior vision get a bonus so long as they are done during the day or in well-lit conditions. These barlaks will tend to favor their vision over other senses, which is unusual for barlaks, and may require a different training approach due to this. +2% to the chance to fail to learn when trained due to this until the barlak has accumulated a total of 50 XP spread among their various Skills. By this point, the barlak and trainer have developed a training technique that works for the barlak. Levels are used only to determine odds of this trait passing to offspring.

High Energy

Gains a small bonus to competitions and events involving a lot of physical activity, and a slightly larger bonus when entered in their specialty. Suffers a penalty when sitting still and controlling themselves for long periods of time are required, such as most shows. Obedience scores are not penalized in active competitions/events, but any time the previous penalty is in effect, the random aspect of the judging is heightened for this barlak, to represent the increased chance that the barlak's discipline will fail and it will ignore a command or otherwise act out in some minor way as an expression of boredom.

Good Influence I
Good Influence is the opposite of, and mutually exclusive to, Bad Influence. Instead of increasing Flaw passdown, it increases Quality passdown, at the following rates:

Level 0: +10% Quality passdown, +5% Quality level passdown.
Level I: +15% Quality passdown, +10% Quality level passdown.
Level II: +20% Quality passdown, +15% Quality level passdown.
Level III: +25% Quality passdown, +20% Quality level passdown.
Good Influence is often associated with sires and studs, for some reason, but it is equally active in both sexes.
Independent I
A valuable trait in some contexts and a real pain in the butt in others. Independent barlaks are intelligent and have more advanced reasoning capabilities than average. While still animals, they are smart animals, and do not look to a person automatically for leadership or direction the way that a more thoroughly domesticated barlak will. Often found in wild-blooded and feral-born bars, and in certain purebreds and Working class grades whose job requires or benefits from an independent temperament and an ability to make solo decisions. They do not listen terribly well as a rule, though having the Obedience Quality and/or Obedience Skill training helps. That said, while an Independent bar can score highly in Obedience if the work is put in to achieve this in spite of their temperament, they require skilled, strong-minded trainers and handlers to make this kind of progress. And there is always a higher chance than average that they will purposefully ignore you or do what they think is correct. (Sometimes they're even right, but that doesn't help much.) Independence and Stubbornness are two distinct things - while they can overlap, they don’t co-occur as often as one might intuitively expect. (For one thing, Stubborn animals are not necessarily particularly intelligent and may in fact be quite dumb, whereas Independent animals are so because they are smart!)
Note that Independent is not mutually exclusive with Pack Instinct, but it is with the Pack Dependence Flaw. An Independent bar’s “I can do this myself, thank you” attitude is mostly relative to people rather than other bars, and it can get along fine in a pack of its own kind. However, it will never be psychologically reliant on its pack the way some bars are. As such, Independent bars cannot also be Pack Dependent, and inheriting Independent at any level prevents a bred barlak from inheriting Pack Dependence.
A barlak with both Obedience and Independent does not gain the usual benefits of the Obedience Quality if Independent is higher level; Obedience is, effectively, treated as carried, because the Independent trait is stronger. However, if Obedience is equal to or higher level than Independent, the barlak will obey as expected given its Obedience level, but it will not have a strong desire to please its handler/trainer/owner - it will obey the letter of the command only unless it happens to want to do whatever it’s being told to do. It will also retain its preference for operating alone, without two-legger interference. Still, if given a command, such a bar will obey. Note that this only applies to working with people. An Obedient Independent barlak gains the full benefit of its Obedience when it comes to commands issued by a more dominant barlak. (However, see Solitary.)

Long Mane II

This barlak's crest feathers are a little longer than average for its build and mane variation, and - except for the Equine Mane and other Weeping Mane variants - it exhibits slightly better control of its feathers' movement than usual, able to flatten its crest completely against its neck or stand it up to full height quickly. This makes the barlak a bit flashier and more eye-catching than it might have been otherwise. This barlak gains a small score bonus, proportionate to the levels it has in this Quality, when it participates in any activity, event, competition, et cetera, in which being flashy and eye-catching is directly helpful to the competing barlak, such as girzan herding as a flagger. If the barlak is rawboned, this Quality is considered carried and its mechanical effects do not occur. It can still be passed to offspring normally. If bred to Level III, Long Mane can produce the Long version of the various mane variations. (Long Wild Mane, Long Clean Mane, etc.) Not all mane variations have a Long version as such. “Long Rawbone” is an oxymoron, but Buzzed Mane could be seen as filling that role. “Long Buzzed Mane” is ordinary Short Mane, and “Long Short Mane” would be regular Wild or Clean Mane.

Natural Buncher II
The buncher is a type of herding barlak. They may be trained to work as part of a team or may work alone. Some bunchers are purely concerned with keeping the herd together and moving it from place to place, but they are also usually bred and/or trained to be livestock guardians as well. Bunchers are trained to move herd animals by vocalizing at them, flexing their feather-crest, waving their tail, running in circles around the herd to collect them into a bunch (hence the name), and then chasing the herd to get it to go wherever it needs to go. This barlak was born with an instinctive urge to act out buncher behaviors. It still requires training to do a good job, of course, but it understands the concepts involved intuitively and will learn quickly. It is treated as having 2 more XP than it does per level of Natural Buncher when it comes to any Bunching skill checks. This barlak is not required to become a herder, or even to be registered in the Working class. (It still needs Teamwork training to perform well on a team.) If given training in bunching as a skill, this Quality also reduces the likelihood that that the barlak fails to learn based on the level of Natural Buncher. (1% at level 0, 2% at level I, 4% at level II, 5% at level III.)

Natural Flagger III
The flagger is a type of herding barlak. Essentially, a flagger's job is to make the fangier's job easier. Flaggers may be cross-trained as bunchers, but not as fangiers - one barlak cannot do both the flagging and the fanging. Flaggers vocalize, jump and run around, flex their crest, lash their tail, stomp their feet, and generally do whatever they can to distract the livestock and get the animals' attention on them. Relatively aggressive animals like girzan and striders will advance on the flagger intending to try to drive it away, while more docile creatures will stand entranced. In either case, this makes it easier for the fangiers to dart in behind the livestock and nip at their heels and tails without being kicked or clawed or bitten or gored by horns, et cetera. By themselves, flaggers are not particularly effective in most cases, so they will always be either cross-trained as bunchers or trained in Teamwork and used with bunchers and/or fangiers. A Natural Flagger is born with the instinct to perform the flagger job. It still requires training to do a good job, of course, but it understands the concepts involved intuitively and will learn quickly. It does not have to become one, or even be a Working class barlak, but if it does, it gains a bonus to any activity, competition, et cetera, in which the barlak performs as a flagger. It is treated as having 2 more XP than it does per level of Natural Flagger when it comes to any Flagger skill checks. If the barlak is given general skill training as a flagger, this Quality also reduces the likelihood that that the barlak fails to learn based on the level of Natural Flagger. (1% at level 0, 2% at level I, 4% at level II, 5% at level III.)

Quick Learner II
This animal is smarter than the average bar. It picks up new ideas with relative ease. As such, it is easier to train. This barlak’s chance to fail to learn is reduced by 2% per level of this Quality (cannot drop to 0%.) Additionally, it gains 1 XP per successful training per level of this Quality; this is cumulative with other bonuses, but the total cannot exceed the maximum-XP-per-training cap.

Quick Reaction I

While all barlaks are relatively fast-reacting, some seem almost preternaturally swift. This animal may or may not be a fast runner, or particularly agile, but thanks to a combination of sharp wits and sensitive reflexes, it is very difficult to catch it off guard or get something past it. While this trait is by far the most prized in the Sporting world, especially in Agility and the various ball/frisbee sports, it is also valuable for herders, and those hunters that must close with their prey and do battle. Any barlak that spends a lot of time in the wilderness can benefit from this, too. Wild barlaks almost always have at least level 0 or I, and they are known to be quite capable, able to defend themselves in pack disputes against multiple rivals simultaneously. Barlaks with Quality get a bonus to their performance score when they do Agility or “toy-based” sports, such as Treibball or Barlak Ultimate Frisbee. The bonus is proportionate to the levels possessed in this Quality. They are also slightly less likely to be injured by hazards or accidents (but injury due to overworking or Flaws is not affected.) Mutually exclusive with Poor Reflexes.

Stock Sense I
This is a trait found in many herding-bred barlaks, but very rarely outside that type of lineage. Essentially, thanks to many generations of being bred for herding tasks (or even, in a few cases, just being kept by nomadic or rural herding people such that they were exposed to herds of livestock all the time, for generations on end), certain barlaks developed an instinctive awareness of herd animals, herd dynamics (as opposed to the very different pair and pack dynamics natural to a barlak), and, most critically, the right ways to act when around herd animals to control how they, in turn, react to you (the barlak). In brief, these barlaks know how to move so that they can slip among their herd without being seen as a threat, how to trigger the livestock's instincts to bunch up, keep moving, and so forth. This is an essential trait for herd guardians, who must spend hours or days alone with their charges with no people present to guide them or back them up. It is also very helpful for other herders - cutters, catchers, bunchers, fangiers, and flaggers, for example. These barlaks gain a small bonus to any herding activity, trial, or competition they participate in, and a larger bonus when the activity, trial, or competition is about or involves the herding barlak's specialty (herd guarding, flagging, fanging, bunching, livestock catching, or cutting, for example.) These barlaks also have a -2% reduction per level in this Quality to their chance to fail to learn when trained in any herding-related Skill, and a -5% chance per level in this Quality to fail to learn when trained in their herding specialty (minimum failure chance is 1% - failure chance cannot be completely removed.) Additionally, they can +1XP per level of this Quality when successfully trained in herding-related Skills. These animals excel at herding, in short, and this trait is highly sought after in herding barlaks (yet not nearly as common among them as livestock owners would prefer...)

Working Drive I

This animal is highly motivated to work. It needs to have some kind of job, in fact, to maintain it mental health. Animals with high levels of Working Drive tend to choose jobs for themselves if not trained to one, which can be very inconvenient for people. As such, working drive is usually not found outside Working Class breeds and actively working grade lines. Gains a small bonus when entered in any competition geared toward the Working Class and a slightly larger bonus when entered into a competition revolving around their specialty.

Flaws
Bad Influence II
Barlaks with this Flaw may have compensating traits, so they’re not always altered, but in general, most breeders try to eliminate this from their stock as soon as they become aware of it. Unfortunately, since it takes several breedings to discover this problem (no direct gene test exists for this ICly because it’s a polygenic trait), Bad Influence is not an uncommon Flaw. It arises easily by mutation, too, so even diligent breeders can’t entirely escape it. At level 0, Bad Influence increases the odds of the barlak’s Flaws passing to its offspring by 10%. At level I, the odds of the Flaws passing at a higher level increase by 5% in addition to that. At level II, the odds of the barlak’s Flaws passing to offspring increase to 15% and the roll to find out the level at which they pass gets a 10% increase. At level III, the odds of the barlak’s Flaws passing are doubled, or gain +15%, whichever is a larger number, and the Flaws will always pass at Level I or higher unless this is impossible in the given breeding. It may seem like worse Flaws exist, but this can make reducing the Flaw burden in a bloodline much harder if allowed to get out of control.

Inattentive
Often found in High-Energy barlaks. Inattentive barlaks don't necessarily intend to misbehave, but they're easily distracted and find it difficult to maintain their focus for long periods of time. The barlak suffers a +2% per level of this Flaw to the chance of failure to learn when trained. Additionally, it suffers a slight penalty to its Obedience scores in shows and competitions where obedience is scored, and the random element of its score in shows, competitions, and trials is higher, reflecting the barlak's greater chance to get distracted. This penalty increases with each level of Inattentive. Altering the barlak has a 50% chance to reduce its level of Inattentive by one. This Flaw is not mutually exclusive with Diligence or Obedience as it may seem - the barlak may -want- to be good and to struggle against its issues, which can help cancel out the penalties of this Flaw. In the same way, when the barlak is on point and its focus hasn't yet been interrupted, it may perform diligently; it's just that its high performance state is easily lost and its train of thought broken.

Stranger Anxiety
This is extremely common among wild and feral barlaks, and may arise in some domestic lines, such as guardians and highly Devoted animals. This barlak is fearful, or at least uncomfortable, around people or barlaks it doesn’t know. This Flaw comes in three forms - Barlak, People, and General/All. This will be denoted in parentheses, like this: Stranger Anxiety (People). Barlaks with Beginner Friendly cannot have Stranger Anxiety, nor can barlaks with Social Butterfly. At level 0, this is more of a quirk than a real problem; the barlak will be wary and watchful or uncomfortable around new people or barlaks until it has a chance to get to know them. At level I, this anxiety is more pronounced, and it will need to be addressed with training in the General Skill Socialization. At Level II, this is a serious issue, and fear biting becomes a problem. The barlak must be muzzled when it has to be around strangers to avoid the risk of incidents. At Level III the barlak is downright dangerous around strangers and never truly trusts anyone other than those it met before it turned two years old. It has a higher than average likelihood to produce pups with Barlak and/or Handler Aggression (depending on the focus of its Stranger Anxiety.) It must be muzzled and gloved to participate in any activities or competitions that involve the public or being approached by judges or being around other barlaks it doesn’t know (depending on the specific form of anxiety.) Even then there is a chance it will feel threatened and attack to ‘defend itself’. Altering the barlak will reduce this Flaw by one level, so the PFA often requires Level III animals to be altered before they can pas the CSAT.

Vocal II
Some degree of vocalization is useful for a barlak in many jobs and sports, but this one is a real noisemaker, always sounding off at this or that - up to and including things like the wind and its own shadow. The barlak suffers a penalty to any rolls or events/competitions where being silent at the right time is important, or where random barking would be disruptive. The random portion of Show scoring is increased to reflect the increased odds that this barlak will suddenly start barking, howling, or otherwise causing a ruckus. If it DOES go off during a Show, the staffer scoring the show will roll an Obedience skill check (with bonuses for any levels of Obedience or Discipline that the barlak may have), representing an attempt by the barlak's handler to get the animal under control. If the check succeeds, the barlak suffers a penalty to its score (proportionate to how well it rolled on Obedience - if it does really well, it's presumed to have been quieted quickly, while just barely passing indicates a serious outburst that the handler ends only with difficulty.) If the barlak blows the Obedience check, the handler cannot get it under control and the barlak is disqualified from the show. In most Working and Sport competitions and trials, the barlak will be too busy to do much problem barking, but in some disciplines, such as pointing, a poorly timed outburst can have similar consequences. On the other hand, this Flaw is very common among purebred herding bars, especially flaggers and bunchers. These animals are bred, in part, to vocalize at their charges, with the result that some of them can't stop vocalizing at everything! This can be reduced with training to some degree, but it will always be impulsive vocally and the penalties to stealth and overall vocal self-control cannot be completely eliminated.

Weird Eggs

This female barlak’s egg cells tend to be formed slightly incorrectly. In severe cases, this impairs her clutch sizes, but in more mild examples of the disorder, it leads to a rise in mutation rates and chimerism. Some breeders consider low levels of this Flaw to be a positive thing, but the vast majority of people try to select against this because of the potentially catastrophic nature of mutations. (However, players are welcome to select for Weird Eggs if they wish.) Only female barlaks can express this trait. Males inherit Weak Sperm instead.
At level zero, all mutation rates gain +1%.
At level I, all mutation rates gain +2%, and the chance for chimerism increases to 3%.
At level II, all mutation rates gain +5%, the chance for chimerism increases to 5%, and the clutch’s minimum size takes a -2 penalty (round up to 0 if the negative points are not partly or completely absorbed/displaced by buffs and bonuses; for example, if she would have otherwise had a minimum clutch size of 3, it’s now 1, but if her minimum clutch size was 1, it becomes 0, not -2.)
At level III, all mutation rates gain +10%, the chance for chimerism remains 5%, and the minimum clutch size is automatically 0 regardless of any buffs, bonuses, or items used.

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Design by Kid31 for Parafauna-ARPG . Barlaks are a closed species. They are not free to create. If you want one of your own, please check out Parafauna ARPG!