Patrolling

**Patrolling** is the main way to manage a Clan's territory. Patrols can be assigned to be performed autonomously, the Playercat can lead a patrol, or patrol their territory alone. Rival Clans will also be patrolling their territories regularly.

## Setting Patrols

Patrols can be set only while the player is in their own camp. From the patrol menu, all scheduled patrols will be listed, including the time one is meant to leave and a list of cats assigned to it. The leader of the patrol is listed with a star beside their name. New patrols can be scheduled from dawn to dusk, and will depart on the next occurrence of that time of day. All patrols have a task, and all patrols must have a leader. As few as two other cats must be assigned to a patrol in order for it to be valid, and up to three can be added. It is possible to "cheat" and add a fourth cat, if the last cat assigned is a mentor. Mentors will have their apprentices automatically assigned to the patrol as well.

If the player has appointed a deputy, their deputy will be in charge of organizing patrols automatically, however the player can always override these decisions as the Clan leader.

## Tasks

* Border Patrols
* Hunting Patrols
* Special

*See Map & Exploration*

Border patrols will travel to the edges of a territory and renew the scent markings on every border tile until all tiles have been marked within the last six hours. Then, they will return to camp. These patrols are a Clan's first line of defense when it comes to intruders. They will return with news of what scents have crossed the borders recently, and are integral to maintaining a healthy territory, as borders that are not marked may become lost over time. Depending on the size of a territory, it is recommended to patrol it at least once a day every dawn, or, ideally, twice a day, once at dawn and once at dusk.

*See Hunting*

Hunting patrols, unlike border patrols, do not travel to any specific location. They will find a tile with suitable prey and hunt there until all members have caught at least one prey item, until twilight, or until a maximum of four hours have passed. Depending on the season, it can take many hunting patrols throughout the day to sustain a Clan.
Special patrols are related to Quests and Tasks. This option will only be available if a recent event requires a special patrol to be set up. One such example of a special patrol could be a group of cats tasked with investigating a troublesome scent found by a regular patrol.

## Efficiency

It's important to be mindful of the cats chosen to patrol together. Some cats will work great together. However, some will get along perhaps a bit *too* well and some won't get along at all, both scenarios that will cause a patrol to be less efficient. Putting certain cats on a patrol together is a good way to figure out what their personalities are like, and striking a balance between differing personalities is key to an efficient patrol. Patrols may also be inefficient if they include cats that have low skills, are sick or injured, or otherwise impaired in some way.

Hunting patrols are less susceptible to personality clashing, as cats can get away from each other and hunt by themselves. However, they are more affected by the skills of the cats involved, as cats with low hunting skill will do poorly and take longer to catch anything.

Border patrols are the opposite; there's not much need for particular skills, but the members of a border patrol must patrol together and tolerate each other for how ever long it takes to cover the whole territory.

Inefficient patrols with cats who goof around, bicker, or are impaired will take longer to get their duties done, and in the case of hunting patrols, will not yield as many rewards. Cats that disrupt a patrol to an egregious degree may be sent back to camp, at the discretion of the patrol's leader.

## Reports

If an NPC recently lead a patrol and found anything noteworthy, they will typically try to speak with their leader or their deputy as soon as they are able. The player can also approach them and ask for a report themselves if the patrol leader does not. Unless the NPC has a reason to lie to the Playercat, they will be honest about their findings. Patrol reports will often include information about scents the patrol came across, especially if these scents belong to trespassing cats or predators, and usually the player can ask what the patrol's efficiency / chemistry between cats was like. If a patrol encounters an actual stranger cat or a predator, or other evidence of them such as dens, this will be in the patrol report as well. Upon receiving relevant report information, the player may receive a Quest or Task and can take action if need be.