[Neus]

Hello everyone. As promised, I have drafted some basic rules of engagement and things for scene locking. I have run this by the GMs and they gave their opinions, so now I want to also run this by everyone and gather your opinions as well.

The general goal behind these rules and guidelines is not to restrict what you may and may not do, but to give everyone a basic and clear understanding of what is expected when you engage in this type of roleplay, and to help things make more fair in the event that someone wants to be an antagonistic character. Although there are a few other areas which need refinement as well, I think this is the best way to start making progress in this area.

If you feel that I have missed the mark, or that these new rules/guidelines are actually not desired, you are welcome to say so - that is the entire point of this topic. If you want to suggest further additions that I may be unaware of, etc., you are also encouraged to participate in the discussion.

Note that none of this is considered in effect yet.

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Rules of Engagement

Conflict: This term will be used frequently. Conflict is defined as any serious scenario that results in violence, or other similar serious consequences, against one or more player character(s).

1. Prior to conflict, RP between both parties must occur. This RP must be done in an interactive way; you cannot simply RP 'at' someone.
   
2. Your conflict and the level of extremity (see Rule of Consent section) must have some IC reason supporting it. Certain things may not be used as the sole justification, for example:
   • My character is just evil.
     
   • My character is just insane.
     
   • My character hates (race) and/or (gender) characters.
     
3. PVP is not mandatory for conflict RP. If both players agree to RP the scenario instead of PVP, that is perfectly acceptable, but follows all of the same rules.
   

Rule of Consent

1. Both parties must give consent to the 'danger level' of a conflict encounter.
   
2. Consent may be given in several ways. Here are some examples:
   • The aggressor may give consent to robbery by giving a clear IC implication that they are intending to rob the other party. For example; Masked Man flourishes his dagger threateningly, flashing in the moonlight. "Hand over your valuables."
     
   • The victim may play along to let the aggressor know they are giving consent. For example, Unarmed Fighter smashes his fist into his palm, and then waves his fingers tauntingly. "Take them if you can!"
     
   • The aggressor and the victim may use local OOC to clearly state that they are giving consent. It is also best to do this in the event that one party is refusing to give consent.
     
3. Once consent is given, it cannot be revoked without the approval of the other party, or the intervention of a GM. Do not give consent if you are unwilling to follow the consequences.
   
4. Consent cannot be forced in conflict between two player characters. Furthermore, attempts to force or coerce someone into giving consent for something they do not want to do is not allowed. Do not harass them OOC - simply accept it and continue roleplaying, or move on.
   
5. Just because consent is given for a particular danger level does not mean that the victor has to follow through with it. For example, although consent is given for a robbery, the victor of the conflict may later choose not to actually rob the loser.
   
6. In the event that a danger level is not clearly established, both players assume it is Level 1.
   
7. For Level 3 and Level 4, explicit consent must be given in local OOC - simply implying it is not allowed! This is because these actions have permanent consequences.
   

The danger levels are as follows:

• Level 1 - Simple non-life threatening injuries.
  
• Level 2 - Robbery. (See Robbery section)
  
• Level 3 - Maiming (IE, limb loss), destroying a vampire or lich's body. (IE, non-permanent character death.)
  
• Level 4 - Permanent character death.
  

Rule of Avoidance

1. To avoid never-ending cycles of revenge conflict, both parties must avoid interacting for at least 12 real-time hours following the resolution of the conflict.
   
2. Interacting means interacting; both parties have a responsibility to make sure their characters are not in the same place where conflict would begin again. For example, do not go taunt your victim/aggressor after the conflict.
   
3. Naturally, it is forbidden to use different character(s) the player(s) own to try and get around this.
   
4. This rule may be waived in the event that both parties amicably agree to do so. (IE, you wish to continue the RP).
   
5. Always keep in mind that the spirit of this rule is to prevent nonsensical, repeated headbutting, and to avoid OOC drama which may arise otherwise.
   

Robbery

1. Robbery is any conflict scenario that results in the losing party having items or Murai taken from them.
   
2. Both parties must be aware prior to PvP or any roleplaying conflict that losing means being robbed, and consent must be given (see Rule of Consent).
   
3. Regardless of how many player characters are in either party, the victim(s) may only be robbed once. Some examples:
   • If the winning party has 4 player characters, while the losing party only has 1, the losing party is only required to offer once - they do not have to give something to each of the 4 player characters.
     
   • If the winning party has 4 player characters, while the losing party has 4, the losing party's 4 characters are only required to offer once. They do not have to offer to all 4 player characters in the winning party - only once. (The winning party has the responsibility of splitting it however they want.)
     
4. In the event that the initiator of the robbery 'loses' the conflict, and is at the mercy of their would-be victim, the victim can choose to rob them instead, following the same rules.
   
5. A player character can only be a victim to a robbery once per 24 real-time hours. (They may consent to more at their own discretion.)
   
6. A player can only rob a victim once per 6 real-time hours. (Note: This means player, not player character. You are not allowed to swap to a different character and continue robbing.)
   
7. It is highly recommended that if you engage in such an encounter, you document the whole thing with screenshots and chat logs if you feel even the slightest chance of there being a problem.
   

If the victim of a robbery, one (and only one) of the following, of the victim's choice, must be offered to the victor. (NOTE: DONATION ITEMS, PATRION ITEMS, REGALIA'D ITEMS, ETC. ARE NEVER REQUIRED TO BE OFFERED, NO MATTER WHAT. IT IS A BANNABLE OFFENSE TO ATTEMPT TO CONVINCE OR IMPLY THAT SOMEONE IS EVER REQUIRED TO.)

1. Victim's choice of an equipment item of at least 3* rarity.
   
2. 2d10 total of any stackable item(s), such as crafting materials or potions, etc.
   
3. 10d20 Murai.
   

Scene Locking
First and foremost: Roleplay is a collaborative activity, not a competitive one. All parties involved in a scene, be it in conflict or not, should strive to make the scene fun and interactive for as many people as possible. Please keep that in mind when reading these rules.

1. Once conflict has begun, except in one of the listed circumstances, the scene is considered 'locked'. This means that the participants in the conflict at that time are the only ones who can participate - meaning that if someone happens across the scene, they may observe OOCly, but cannot interfere or interact with it, and for the purposes of the scene, they are not there ICly.
   
2. Once the conflict concludes, only participants may obstruct either party from leaving the scene, and only if it makes sense with how the scene played out. Non-participants cannot pursue leaving parties or interact with them regarding the scene for 10 real-time minutes (to give a little padding for antagonistic characters from being immediately pulled into another conflict).
   
3. KEEP IN MIND: If you stumble across such a scene, you are observing OOCly. The way it plays out and any information divulged is NOT IC knowledge to you - using it as such is considered metagaming. This includes if your character was 'secretly watching' - if you did not participate (by roleplaying) in the scene from the start, you are not there ICly.
   

The following is an example of how this rule works in practice:

• John begins conflict with Mary with the intent to rob her.
  
• The two roleplay the scene and some resolution is made (PvP or RP) with John being the victor.
  
• Part-way through this, a random bypasser, David, sees the scene unfolding.
  
• Although David may be a character who would like to interfere and stop Mary from being robbed, they cannot, because they were not an active participant when the scene began. For the scene's purposes, David is not even there.
  
• John being the victor takes some Murai from Mary. Despite the scene nearing resolution, David still cannot jump in and try to stop John from leaving.
  
• John leaves the area. David may not pursue them. Mary would like to pursue John, but since they have just been beaten up, it would not make sense from a roleplay perspective for them to be able to do so.
  

The Devlogic™:

1. Although this interaction could, ICly, take less than a few minutes to resolve, it may take much longer than that to roleplay out, not including any PvP or RP'd struggle. The longer the scene goes on, the higher the chance that someone will come across it by chance, even if it doesn't make a lot of sense.
   
2. This provides a major disadvantage for antagonistic characters due to the tendency for people to dogpile as more and more people become aware of what's going on.
   
3. This rule also prevents scenarios where less well-intentioned players will OOCly alert their friends that they need help IC during conflicts.
   

What defines a 'participant'?

1. A character who is actively taking part in roleplay with the conflicting characters before the conflict starts.
   
2. A character who is actively roleplaying in the immediate vicinity of where the conflict starts, even if it is not necessarily with the participants. (Immediate vicinity being capable of seeing the scene from where they are.)
   

What if a participant leaves to get help?

1. If a participant leaves the scene for whatever reason, they are no longer defined as a participant and thus excluded from the scene. (See Exceptions section).
   
2. All parties should apply basic logic, however. If the participant who leaves walks two rooms over to alert someone that conflict is happening nearby, that can be considered a general exception to the scene lock rule. (This only applies for being in the same general area.)
   
3. In the event that you cannot come to a general compromise, consult a GM.
   

Exceptions to Scene Locking

1. If the conflict is started in town or other area where NPCs are likely to be, this rule does not apply. (This is most places in towns with the exception of areas such as sewers. The reasoning being that, in this scenario, it actually is conceivable that someone would notice what's happening in a reasonable time frame to cause interference.)
   
2. If all participants agree to waive this rule, they may do so. (As a participant, until you have confirmation that it is being waived, please do not ICly interact with non-participants to avoid confusing them.)
   
3. If a GM believes this rule should not be applied to a certain scene and provides justification to the participants, it may be forcibly waived. (An obvious necessity in scenarios where this rule applying or not isn't clear cut, and for odd outliers.)
   
4. During events, this rule may be waived by Event Staff, for both conflicts they start, and conflicts started during the course of the event by others where applicable. (IE, if you try to rob someone in the middle of an area with an event going on, an Event Staff may forcibly waive this rule in those instances.)
   

Rules for Undying Races (Vampires, Liches)

Some races have the capability to escape death, such as vampires and liches (referred to here as Undying Races). These rules are here to help define what they may and may not do, to avoid players from 'cheesing' and avoiding RP consequences as a result of conflict.

While Undying races are permitted to utilize their relative immortality in a way that benefits them, utilizing it in a way that stifles RP or otherwise seeks to game the system, especially if done repeatedly, is metagaming and therefore a punishable offense.

Note that these rules only apply for instances where the Undying race character is captured or otherwise in peril of such.

Suicide

1. Undying races can only commit suicide with tools, such as weapons or a noose. They may not commit suicide by bashing their head into a wall, or by biting off their tongue, or biting their body repeatedly. Tools that cannot be interactively RP'd with, such as poison capsules, or weapons that are hidden even after being searched (or otherwise part of the body), etc. are not permitted.
   • If the Undying race character is stated to be restrained or otherwise incapacitated as a result of the RP leading up to it, they cannot attempt to commit suicide until this changes.
     
   • Youkai or other summons are not considered tools. You cannot summon a Youkai to kill you.
     
   • Magic is not considered a tool. You cannot drown or freeze yourself with an Aquarian spell, impale yourself on a spike of earth from an Isespian spell, etc.
     
   • Jumping from a high enough altitude to fall to their death is allowed, but only if the height is substantial enough to be sure death; heights where you would have to land on your head for it to be fatal are not allowed to be used in this method.
     
2. If other characters are nearby when this attempt is started, they may intervene. Settle the matter with RP (and if you can't do that, roll a d20 - highest roll wins, RPing appropriately) If they fail to intervene successfully, the suicide attempt is considered a success and cannot be undone/stopped.
   
3. If the Undying race is said to be under strict supervision by NPC guards, perhaps due to the high probability of suicide if left unattended, it is assumed that they will intervene and be successful. (If the undying character wishes to try and escape via suicide in this instance, they will need a GM or Event Staff to roleplay as the guards and find a way around their intervention.)