Rules on Perma-Kills, and New Life Rules.

[DrakoWulf]

Oh snap. Here it is. The topic on the dreaded rule of all roleplayers. The terror of the dreams for those with well developed and famous characters that they couldn't stand to lose. The infamous last resort to a character's life in a roleplay community: The Perma-Kills.

For those unaware, a Perma-Kill or a 'PK' is the death of ones character. An irreversible and often dreaded occurrence that has been both a topic of debate and criticism, but also a means to solve IC issues, create good forms of roleplay drama, and even to eliminate troublesome characters. No matter how much some people despise it, they have to live with it. With most roleplay communities, a PK is a very rare occurrence. Instead, if a character finds themselves in a tight situation and is RPed being killed, they will simply receive an 'NLR', or a 'New Life Rule'. It is simply the act of saying the person who was killed was in fact NOT the persons character, but a random guy. This can often lead to consistency issues, as well as bringing to light something I was never satisfied with in Desertia or any RP community: the lack of threat. No choice or decision carries weight in RP anymore. Anyone can simply sign up for the most dangerous of missions and feel no sign of hesitation or concern for their lives. Anyone can stick their nose where it doesn't belong again and again despite hundreds of warnings, and not feel the least bit nervous. But as soon as they're discovered by Bandits they were following, and shot.. they just cry 'NLR' and go about their day.

My goal in revamping the Perma-Kill system was to bring back a sense of tension with the world around you. EVERYTHING carries weight to it, and EVERYTHING can haunt you in the future. The system has one simple guideline to it: If you consent to do it, you accept the risk. Of course, maintain something in mind: only Administrator's can authorize PK's. Not Moderators, or anyone else. For example, here's an overplayed scenario to show you what I mean. Take Bandits as a clear example. In Desertia's OOC history, Bandits were never successful. Despite their label as the common every-day threat for Desertians, they were ineffective because anyone could simply refuse to give into their demands and try to disarm them. If it failed and they died, they'd cry NLR and get to keep all their stuff because it 'technically' wasn't them who got mugged. So, let's consider this scenario for a moment:

Say we have our victim: Chuck McNarn. A hardworking Gerian citizen who's on his way to the Sandy Sloth after receiving his paycheck to have a beer. However, then there's our bandit: Tom Finnegan. As Chuck passes through lower class district housing, Tom ambushes Chuck and holds him at gunpoint, demanding all his mesi. Chuck's immediate OOC thought is the fact he doesn't want to lose his hard roleplayed mesi, and would consider fighting back. But he must keep in mind, an NLR will not come to him in this situation. In the most logical case, Chuck will simply hand his mesi over to Tom and submit to his obvious advantage. By OOC rules, Tom cannot further harm Chuck's life whether it be through PK or NLR. However, if Chuck were to still submit to the urge to attempt and retaliate, two different outcomes may occur. If Chuck were to lose, Tom has the right to request the authority to PK Chuck from an Administrator (Although in most cases, admins will prefer an injury to be dealt instead).

Bear in mind though that Chuck isn't the only one at risk, as Tom too consented to the risks when he attempted to mug Chuck. If Chuck were to overpower Tom and take his weapon, he too may have the possibility of receiving the authority to PK Tom for his attempted mugging (But in this case, admins will tend to prefer Chuck simply take Tom to Close Endeavors.. dependent on how his character's alignment fits). But, let's go with the concept that Chuck simply surrenders his mesi and Tom flees the scene. That was a clear example of how the PK system itself might work in that kind of situation, and how a bandit might be more successful if discrete. But now let's consider the concept that everything carries weight the moment you do it.. and beyond that time.

Say that Tom got away with the mesi. Two months have passed, and his character has developed and even given up on a life of crime. He's now an honest veteran scavenger, trying to put his bandit days behind him. But Chuck however, has discovered Tom's identity and wants revenge. Technically, Tom still has the risk he took when he mugged Chuck, no matter how much he may pretend he doesn't. To kill Tom, Chuck has now hired a mercenary named Richard Clay. By having been payed for this (as per the authority a Mercenary has), Richard now has the authority to PK Tom for his mugging. So Richard tracks down Tom, but must be aware that for accepting the job, Tom is able to counter him and kill him with admin authorizations. In the end however, Richard is of superior skill and PK's Tom with the authorization of admins. However, this isn't the end. Even though the mission is done, Richard now has Tom's blood on his hands. And it just so happens Tom's best friend, Mark Sanchez has tracked down Richard.

With further admin consent, Mark restrains Richard and beats out the man who hired him to kill Tom. After PKing Richard, the blame is now put to Chuck. Even though Chuck consented to go along with the mugging, he has put himself at risk when he hired Richard. Even though it's been a whole month since Tom died, Chuck is still guilty. With Richard's information, Mark is able to track down Chuck and kill him. Of course, it doesn't necessarily end here as Mark has now taken a great risk. But you get the picture.

That's just a clear example of a long scenario that may occur on DesertiaRP. Does it seem somewhat ridiculous how so many characters had to die in that scenario? Well, not really. Some may consider the new PK policy extreme and perhaps even a little to 'death happy', but that's the world Desertia is. It's a place of threat that brings weight to every decision you make. Other men are your worst enemies, and everything you do must be heavily analyzed. You must take into account the immediate and long term effects. Take into consideration your immediate, and future safety. Most people consider the 'Veterans' of Desertia to be the guys with good armor and good guns. In reality, that won't cut it for such a title. No matter what you have, you're still liable to die if you push the wrong people. The true Veteran's of Desertia are the ones who play it safe and actually KNOW how to stay alive and on everyone's good side. Of course, there are other scenarios too. For instance, how do PK's work in gun fights? Well, for a gun fight between characters to escalate.. it would have to be done with good roleplayed reason. Simply jumping to a gun fight is bad roleplay. But with good reason and admin consent, a death in a gun fight may actually become a PK. It's more preferred to RP it though. (Keep in mind that if your beaten in a gun fight and administrator's authorize your PK, and you chose to RP being wounded and executed.. you can't be suddenly rescued by a friend. I've seen it happen. That won't cut it.)

When it comes to PK's between factions, this is the biggest issue. Between factions like Close Endeavors and Entanglement (Groups don't apply to factions), there's a great deal of things that may occur, but the out come is usually the same: RP injury. For instance, if Close Endeavors soldiers are called to a mining facility that just got raided and are ambushed by Entanglement, a couple soldiers might get shot and killed in the gun fight. Does this count as an NLR? No. PK? Actually, no. You might think so because they accepted risk when they took the mission, but due to the limitation of members in factions.. that can be a quick way to lose your roster. In this case, they are simply injured. The same goes for Entanglement soldiers. Likewise, such a confrontation with a faction from In-Classified should be met similarly. If it's a fire-fight conflict with the faction itself as opposed to a roleplayed quarrel with one to four members, it's injury related. But keep in mind that receiving injuries doesn't mean, 'say you got hit in the shoulder and keep fighting'. It means you're incapacitated from the fight, but get to stay alive. Particular scenarios in faction conflicts may warrant PK, but this is always up to the discretion of Administrator's present for the scenario.

So you may be wondering: "If getting shot in a bandit mugging, or getting shot in a faction conflict doesn't warrant an NLR.. what does?" Truth be told, very little. This is a way to prevent half-assed escapes from PK's or injuries, and actually creates roleplay. Instead of just simply escaping the RP, you get to stay behind and RP your defeat whether it be death or a capture. How fun, eh? The only instance an NLR would be necessary would be for wandering into something that you had nothing to do with. For instance, accidentally wandering into a cross fire. You CAN roleplay an injury if you want to, but you're entitled to an NLR here. So long as there's no implications that it was your character who wandered in. Not even an NPC fire-fight gets an NLR. Ooohhh no. Even accepting a mission against NPC's carries weight. You probably won't get a PK unless you're fighting the NPC's like a jackass and banzai charging them, but injury will certainly occur. Everything that happens in an NPC fight, happens. If a Formian lands a gouge on you, you got a gouge. If you're properly armored, you might be protected.. but not in plain clothing. You may think that's unfair, but think about it. People are always far to casual fighting Formians, because they're NPC's that die in roughly one shot to the head due to how powerful our SWEPs are compared to HL2's. Does this make them any less of a real threat? No. In reality, they're bigger then your bloody couch.

The majority of verdicts will be passed for specific scenarios by an administrator, as it's hard to cover every possible probability that may occur. Just keep some basics in mind: injury roleplay in faction conflicts and NPC fights. Never gun fight without good reason (This includes shooting up the town or random people. That will get you banned.), and always remember that everything you do carries weight. If you consent to do it, you consent to the risks it brings. The administration, other roleplayers, and the community itself, is not responsible for the choices you make which sit you in a spot that jeopardizes your characters life.